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diff --git a/old/cpyrr10.txt b/old/cpyrr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7223e6c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cpyrr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13767 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cappy Ricks Retires, by Peter B. Kyne +#3 in our series by Peter B. Kyne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Cappy Ricks Retires + +Author: Peter B. Kyne + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6020] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 19, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPPY RICKS RETIRES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: But, in time, Cappy would find her a rich husband] + +Cappy Ricks Retires + +_But that doesn't keep him from coming back stronger than ever_ + +_By_ Peter B. Kyne + + + + + + +THE ILLUSTRATIONS + + + + + +But, in time, Cappy would find her a rich husband + +_(Excerpt from the log of Capt. Matt Peasley:)_ "I am alone +on the ship--all the rest are now dead--" + +He always shouted when telephoning + +"Two million dollars!" cried J. Augustus Redell + + + + + + +CAPPY RICKS RETIRES + +CHAPTER I + + + + + +If you have read previous tales of the Blue Star Navigation Company +and the various brisk individuals connected therewith, you will +recall one Michael J. Murphy, who first came to the attention +of Cappy Ricks at the time he, the said Murphy, was chief kicker +of the barkentine _Retriever_ under Captain Matt Peasley. +Subsequently, when Matt Peasley presented in his person indubitable +evidence of the wisdom of the old saw that you cannot keep a +good man down, Michael J. became skipper of the _Retriever_. +This berth he continued to occupy with pleasure and profit to all +concerned, until a small financial tidal wave, which began with Matt +Peasley's purchase, at a ridiculously low figure, of the Oriental +Steamship Company's huge freighter, _Narcissus_, swept the cunning +Matthew into the presidency of the Blue Star Navigation Company; +whereupon Matt designed to take Murphy out of the _Retriever_ +and have him try his hand in steam as master of the _Narcissus_. + +The same financial tidal wave had swept Cappy Ricks out of the +presidency of the Blue Star Navigation Company--presumably far +up the beach to a place in the sun, where he was to bask for the +remainder of his old age as president emeritus of all his companies. +However, if there was one thing about Cappy you could depend +upon absolutely it was the consistency of his inconsistency. For, +having announced his retirement, his very next move was to bewail his +inability to retire. He insisted upon clinging to the business like a +barnacle to a ship, and was always very much in evidence whenever any +deal of the slightest importance was about to be consummated. Indeed, +he was never so thoroughly in command as when, his first burst of +enthusiasm anent the acquisition of the _Narcissus_ at fifty per cent. +of her value having passed, he discovered that his son-in-law planned +to order Mike Murphy off the quarter-deck of the _Retriever_ onto the +bridge of the _Narcissus_, while an unknown answering to the name of +Terence Reardon had been selected for her chief engineer. + +Cappy listened to Matt Peasley's announcement; then with a +propitiatory "Ahem! Hum! Harump-h-h-h!" he hitched himself forward in +his chair and gazed at Matt over the rims of his spectacles. + +"Tell me, Matt," he demanded presently, "who is this man Reardon? +I do not recall such an engineer in our employ--and I thought I +knew them all." + +"He is not in our employ, sir. He has been chief engineer of the +_Arab_ for the past eight years, and prior to that he was chief +of the _Narcissus_. It was Reardon who told me what ailed her. +She's a hog on coal, and the Oriental steamship people used to nag +him about the fuel bills. Their port engineer didn't agree with +Reardon as to what was wrong with her, so he left. He assures me +that if her condensers are retubed she'll burn from seven to ten +tons of coal less per day." + +"Hum! So you're going to give him the job for telling you something +our own port engineer would have told us after an examination." + +"No, sir, I'm going to give him the job because he has earned +it. He gave me some very valuable information about the wretched +condition of her electric-light plant and a crack, cunningly +concealed, in the after web of her crank shaft--" + +"Oh, by thunder," piped Cappy, "that's worth knowing! Ship a new +crank shaft, Matt, and save the Blue Star a salvage bill sooner or +later." + +"All that inside information will not only save us money in +the future," Matt continued, "but it enabled me to drive a closer +bargain when dealing with MacCandless, of the Oriental Steamship +Company. Consequently Terence Reardon gets the job. He's only making +a hundred and fifty dollars a month in the _Arab_, and as he +is a rattling good man--I've looked him up, sir--I've promised him +a hundred and seventy-five a month in the _Narcissus_." + +"Oh, you've already promised him the job, eh? Mistake, Matt, +serious mistake. You say you looked him up, but I'll bet you a new +hat there is one thing about him that you failed to investigate, +and that is: What kind of Irish is he?" + +"Why, regular Irish, of course--mighty good Irish, I should say. +Keen, observing, not too talkative, a hard worker, temperate in +his habits and a crackajack engineer to boot." + +Cappy settled back wearily in his chair and favored his youthful +partner with a glance of tolerant amusement. + +"Matt," he announced, "those are the qualifications we look for +in an engineer, and it's been my experience that the Irish and the +Scotch make the best marine engineers in the world. But when you've +been in the shipping game as long as I have, young man, you'll +know better than to pick two Irishmen as departmental chiefs in the +same ship! I did it--once. There was a red-headed scoundrel named +Dennis O'Leary who went from A.B. to master in the _Florence +Ricks_. That fellow was a bulldog. He made up his mind he was +going to be master of the _Florence_ and I couldn't stop him. +Good man--damned good! And there was a black Irishman, John Rooney, +in the _Amelia Ricks_. Had ambitions just like O'Leary. +He went from oiler to first assistant in the _Amelia_. Fine +man--damned fine! So fine, in fact, that when the chief of the +_Florence_ died I shifted Rooney to her immediately. And what +was the result? Why, riot, of course. Matt, the Irish will fight +anybody and anything, but they'll fight quicker, with less excuse +and greater delight, among themselves, than any other nationality! +The _Florence Ricks_ carried a million feet of lumber, but +she wasn't big enough for Rooney and O'Leary, so I fired them both, +not being desirous of playing favorites. Naturally, each blamed +the other for the loss of his job, and without a word having been +spoken they went out on the dock and fought the bloodiest draw I +have ever seen on the San Francisco waterfront. After they had been +patched up at the Harbor Hospital, both came and cussed me and +told me I was an ingrate, so I hired them both back again, put them +in different ships, slipped each of them a good, cheerful Russian +Finn, and saved funeral expenses. That's what I got, Matt, for not +asking those two what kind of Irish they were. Now, then, sonny, +once more. What kind of Irish is Terence Rearden?" + +"Why, I don't know, I tell you. He's just Irish." + +Cappy lifted his eyes to the ceiling as if praying for the great +gift of patience. + +"Listen to the boy," he demanded of an imaginary bystander. +"He doesn't know! Well, stick your head down over his engine-room +grating some day, sing The Boyne Wather--and find out! Now, then, +do you happen to know what kind of Irish Mike Murphy is? You ought +to. You were shipmates with him in the _Retriever_ long enough." + +"Oh, Mike's from Galway. He goes to mass on Sunday when he can." + +"Hum! If he's from Galway, where did he leave his brogue? He runs +to the broad _a_ like an Englishman." + +"That's easily explained. Mike left his brogue in Galway. He came +to this country when he was six years old and was raised in Boston. +That's where he picked up his broad _a_." + +"That doesn't help a bit, Matt. He's Irish just the same, and what +a Yankee like you don't know about the Irish would fill a book. You +know, Matt, there are a few rare white men that can handle Chinamen +successfully; now and then you'll run across one that can handle +niggers; but I have never yet met anybody who could figure the +mental angles of the Irish except an Irishman. There's something +in an Irishman that drives him into the bandwagon. He's got to be +the boss, and if he can't be the boss he'll sit round and criticize. +But if I want a man to handle Chinamen, or niggers, or Japs, or +Bulgarians I'll advertise for an Irishman and take the first one +that shows up. A young man like you, Matt, shouldn't monkey with +these people. They're a wonderful race and very much misunderstood, +and if you don't start 'em right on the job you'll always be in +trouble. Now, Matt, I've always done the hiring and firing for +the Blue Star Navigation Company, and as a result I've had blamed +little of it to do, considering the size of our fleet; consequently +I'll just give these two Harps the Double-O. Have Murphy and Reardon +at the office at nine o'clock to-morrow morning and I'll read them +the riot act before turning them to." + + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + + + +Cappy Ricks was at his office at eight-fifty the following morning. At +eight-fifty-two Mr. Terence Reardon, plainly uncomfortable in a +ready-made blue-serge Sunday suit purchased on the Embarcadero for +twenty-five dollars, came into the office. He was wearing a celluloid +collar, and a quite noticeable rattle as he shook hands with Cappy +Ricks betrayed the fact that he also was wearing celluloid cuffs; for, +notwithstanding the fact that he bathed twice a day, Mr. Reardon's +Hibernian hide contained much of perspiration, coal dust, metal grit +and lubricating oil, and such substances can always be washed off +celluloid collars and cuffs. To his credit be it known that Terence +Reardon knew his haberdashery was not _au fait_, for his wife never +failed to remind him of it; but unfortunately he was the possessor of +a pair of grimy hands that nothing on earth could ever make clean, and +even when he washed them in benzine they always left black thumb +prints on a linen collar during the process of adjustment. He had long +since surrendered to his fate. + +At eight-fifty-four Mike Murphy arrived. Murphy was edging up into +the forties, but still he was young enough at heart to take a keen +interest in his personal appearance, and a tailor who belonged to +Michael's council of the Knights of Columbus had decked him out in +a suit of English tweeds of the latest cut and in most excellent +taste. + +"Good morning, captain," Cappy Ricks greeted him. "Ahead of time +as usual. Meet Mr. Terence Reardon, late chief of the _Arab_. +He is to be a shipmate of yours--chief of the _Narcissus_, +you know. + +"Mr. Reardon, shake hands with Captain Mike Murphy. Captain Murphy +has been in our employ a number of years as master of sail. The +_Narcissus_ will be his first command in steam." + +"Terence Reardon, eh?" echoed Mike Murphy pleasantly. "That sounds +like a good name. Glad to meet you, chief. What part of the old +country are you from? The West?" + +The wish was father to the thought, since Mike was from the West +himself. + +"I'm from the Nort'--from Belfast," Mr. Reardon replied in a deep +Kerry brogue, and extended a grimy paw upon the finger of which Mike +Murphy observed a gold ring that proclaimed Mr. Terence Reardon--an +Irishman, presumably a Catholic--one who had risen to the third +degree in Freemasonry. + +Cappy Ricks saw that ring also, and started visibly. A Knight +Templar himself, Terence Reardon was the last person on earth in +whom he expected to find a brother Mason. He glanced at Mike Murphy +and saw that the skipper was looking, not at Mr. Reardon, but at +the Masonic emblem. + +"Sit down, chief," Cappy hastened to interrupt. "Have a chair, +captain. Mr. Reardon, my son-in-law, Captain Peasley here, tells +me you were chief of the _Narcissus_ when she was on the China +run for the Oriental Steamship Company." + +Mr. Reardon sat down heavily, set his derby hat on the floor beside +him and replied briefly: "I was." + +Captain Murphy excused himself and drew Matt Peasley out of the +room. "God knows," he whispered hoarsely, "religion should never +enter into the working of a ship, and I suppose I'll have to get +along with that fellow; but did you mark the Masonic ring on the +paw of the Far-Down? And on the right hand, too! The jackass don't +know enough to wear it on his left hand." + +"Why, what's wrong about being a Mason?" Matt protested. "Cappy's +a Mason and so am I." + +"Nothing wrong about it--with you and Cappy Ricks. That's your +privilege. You're Protestants." + +"Well, maybe the chief's a Protestant, too," Matt suggested, but +Mike Murphy silenced him with a sardonic smile. + +"With that name?" he queried, and laughed the brief, mirthless +laugh of the man who knows. "And he says he's from Belfast! Man, +I could cut that Kerry brogue with a belaying pin." + +"Why, Mike," Matt interrupted, "I never before suspected you were +intolerant of a shipmate's private convictions. I must say this +attitude of yours is disturbing." + +"Why, I'm not a bigot," Murphy protested virtuously. "Who told +you that?" + +"Why, you're a Catholic, and you resent Reardon because he's a +Protestant." + +"Not a bit of it. You're a Protestant, and don't I love you like +a brother?" + +Matt thought he saw the light. "Oh, I see," he replied. "It's +because Reardon is an Irish Protestant." + +"Almost--but not quite. God knows I hate the Orangemen for what +they did to me and mine, but at least they've been Protestant since +the time of Henry VIII. But the lad inside there has no business +to be a Protestant. The Lord intended him for a Catholic--and he +knows it. He's a renegade. I don't blame you for being a Protestant, +Matt. It's none of my business." + +Matt Peasley had plumbed the mystery at last. He had been reading +a good deal in the daily papers about Home Rule for Ireland, +the Irish Nationalists, the Ulster Volunteers, the Unionists, and +so on, and in a vague way he had always understood that religious +differences were at the bottom of it all. He realized now that it +was something deeper than that--a relic of injustice and oppression; +a hostility that had come to Mike Murphy as a heritage from his +forbears--something he had imbibed at his mother's breast and was, +for purposes of battle, a more vital issue than the interminable +argument about the only safe road to heaven. + +"I see," Matt murmured. "Reardon, being Irish, has violated the +national code of the Irish--" + +"You've said it, Matt. They're Tories at heart, every mother's son +of them." + +"What do you mean--Tories?" + +"That they're for England, of course." + +"Well, I don't blame them. So am I. Aren't you, Mike?" + +"May God forgive you," Mike Murphy answered piously. "I am not. +I'm for their enemies. I'm for anything that's against England. +Ireland is not a colony. She's a nation. Man, man, you don't +understand. Only an Irishman can, and he gets it at his mother's or +his grandmother's knee--the word-of-mouth history of his people, +the history that isn't in the books! Do you think I can forget? Do +you think I want to forget?" + +"No," Matt Peasley replied quietly; "I think you'll have to forget-- +in so far as Terence Reardon is concerned. This is the land of the +free and the home of the brave, and even when you're outside the +three-mile limit I want you to remember, Mike, that the good ship +_Narcissus_ is under the American flag. The _Narcissus_ needs all her +space for cargo, Mike. There is no room aboard her for a feud. Don't +ever poke your nose into Terence Reardon's engine-room except on his +invitation or for the purpose of locating a leak. Treat him with +courtesy and do not discuss politics or religion when you meet him at +table, which will be about the only opportunity you two will have to +discuss anything; and if Reardon wants to talk religion or politics +you change your feeding time and avoid meeting him. I've taken you out +of the old _Retriever,_ Mike, where you've been earning a hundred and +twenty-five dollars a month, to put you in the _Narcissus_ at two +hundred and fifty. That is conclusive evidence that I'm for you. But +Terence Reardon is a crackajack chief engineer, and I want you to +remember that the Blue Star Navigation Company needs him in its +business quite as much as it needs Michael J. Murphy, and if you two +get scrapping I'm not going to take the trouble to investigate and +place the blame. I'll just call you both up on the carpet and make you +draw straws to see who quits." + +"Fair enough," replied the honest Murphy. "If I can't be good I'll +be as good as I can." + +At that very instant Cappy Ricks was just discovering what kind of +Irish Mr. Terence Reardon was. + +The most innocent remark brought him the information he sought. + +"Captain Murphy, whom you have just met, is to be master of the +_Narcissus,_ chief," he explained. "He's a splendid fellow +personally and a most capable navigator, and like you he's Irish. +I'm sure you'll get along famously together." + +Cappy tried to smile away his apprehension, for a still small voice +whispered to him and questioned the right of Terence Reardon to +call him brother. + +Mr. Reardon's sole reply to this optimistic prophecy was a +noncommittal grunt, accompanied by a slight outthrust and uplift of +the chin, a pursing of the lips and the ghost of a sardonic little +smile. Only an Irishman can get the right tempo to that grunt--and the +tempo is everything. In the case of Terence Reardon it said +distinctly: "I hope you're right, sir, but privately I have my +doubts." However, not satisfied with pantomime, Mr. Reardon went a +trifle farther--for reasons best known to himself. He laved the corner +of his mouth with the tip of a tobacco-stained tongue and said +presently: "I can't say, Misther Ricks, that I quite like the cut av +that fella's jib." + +That was the Irish of it. A representative of any other race on +earth would have employed the third person singular when referring +to the absent Murphy; only an Irishman would have said "that fella," +and only a certain kind of Irishman could have managed to inject +into such simple words such a note of scorn supernal. Cappy Ricks +got the message--just like that. + +"Then stay off his bridge, Reardon," he warned the chief. "Your +job is in the engine-room, so even if you and Captain Murphy do +not like each other, there will be no excuse for friction. The only +communication you need have with him is through the engine-room +telegraph." + +"Then, sor," Terence Reardon replied respectfully, "I'll take it +kindly av you to tell him to keep out av me engine-room. I'll have +no skipper buttin' in on me, tellin' me how to run me engines an' +askin' me why in this an' that I don't go aisy on the coal. Faith, +I've had thim do it--the wanst--an' the wanst only. Begorra, I'd +have brained thim wit' a monkey wrench if they tried it a second +time." + +"On the other hand," Cappy remarked, "I've had to fire more than +one chief engineer who couldn't cure himself of a habit of coming +up on the bridge when the vessel got to port--to tell the skipper +how to berth his ship against a strong flood tide. I suppose +that while we have steamships the skippers will always wonder how +the vessel can possibly make steerage way, considering the chief +engineers, while the chiefs will never cease marvelling that such +fine ships should be entrusted to a lot of Johnny Know-Nothings. +However, Reardon, I might as well tell you that the Blue Star +Navigation Company plays no favorites. When the chief and the +skipper begin to interfere with the dividends, they look overside +some bright day and see Alden P. Ricks waiting for them on the cap +of the wharf. And when the ship is alongside, the said Ricks comes +aboard with five bones in his pocket, and the said skipper and +the said chief are invited into the dining saloon to roll the said +bones--one flop and high man out. Yes, sir. Out! Out of the ship +and out of the Blue Star employ--for ever." + +"I hear you, sor. I hearrd you the first time," Terence Reardon +replied complacently and reached for his pipe. "All I ask from you +is a square deal. I'll have it from the captain wit'out the askin'." + +Thus the Reardon breathing his defiance. + +"I'm glad we understand each other, chief. Just avoid arguments, +political or religious, and treat the skipper with courtesy. Then +you'll get along all right. Now with reference to your salary. +The union scale is one hundred and fifty dollars a month--" + +"Beggin' yer pardon for the intherruption, sor, but the young man +promised me a hundhred an' siventy-five." + +"That was before the Blue Star Navigation Company took over the +young man and his ship _Narcissus._ Hereafter you'll deal with +the old man in such matters. I'm going to give you two hundred +a month, Reardon, and you are to keep the _Narcissus_ out of +the shop. Hear me, chief--out of the shop." + +"No man can ordher me to do me djooty," said Terence Reardon +simply. "Tell the fine gintleman on the bridge to keep her out av +the kelp, an' faith, she'll shtay out av the shop. Thank you kindly, +sor. When do I go to wurrk?" + +"Your pay started this morning. The _Narcissus_ goes on Christy's +ways in Oakland Harbor at the tip of the flood this afternoon. Get +on the ship and stay on her. It's a day-and-night rush job to get +her in commission, and you'll be paid time and a half while she's +repairing. Good-day and good luck to you, chief. Come in and see +me whenever you get to port." And Cappy Ricks, most democratic of +men, extended his hand to his newest employee. Terence Reardon took +it in his huge paw that would never be clean any more, and held it +for a moment, the while he looked fearlessly into Cappy's eyes. + +"'Tis a proud man I am to wurrk for you, sor," he said simply. +"Tip-top serrvice for tip-top pay, an' by the Great Gun av Athlone, +you'll get it from me, sor. If ever the ship is lost 'twill be no +fault of mine." + +Mr. Reardon's manner, as he thus calmly exculpated himself from +the penalty for future disaster, indicated quite clearly that Cappy +Ricks, in such a contingency, might look to the man higher up--on +the bridge, for instance. + +When Terence Reardon had departed Cappy Ricks called Mike Murphy +into the room. + +"Now, captain," he began, "there are a few things I want to tell +you. This man Reardon is a fine, loyal fellow, but he's touchy--" + +"I know all about him," Murphy interrupted with a slight emphasis +on the pronoun. Unlike Mr. Reardon he employed the third person +singular and did not say "that fella," for he had been raised in +the United States of America. + +"I have already given the captain his instructions," Matt Peasley +announced. "He understands the situation perfectly and will conduct +himself accordingly." + + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + + + +A small army of men swarmed over, under and through the huge +_Narcissus_ for the next three weeks, and the hearts of Cappy +Ricks and Matt Peasley were like to burst with pride as they stood +on the bridge with Captain Mike Murphy, while he ran the vessel +over the measured course to test her speed, and swung her in the +bay while adjusting her compass. She was as beautiful as money and +paint could make her, and when Terence Reardon, in calm disregard +of orders, came up on the bridge to announce his unbounded faith +in the rejuvenated condensers and to predict a modest coal bill +for the future, Mike Murphy so far forgot himself as to order the +steward to bring up a bottle of something and begged Mr. Reardon +to join him in three fingers of nepenthe to celebrate the occasion. + +"T'ank you, sor, but I never dhrink--on djooty," Mr. Reardon retorted +with chill politeness, "nor," he added, "wit' me immejiate superiors." + +A superficial analysis of this remark will convince the most sceptical +that Mr. Reardon, with true Hibernian adroitness, had managed to +convey an insult without seeming to convey it. + +"Isn't that a pity!" the skipper replied. "We'll excuse you to +attend to your duty, Mr. Reardon;" and he bowed the chief toward the +companion leading to the boat deck. The latter departed, furious, +with an uncomfortable feeling of having been out-generaled; and +once a good Irishman and true has undergone that humiliation it is +a safe bet that the Dove of Peace has lost her tail feathers. + +"That's an unmannerly chief engineer," Mike Murphy announced +blandly, "but for all that he's not without his good points. He'll +not waste money in his department." + +"A virtue which I trust you will imitate in yours, captain," Cappy +Ricks snapped dryly. "Is Reardon working short-handed?" + +"Only while we're loading, when he'll need just enough men to keep +steam up in the winches. When we go to sea, however, he'll have a +full crew, but the fun of it is they'll be non-union men with the +exception of the engineers and officers. The engineers will all +belong to the Marine Engineers' Association and the mates to Harbor +15, Masters' and Pilots' Association." + +"He'll do nothing of the sort," Matt Peasley declared quietly. "We +have union crews in all our other steamers, and the unions will +declare a strike on us if we put non-union men in the _Narcissus_." + +"Of course--if they find out. But they'll not. Besides, we're going +to the Atlantic Coast, so why should we bring a high-priced crew +into a low-priced market, Mr. Ricks? Leave it to me, sir. I'll load +the ship with longshoremen entirely, and we'll sail with the crew of +that German liner that came a few days ago to intern in Richardson's +Bay until the European war is over." + +"I'm not partial to the German cause," Matt Peasley announced. "So +I'll just veto that plan right now, Mike." + +"Matt, we're neutral," Cappy declared. + +"And it pays to ship those Germans, Matt," Murphy continued. "I +confess I'm for the Germans, although not to such an extent that I'd +go round offering them jobs just because they _are_ Germans. +But the minute I heard about that interned boat I said to myself: +'Now, here's a chance to save the _Narcissus_ some money. The +crew of that liner will all be discharged now that she is interned. +However, the local unions will not admit them to membership and +they cannot work on any Pacific Coast boat unless they hold union +cards. Consequently they must seek other occupations, and as the +chances are these fellows do not speak English, they're up against +it. Also, they are foreigners who have paid no head tax when coming +into the country, because they are seamen. They have the right to +land and stay ashore three months, if they state that it is their +intention to ship out again within that period; but if they do +not so ship, then the immigration authorities may deport them as +paupers or for failure to pay the head tax; and in that event they +will all be returned to the vessel that brought them here, and the +owners of the vessel will be forced to intern them and care for +them.' Under the circumstances, therefore, I concluded they would +jump at a job in an American vessel, for the reason that under +the American flag they would be reasonably safe; and even if the +_Narcissus_ should be searched by a British cruiser, she would +not dare take these Germans off her. Remember, we had a war with +England once for boarding our ships and removing seamen!" + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet," said Cappy Ricks, "there's +something in that, Matt." + +"There's a splendid saving in the pay roll, let me tell you," the +proud Murphy continued. "I took the matter up at once with the German +skipper and he fixed it for me, and mighty glad he was to get his +countrymen off his hands. We get all that liner's coal passers, +oilers, firemen, six deckhands and four quartermasters at the scale of +wages prevailing in Hamburg. I know what it is in marks, but I haven't +figured it out in dollars and cents, although whatever it is it's a +scandal! It almost cuts our pay roll in half." + +"Do you speak German, captain?" Cappy queried excitedly. + +"I do not, sir--more's the pity. But the four quartermasters speak +fair English, and I have engaged two good German-American mates who +speak German. Reardon has shipped German-American engineers and some +of his coal passers and firemen speak fair English. I've got two +Native Son Chinamen in the galley and a Cockney steward. We'll get +along." + +"And a rattling fine idea, too," Cappy Ricks declared warmly. "Mike, +my boy, you're a wonder. That's the spirit. Always keep down the +overhead, Matt. That's what eats up the dividends." + +"Well, I wouldn't agree to it if the _Narcissus_ wasn't going to be +engaged in neutral trade, or if she was carrying munitions of war to +the Allies," Matt declared. "I'd be afraid some of Mike's Germans +might blow up the ship." + +"Believe me," quoth Michael J. Murphy, "if she was engaged in +freighting munitions to England, it'd be a smart German that would get +a chance to blow her up. I think I'd scuttle her myself first." + +"Well, Mike, if your courage failed you," Cappy Ricks replied +laughingly, "I think we could safely leave the job to Terence +Reardon." + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + + + +On that first voyage the _Narcissus_ carried general cargo to northern +ports on the West Coast. Then she dropped down to a nitrate port and +loaded nitrate for New York, and about the time she passed through the +Panama Canal the Blue Star Navigation Company wired its New York agent +to provide some neutral business for her next voyage. Freights were +soaring by this time, due to the scarcity of the foreign bottoms which +formerly had carried Uncle Sam's goods to market, and Cappy Ricks and +Matt Peasley knew the rates would increase from day to day, and that +in consequence their New York agents would experience not the +slightest difficulty in placing her--hence they delayed as long as +they could placing her on the market. + +On the other hand, the New York agents, realizing that higher freight +rates meant a correspondingly higher commission for them on the +charter, held off until the _Narcissus_ had almost finished +discharging at Hoboken before they closed with a fine old New York +importing and exporting house for a cargo of soft coal from Norfolk, +Virginia, to Manila, or Batavia. The charterers were undecided which +of these two cities would be the port of discharge, and stipulated +that the vessel was to call at Pernambuco, Brazil, for orders. The New +York agents marvelled at this for--to them--very obvious reasons; but +inasmuch as the charterers had offered a whopping freight rate and +declined to do business on any other basis, and since further the +agent concluded it was no part of his office to question the motives +of a house that never before had been subjected to suspicion, he +concluded to protect himself by leaving the decision to the owners of +the _Narcissus_. Accordingly he wired them as follows: + +"Blue Star Navigation Company, + +"258 California St., San Francisco, Cal. + +"Have offer _Narcissus_, coal Norfolk Batavia or Manila, charterers +undecided, Pernambuco for orders, ten dollars per ton. Shall we close? +Answer. + +"SEABORN" + +2 boards, 1" x 8" and up, and too great a percentage of 4" x 6"-20' +No. 1 clear. And there were mighty few clear twenty-foot logs coming +into the boom these days. + +"Well, will a cat eat liver?" declared Cappy Ricks. "I should say we +do accept. Why, man, she'll make forty thousand dollars on the voyage, +and whether she goes to Batavia or Manila, we're certain to get a +cargo back." + +"All right, I'll wire acceptance," Skinner replied, and paused long +enough to make a notation on the message: "O.K.--Ricks." Mr. Skinner +meant nothing in particular by that. He was a model of efficiency, and +that was his little way of placing the responsibility for the decision +in the event that the wisdom of said decision should, at some future +time, be questioned. Mr. Skinner never took unnecessary chances. He +always played a safe game. + +It is necessary to state here also that Matt Peasley was not in the +office when that telegram arrived from Seaborn & Company. If he had +been this story would never have been written. He was down at Hunter's +Point drydock, superintending the repairs to the steam schooner Amelia +Ricks, which recently on a voyage to Seattle had essayed the overland +route via Duxbury Reef. When Matt reached home that night he found his +ingenious father-in-law fairly purring with contentment. + +"Well, Matt, old horse," Cappy piped, "I've chartered the Narcissus. +Norfolk to Batavia or Manila with coal. Got a glorious price--ten +dollars a ton. That's what we get for holding off until the last +minute." + +"That's encouraging," Matt answered pleasantly, and asked no further +questions. He was obsessed with the engines of the _Amelia Ricks_. It +was going to cost a lot of money to put them in condition again, and +he remarked as much to Cappy. Thus it happened that they entered into +a discussion of other matters, and the good ship _Narcissus_, having +finished discharging her cargo of nitrate, dropped down to Norfolk, +where Captain Michael J. Murphy proceeded to let a stream of coal into +her at a rate that promised to load her fully in less than four days. + +It is worthy of remark, at this juncture, that Mike Murphy and Terence +Reardon had, by this time, cast aside all appearance of even +shirt-sleeve diplomacy. Diplomatic relations had, in fact, been +completely severed. Crossing the Gulf Stream, Murphy had called the +engine-room on the speaking-tube and politely queried if Mr. Reardon +didn't think he could get a few more revolutions out of her. To this +Mr. Reardon had replied passionately that if such a thing were +possible he would have done it long ago without waiting to be told. He +desired to inform Captain Murphy that he knew his business; whereupon +Murphy had replied that he never would have guessed Mr. Reardon was +that intelligent, judging by the face of him. In disgust Mr. Reardon +had replied: "Aw, go to--" and then tried to close the speaking-tube +before the captain would have the opportunity to retort. However, +Michael J. knew his own mind, and, like all the Irish, was a marvel at +repartee. Quick as was Terence Reardon, therefore, Michael J. Murphy +was quicker. Perhaps all of his message had not been delivered before +Reardon closed the tube, but the chief got enough of it for all +practical purposes. + +He caught one word--"Renegade"; a word so terrible that it left the +chief engineer speechless with fury, and before he could call the +skipper a baboon, the golden opportunity was gone. He closed the tube +with a sigh. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + + + +While the _Narcissus_ was loading, the Fates were keeping in reserve +for Cappy Ricks, Matt Peasley and Mr. Skinner a blow that was to stun +them when it fell. About the time the _Narcissus_, fully loaded, was +snoring out to sea past Old Point Comfort, Matt Peasley came across +Seaborn & Company's telegram in the unanswered-correspondence tray on +his desk. Five times he read it; and then, in the language of the +poet, hell began to pop! + +Cappy Ricks came out of a gentle doze to find his big son-in-law +waving the telegram under his nose. + +"Why didn't you tell me?" Matt Peasley bawled, for all the world as if +Cappy was a very stupid mate and all the canvas had just been blown +out of the bolt-ropes. + +"Why didn't you ask me, you big stiff?" shrilled Cappy. He didn't know +what was coming, but instinct told him it was awful, so he resolved +instantly to meet it with a brave front. "Don't you yell at me, young +feller. Now then, what do you want to find out?" + +"Why didn't you tell me the _Narcissus_ was to drop in at Pernambuco +for orders?" roared Matt wrathfully. + +Cappy pursed his lips and calmly rang for Mr. Skinner. He eyed the +general manager over the rims of his spectacles for fully thirty +seconds. Then: + +"Skinner, what the devil's wrong with you of late? It's getting so I +can't trust you to do anything any more. Tut, tut! Not a peep out of +you, sir. Now then, answer me: Why didn't you tell me, Skinner, that +the _Narcissus_ was to call in at Pernambuco for orders?" + +"I read you the telegram, sir," Mr. Skinner replied coldly, and +pointed to the notation: "O.K.--Ricks," the badge of his infernal +efficiency. "I read that telegram to you, sir," he repeated, "and +asked you if I should close. You said to close. I closed. That's all I +know about it. You and Matt are in charge of the shipping and I +decline to be dragged into any disputes originating in your +department. All I have to say is that if you two can't run the +shipping end and run it right, just turn it over to me and I'll run +it--right!" + +Completely vindicated, Mr. Skinner struck a distinctly defiant +attitude and awaited the next move on the part of Cappy. The latter, +thoroughly crushed--for he knew the devilish Skinner never made any +mistakes--looked up at his son-in-law. + +"Well," he demanded, "what's your grouch against Pernambuco?" + +"Forgive me for bawling you out that way," Matt replied, "but I guess +you'd bawl, too, if somebody who should have known better had placed a +fine ship in jeopardy for you. It just breaks me all up to think you +may have lost my steamer _Narcissus_--the first steamer I ever owned +too--and to be lost on her second voyage under the Blue Star flag--" + +"Our _Narcissus_, if you please," Cappy shrilled. "You gibbering +jackdaw! Out with it! Where do you get that stuff--lose your steamer +on her second voyage! Why, she's snug in Norfolk this minute." + +"If she only is," Matt almost wailed, "she'll never be permitted to +clear with that German crew aboard. Pernambuco for orders! Suffering +sailor! And you, of all men, to put over a charter like that! +Pernambuco! Pernambuco! Pernambuco--for--orders! Do you get it?" + +"No, I don't. It's over my head and into the bleachers." + +"I must say, my dear Matt," Mr. Skinner struck in blandly, "that I +also fail to apprehend." + +"Didn't you two ever go to school?" Matt raved. "Didn't you ever +study geography? Why under the canopy should we waste our time and +burn up our good coal steaming to Pernambuco, Brazil, South America, +for orders? Let me put it to you two in words of one syllable: The +_Narcissus_ is chartered to carry a cargo of coal from Norfolk, +Virginia, to Batavia or Manila. At the time of charter--and +sailing--the charterers are undecided which port she is to discharge +at, so they ask us to step over to Pernambuco and find out. Now, +whether the vessel discharges at Batavia or Manila, her course in the +Atlantic Ocean while en route to either port is identical! She passes +round the Cape of Good Hope, which is at the extreme south end of +Africa. If her course, on the contrary, was round Cape Horn or through +the Straits of Magellan there might be some sense in sending her over +to the east coast of South America for orders. But whether she is +ordered to Manila or Batavia, the fact remains that she must put in to +Durban, South Africa, for fuel to continue her voyage; so why in the +name of the Flying Dutchman couldn't the charterers cable the orders +to Mike Murphy at Durban? The _Narcissus_ is worth a thousand dollars +a day, so you waste a few thousand dollars worth of her time, at the +very least, sending her to Pernambuco when a ten-dollar cablegram to +Durban would have done the business! I suppose all you two brilliant +shipping men could see was a ten-dollar-a-ton freight rate. Eh? +You--landlubbers! A-a-g-r-r-h! I was never so angry since the day I +was born." + +While Matt ranted on, Mr. Skinner's classic features had been slowly +taking on the general color tones of a ripe old Edam cheese, while at +the conclusion of Matt's oration Cappy Ricks' eyes were sticking out +like twin semaphores. He clasped his hands. + +"By the Twelve Ragged Apostles!" he murmured in an awed voice. +"There's a nigger in the woodpile." + +"I very greatly fear," Mr. Skinner chattered, "that you are mistaken, +Mr. Ricks. Something tells me it's a German!" + +"Well, well, well!" Matt Peasley sneered. "Skinner, take the head of +the class. Really, I believe I begin to pick up signs of human +intelligence in this sea of maritime ignorance." + +"Oh, Matt, quit your jawing and break the news to me quickly," Cappy +pleaded. + +"Haven't you been reading the papers, sir? Australian and Japanese +warships have been hunting for the German Pacific fleet for the past +few weeks, and the Germans have been on the dodge. Therefore, they've +been burning coal. They are only allowed to remain in a neutral port +twenty-four hours, and can only take on sufficient coal and stores to +enable them to reach the nearest German port. Consequently, since they +have been afraid to enter a neutral port, for fear of giving away +their position, it follows that they've had to stay at sea--and +naturally they have run short of coal. A few steamers have cleared +from San Francisco with coal, ostensibly for discharge at Chilean or +Mexican ports, but in reality for delivery to the German fleet at sea, +but even with these few deliveries, there is a coal famine. And now +that the Pacific is getting too hot for it, the general impression is +that the German fleet will try to get through the Straits of Magellan, +for, once in the Atlantic, coal will be easier to get. More ships, you +know; more ship-owners willing to take a chance for wartime +profits--and they say Brazil is rather friendly to the German cause. +We will assume, therefore, that the German secret agents in this +country realize it is inevitable that Von Spee's fleet must be forced +into the Atlantic; hence, in anticipation of that extremity, they are +arranging for the delivery of coal to those harassed cruisers. The +agent in Pernambuco is probably in constant communication with the +fleet by wireless; the fleet will probably come ranging up the coast +of South America, destroying British commerce, or some of the ships +may cross over to the Indian Ocean and join the _Emden_, raiding in +those waters. So the German secret agents charter our huge +_Narcissus_, load her with ten thousand tons of coal--" + +Matt Peasley paused and bent a beetling glance, first at Cappy Ricks +and then at Skinner. + +"Was she to carry soft coal or anthracite?" he demanded. + +"I don't know," Mr. Skinner quavered. + +"Search me!" Cappy Ricks piped up sourly. + +"I thought so. For the sake of argument we'll assume it's soft coal, +because anthracite has not as yet become popular as steamship fuel. +Well, we will assume our vessel gets to Pernambuco. If, in the +meantime, the German admiral wirelesses his Pernambuco agent, 'Send a +jag of coal into the Indian Ocean,' to the Indian Ocean goes the +_Narcissus_, and presently she finds a German warship or two or three +ranging along in her course. They pick her up, help themselves to her +coal, give Mike Murphy a certificate of confiscation for her cargo, to +be handed to the owners, who in this case will be good, loyal sons of +the Fatherland and offer no objection--" + +"I see," Cappy Ricks interrupted. "And if, on the other hand, the +German admiral says, 'Send a jag of coal to meet us in a certain +latitude and longitude off the River Plate,' and Mike Murphy objects, +that German crew on our _Narcissus_ will just naturally lock Mike +Murphy up in his cabin and take the vessel away from him! When they're +through with her they'll give her back--" + +"I'm not so certain they'll have to lock him up in his cabin in order +to get the ship," Mr. Skinner struck in, a note of alarm in his voice. +"Mike Murphy is so pro-German--" + +"Ow! Wow! That hurts," Cappy wailed. "So he is! I never thought of +that. And now that you speak of it, I recall it was his idea, getting +that crew of Germans aboard! He said it would cut down expenses. Holy +mackerel, Matt; do you think it was a frameup?" + +"Certainly I do, but--Mike Murphy wasn't in on it. You can bank on +that. No piratical foreigner will ever climb up on Mike Murphy's deck +except over Mike Murphy's dead body. According to the president +emeritus there is more than one kind of Irish, but I'll guarantee Mike +Murphy isn't the double-crossing kind." + +A boy entered with a telegram. It was a day letter filed by Mike +Murphy in Norfolk that morning, and Matt Peasley read it aloud: + +"Sailing at noon. Regret your failure take me into your confidence +when deciding withdraw vessel from neutral trade. If orders send me to +either of ports named in charter party and I am overhauled _en route_, +that is your funeral. If orders conflict with charter party, as I +suspect they may, that may be my funeral. Regretfully I shall resign +at Pernambuco. You know your own business, and I cannot believe you +would go it blind; if you change your mind before arrival Pernambuco, +cable care American Consul and will do my best for you. + +"M. J. M." + +Gappy Ricks sprang into the air and tried to crack his aged ankles +together. + +"Saved!" he croaked. "By the Holy Pink-toed Prophet! Saved! Bully for +Mike Murphy! Say, when that fellow gets back, if I don't do something +handsome for him--" + +Matt Peasley's scowls had been replaced by smiles. + +"God bless his old Mickedonian heart!" he said fervently. "He thinks +the coal is for that British fleet reported to be _en route_ across +the Atlantic to give battle to the German Pacific fleet; or for +Admiral Craddock's Pacific fleet in case the Germans chase it back +into the Atlantic. He knows that we know he is pro-German and for +anything that's against England--and if he makes up his mind the coal +is for the British fleet he'll resign before delivering it! By Judas, +this would be funny if it wasn't so blamed serious." + +"To be forewarned is to be forearmed," Mr. Skinner quoted sagely. "It +is most fortunate for us that Murphy's suspicions do us a grave +injustice. We know now that he will call on the American consul at +Pernambuco and ask for a cablegram." + +"Yes, and by thunder! we'll send it," Cappy declared joyously. "Cable +him, Skinner, to fire that German crew so fast one might play checkers +on their coat tails as they go overside." + +"I wish to heaven I could wireless him to put back to New York and +ship a new crew," Matt Peasley mourned. "There's just a possibility +that German crew of his may take over the ship on the high seas and +not put into Pernambuco at all!" + +"We can only wait and pray," said Mr. Skinner piously. + +Cappy Ricks slid out to the edge of his chair and, pop-eyed with +horror, gazed at his son-in-law over the rims of his spectacles. + +"Matt," he declared, "you're as cheerful as a funeral. Here we have +this thing all settled, and you have to go to work and rip the silver +lining out of our cloud of contentment. And the worst of it is, by +golly, I think there's something in that theory of yours after all." + +"We should always be prepared to meet the worst, Mr. Ricks," Mr. +Skinner admonished the president emeritus. "While piracy as a practice +practically perished prior to the--" + +"Skinner! In the fiend's name, spare us this alliteration and humbug," +Cappy fairly shrieked. "You're driving me crazy. If it isn't +platitude, it's your dog-gone habit of initialing things!" He placed +his old elbows on his knees and bowed his head in his hands. "If I'm +not the original Mr. Tight Wad!" he lamented. "But you must forgive +me, Matt. I got in the habit of thinking of expense when I was young, +and I've never gotten over it. You know how a habit gets a grip on a +man, don't you, Matt? Oh, if you had only overruled me when I decided +to save money by cutting out the wireless on the _Narcissus!_ I +remember now you wanted it, and I said: 'Well, what's the use? The +_Narcissus_ hasn't any passenger license and she doesn't have to have +wireless--so why do something we don't have to do?' Skinner, you +should have known enough--" + +"I am managing the lumber end of the business, Mr. Ricks," Skinner +retorted icily. + +"Never mind what you're managing. You're my balance wheel. I've raised +you for that very purpose. I've been twenty-five years breaking you in +to your job of relieving me of my business worries--and you don't do +it. No, you don't, Skinner. Don't deny it, now. You don't. I pay you +to boss me, but do you do it? No, sir. You let me have my own +way--when I'm round you're afraid to say your soul's your own. You two +boys know blamed well I'm an old man and that an old man will make +mistakes. It is your duty to watch me. I pay the money, but I don't +get the service. When Matt argued with me about the wireless you sided +in with me, Skinner. You've got that infernal saving habit, too--drat +you! Don't deny it, Skinner. I can see by the look in your eye you're +fixing to contradict me. You're as miserable a miser as I am--afraid +to spend five cents and play safe--you penurious--er--er--fellow! +Skinner, if you ever forget yourself long enough to give three hoots +in hell you'll want one of them back. See now what your niggardly +policy has done for us? At a time when we'd hock our immortal souls +for a wireless to talk to Mike Murphy and tell him things, where are +we?" Cappy snapped his fingers. "Up Salt Creek--without a paddle!" + +"Come, come," Matt said soothingly, "As Skinner says, we can only wait +and pray--" + +"All right. You two do the praying. I'm going to sit here and cuss." + +"Well, we'll hope for the best, Mr. Ricks. No more crying over spilled +milk now. I'll figure out when the _Narcissus_ is due at Pernambuco +and cable Mike to let his crew go. And you know, sir, even if he +should not receive our cablegram, we have still one hope left. True, +it is a forlorn one, but it's worth a small bet. The crew of the +_Narcissus_ is not all German. There are--" + +"Two pro-German Irishmen, two disinterested Native Son Chinamen and a +little runt of a Cockney steward," Cappy sneered. "And she carries a +crew of forty, all told. Matt, those odds are too long for any bet of +mine. Besides, Reardon and Murphy hate each other. A house divided +against itself, you know--" + +"They might bang each other all over the main deck," Matt replied +musingly, "but I'll bet they'll fight side by side for the ship. Of +course we haven't known Terence Reardon very long; he may be a bad one +after all; but Mike Murphy will go far. He's as cunning as a pet fox, +and he may make up in strategy what he lacks in numbers." + +"The Irish are so filled with blarney--" Skinner began, but Cappy cut +him short with a terrible look. + +"There goes some more of our silver lining," he rasped. "Skinner, what +are you? A kill-joy? Now, just for that, I'm going to agree with Matt. +A man has got to believe something in this world or go crazy, and I +prefer to believe that the ship is safe with those two Hibernians +aboard--win, lose or draw. And I want you two to quit picking on me; I +don't want the word '_Narcissus_' mentioned in my presence until the +ship is reported confiscated by the British, if her coal is for the +Germans, or by the Germans, if her coal is for the British--which it +isn't--or until Mike Murphy reports at Manila or Batavia and cables us +for orders." + +"I'm with you there, sir," Matt Peasley declared. "I'm going to bank +on the Irish, and refuse to believe it possible for the _Nar_--for a +certain vessel flying our house-flag to be caught by the wrong +warship, a couple of thousand miles off her course and with coal, or +evidences of coal, in her cargo space. Buck up, Skinner. A little +Christian Science here, boy. Just make up your mind no man in +authority is going to come over the rail of the--of a certain +vessel--and ask Mike Murphy or his successor _pro tem._, for a look at +his papers!" + +"If she ever is confiscated on an illegal errand," Skinner mourned, +"and Mike Murphy has nothing more tangible than a dime-novel tale of +coercion as an excuse for being in that latitude and longitude--well, +we'll never get our bully big ship back again!" + +And for the first time in his life the efficient Mr. Skinner so far +forgot himself as to swear in the office! + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + + + +Throughout the long, lazy days that the _Narcissus_ rolled into the +South, Captain Michael J. Murphy's alert brain was busy every spare +moment, striving to discover, in the incomprehensible charter his +owners had made for him, what the French call _la raison d'etre._ Not +having any wireless, he was unable to keep in touch with the stirring +events being enacted in Europe and on the high seas, as news of the +said events filtered by him through space. While on the West Coast, +where all the newspapers are printed in Spanish, he had been equally +barred from keeping in touch with the war, although _en route_ through +the Panama Canal he did his best to buy up all the old newspapers on +the Zone. + +Upon arrival in New York with his cargo of nitrate, his anxiety to +make a record in his first command in steam caused him to stay on the +job every moment the _Narcissus_ was discharging, for Cappy Ricks had +impressed upon him, as he impressed upon every skipper in the Blue +Star employ, the fact that a slow boat is slow paying dividends. +Consequently, the worthy captain had had no time to acquaint himself +with the movements of the various fleets, and when he sent his day +letter to his owners on the morning of the day he sailed from Norfolk +for Pernambuco, his action was predicated, not on what he knew, but on +what he felt. The sixth sense that all real sailors possess warned him +that his cargo of coal was not destined for Batavia nor yet Manila, +but for delivery at sea to the warships of some foreign nation. +Devoutly Michael J. hoped it wasn't for the British fleet, since in +such a contingency he would be cruelly torn between his love and duty. +Consequently he resolved that, should the choice of alternatives be +forced upon him, he would steer a middle course and resign his +command. + +On the other hand, Mike Murphy knew Matt Peasley and Cappy Ricks to be +intensely pro-Ally in their sympathies, despite the President's +proclamation of neutrality and the polite requests of the +motion-picture houses for their audiences to remain perfectly quiet +while Field-Marshal von Hindenburg, Sir John French and General Joffre +came on the screen and bowed. Under the circumstances, therefore, +Murphy found it very difficult to suspect his owners of conspiring to +deliver a cargo of coal to the German fleet at sea. No, indeed! Matt +Peasley and Cappy Ricks were too intensely American for that; indeed, +Cappy was always saying he hoped to see an American mercantile marine +established before he should be gathered to the bosom of Abraham. + +From whatever angle the doughty skipper viewed it, therefore, the +tangle became more and more incomprehensible. Cappy and Matt knew full +well the rules of the game as promulgated by their Uncle Samuel, and +the dire penalties for infraction. However, granted that they knew +they could scheme successfully to evade punishment at the hands of +their own government, Mike Murphy knew full well that no man could +guarantee immunity from the right of a belligerent warship to visit +and search, or from confiscation or months of demurrage in a prize +court in the event that his ship's papers and the course the vessel +was travelling failed to justify her presence in that particular +longitude and latitude. And with the huge profits to be made in +neutral trade, it seemed incomprehensible that a sound business man +like Cappy Ricks should assume all these risks for the sake of a +little extra money. Surely he must realize that if he sent her on an +illegal errand her war-risk insurance would not hold. + +On the other hand, it appeared to Murphy that the charter must have +been consummated with the full knowledge and consent of the Blue Star +Navigation Company, for the veriest tyro in the shipping business +could not have failed to be suspicious of that clause in the charter +party, stipulating a call at Pernambuco for orders. Of course there +was the possibility that this acquiescence had been due to +misrepresentation on the part of the New York agents or rank stupidity +on the part of the Blue Star Navigation Company. But Seaborn & Company +were above a shady deal. In putting through the charter for the Blue +Star Navigation Company it might have occurred to them that all was +not as it should be, but that was none of their business. If they +spread their hand and permitted Cappy Ricks an unobstructed view, it +was up to Cappy to decide and order them to close or reject the +charter. As for stupidity on the part of the Blue Star Navigation +Company, Murphy knew full well that stupidity was the crime Cappy +Ricks found it hardest to forgive. Even had Cappy overlooked that +suspicious clause in the charter, because of his age, Matt Peasley's +youth and practical maritime knowledge should have offset Cappy's +error; and even if both had erred, there still remained the matchless +Skinner, as suspicious as a burglar, as keen as a razor, as infallible +as a chronometer. + +No, it just didn't seem possible that the Blue Star Navigation Company +had gone into the deal with eyes wide open; on the contrary, it seemed +equally impossible that they had gone into it with their eyes shut. +Consequently Michael J. decided to wake them up--provided they slept +on the job--and to give them an opportunity to repent before it should +be too late. + +He felt very much better after sending that telegram, but as the +_Narcissus_ ploughed steadily south at the rate of two hundred and +thirty miles a day, he began to grieve because he had no wireless to +bring him a prompt reply; he berated himself for not waiting at the +dock in Norfolk until his owners should have had an opportunity to +answer; he abused himself for his timidity in questioning the judgment +of his owners, for indeed he had been content to hint when more +decisive action was demanded. + +How Michael J. Murphy yearned to discuss his problem with some one as +loyal and devoted to the Blue Star Navigation Company as himself! His +dignity as master of the _Narcissus_, however, bade him refrain from +discussing the integrity of his owners with his mates--particularly +with new mates, to whom the house-flag stood for naught but a symbol +of monthly revenue. In fact, of the forty-one men under him, there was +but one with whom he could, with entire dignity, discuss the matter. +That man was Terence Reardon. But even here he was barred, for since +he had called the chief engineer a renegade, the only possible +discussion that could obtain between them now must be anything but +academic; in consequence of which Michael J. Murphy was forced to hug +his apprehensions to himself until the _Narcissus_ steamed slowly into +the outer harbor of Pernambuco. Ten minutes after she dropped her big +hook the skipper's suspicions were crystallized into certainty. + +Just as she came to anchor the steward appeared on deck, vociferously +beating his triangle to announce supper--for at sea dinner is always +supper. + +"Mr. Schultz," the captain called from the bridge, "as soon as your +men have had their supper clear away the working boat. I'm going +ashore." + +"Very vell, sir," Mr. Schultz replied heartily, and the captain went +below to supper. He was scarcely seated before Mr. Schultz stuck his +head in the dining saloon window and announced that a gentleman who +claimed to represent the charterers was alongside in a launch and +desired to come aboard and speak with him. + +"Let down the accommodation ladder, Mr. Schultz, and when the +gentleman comes aboard, show him round to my state-room," the skipper +answered. "I'll meet him there in a pig's whisper. It is probable he +has come aboard with our orders, Mr. Schultz, so never mind clearing +away the boat until I speak to you further about it. Steward, set an +extra cover at my right. We may have a guest for supper." + +He hurried round to his state-room and donned a uniform coat to +receive his visitor. Mr. Schultz came presently, bearing a +visiting-card upon which was engraved the name: Mr. August Carl von +Staden. Behind the mate a sailor with a bulging suitcase stood at +attention; two more sailors stood behind the first, a steamer trunk +between them, and as Captain Murphy stepped out on deck to greet his +visitor he observed a tall, athletic, splendid-looking fellow coming +leisurely toward him along the deck. The stranger carried a large +Gladstone bag. + +The captain bowed. "I am the skipper of this big box," he announced +pleasantly. "Murphy is my name." + +Herr von Staden shook hands and in most excellent English, without the +slightest trace of a German accent, expressed his pleasure in the +meeting. The captain cast a glance of frank curiosity at the bag von +Staden carried and at the baggage the sailors had in tow. Von Staden +interpreted the glance and smiled. + +"I have brought you your orders, Captain Murphy. They are contained +in this envelope;" and he handed a blank envelope to the captain. +"However, I happened to know that one of the orders is to provide a +berth for me. I'm to go with you as supercargo." + +"I hadn't heard anything about such a possibility," Mike Murphy +replied, with just a shade of formality in his tones. He turned to the +first mate: "Mr. Schultz, will you be good enough to see to it that +Mr. von Staden's baggage is stowed in the owners' suite. Then tell the +steward to see that our guest's quarters are put in order. Mr. von +Staden, will you kindly step into my stateroom here while I read these +orders?" + +Von Staden nodded. Entering the captain's room he sat down on the +settee and lighted a gold-tipped cigarette, while Murphy tore open the +envelope. It contained a cablegram reading as follows: + +"Von Staden & Ulrich,--Pernambuco, Brazil,--Ornillo Montevideo. + +"BLUESTAR." + +The captain reached for his telegraphic-code book. When decoded the +message read: + +"Instruct captain to proceed to Montevideo and there await further +orders. + +"BLUE STAR NAVIGATION COMPANY." + +The cablegram had been filed at San Francisco two days before. Murphy +looked keenly at his guest, who smoked tranquilly and returned the +look without interest. + +"Mr. von Staden," the captain announced, "these are strange orders, in +view of the fact that I cleared from New York for Manila or Batavia, +via the Cape of Good Hope. It would be a sure sign of bad luck to the +steamer _Narcissus_ if a British cruiser should pick her up off the +coast of Uruguay." + +Von Staden smiled. "You are very direct, captain--very blunt indeed. +This is a characteristic more Teutonic than Celtic, I believe, so I +shall experience no embarrassment in being equally frank with you. +Your cargo of coal is designed for our German Pacific fleet." + +"I guessed as much, sir. Nevertheless, my owners did not see fit to +take me into their confidence in this illegal undertaking, Mr. von +Staden--" + +"They did not think it necessary," von Staden interrupted smilingly. +"In fact, Captain Peasley assured our people in New York that your +sympathies are so overwhelming in favor of our cause we need +anticipate no worry as to the course you would pursue. Moreover, in +the event of a judicial inquiry it would be an advantage if you could +say that you had had no voice in the matter, but had been instructed +to obey the orders of the charterers--of whom we are the agents in +Pernambuco. Perhaps this cablegram will allay your fears," and he drew +an unopened cablegram from his pocket and handed it to Murphy. It was +a code cablegram, signed by the Blue Star Navigation Company and +addressed to Murphy in care of von Staden & Ulrich. When decoded it +read: + +"Execute the orders of supercargo if possible. It may lead to further +business. Charterers must take the risk. We do not think there is any +risk. Please remain." + +This cablegram was signed "Matt." + +"Well, captain?" von Staden queried politely. + +"I don't like this business at all," the captain replied. "My owners +may think there is no risk, but I'm afraid. England controls the +seas--" + +"We are in possession of the secret code of the British Navy, Captain +Murphy. We know the approximate location of every British warship in +the Atlantic and Pacific--and I assure you there is no risk." + +"Well, my boss informs me the charterers assume the risk, so I suppose +I shouldn't worry over the Blue Star Navigation Company's end of the +gamble. They know their own business, I dare say. Evidently they +feared I might want to resign, so I have been asked to remain; and +when Captain Peasley says 'please' to me, Mr. von Staden, I find it +very, very hard to refuse." + +"I am glad, for the sake of our selfish interests, my dear captain, to +find you so loyal to your owners' financial interests," the supercargo +replied heartily. "Now that you have decided to remain, I need not +point out to you the danger of a resignation at this time. It might +lead to some unlooked-for developments which might prejudice your +owners, although I think they have covered their tracks very +effectually. Nevertheless, it is not well to take the slightest +risk--" + +"Without being well paid for it," Murphy interrupted sneeringly. "My +owners have been well paid for their risk, but where do I come in? I +haven't been promised double my usual salary, or a split on the +profits of the voyage; and I know if I were to command a vessel loaded +with munitions of war I would not be asked to take her into the North +Sea at the customary skipper's wages. I'd be offered a large bonus." + +"You forget, my dear captain, that your charterers assume all the +risks. One of them was the risk that you might resign unless you +received adequate compensation. I came aboard prepared to insure that +risk," and he touched with his toe the Gladstone bag. "What do you say +to $5,000?" + +Michael J. Murphy smiled. "It is pleasant, sir," he said, "to be paid +$5,000 for doing something one yearns to do for nothing. I am not a +hog. Five thousand dollars is sufficient. How do I get it--and when?" + +"In gold coin of the United States, or gold certificates of the same +interesting country, my dear captain, and you may have it +immediately." Again Herr von Staden kicked the Gladstone bag. + +"I'll take it in gold certificates. And in order that my dear old +father and mother may have the benefit of my rascality in case +anything unforeseen should arise to prevent my return, I suggest you +hand over the boodle this minute, and I'll go ashore and express it +home." + +"Captain Murphy, you are a man after my own heart--" + +"I am not a born fool, sir," Murphy interrupted. "I'm accepting this +money to be a fool, well knowing it is foolish to do it, for still I +am taking a risk. I am thirty-eight years old, Mr. von Staden, and a +skipper as young as that has his future all before him. Set him down +on the beach, however, with his ticket revoked for all time--and his +future is behind him." + +"In that event," the supercargo replied, "you might accept my +assurance, without questioning my authority for such assurance, that +you would have no difficulty in procuring a remunerative position +ashore. The firm of von Staden & Ulrich could use you very handily." + +"Thank you, sir. Consider the matter settled. Will you come ashore +with me, sir, and dine, or would you prefer to have supper aboard?" + +"I beg of you to be excused from going ashore, captain. I have much +to do to-night. The launch which brought me alongside has a +knocked-down wireless plant aboard, and I am anxious to have it set up +on your good ship _Narcissus_--a task I shall have to oversee +personally. I shall probably work all night." + +"Praise be!" Michael J. Murphy answered heartily. "We'll have some +interest in life now. We can get all the war news, going and coming, +can't we? Have you brought along an operator?" + +"I am an operator," the supercargo answered. "By the by, can you fix +me up with a wireless room?" + +"There are two staterooms and a bath in the owners' suite which you +will occupy. You can take your choice." + +"Good. I shall want to sleep close to my instrument." + +He opened the bag, counted out five one-thousand-dollar gold +certificates of the United States of America and handed them to the +captain. + +"The grand old rag," Michael J. murmured. "How many rascals fight +under the flag of old King Spondulics!" + +"I believe you have an Irish chief engineer," von Staden continued. +"While I understand his sympathies are with us, still it seems only +right to compensate--" + +"Suit yourself, Mr. von Staden." + +"What kind of a man is he, captain?" + +"I'd hate to tell you. I've had little to do with him, but that little +was enough. We avoid each other as much as possible and never speak +except in the line of duty. I make no bones of the fact that I think +he's a scrub." + +Mr. von Staden nodded sagely. "Perhaps I'd better wait and get +acquainted with him," he suggested, and closed his bag. Murphy showed +him to his quarters, which the steward, under the first mate's +supervision, was already setting in order; and, having decided to set +up the wireless in the sleeping-room, von Staden accompanied the +skipper round to superintend the taking on board of the wireless plant +from the gasoline launch bobbing alongside. When the equipment was +finally hoisted to the deck of the _Narcissus_, Michael J, Murphy +boarded the launch and was whisked ashore for the avowed purpose of +sending to his aged parents the fruits of his elastic conscience. + +Herr August Carl von Staden stood at the head of the accommodation +ladder and smiled as the launch disappeared into the tropic twilight. +Then he said something in German to Mr. Schultz, who laughed. +Evidently it was very good news, for even the quartermaster at the +companion ladder smiled covertly. It is possible they would not have +felt so cheerful had they known that Michael J. Murphy's "dear old +father and mother" had been sleeping in a Boston cemetery some fifteen +years, and that their last words to Michael had been an exhortation to +remember that manliness and honor must be his only heritage. And as +the launch bore him shoreward, he looked back and grinned at the dim, +duck-clad figure of von Staden. + +"Your agents looked me up, my hearty," he soliloquized, "and if they +did their work half well, they told you I was an honest man. Only a +crook comes with a bag of gold to talk illegitimate business with an +honest man. I'm banking you're as crooked as a bed spring, and that +there's something fishy about this enterprise. Cappy Ricks isn't fully +informed, otherwise he wouldn't be doing business with a crook!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + + + +Arrived ashore, Captain Murphy hurried to the cable office, registered +his cable address, borrowed a code book and sent a code telegram to +his owner. Then, having subsidized the operator liberally to rush it, +Michael J. Murphy set out for a stroll among the limited attractions +of Pernambuco. His cablegram would get through in two hours at the +very most, and though the captain figured the Blue Star offices would +be closed when the message reached San Francisco, still he was not +discouraged. He knew the cable company always telephoned to Mr. +Skinner, at his home, all Blue Star and Ricks Lumber & Logging +messages arriving after office hours and before midnight. Naturally +Skinner could be depended upon to have a copy of the code at home, and +if he didn't Murphy knew he would rush down to the office, no matter +what the hour, and decode it there. Of course he would cable his reply +immediately, in which event it might be that the captain would have an +answer shortly after midnight or by breakfast at the latest. + +He decided, therefore, to return to the cable office about midnight +and await the reply to his cablegram. He had proceeded but a few +blocks from the cable office, however, before a disturbing thought +struck him with such force as to bring him to an abrupt pause. + +_His owners had cabled him in care of von Staden & Ulrich, when in the +telegram sent just before sailing from Norfolk he had instructed them +to cable him in care of the American consul._ Murphy's native +shrewdness had made him suspicious of von Staden the instant the +latter had so nonchalantly offered him a bribe of five thousand +dollars, for the proffer of a bribe of that magnitude, without any +preliminary bargaining, did not co-ordinate with Michael's idea of +business. Certainly if the charterers had his owners "fixed," five +thousand dollars was too much money to give their captain, +particularly since there were available any number of capable rascals +eager to do the job for twenty-five hundred, and the devil take the +consequences. + +At the time von Staden had handed him the two cablegrams from the Blue +Star Navigation Company, no suspicion that they were forgeries had +entered the captain's mind; indeed, Matt Peasley's cablegram to him +appeared at first blush to be an answer to the telegram which Murphy +had sent his owners from Norfolk. In that telegram Murphy had +mentioned his suspicions and hinted at unwarranted risks and the +possibility of the circumstances attending the delivery of his cargo +forcing his resignation. Matt's cablegram handed him by von Staden +urged him to remain in the ship and assured him there were no risks; +that if there were, the charterers assumed them. For the nonce, +therefore, the master's mind did not dwell on any doubts as to the +genuineness of the orders he had received, even though he decided +instantly as a precautionary measure to confirm them before proceeding +to carry them out. This, however, was merely because he was suspicious +of von Staden and desired to obviate the possibility of that +individual's double-crossing the Blue Star Navigation Company. + +Under the circumstances, therefore, he had considered it good policy +to appear to fall readily in line, and, the better to disarm von +Staden's watchfulness, he had demanded extra compensation. The ease +with which the bribe had been secured having crystallized his +suspicions, instantly he had cast about in his ingenious brain for a +good sound excuse for going ashore and cabling his owners. To demand +his bribe in advance and then announce that he would go ashore and +express it to those dependent upon him, in case he failed to return +and enjoy it himself, seemed to present a reason that would not be +questioned and accordingly he had done so. + +Michael J. Murphy removed his uniform cap and thoughtfully scratched +his head. "Now why," he demanded of the scented night, "did Matt cable +me in care of that German firm when he must have known I would call on +the American consul in the expectation of finding a cablegram there?" +He shook his head. "They've got us winging, Michael," he soliloquized, +"so I suppose the only thing to do is to play safe, call upon the +American consul immediately if not sooner, and ask if he has a +cablegram for us." + +And without further ado the worthy fellow sprang into a cab and was +whirled away to the residence of the American consul. Yes, the consul +had a cablegram for him, but it was at his office. Could Captain +Murphy not wait until morning? + +Most emphatically Captain Murphy could not. That cablegram was +important; it meant a great deal of money and possibly life or death-- + +Regretfully the consul entered the cab with the captain, drove to the +consulate and delivered the cable-gram to the eager mariner, who swore +when he discovered it was in cipher and not code, for this +necessitated immediate return to the _Narcissus_ in order to obtain +the key to the cipher. He thanked the consul and sent the latter home +in the cab, while he hurried for the harbor front and the nearest boat +landing. He was filled with apprehension, for indeed there was +something radically wrong when his owners cabled him in the secret +cipher of the Blue Star Navigation Company--something the company +had, doubtless, never found occasion to do before. For while each +vessel of the Blue Star fleet had a copy of the A.L. code aboard, with +the cipher key typewritten and pasted on the second fly-leaf, not a +single Blue Star skipper knew why it had been pasted there or why the +company should have gone to the trouble of getting up any one of the +hundreds of secret ciphers possible to be developed from the A. L. +Telegraphic Code. This was a secret that lay locked in the breast of +Mr. Skinner. It is probable, however, that it had occurred to him in +an idle moment that a secret cipher might come in handy some day, and +Mr. Skinner believed in being prepared for emergencies. + +The captain bade the launch wait for him at the accommodation ladder, +while he hurried round to his state-room and promptly fell to work on +Mr. Skinner's cipher cablegram. When he had laboriously deciphered it +this is what he read: + +"Unaccountably failed note suspicious clause charter. Something +rotten. We are playing square game. Think plot deliver coal German +fleet South Atlantic. Discharge your German crew immediately, first +notifying Brazilian authorities and American consul. Have help when +you notify them game is off, otherwise may take vessel away from +you. They will stop at nothing; fleet desperate for coal. Cable +acknowledgment these orders; also cable when orders fulfilled. Very +anxious. "BLUE STAR NAVIGATION COMPANY." + +"Ah-h-h!" breathed Michael J. Murphy softly, but very distinctly. "So +that's the game, eh?" His big square chin set viciously; +subconsciously he clenched his hard fist and shook it at his enemies. +"The cunning Dutch devils!" he murmured very audibly, and at that +precise instant Herr August Carl von Staden stood in the open doorway. +He coughed, and Murphy glanced up from the translation of the cipher +message just in time to note a swift shadow pass over the supercargo's +face, a shadow composed of equal parts of suspicion, embarrassment and +desperation. + +"You have returned very promptly, captain," he remarked smoothly, and +then his restless glance fell on the cablegram and beside it the +scratch pad and the two parallel columns of words scrawled on it. A +man of far less intelligence than von Staden possessed would, have +realized as quickly that the first column was composed of cipher +words, while the second column was the translation. From this +tell-tale evidence his suspicious glance lifted to the skipper's face, +and he read in Michael J. Murphy's black eyes the wild rage which no +Irishman could have concealed--which the majority of his race would +not even have taken the trouble to endeavor to conceal. + +In that glance each learned the other's secret; each realized that the +success of his plans depended on the silence of the other; each +resolved instantly to procure that silence at any cost. Von Staden +reached for his hip pocket, but before he could draw his automatic +pistol and cover the skipper, Michael J. Murphy had hurled ten pounds +of code book into the geometric centre of the supercargo's face. It +was the first weapon his hand closed over, and he did not disdain it. +The instant it landed and von Staden reeled before the blow, Murphy +came out of his state-room with a scuttering rush and von Staden fired +as he came. The captain felt the sting of the bullet as it creased the +top of his left shoulder; then his right fist came up in a blow that +started at his hip and landed fairly under the supercargo's heart. Von +Staden grunted once, the pistol dropped clattering to the deck and he +folded up like an accordion. For him the battle was over. + +Not so, however, with Mike Murphy. Gone to the winds now was the +caution he would have exercised had the attack been delayed two +seconds longer; forgotten was the shrewd advice of his owners to have +help standing by when the ship cleaning should commence. Michael J. +Murphy thought of nothing but blood, for the fight had started now and +he was loath to have it cease. + +"You bloody murderer!" he growled. "You'd kill me and steal my ship, +would you?" And with the reckless abandon of a sailor he planted the +broad toe of a number nine boot in Herr von Staden's short ribs, +hoping to break a few, for in the process of working his way up from +the bottom Michael had fought under deep-sea rules too often to be +squeamish now. So he kicked Herr von Staden again, after which a +glimmer of reason penetrated his hot head and he walked to pick up the +supercargo's automatic pistol. Then something landed on him from above +and he went down backward. His head struck the deck with a resounding +thump, and Michael J. Murphy had a through ticket to the Land of Nod +and no stop-over privileges. + +The something which had thus inopportunely dropped on Michael was Mr. +Henckel, the second mate. He had gone up on the bridge to see if the +canvas jacket had been dropped over the brightly polished brass +engine-room telegraph apparatus at each end of the bridge, in order to +protect it from the tropical dew. While thus engaged he had heard the +shot which von Staden fired at the captain, and forthwith had run +across the top of the house and peered over to discover what was +happening on the deck below. Discovering the captain in the act of +kicking a distinguished son of the Fatherland in that fragile section +of the human anatomy frequently referred to as the "slats," the second +mate had stood a moment, immobile with horror, the while he gazed upon +the fearful scene. Then the captain walked to a spot on the deck +directly beneath the position occupied by his subordinate, and stooped +to pick something up. + +Even their enemies are proud of the dash and gallantry, the utter +contempt for consequences, which animate the German going into battle, +and Mr. Henckel, second mate of the S.S. _Narcissus_, was as fine a +German as one could find in a day's travel. The instant Michael J. +Murphy stooped to recover von Staden's automatic pistol, therefore, +Mr. Henckel saw his duty and, in the language of the elect, "he went +an' done it"--the which was absurdly simple. He merely leaped down off +the house on top of the captain, and forthwith deep peace and profound +silence brooded over the good ship _Narcissus_, of San Francisco. + +It is worthy of remark here that Mr. Terence Reardon who, had he been +present, might have had something to say--not that his action would +indicate that he despised Mike Murphy the less, but that he loved his +owners more--was unfortunately down in the engine-room. Consequently +he failed to hear the shot, and when he came up on deck the victims of +the affray had been collected and taken thence, a seaman with a mop +had removed the profuse evidence which Mike Murphy's rich red blood +had furnished and Mr. Schultz, the first mate, was on the bridge, +while Mr. Henckel was up on the forecastle head with his gang, waiting +for the order to break out the anchor. + +Presently a seaman came up on the bridge and reported that the light +in Mr. Reardon's state-room had been out fifteen minutes. So Mr. +Schultz waited an hour longer to make certain the chief engineer would +be asleep; whereupon commenced a harsh, discordant tune--the music of +the anchor chain paying in through the hawse pipe. When it ceased Mr. +Schultz stepped to the marine telegraph; a bell jingled in the bowels +of the _Narcissus_; an instant later all the lights aboard her went +out as the first assistant engineer threw off the switch, and silently +in the heavy velvet gloom the great vessel slipped out of Pernambuco +harbor and headed south. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + + + +Just about the time the _Narcissus_ was kicking ahead at nine knots, +in distant San Francisco the cable company was getting Mr. Skinner out +of bed to dictate to him over the telephone a message which had just +arrived from Pernambuco. + +"Ah!" murmured the incomparable Skinner as he donned a dressing gown +and slippers and descended to his library to decode the cablegram. +"The luck of the Blue Star flag still holds. That belligerent and +highly intelligent fellow Murphy has received our cablegram, sent him +in care of the American consul, and in accordance with my instructions +he is acknowledging its receipt. Hum-m-m! The first word is 'oriana.' +Let me turn to 'oriana.' Hum-m! 'I have an order presumably emanating +from blank.' Ah, yes, the next word is 'Buestar,' the cable address of +the Blue Star Navigation Company. Well, well, well, the foxy fellow! +After wiring us to cable him, he gets our cable and then cables us to +confirm it! Caution is a virtue, but this brand is too high-priced. +The next word is 'osculo'." + +Mr. Skinner turned to "osculo" and discovered that it meant "I am +ordered to--" The next word in the cablegram was "Montevideo." + +"Good heavens!" Mr. Skinner gasped. "He has received orders, +presumably emanating from us, ordering him to Montevideo! Can it be +possible that Mr. Ricks or Matt Peasley has sent him a cablegram +without my knowledge? I must read further." + +He did, and having done so he discovered that, in addition to being +ordered to Montevideo, Mike Murphy wanted to know if it was all right +and if von Staden and Ulrich--presumably German--were to be trusted; +that he would remain in command at the company's request, although he +considered such request unreasonable, even if it could be granted +without risk. Also, he wanted these instructions confirmed and was +anxiously awaiting an answer. + +"Well, I'm certain of one thing," Mr. Skinner soliloquized after +reading this extraordinary message: "Murphy has not been to the +American consul's office for the cablegram I sent him several days +ago. Evidently there is mischief afoot. However, there is nothing to +be gained by cabling him again in care of the American consul, so I'll +just assume that he has registered his cable address with the cable +company; hence, if I cable him to his cable address the message will +be delivered to him aboard the _Narcissus_. And since he says he is +anxiously awaiting an answer, I'll relieve his anxiety with all +possible speed and send him an answer immediately." + +Whereupon Mr. Skinner wasted several dollars cabling Mike Murphy that +the Blue Star Navigation had not, to his knowledge, cabled him any +instructions save those sent in care of the American consul; that von +Staden and Ulrich were unknown to him, and to be very careful not to +lose the ship. This message Mr. Skinner dictated over the telephone to +the telegraph office and asked them to rush it. Evidently they did so, +for just as Cappy Ricks arrived in the office the following morning, +word was received from the telegraph company that owing to the +departure of the _Narcissus_ from Pernambuco the night before, the +Blue Star Navigation Company's cablegram had not been delivered. + +"Well, Skinner," Cappy chirped as he sat in at his desk and lighted a +cigar, "what's the news around the shop this fine morning? Any word +from Murphy?" + +"Yes--and no," Mr. Skinner replied, and laid his information before +Cappy for perusal. Cappy read it all twice, then slid out to the edge +of his chair, placed his hands on his knees and looked at Mr. Skinner +over the rims of his spectacles. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he said solemnly, "this is certainly hell! +Cable the American consul in Pernambuco and ask him if Murphy received +the cablegram we sent in care of the consulate. And, in the meantime, +don't whisper a word of this disquieting information to Matt Peasley. +Time enough to cross a bridge, Skinner, when you come to it." + +Mr. Skinner promptly filed a cablegram to the American consul, and +just before the office closed they got about forty dollars' worth of +reply, informing them that Captain Murphy had appeared at the +consulate greatly excited the night previous; that he had declared the +cablegram awaiting him might mean life or death--certainly a large sum +of money; that he had been given the cablegram and had gone aboard +ship to look up his cipher key. He had not returned and the ship was +not in the harbor. + +"Let me see the carbon copy of the cablegram you sent Murphy in care +of the American consul," Cappy demanded. Mr. Skinner with a sinking +heart obeyed. + +"Skinner," said Cappy, "do I understand you sent this message in +cipher, which necessitated on the part of our captain a trip back to +his ship before he could decipher it? Why didn't you send him the +message in regular code? He would then have decoded it right in the +consulate, or at best he could have gone to the cable office and +borrowed a code book from them." + +"I sent it in our secret cipher," Mr. Skinner faltered. "It was +delicate business--quite--er--an international complication, as it +were, and in the event of unpleasant developments--Well, how did I +know but that some German might be on the key at the cable office when +the message arrived there for Murphy--" + +"Quite right, Skinner, my boy, quite right," Cappy interrupted sadly. +"The only trouble with you, Skinner, is that you're too danged +efficient. You look so far into the future you're always gumming up +the present." He sighed. + +"Why, what do you think--" Skinner began, but Cappy silenced him with +an autocratic finger. + +"I do not think, Skinner, I know. Had it not been for your damnable +cipher message, Murphy would have got your warning ashore instead of +being forced to go back to the ship for it. Having got it ashore he +would have taken care to warn the Brazilian authorities and they would +have been on watch and prevented the ship from leaving. As I view the +situation, Mike went aboard, deciphered your message and got ripping +mad. Von Staden and Ulrich were probably aboard, and hot-headed Mike +probably undertook to throw them overboard single-handed--and failed. +His body is doubtless feeding the fishes in Pernambuco harbor this +minute, and our lovely--big--_Narcissus_--the pride of--the Blue Star +fleet--" + +"Shall I tell Captain Peasley?" Mr. Skinner faltered. + +"Yes, tell him. He's bound to find out sooner or later. Skinner, I +could stand the loss of the ship, but what breaks me all up is the +thought that after forty years of honorable business my friends and my +enemies might suspect me of being a filibuster. I, Alden P. Ricks, +whose great-grandfather died at Yorktown, whose grandfather was killed +at Lundy's Lane, whose father won a medal of honor at Chapultepec--I, +Alden P. Ricks, who had to belong to the Home Guard because I was such +a little runt they wouldn't take me in the Civil War--to think that I +should attain to seventy years and even be suspected of staining the +flag of my country for the sake of a few dirty dollars--after all the +Ricks blood that has been shed for that flag! Horrible!" + +Mr. Skinner turned away for, man and boy, he had spent twenty-five +years under Cappy Ricks, and he loved him. He could not bear to see +the old man suffer. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + + + +When Michael J. Murphy returned to consciousness he found himself in +his berth, although for all the effort he made to verify this fact it +might have been Mr. Reardon's. For fully half an hour he lay there, +gradually straightening out the tangle in his intellect, and presently +he was aware that the back of his head was very sore and ached, so he +put up his hand to rub it and found a lump as large as a walnut. His +right shoulder was numb and he was unable to move it, although this +would not have surprised him had he been aware that a hundred and +eighty pounds of Teutonic masculinity had landed on that shoulder with +both feet and dislocated it. As it was, the skipper wondered vaguely +if the ship's funnel had fallen over on him. His right side ached +externally, and when he sighed it ached internally. That was a broken +rib tickling his lung, for, while he was in blissful ignorance of the +reason therefor, the chronicler of this tale can serve no good purpose +by concealing the true facts in the case. Immediately upon regaining +consciousness, Herr August Carl von Staden had insisted upon returning +Michael J. Murphy's kicks with compound interest. + +"Holy mackerel!" the skipper murmured. "I feel like I've been fed into +a concrete mixer. The only injury I can account for is my left +shoulder, where that supercargo shot me." + +After spending another half hour in mild speculation on these +phenomena he was aware of an added impediment in breathing, so he put +his hand up to his nose and found it clogged with blood. His luxuriant +black mustache prevented an extended examination of his upper lip, but +nevertheless, something told him it was split. A hard foreign +substance lying between his right cheek and the inferior maxillary he +concluded must be the pit of an olive left over from dinner. +Subsequently, however, he discovered it was one of his own teeth. So +he swore a mighty oath and felt considerably better. + +"This is certainly mutiny on the high seas and punishable by hanging," +he soliloquized. "I wonder if Cappy Ricks would know me now;" and he +reached up to turn the switch of the electric light over his berth. He +turned the switch, but the light did not come on, and while he lay +considering this state of affairs, he was aware that something that +was not his head was throbbing in the ship. He decided presently that +it was her engines. From the steady rhythmic pulsations he realized +the vessel was being driven full speed ahead; and since he could not +recall having given any orders to that effect, he was not long in +arriving at the correct answer to the riddle--whereupon Michael J. +Murphy did what every shipmaster does when he loses the ship he loves +and finds himself ravished of his reputation as a sane and careful +skipper. He wept! + +Those who know the breed will bid you beware the Irish when they weep +from any cause save grief or sympathy. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + + + +Cappy Ricks, who claimed to know Mike Murphy's kind of Irish, +doubtless would have been extremely gratified had he been granted a +peep at the battered, bleeding, weeping wreck of his faithful Michael +as the pride of the Blue Star fleet rolled south to meet the grey sea +rovers of the Fatherland and deliver the cargo of coal that meant so +much to them. The sight might have aroused some hope in Cappy's heavy +heart, he being by nature inconsistent and always seeing a profit +where others found naught but a deficit. However, though Cappy was +variously gifted he was not a clairvoyant, in consequence of which he +spent a very sleepless night following the receipt of that windy +cablegram from the American consul. He dined at his club, and when it +was time for him to leave and his daughter sent her car for him, he +lacked the courage to go home and face his son-in-law. So he spent the +night at the club and came down to the office about noon, hoping Matt +Peasley would have recovered from the shock by that time. The latter +was waiting for him, and came into Cappy's sanctum immediately to hold +a post-mortem. + +"Matthew, my dear boy," said Cappy miserably, "this is terrible." + +"I think we should take the matter up immediately with the State +Department," Matt replied. "There may be a United States warship in +those waters, and she could be instructed by wireless to endeavor to +intercept the _Narcissus._ We can prove a clean bill of health with +those cablegrams, and get back our ship." + +"Yes--from our own Government, of course. But, oh, Matt, if old Johnny +Bull ever gets his horns into her we can kiss her good-bye. We can't +bring forward any evidence to alibi that German crew on a ship so far +off her course and loaded with contraband." + +"Well, I know if I were skippering a British warship and picked up the +_Narcissus,_ her owners would find I was born and bred in Missouri," +the honest Matt admitted. "By the way, have you read this morning's +papers?" + +"No, Matt. I've felt too blamed miserable about this _Narcissus_ +affair." + +"Well, the _Scharnhorst_, the _Gneisenau_, the _Leipzig,_, the +_Dresden_ and the _Nurnberg_ met a British fleet under Admiral +Craddock, away down off Coronel, Chile. The British were cleaned for +fair." + +"You don't tell me!" + +"I do tell you. And I'll bet my immortal soul that German fleet is +heading for the entrance to Magellan this minute. If I were a +religious man I'd be praying for clear weather so they'll find the +entrance without any trouble." + +"I hope they run ashore and drown every man Jack!" cried Cappy +fiercely. + +"I do not. You will note that our charterers tried to induce Mike to +go to Montevideo for orders. That was because they expected to lie +snug at Montevideo and be within striking distance of a designated +meeting place in the South Atlantic when the German fleet should pass +through Magellan from the Pacific. Remember that for several weeks the +German fleet has managed to lose itself in the Pacific, but now that +the British fleet has stumbled onto it and forced an engagement, the +Australian and Japanese cruisers will all be headed for the south +coast of Chile to make reprisal. We know the Germans are short of +coal; doubtless some of the fleet have suffered in the engagement with +Admiral Craddock's ships, so it's a safe bet they'll run into the +Atlantic now and raid the Falkland Islands--by the way, a British +possession. They will hope to find coal and stores there, which, with +the cargo of the _Narcissus,_ will enable them to continue raiding. + +"Of course they will try to accomplish this before England sends a +fleet to avenge Craddock--and I'm hoping the Germans will succeed, +for, if they do, they will surely be decent enough to run our +_Narcissus_ into some South American port and give us an opportunity +to get her back again. On the other hand, if the Germans delay their +departure from the Pacific, the British will surely get wind of the +_Narcissus_ waiting at Montevideo; and when she comes out they'll just +naturally grab her." + +"I guess you're right," Cappy replied gloomily; "so for the present +we're pro-German. Still, I find that a hard dose to swallow, in view +of the fact that our German crew in the _Narcissus_ has evidently +taken the vessel away from Mike Murphy." + +"I am sure they have done just that, sir; otherwise Mike would have +obeyed our orders. We know he received the orders; hence the only +reason he did not carry them out was because he wasn't permitted to do +so. My only hope is that they haven't killed him, for if he is alive +and free, he and Reardon, with the assistance of the cockney steward +and the two Chinese cooks, might--" + +"Might what?" + +"Might steal her back again." + +"Matt! It isn't possible, is it?" + +"I'll bet Mike Murphy and I could steal her back if we had half a +chance. The odds would be forty to two against our succeeding, but a +little strategy is sometimes to be preferred to great horsepower. I +think I could do it, and I think Murphy will do it--if he only thinks +of it." + +"How? Tell me how you'd steal her back." + +"What's the use?" Matt replied wearily. "I'd have to have help. So +will Mike--and I've just remembered Mike Murphy and Terence Reardon +are the wrong kind of Irish to have together in the same ship. We did +our best to prevent it, but the odds are too long for us; the coal is +for the Germans and we hate England, so why worry? I know Mike Murphy +will not take that view of it; for my sake he'll fight to the last +gasp, but he must have help, and Reardon owes me no such allegiance as +Murphy." + +"Well, he owes me something," Cappy spoke up. "You promised him a +hundred and seventy-five dollars a month and I raised the ante to two +hundred. It was an investment, pure and simple. I was buying loyalty, +and by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, I think I'll get it. Come to think +of it, there was a look in Reardon's eyes that I liked, when he took +my hand in those greasy paws of his and said he was a proud man to +work for me. Matt, that fellow is full of bellicose veins. He may not +fight for me, but he'll fight for Mrs. Reardon and the children and +that two-hundred-dollar-a-month job, for it's the first he's ever had +and if he loses out it'll be the last he'll ever get. He was telling +me all about his family and how much the job meant to him, that day we +had the _Narcissus_ out on her trial trip." + +Matt Peasley's face brightened. "By Jupiter, that puts a different +face on the situation. If Reardon is alive they might get together for +mutual protection." + +"Well," Cappy piped up, greatly relieved to discover Matt was facing +the tragedy so optimistically, "we might do worse than hope. Wire the +State Department, Matt; and in the meanwhile, cheer up, sonny, and +trust in the luck of Alden P. Ricks. I remember Captain Noah +Kendall--peace to his ashes--used to say to me: 'Mr. Ricks, if you +ever fell into Channel Creek at low tide you'd come up with a pearl +necklace wrapped round your ankle, and you'd be smelling like a spray +of lemon verbena.' Cheer up, Matt! What though the cause be lost, the +_Narcissus_ is not lost--yet. The Celtic troops remain, and from now +on my war cry is going to be--" + +"Ireland uber Alles," Matt Peasley suggested. + +"You're blamed whistlin'!" said Cappy Ricks. + +So Mr. Skinner was called into consultation, and he and Matt Peasley +and Cappy drew up a heart-rending telegram to the Secretary of State, +who consulted with the Secretary of the Navy, who wired the Blue Star +Navigation Company that he was sorry but he didn't have as much as a +rowboat in the South Atlantic to save their steamer _Narcissus,_ and +would they please keep still about it, since a noise like that, unless +absolutely based on facts--and he understood their wail to be based on +suspicion--would tend to create additional friction in an +international complication already strained to the breaking point. +Whereupon Cappy Ricks flew into a rage and immediately dictated a long +letter to his congressman and his senator, urging them to battle to +the last trench in the campaign for a two-power navy. + +Time passed. Then suddenly the world rocked with the news of the +annihilation of the German Pacific fleet off the Falkland Islands. +Cappy Ricks and Matt Peasley read the horrid tale in the morning +papers as they sat at breakfast, and immediately both lost all +interest in food. Like two mourners about to set out for the morgue to +identify the corpse of a loved one recently killed by a taxicab, they +drove down to the Blue Star offices, where immediately upon arrival +something terrible in Mr. Skinner's face brought on palpitation of +Cappy Ricks' heart. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he chattered, "Have you any news?" + +"Not yet, sir," murmured Mr. Skinner brokenly, "but soon! The British +consul wants you to ring him up. He says he's had a wireless from +H.M.S. _Panther,_ off the Falkland Islands, and he thinks it will be +of interest to you." + +"Is my _Narcissus_ confiscated?" Cappy and Matt cried in chorus. + +"I--I don't know," Skinner faltered. "I just didn't have the courage +to pursue the matter further. The British consul said she was captured +but as for con--" + +"Idiot! Bonehead!" rasped Cappy. "My _Narcissus_ is gone--gone! Oh, +Lord! Matt, you ring up the British consul--I'm an old man--Skinner, +my dear chap, forgive my harsh language. Have you a little drop of +whisky in the office?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + + + +Capt. Michael J. Murphy's futile tears of rage having dried almost as +quickly as they came, he crawled painfully out of his berth and +lighted a match, to discover he was a prisoner in his own state-room. +He turned another electric switch, but still the room remained in +darkness. + +"Sneaking out of Pernambuco with the lights doused," he soliloquized. +Then he remembered a little stump of candle he kept in his desk for +use when heating sealing wax, so he lighted the candle and by its +meager rays took inventory of his features in the little mirror over +his washstand. + +"By the Toe Nails of Moses," he soliloquized, "somebody's sea-boots +did that, and if I ever find out who was wearing them at the time +there'll be a fight or a footrace. I'm a total wreck and no +insurance--yes, thank God! here's the ship's medicine chest." + +Having spent the greater portion of an adventurous career far from +medical aid in time of bodily stress, Michael J. was, as most +shipmasters are, rather adept in rough-and-tumble surgery. His compact +little library contained a common-sense treatise on the care of burns, +scalds, cuts, fractures and the few minor physical diseases that +sailors are heir to, and in accordance with immemorial custom he, as +master of the ship, was the custodian of the medicine chest. So he +washed the gore from his face, disinfected his split lip and patched +himself up after a fashion. The bullet wound in his left shoulder +proved to be a flesh wound, high up, so he cleaned that and decided +his left wing would be in fair fighting order within a few days. Then +he undressed and said his prayers, with a special invocation for help +from his patron saint, holy Saint Michael, the archangel. Evidently +Saint Michael inclined a friendly ear, for it is a curious fact that +no sooner had his namesake risen from his marrow bones than a curious +sense of peace and comfort stole over him. As in a vision he saw Herr +August Carl von Staden standing on the bridge, bound at ankle, knee +and hand and with a rope round his neck. From the supercargo's neck +the rope led aloft through a small snatch-block fastened to the end of +a cargo derrick and thence to the drum of the forward winch--a device +which had been known to hoist with a jerk objects several tons heavier +than Herr August Carl von Staden! This picture thus conjured in +Murphy's imagination was so real he was almost tempted to recite the +litany for the dying! + +"'Twould have been better for them had they killed me dead and hove my +carcass overboard," he decided. "The fact that they didn't, but took +the trouble to carry me to my own bed and lock me in, is proof that +they'll not murder me now--so I'll not worry. I'll have every +beer-drinking, sausage-making son of a seacook begging me for mercy +before the week is out. I'll just lie low and rest up a bit, and by +the time we're off Rio I'll drop on them like a top-mast in a typhoon. +Then with the help of the two Chinamen, the steward and Reardon 'twill +not be hard to run her into Rio. I wonder if that pirate frisked me of +my five thousand." He searched through his clothing and was amazed to +discover that the bills were still in his possession. + +"I'll give them back in the morning," he concluded. "I had a pistol +in the drawer of my desk and a rifle in that locker;" and in the wild +hope that his luck still held, he searched eagerly for both. They were +gone. + +Nevertheless, Michael J. Murphy smiled as he wrapped a wet towel round +his throbbing head, for he had already decided upon his plan of +campaign for regaining command of his ship, a _coup_ for which he +required no weapon more formidable than his native intelligence. As he +sank groaning into the arms of Morpheus, however, even a Digger Indian +would have realized that for the next two weeks the master of the +_Narcissus_ would be unable to defend himself against an old lady +armed with a slipper. Nevertheless, the indomitable fellow, with the +amazing optimism of his race, had already decided to attack and +subdue, within four days, thirty-six husky male enemies; which lends +some color to the oft-repeated declaration that an Irishman fights +best when he is on his back with his opponent feeling for his +windpipe. + +When Michael J. Murphy awoke it was broad daylight and Herr August +Carl von Staden was standing over him. The supercargo was clad in an +immaculate suit of white flannels and was looking as fresh as new +paint. + +"Can it be possible?" Murphy queried in amazement. "Upon my word, +friend pirate, I had flattered myself I'd tucked you away for a couple +of days at least." + +"The excellent Mr. Henckel tells me I was out for ten minutes from +that solar-plexus blow you landed," Mr. von Staden replied in tones of +mingled admiration and friendliness. "And of course you cannot see how +sore my ribs feel. I take it rather ill of you to have kicked me." + +"Kicked you! I wish I'd killed you! And, speaking of kicks, somebody +certainly kicked me. Who was it?" + +"Upon recovering consciousness," the supercargo replied with some +embarrassment, "I was overcome with fury. You were lying on the floor +of your stateroom, where Mr. Schultz and Mr. Henckel had hurriedly +tossed you--so I came in and kicked you." + +"I never kicked you in the face," Murphy complained. + +"No, but you flattened my nose with your code book." + +"Well, I'll admit a good smack on the nose does make a man mad. But +you shot me in the shoulder. By the way, do your lungs hurt when you +breathe, Dutchy?" + +"No. Do yours?" + +"A slight tickle. I think you caved in my super-structure. Who jumped +on me from the top of the house?" + +"The second mate." + +"He dislocated my shoulder. I can wiggle my fingers, so I know it +isn't a fracture. Suppose you take off your shoe, sit at the foot of +my bed, put your foot under my right armpit and press, and at the same +time pull on my right arm." + +"Delighted, I'm sure," declared Herr von Staden in his charming Oxford +accent, and forthwith snapped Michael J. Murphy's shoulder into place +with great dexterity. + +"Thank you," the skipper answered, and wiped the beads of agony from +his white face. "If you'll frisk my trousers over there on the settee +you'll find the five thousand dollars you gave me to sell out my +owners. I don't want it. I never intended to keep it. I was suspicious +of you and your confounded cablegrams, and I had to have a reasonable +excuse to go ashore and cable my owners for confirmation. The bribe +furnished that excuse. I suppose you thought I'd fallen for your +game." + +"I must confess your attitude completely deceived me." + +"Thanks for the compliment. And now, if you don't mind, suppose you +tell me something: Was it a German agent who put the bug in my ear +about hiring the crew of that interned German liner in San Francisco?" + +"I greatly fear it was," von Staden answered smilingly. "There is an +old man who presides over the destinies of the Blue Star Navigation +Company--" + +"You mean Cappy Ricks?" + +"I believe that is the name. He has a reputation for being at once the +most reckless spendthrift and the most painstaking money saver in the +world. He is always preaching economy--" + +"And well I know it. If he hadn't preached it, Captain Peasley would +never have stood for this rabble your friends wished on me." + +The supercargo chuckled. "We wanted the largest vessel we could find," +he explained; "and when it was reported to us that the Blue Star +Navigation Company's _Narcissus_ was going from San Francisco to the +West Coast and thence to New York with nitrate, we decided to get her. +We investigated you. Your name is Michael J. Murphy; naturally we knew +you were Irish; and the Irish--your kind of Irish--are not sympathetic +toward the cause of Merry England. The same held true of your chief +engineer, Mr. Reardon. We knew of the passion of this interesting +person, Cappy Ricks, for cutting down expenses. We knew you and +Reardon were new to your jobs and would be likely to consider any +reasonable plan for eliminating expense in your respective +departments, in the hope of pleasing your employer. So the suggestion +that you ship our people was made to you and Reardon, and you accepted +it with alacrity. The rest was very easy. We got in touch with your +New York agents through some friends of ours in very good standing +there, and they were enabled to charter the ship merely by offering an +extraordinary freight rate. They purchased the cargo of coal and sold +it to us at a nice profit, and we depended on your national animosity +and racial sympathy, seasoned with a liberal cash subsidy, to enable +us to deliver it. We preferred to do the decent thing, but in the +event that you proved unreasonable, we concluded it would be wise to +have our own people aboard and take the vessel away from you. I admit +we tried to trick you with the cablegrams. Why attempt to conceal the +fact now? That was unsportsmanlike. However, if the fat is in the +fire, as you Americans would say, you have put it there by forcing my +hand." + +"Very cleverly done," quoth Michael J. Murphy. "I always admire +brains wherever I find them." + +"Men in my line of endeavor are trained to provide for all conceivable +emergencies, captain. I think I provided for all of them in the case +under discussion. Who, for instance, would conceive that you would +have taken the trouble to call upon the American consul for the cipher +message that has caused all this unpleasant row and facial +disfigurement?" + +"You have read the translation, of course?" + +"Naturally." + +"It is self-explanatory. You intend delivering my cargo somewhere off +the south coast of Uruguay. May I be pardoned for expressing some +curiosity as to your plans thereafter, my piratical friend?" + +"Please do not call me your piratical friend." + +"Well, you're a pirate, aren't you?" + +"Legally--yes. Morally--no. In times of national necessity one's +patriotism--one's duty to one's country--excuses, in the minds of all +fair men, the commission of acts which ordinarily would bring about +the deepest condemnation. I assure you that if we had had the faintest +hope of doing business in a businesslike way with your owners, we +should have been happy to pay almost any price for their ship, for she +carries ten thousand tons of coal; and you surely must realize, +Captain Murphy, how limited is the number of ships suitable for our +purpose under the American flag. We were desperate--" + +"I believe Bethmann-Hollweg said something of the same nature with +regard to Belgium," Murphy replied blandly. "A nation fighting for its +life is a law unto itself, eh?" + +"Self-preservation is the first law of human nature," the supercargo +replied. + +"All right. Then we understand each other. While I decline to +terminate the war between August Carl von Staden and Michael Joseph +Murphy, nevertheless under the law you have just cited I believe I'm +entitled to breakfast. I'm starved. I figured on having supper ashore +last night, but after I received that cablegram from my owners I +forgot all about food. Now I'm remembering. I wish you'd send the +steward in with about forty dollars' worth of spoon victuals. My +grinders are very loose." + +"Captain Murphy," his jailer declared, "do you know you are a very +wonderful man?" + +"All the Murphys are. It runs in the blood, like a wooden leg." + +"I really regret that you are such a wonderful man. If you were not +I'd give you the liberty of the ship. As it is, I crave your pardon +for keeping you a prisoner in your state-room. The exigencies of war, +you know." + +"Don't mention it, Dutchy. For the second time I ask you: When you +have delivered this cargo of coal, what do you intend to do with my +ship?" + +"We will, in all probability, give you a new crew, and the present +crew of the _Narcissus_ will go aboard one of our warships and thus +remove themselves from the reach of a possible indictment for piracy +and mutiny on the high seas." + +"Where will you get a new crew for me?" + +"Our fleet has sunk a few British tramps in mid-ocean during the past +sixty days. Naturally they removed the crews first. These prisoners +are in our way, and the admiral will welcome an opportunity to load +them all aboard the empty _Narcissus_, for even prisoners of war must +eat, and the stores aboard our fleet are more valuable than these +captured seamen. In obedience to that first law of human nature they +will not object to working the _Narcissus_ into the nearest South +American port." + +"Well, that's comforting; but for heaven's sake don't be too much of a +hog with my cargo. Leave me enough of it to carry my ship to the +nearest port. She burns about thirty-five tons a day--you might get +the statistics from Reardon." + +"By all means, captain. Our capture of the _Narcissus_ is merely a +deplorable national necessity. We would not lose her for you for +anything." + +"How about a British cruiser picking her up before we make connections +with your fleet?" + +Herr von Staden shrugged. "That," he replied, "would be the fortune of +war." + +"It would look like the picture of misfortune to me. And how about +the freight on this cargo you've stolen? Don't my owners get something +out of this deal to help pay expenses? You're going to play as fair as +you can with me, aren't you, Dutchy?" + +"By all means. However, you are evidently in doubt as to the real +situation. Your charterers are responsible to your owners for the +freight money. If they do not pay it Mr. Cappy Ricks can sue them. As +for the cargo, we have not stolen it, since one cannot steal that +which one owns. We paid cash for this cargo before you cleared from +Norfolk, for our go-between would take no risks whatsoever." + +"I see. Well, I suppose I'll have to grin and bear it. By the way, +don't forget to take back your blood money. It's in my trousers +pocket." + +Von Staden was genuinely distressed. "Are you quite certain you want +me to do that?" he queried. "Five thousand dollars is quite a sum for +a poor sea captain to toss aside so contemptuously. Why not accept it +as compensation for that broken rib, and that bullet I put through +your left shoulder, the dislocated right shoulder, the loose teeth and +the split lip? In fact, I am so certain five thousand dollars will not +cover your personal injuries I am willing to be a sport and add +something to the sum." + +Michael J. Murphy grinned--rather a horrible grin it was, owing to his +swollen lip and jaw. + +"Dutchy," he said, "listen to me: All the money in the world couldn't +make me be untrue to my salt. And if you have any lingering notion +that I'm not going to collect a million dollars' worth of satisfaction +for the way you've acted aboard my ship, I can only say that as a +fortune-teller you'll never earn enough money to keep yourself in +cigarettes. You say you have been trained to provide for all +conceivable emergencies, so I'm advising you, as a friend, to brace +yourself for the surprise of your life before you're a week older. +Have you pondered the possibility of sudden death aboard the S.S. +_Narcissus?_" + +"Certainly. Should we be overhauled by a British cruiser I should take +a short cut to eternity. One naturally dislikes the thought of being +hanged for a pirate. It would be a reflection on one's family. As for +sudden death by violence at the hands of any member of the crew of +this steamship, I should be willing to risk quite a sum of money that +no such tragedy will be enacted." + +"Just why?" + +"Well, you'll be safe in this stateroom until I am ready to turn your +command back to you, and a man with two shoulders in the condition of +yours is hardly likely to try battering down this stout state-room +door." + +"Correct. And I'm a trifle too thick in the middle to think of +crawling through the state-room window." + +"And if," the supercargo continued, "you have any idea of calling the +engine-room on that speaking tube and soliciting aid from Mr. Reardon, +please be advised that for the present Mr. Reardon has been relieved +from duty in the engine-room." + +"So you've got Reardon locked up, too?" Murphy queried. "Well! Well! +I'd hate to think of being locked up and that man Reardon free. +However, you need not have worried. I'd die before I'd ask that fellow +for help--and he'd die before he'd give it." + +"So I understand from the first mate. However, I thought it prudent to +guard against a temporary truce and an alliance for the common +interest." + +"Dutchy," said the skipper, "you're pretty smart." + +Von Staden smiled most companionably. "I also took the precaution to +remove some weapons from your apartment." + +"Take anything from me, Dutchy, except my honor, my pipe and tobacco, +and my ship. Take any one of those four, however, and may the Lord +have mercy on your soul. Please hand me that book entitled _Backwood's +Surgery_ till I see what's good for a broken rib; then send the +steward for my breakfast order. After that--well, after that you might +make your will, Dutchy." + +"I did that in Pernambuco," the delightful Herr von Staden replied, +"so your advice is wasted." + +He handed the skipper the book on surgery and went out, carefully +locking the door behind him. He returned presently and stood beside +the steward, who thrust his head through the state-room window and +desired to know the captain's choice of breakfast. + +"A bowl of mush and milk, three soft-boiled eggs and a pot of coffee. +No toast. Hurry!" + +When the steward returned with the order he was accompanied by Mr. +Schultz, the first mate. The sight of the traitor threw Mike into a +furious rage. + +"Mr. Schultz," he said ominously, "the things I'm going to do to you +would make the devil blush." + +"So?" Mr. Schultz replied soothingly. + +"I'm going to hang von Staden. He's a pirate, and the rule of the +Seven Seas is that a skipper hangs a pirate whenever he can lay hands +on him. And you know me, Mr. Schultz. I'm a devil for etiquette aboard +ship. As for you, you're only guilty of mutiny, so I'll content myself +with tricing you up to the shrouds and flogging you with a cat soaked +in brine." + +And so on, _ad libitum, ad infinitum_. + +Mr. Schultz was frankly mystified. Being a German, he did not +understand the Irish, although in view of the fact that during the war +he had room in his head for but one thing--the Fatherland--perhaps +the skipper might have pardoned his mate the glance of contempt and +utter disgust which the latter now bent upon him. Here was a man, Mr. +Schultz told himself, who, having stipulated his price and struck a +bargain, had demonstrated beyond cavil that he was not a gentleman, +for he had refused to stay bought. More, he had basely attacked his +benefactor. + +"So?" he repeated. + +"Out, you blackguard, and leave me alone!" Murphy yelled. + +"It iss an order dot I stay und see dot der steward shall mayg no +conversations vatsoefer," Mr. Schultz declared firmly. + +"Verboten, eh?" sneered the skipper. He had once been to Hamburg, and +naturally he had acquired the word most commonly used in the German +language. + +"_Ja_," Mr. Schultz replied placidly, but with an air of finality that +left no room for further argument. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + + + +In the course of the afternoon, having chewed the bitter cud of +reflection and reviewed his situation from every possible angle, Mike +Murphy came to the conclusion that, for all Terence Reardon's +religious backsliding, he might be fairly honest in money matters and +possessed of a sense of loyalty where his owners' interests were +concerned. Also, having found Herr von Staden bluffing in one instance +it occurred to the captain he might be discovered bluffing in +another--so he resolved to investigate. Accordingly at an hour when he +knew Terence should be in the engine room he took up the speaking-tube +at the head of his bed and blew into it. But no shrill whistle +signalled his desire in the engine room, and though Michael blew until +he was red in the face and his lips hurt him cruelly, reluctantly he +came to the conclusion that Herr August Carl von Staden had the +situation very well in hand and Terence Reardon in the latter's +state-room under lock and key. + +He was right in one particular: von Staden had the situation very well +in hand, but he did not have Terence Reardon under lock and key. +Murphy had been balked in making connections with the unsuspecting +Terence for the reason that a little ball of cotton waste had very +carefully been tucked into the engine-room howler a few inches at the +back of the whistle at the chief's end of the tube. Hence, in the +event that one sought to whistle up the other, he merely wasted his +breath. Having learned, on the very excellent authority of both men in +the case, that they despised each other and were not on speaking +terms, von Staden decided that the chance of Terence Reardon's +listening to Michael J. Murphy's tale of piracy and mutiny was so +vague as to be almost negligible. However, he was painstaking and +careful in all things and never ran any unnecessary risks; +consequently, just to be on the safe side, he had instructed the first +assistant to plug the speaking-tube leading to the skipper's room. And +in order to discourage the captain from, seeking an interview with the +chief, von Staden had told the former that the chief was a prisoner. + +Mr. Reardon was too important a personage to be deprived of his +liberty when nothing was to be gained by such action. If he could be +kept in ignorance of the state of affairs aboard the _Narcissus_, he +would continue to attend to business; if the worst came to the worst +his friendship would be a better asset than his hatred. If he grew +suspicious and demanded a showdown, Herr von Staden would give it to +him without reservation and stuff his mouth with gold; then, if the +chief declined to listen to reason, it would be time enough to lock +him up. While the supercargo would not hesitate to sacrifice his life, +his liberty, or his honor for his country, he was nevertheless +desirous of being a gentleman if accorded the opportuniby. And it must +be admitted he had found Mr. Reardon amusing and vastly entertaining, +for the very first night aboard, after Mr. Schultz had introduced him +to the chief and he had presented the latter with a good cigar, Mr. +Reardon, under the spell of the witchery cast by the sea and the +night, had sat on deck and told the German wonderful tales of the +fairies in Ireland--this while the skipper was ashore. In particular +he told von Staden the tale of the fairy queen with the iron hand. + +"Her hand," said Terence, "was as beautiful as ye'd find in a day's +thravel, an' 'twas herself that'd dhrive men crazy afther wan look at +her. An' she was good to the poor, but divii a bit av love did she +have for a redcoat. Whin she'd take human form an' a bowld buck av a +British dragoon would come making love to her, 'tis herself would say +to him: 'Captain, alannah, would ye oblige me wit' a dhrink av +wather?' An' whin he turrned to dhraw the wather, she'd breathe on her +hand--like that--an' immejiately 'twould turn to iron an' wit' wan +blow she'd knock his brains out. Sure they found the bodies all over +Ireland, but divil a man, woman, or child could they ever convict av +the murrder. For why? Why, sure, the minute she'd killed a redcoat +she'd breathe on her hand ag'in, an' immejiately 'twas flesh an' blood +ag'in!" + +No, decidedly it would not do to imprison this excellent fellow. Von +Staden had read fairy tales as a boy, but never had he met a man who +could tell them like Terence Reardon. A hard-headed, highly +intelligent chief engineer of a big tramp steamer telling tales of the +fairies! Von Staden couldn't understand it. It was so childish--and +yet there was nothing childish about Terence Reardon. The German +wondered if Terence Reardon believed in the fairies and finally he +asked him point-blank if he did; whereupon Terence turned a solemn eye +upon him and replied: + +"Why, av course I do not. Do you think I'm a blubber-jack av a bhoy? +But isn't it pleasant to talk about thim whilst wan has nothing +betther to do? Sure, whin I'm lonely at night I think up new fairy +tales to tell to the childhren whin I come home from a v'yage." + +So that was the Irish of it! Strangely enough it did not occur to the +practical German that an individual with an imagination like that, on +such an expedition as the present, was the most dangerous person +imaginable to be given the freedom of the ship. + +So passed twelve days and nights. Mr. Schultz kept in his pocket the +key to the captain's state-room, and consequently was always present +when the little cockney steward brought the prisoner his meals, tidied +up the state-room and made up the captain's bed. The captain spent +most of his time lying on his uninjured side and remained very quiet, +for the fractured rib, which had received no attention, was causing +him a great deal of suffering. Neither did the bullet wound in his +shoulder heal cleanly, for the reason, unknown to the captain, that +the bullet had carried with it into the muscle a fragment of Michael +J.'s undershirt. + +However, his physical sufferings were as nothing compared with those +he experienced mentally. He had hoped to be in fair fighting condition +within a week at the latest. Wrapped in paper and tucked away in the +back of the ship's safe he had a silver-hilted stiletto he had taken +away from a cutthroat who had tried to rob him once in Valparaiso--and +with this weapon he had planned to cut away the lock on the state-room +door. And once outside-- + +What Michael J. Murphy did not know was that when one has dislocated +one's shoulder one will do very little wood-carving during the three +subsequent weeks. It almost broke the skipper's heart to think he had +made a threat in good faith, and was balked from making it good. + +During this entire period Mr. Reardon was going about his duties as +usual, in absolute ignorance of the state of affairs about the ship, +for he was an innocent, trustful sort of fellow, and to a born +romanticist like Terence the fairy tale which Mr. Schultz had spun at +breakfast the morning after leaving Pernambuco was not at all +difficult of assimilation. It appeared--according to Mr. Schultz-- +that the skipper had gone ashore for a night of roystering, and upon +returning to the ship about midnight, in a wild state of intoxication, +had become involved in an altercation with the launchman over the +fare. In the resultant battle the skipper, in his helpless condition, +was being terribly beaten by the vicious Pernambucan; hence one could +scarcely blame him for drawing a pistol and shooting the +launchman--fatally, according to Mr. Schultz. Of course, after that, +to have lingered longer inside the three-mile limit would have been +sheer insanity, so Mr. Schultz, taking matters into his own hands, had +uphooked and skipped with doused lights from the jurisdiction of the +Pernambuco police. + +"And how did the skipper come out of all this?" Mr. Reardon had +inquired anxiously. + +"He iss in rodden shape," Mr. Schultz had declared. "Von of hiss +angles vos brogen, und he vos cut mid a knive--preddy deeb, but +noddings to worry aboud. Der only drouble iss der dooty of navigading +der shib falls double on der segond mate und me." + +"Make him pay ye over-time out av his own wages, the wurthless +vagabone!" Mr. Reardon had urged. "May he walk wit' a limp for the +rest av his days--bad cess to him! I've a notion, Misther Schultz, +that lad'll never comb his hair grey." + +Mr. Schultz nodded lugubriously; then he glanced up and caught the +little cockney steward staring at him so balefully, that he realized +he must have speech in private with the steward. Consequently he +lingered at table until Mr. Reardon finished his breakfast and went +below; whereupon Mr. Schultz intimated to the steward, in his direct +blunt fashion, that for the remainder of the voyage, Riggins--for that +was the steward's name--was to consider himself deaf, dumb and blind; +the penalty for reconsideration within the hearing of Mr. Reardon +being a swift and immediate excursion, personally conducted by Mr. +Schultz, to Davy Jones's locker! Following this earnest exhortation, +Riggins, never a robust person mentally or physically, came abruptly +to the conclusion that this was one of those occasions where silence, +if not exactly golden, was at least to be preferred to great riches. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + + + +IT may appear strange that during the days and nights Michael J. +Murphy lay on his bed of pain Terence Reardon did not once pass the +little open window of the skipper's state-room. Not, however, that the +latter watched for him, for he did not. He believed that Reardon, like +himself, was a prisoner; although, had the chief passed the window and +had the captain observed his passing, the complacence of Herr von +Staden and his patriotic company would have received a jar much +earlier in the voyage. + +Unfortunately, however, for Murphy's plans, the chief's stateroom was +located in the after part of the house and on the side opposite the +skipper's, and following their brief spat through the speaking-tube, +Terence Reardon had confined himself exclusively to his engine-room +and that portion of the ship along which he must of necessity pass +when going to and from his state-room. He told himself it was the part +of wisdom for one of his ferocious temper to avoid the occasions of +sin. Certainly it would be hard to pass the skipper's state-room +without looking in, particularly since in these warm latitudes the +door would probably be open; for should the skipper be within at the +time, they would peradventure scowl at each other, and he is a fool +indeed who cannot foretell the future when a thousand generations of +natural enemies exchange "the black look." Terence remembered his boy +Johnny, a youth who, according to Mrs. Reardon, should never be a +marine engineer, but the finest lawyer that ever pouched a fat fee. +And there was Mary Agnes and Catherine Bertram. Next year they would +begin taking piano lessons, and in the fullness of time, no matter how +hard the pull, both should go to the state university and acquire the +education made to fit their father's head, but by force of +circumstances denied him. And at the thought Terence looked at his +hard black hands and set himself resolutely to face a life sentence of +rattling ash hoists, roaring furnaces and the soft sucking sounds of +the pistons. Two hundred dollars a month--and the union scale was a +hundred and fifty! Ah, no, he dared not trifle with that job. He must, +at all hazard, avoid friction with the skipper, for what would Mrs. +Reardon say if Cappy Ricks forced him to roll the bones with Mike +Murphy--one flop and high man out? Mr. Reardon could close his eyes +and see Mike Murphy roll out a "stiff," while with trembling hand the +Reardon rolled five sixes! + +The _Narcissus_ had been out of Pernambuco harbor four days before Mr. +Reardon, upon comparing the sun--which all are agreed rises in the +east--with the direction in which the ship was headed, and then +extracting the cube root of the resultant product, and subtracting it +from the longtitude and latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, decided +that there must be something wrong with Mr. Schultz's navigation. So +he spoke to Mr. Schultz about it, and was laughingly informed that +they were traveling on a great circle. Thereupon Mr. Reardon +remembered that at sea a ship traveling on the arc of a great circle, +for some mysterious reason repudiates the old geometrical theorem that +a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. He +recalled that vessels plying between San Francisco and Yokohama +describe a great circle which brings them well up toward the Aleutian +Islands, So he was satisfied with the explanation, this being his +first voyage into the South Atlantic anyhow; but he continued to +observe the sun each morning, and still the vessel's head held far to +the south. A suspicion that all was not as it should be slowly settled +in Mr. Reardon's head, and though he said nothing, he used his ejes +and ears. A dozen times a day, as the ship rolled steadily south, he +was tempted to take down the speaking tube and confide his suspicions +to the master, confined in his state-room by reason of deep--but not +serious-knife wounds. Each time he was on the point of yielding, +however, he remembered that Mike Murphy had called him a renegade--so +he refrained. + +The installation of the wireless plant and the presence aboard the +ship of Herr von Staden had failed to arouse his suspicions the first +day out. True, the wireless could not have been connected with the +electric light plant below without Mr. Reardon's knowledge and +consent, but when he asked Mr. Schultz about it the latter replied +that Cappy Ricks must have changed his mind about installing wireless +on the _Narcissus_, for he had cabled to the agents of the charterers +in Pernambuco to have a wireless plant and a competent operator +waiting for the vessel upon arrival. It was Mr. Schultz's opinion that +the owners had evidently arrived at the conclusion that it was wise to +have a wireless aboard during war times. Personally, Mr. Schultz +approved of the innovation. + +So did Terence Reardon, for that matter. He found the new wireless +operator a charming fellow, possessed of talents far superior to those +of the young men who ordinarily pound the brass at sea. Indeed, after +the second day out, Mr. Reardon would have been heartbroken had +anything happened to that wireless. For Herr August Carl von Staden +sat at the key almost continuously, eavesdropping on the war news, and +Mr. Reardon never came to the wireless room that the operator did not +have some news of an overwhelming British defeat! + +As the voyage proceeded, however, and Mr. Reardon's mind grew a trifle +uneasy, reluctantly he began to view Herr von Staden and the wireless +with apprehension. He asked the affable operator how much the Marconi +company charged the _Narcissus_ for his services and the rental of the +wireless plant, and von Staden, momentarily stumped, replied that the +tariff was two hundred dollars a month; whereupon Reardon knew he +lied, for the charge is one hundred and forty. The German, realizing +instantly that he was not on the target, added: "That is, for a +first-grade operator and a plant like this. Of course we furnish +cheaper operators and less powerful plants, Mr. Reardon." + +"Oh! So that's the way av it?" the chief replied, and immediately went +to his state-room for the purpose of thinking it over. Eventually he +came to the conclusion that all was not as it should be, but that, +nevertheless, it was no affair of his. He was paid to obey signals +given him from the bridge. + +"'Tis no business av mine, afther all," he soliloquized. "For why +should I be puttin' dogs in windows? He's paid to navigate the ship, +an' didn't Cappy Ricks tell me to mind me own business? And yet, +there's something wrong in this ship. I feel it in me bones." + +He felt it with a force that was almost violent when Mr. Schultz +called down through the speaking-tube late one afternoon and told him +to put her under a dead-slow bell. That meant they were practically +heaving to, and steamers only heave to at sea in fine weather when +they have reached a certain longitude and latitude and plan to keep an +appointment. On the instant there was a strong odor of rat in Terence +Reardon's engine room, but his "Very well, sir," contained no hint of +his surprise and suspicion. He gave his orders to the firemen to bank +the fires, and when this had been done he informed his engine-room +crew that they might all go on deck for five minutes and get a breath +of fresh air. Nothing loath, they scrambled up the steel stairway--and +the instant the last man was out of earshot Terence Reardon sprang to +the speaking-tube to whistle up the skipper in his room. + +Now, undoubtedly the cool and calculating Herr August Carl von Staden +had been carefully trained to take into consideration, when planning +his strategy, every conceivable contingency that might possibly arise. +It is probable that the German secret service never turned out a more +finished graduate than Herr von Staden; but the fact remains, +nevertheless, that there are certain contingencies over which no human +being has control. One of these is Newton's law of gravitation; +another, an equally immutable law to the effect that water will seek +its own level; a third, the vindictiveness of an outraged Irishman; +and a fourth, the very natural tendency of any man, not excepting Mr. +Terence Reardon, to be profoundly surprised and intensely curious when +certain phenomena, which we shall now proceed to explain, take place +in the engine room where he is chief. + +Michael J. Murphy, having only the day before again essayed the task +of whistling up the engine room, and having, by reason of the ball of +cotton waste with which the tube had been plugged by the first +assistant engineer, again failed to receive the courtesy of a reply +from any one, had, to put it mildly, been annoyed. + +"Very well, my bullies," he soliloquized as he hung up the tube, "you +wouldn't speak to me when I wanted to speak to you; so now the first +time one of you wants to speak to me I'll hand you a surprise, and +I'll hand it to you right in the mouth." And forthwith Michael J. had +carefully poured down the speaking tube the contents of the basin in +which he had just made his morning ablutions! He longed to do +something nasty, and he succeeded admirably. + +As we have already remarked, water seeks its own level. It ran down +the speaking-tube until it encountered the cotton waste plug; +whereupon, due to the hydrostatic pressure, the plug gave way and was +forced down to the tightly closed mouth of the tube, and the suds +backed up behind it. It was pretty warm in the engine room, and most +of the water had evaporated by the time Terence Reardon took down the +looped tube and opened it for the purpose of putting his lips to the +mouthpiece and blowing heartily through it. However, there was about a +gill of water left in the tube. + +Now, as everybody knows, water running down a slope of seventy-five or +eighty degrees comes rather fast. Consequently Mr. Reardon had no time +to dodge. + +Why be squeamish? He got a mouthful and was very nauseated for half a +minute. Also he cursed, we regret to record, and was very, very angry. +Carefully he drained the devilish tube, wiped it clean with some fresh +waste, and racked his brain for the right thing to say to Michael J. +Murphy. Finally he hit upon something he concluded would about fill +the bill, so he put his lips to the mouthpiece once more and whistled +up the skipper. To his surprise, however, his breath didn't seem to +get anywhere: in fact, it was directed back in his face rather +forcefully; so he investigated and discovered the mouthpiece was only +half open. Upon endeavoring to open it fully he sensed an obstruction +in the back of it, so he unscrewed the mouthpiece and drew forth a +ball of dirty, sour-smelling cotton waste. + +He gazed a moment in speechless wonder. Then: "I'll whistle that +dirrty Tomfool, until he answers me in self-defense," he announced'to +the main motor, and forthwith blew a mighty blast. Almost instantly +Michael J. Murphy yelled: "Hullo!" + +"Murphy," Terence Reardon announced calmly and very distinctly, +"you're a contimptible dhrunken ape!" + +"Holy Moses! Reardon, is that you?" the astounded Murphy demanded. + +"It is-as you'll discover whin you're able to come on deck an' give me +the satisfaction I'll demand for the dirrty dab av wather an' cotton +waste you put in the tube, knowin' that the firrst time I took it down +to spheak to you, ye blackguard, in the line av djooty--which is the +only reason I would spheak to you--I'd get it full in the mouth. Ye +dirrty, lyin', schamin', dhrunken murrderer!" + +He paused to let that stream of adjectival opprobrium sink in. +Silence. Then: + +"I poured the contents of my washbasin in the tube, I'll admit, but I +did not plug it with cotton waste. One of your assistants did that, +chief, and as for the water, as God is my judge, I didn't intend it +for you--" + +"Who else would ye be afther insultin' if it wasn't me? Are ye not +friendly wit' me assistants?" + +"Forgive me, Reardon, and listen to what I'm going to tell you." + +And then the tale was told. When it was done Terence Reardon grunted. + +"I knew it!" he said. "I knew it! I felt in me bones there was +something wrong aboard this ship. An' so ye were not dhrunk an' +disordherly at Pernambuco?" + +"The liars! Did they tell you that? Reardon, it's only the mercy of +heaven they didn't murder me. I'm lying here, helpless and crippled in +my state-room, with the key turned in the lock. They've stolen my ship +from me, and I can tell by the roll of her she's practically hove to +under a dead-slow bell this minute. We've reached the +rendezvous--we're waiting for the German fleet to deliver the coal; +and oh, man, man, if we're caught by a British cruiser we'll lose the +ship! They'll confiscate her, chief. Wirra! Wirra!" he cried, breaking +into the forgotten wail of his childhood. "How can I ever face Matt +Peasley and Cappy Ricks after this? Reardon, man, they'll think we +stood in with the Germans and let them do it. We're both Irish--they +know we're both pro-German--" + +"What's that you said?" Terence demanded sharply. "Me pro-German. Me? +I _was_ pro-German--yis--wanst!" + +Fell a silence. + +Now, for the benefit of the uninitiated, be it known that there is a +certain curse employed by the Irish and by no other race on earth. +Whenever you hear an Irishman employ it, you know instantly-- +provided, of course, you are Irish yourself--just what kind of Irish +that Irishman is. You cannot mistake it. There is no possible chance. +It is only brought forth with the dust of the centuries on it, so to +speak, to grace a fitting occasion. Terence Reardon felt that such an +occasion was now at hand. As naturally, as inevitably, therefore, as +the suds ran down the speaking-tube, that curse climbed up it--softly, +distinctly, and with a wealth of feeling in the back of it: + +"God put the curse av Crummle on thim!" + +Mr. Reardon, of course, referred to the late Oliver Cromwell. Any one +who has ever read the sorry history of Erin knows what the amiable +Oliver did to the Irish. Consequently such an one will have no +difficulty in estimating the precise proportions of bad luck Terence +Reardon prayed might be the immediate heritage of the crew of the S.S. +_Narcissus_. + +Michael J. Murphy blinked rapidly, for all the world as if Mr. Schultz +had entered at that moment and struck him a terrific blow on top of +the head. A more dazed Irishman than he never threw an ancient egg or +a defunct cat at an alleged Celtic comedian with green whiskers. He +was absolutely staggered--but not for long. The Irish come back very +quickly. + +"Shame on you, Terence Reardon!" he declared. "And you with a Masonic +ring on your finger." + +"Glory be!" cried the delighted Terence. "Sure are you wan av us?" + +"One of you!" Mike Murphy fairly shrieked. "The minute I'm out of this +room you'll apologize or fight for thinking I'm a renegade." + +"_Naboclish!_" laughed Terence Reardon, slipping into the Gaelic and +out again. "The divil a Mason am I! Sure that ring ye saw on me finger +that day in the office av the owners belonged to me second assistant +in the _Arab_. He'd lost it in the engine room, an' a mont' afther +he'd left I found it. Not knowin' what ship he was in, 'twas me +intintion to take the ring over to the Marine Engineers' Association +an' lave it for him wit' the secreth'ry; and to make sure I wouldn't +forget it I put it on me finger--" + +"Well, you knew, Terence, that with the likes of me round you'd not be +liable to forget it," Mike Murphy laughed. + +"As for you, ye divil," Terence continued, "faith, what wit' yer +English tweeds an' the fancy cut av thim, an' yer lack av the brogue +an' the broad _a_ av ye, I thought, begorra, ye were a dirrty Far +Down! God love ye, Michael, but 'tis the likes av you I'm proud to be +ship-mates wit'." + +"But you said you were from Belfast, Terence." + +"So I am. I was borrn there, but me parents--the Lord 'a' merrcy on +their sowls--moved back to Kerry." + +"Terence!" + +"What is it, Michael, me poor lad?" + +"Do you ever drink on duty? I don't mean with your superiors--" + +The chief chuckled. He knew what Murphy was alluding to. + +"I do," he replied, "wit' me equals." + +"'Tis a pity, Terence, that man Schultz has the key to my state-room +in his pocket. Now if you could manage to tap that Dutchman on the +head with something hard and heavy, take the key out of his pocket and +throw him overheard, you could let me out of this purgatory I'm in. +Then I wouldn't be surprised if the sight of me and the absence of Mr. +Schultz would put a bit of heart in that little cockney steward--and +maybe he'd bring a drink to hearten you for what's ahead of you this +night." + +"An' what might that be, avic?" Terence demanded. + +"I want you to steal the ship back from them, Terence." + +"Very well, Michael. 'Tis not a small thing ye ask me to do, but the +divil a more willin' man could ye find to ask. Have ye figured out the +plan av campaign? Sure what wit' the suddenness av it all I'm all in a +shweat wit' excitement." + +"You may be cold enough before morning, Terry, my boy." + +"Bad luck to you, Michael! Dyin' is wan thing I cannot afford to do, +although be the same token they tell me ould Ricks has a kind shpot in +the heart av him for the widow an' the orphan--particularly av thim +that dies in his service! As I say, I cannot afford to get kilt, but +in back av that ag'in I cannot afford to lose the best job I ever had. +An' afther all, 'tis a poor man that won't fight for a fine, kind +gentleman--" + +"Damn the fine, kind gentleman! It serves him right for letting us get +into this fix. He can afford the loss of the ship, but you and I, +Terence Reardon, cannot afford the loss of our honor and self-respect. +For the sake of the blood that's in us we can't afford to let a lot of +Dutchmen steal our ship and cargo." + +"Whist!" Reardon warned. "Hurry up. Me crew is comin' below ag'in." + +"Make it a point to pass by my state-room window after dark. You'll +find a scrap of paper on the sill. Help yourself to it." + +"Faith, I will," Mr. Reardon promised fervently, and the tube closed +with a click. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + + + +TERENCE Reardon's preparations for the night's work began the instant +he hung up the speaking-tube. The _Narcissus_ carried three assistant +engineers, in consequence of which Mr. Reardon was not required to +stand a watch unless he so elected; although from force of habit +acquired in the days when he had been chief of the _Arab_--a little +three-thousand-ton tramp--and perforce had to stand a regular watch, +he found it very difficult not to spend at least eight hours in every +twenty-four in the engine room. When, eventually, he came to a +realization that his job was not to make the engines behave, but to +see that they behaved properly, he spent more of his time on deck, and +put in only a few hours below during the watch of the third assistant +engineer--the third assistant being a young man in whom the chief +reposed exactly that degree of confidence a chief engineer should +always repose in a third assistant. Mr. Reardon, therefore, was at +liberty to leave the engine-room whenever he felt so disposed; and +following his illuminating conversation with the captain he felt very +much disposed to leave immediately. + +He went first to his state-room, where he bathed, changed into new +under-clothes and socks, donned a freshly laundered suit of faded +dungarees--old, faded, well-washed dungarees, by the way, always +appearing neater and cleaner than new ones--and shaved; for if +Providence willed it that lie should die to-night. Mr. Reardon was +resolved to be in such a highly sanitary condition that "those upon +whom should devolve the melancholy duty of laying him out"--which +phrase, in the Hibernian sense, means those who should dispose his +limbs, close his eyes, tie up his black jowls with a towel and fold +his hands--alas, so white in death, at last! across his still +breast--might be moved to remark that, notwithstanding the nature of +the deceased's vocation, they could not recall ever having seen a +cleaner corpse. + +Having attended to his pre-dissolution toilet, Mr. Reardon next sat +in at his littered desk, swept a space clear of tobacco crumbs, ashes, +pipes and some old copies of the _Cork Eagle_, and sat down to write a +farewell letter to his wife, hoping that, even though his enemies +should slay him, yet would they have sufficient respect for the dead +to mail that letter to Mrs. Reardon. And, in order that he might not +anger his posthumous benefactors, he mentioned nothing of the state of +affairs aboard the ship. He merely stated that she might never see him +again, in which event she was to call upon the owners and ask them to +invest for her the proceeds of his life insurance policy, since they +could and would invest it to better advantage than she. Then he spoke +of his grief at the thought of the children being forced to forego +their college education and suggested that she ask Cappy Ricks to give +Johnny a place in his office; also, should the owners offer anything +as compensation for the loss of her husband, she was to accept it, +for, as God was his judge, she would be entitled to it! This last +sentence Terence underscored for emphasis; that was as close as he +came to saying that if he died it would be in defense of his owner's +interest. Then he commended her to the comfort of her religion and +subscribed himself: "Your loving and devoted husband, Terence P. +Reardon, Chief Engineer S.S. _Narcissus_." + +Having set his small affairs in order against a hasty exit from this +vale of hatreds, Mr. Reardon, in unconscious imitation of all the +condemned men who had preceded him on the voyage across the Styx, +repaired to the dining saloon and partook of a hearty meal. He +realized he had undertaken a contract that would require the +employment of weapons more formidable than his hard fists, and +devoutly he wished that, like the fairy queen, he had but to breathe +on them to metamorphose them into pig iron. He pictured the slaughter +aboard the _Narcissus_ when he should wade into the conflict. Finally +he made up his mind that, in lieu of an iron hand or two, he would use +his favorite monkey wrench, for he had no firearms whatsoever; +although, had somebody presented him with a one-man machine gun with +full directions for using, Mr Reardon would have recoiled in horror +from it. Firearms were highly dangerous. They killed so many people! + +He left the table long before the others had finished. There was no +one on deck as he emerged from the dining saloon, so he walked +leisurely round past the captain's cabin, whistling the "Cruiskeen +Lawn" to let Mike Murphy know who was coming. Evidently Michael +assimilated the hint, for there was an envelope on the little window +sill as Terence hove abreast of it. He snatched it swiftly away and +continued round to his own state-room. + +The envelope contained Michael J. Murphy's plan for campaign worked +out to the most minute detail, by reason of his absolute knowledge of +the customs aboard the ship. Mr. Reardon read the remarkable document +and sat lost in admiration; a twinkle leaped to his eyes and a +cunning, rather deadly little smile came sneaking round the corners of +his broad chin. + +"Arrah, but 'tis a beautiful schame," he soliloquized. "Who but that +lad could have t'ought av it? An' here I've been shpendin' the past +two hours borrowin' trouble." + +He read and reread the plan of attack, in order to familiarize himself +with the details; then he held a match to the document and destroyed +it. He considered a moment, and then performed a similar service to +his farewell letter to Mrs. Reardon, for the chief engineer of the +S.S. _Narcissus_, of San Francisco, had made up his mind not to +die--to-night! + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + + + +Mr. Schultz, the first assistant, and Mr. von Staden were engaged in +coffee and repartee when Terence Reardon thrust his head in at the +dining saloon window. He was mildly excited. + +"Be the Great Gun av Athlone!" he declared. "I've just been bit be a +bedbug--an' I t'ought there wasn't a bedbug in the ship!" + +Mr. Schultz looked up, horrified. "Chieve," he said, "dot is rodden +news. Bedbugs! _Ach!_" + +"An' well you may '_Ach_,' Misther Schultz. Let a colony av bedbugs +move into the _Narcissus_ an' Terence P. Reardon will move out. +There's only wan thing to do, Misther Schultz, an' that is to tackle +the divils before we're overwhelmed be the weight av numbers. Have ye +a bit av sulphur in yer shtore-room, Misther Schultz--the kind that +comes in balls an' is used to burrn in shtate-rooms to kill bedbugs?" + +When Terence Reardon put that innocent query to the first mate he knew +very well Mr. Schultz would reply in the negative--which he did--for +the reason that Michael J. Murphy had privately informed Mr. Reardon +that the little cockney steward, Riggins, had charge of the bedbug +ammunition. Riggins, who had been standing with his back against the +wall, eyeing Mr. Schultz sourly, now spoke up and said he had some +sulphur. + +"More power to ye, Riggins!" Mr. Reardon declared heartily. "Then do +ye, like the good lad, give me two or three balls av it. I'll burn +them in me shtate-room to-night, wit' the door an' window locked, an' +be morrnin' sorra bedbug will be left alive." + +"Very well, sir," Riggins replied. "Might Hi arsk, Mr. Reardon, where +you hintend passin' the night?" + +"I'll shleep in me auld aisy-chair abaft the house an' next the +funnel, where I'll be snug an' warrm," Mr. Reardon replied, for he +desired an excuse to be on deck all night without arousing the +suspicions of Mr. Schultz or von Staden. + +The steward, having finished serving those who ate in the dining +saloon, stepped out on deck and started for his own room. Mr. Reardon +remained by the window a minute, discoursing on the curse of bedbugs +aboard a ship, and then with a sigh followed the steward leisurely. +Mr. Schultz appeared undecided whether or not to accompany him in the +capacity of censor, but finally concluded to remain and finish his +coffee, for if Riggins had decided to enlighten the chief as to the +real reason for the skipper's indisposition he had had frequent +opportunity to do so during the past ten days. It did not seem likely, +therefore, that he would run any risks at this late date. To Mr. +Schultz, Riggins appeared to be a man who could be depended upon to +remember which side his bread was buttered on and who supplied the +butter. + +Arrived at the steward's state-room, Mr. Reardon helped himself to the +entire box of bedbug exterminator and addressed Riggins very briefly: + +"Riggins, ye're a child av Johnny Bull, are ye not?" + +Riggins, without the slightest trace of embarrassment, admitted his +disgrace. + +"An' bein' what ye are," Mr. Reardon continued, "would ye do somethin' +av great binifit to England?" + +Riggins replied that inasmuch as he had lost two brothers at the +Battle of the Marne, that ought to indicate bally well where the +Riggins tribe stood on the subject of defense of the realm. + +"Good!" Mr. Reardon murmured. "Even if misguided in their pathriotic +motives, shtill yer brothers were brave min, an' for that I respect +thim. Now, thin, Riggins, ye rabbit, listen to me: In a momint av +surpassin' innocince Captain Murphy an' mesilf swallowed a cute +suggestion from a lad whose back I'll break in two halves whin the +_Narcissus_ gets back to San Francisco. 'Why not save expinse,' says +he, 'an' ship the crew av this German liner that's interned over in +Richardson's Bay?' Riggins, to make a long shtory short, we have thim +this minute, an' the dear God knows that even if shipped at the German +scale av wages that gang'll prove a dear crew to the Blue Star +Navigation Company if you an' I, Riggins, fail to do our djooty. +They've half murdered the captain, shtolen the ship an' cargo from +him, an' run her t'ousands av miles off her course to deliver the coal +to the German fleet." + +"Oh, my bloody ol' Aunt Maria!" gasped the horrified Riggins. + +"What I want to know from you, Riggins, is this: Will ye help me +shteal the ship back to-night? We're runnin' almost due south, an' +that good-for-nothin' von Staden has been in communication wit' the +fleet all day long. I feel it in me bones. If we get the ship back +we'll head due west for the coast av South America an' hug the +three-mile limit-an' the devil scoort them thin. Riggins, ye gossoon, +what for the cause av Merry England? They wouldn't take ye for a gift +in the British Arrmy, for I doubt if ye'd weigh ninety pounds soakin' +wet an' a rock in yer hand, but for all that, here's an iligant +opporchunity for ye to serrve yer counthry, an' should worrd av yer +brave action reach the king--bad cess to him--he may call ye Sir +Thomas Riggins an' make ye consul-general av the Cannibal Islands. + +"Out wit' it, Riggins. Yer king an' counthry calls ye, an' be the same +token so do Michael J. Murphy an' Terence P. Reardon. What'll ye give, +Riggins, to preserve the seas to Britain?" + +"Me 'eart's blood, that's wot!" Riggins replied quietly. + +"I accept the sacrifice in the name av His Majesty, King Jarge! Be on +deck at ten o'clock sharp, waitin' close undher the shtarboard +companion leadin' to the bridge. Whin I come out on the shtarboard ind +av the bridge an' whistle 'O'Donnell Abu,' do ye--" + +"S'help me, chief, I never 'eard of the blighter before," Riggins +interrupted. + +"God forgive me!" Mr. Reardon murmured _sotto voce_. "I'll have to do +it. Well, thin, Riggins, whin I come out on the shtarboard ind av the +bridge an' whistle 'God Save the King'--troth, I'll gamble that's one +blighter ye've hearrd tell av--do ye run up into the pilot-house an' +take the wheel. I'll not whistle until we have the deck to ourselves, +wit'out fear av intherruption, an' ye must come quick an' take the +wheel, else the vessel'll fall off into the trough av the sea an' +commince to wallow--which same'll wake up the second mate an' bring +him an' von Staden on deck to see what's wrong wit' her. An' until I'm +ready to call on those lads I'm not wishful to have them call on me! +Remimber, Riggins: Wan jump an' ye're into the pilot-house; then howld +her head up to the sea--an' lave the rest to me. Gwan wit' ye now, or +that skut, Schultz, will be gettin' suspicious av us." + +When Mr. Schultz came along ten minutes later he found Mr. Reardon +very busy calking with oakum the cracks round the door and window of +his state-room, through which little wisps of yellow smoke were +curling. Mr. Schultz was so completely deceived that he hurried round +to his own quarters and pawed over his own mattress and bedding in a +vain search for bedbugs. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + + + +At eight o'clock Mr. Schultz relieved the second mate on the bridge, +and five minutes later Terence Reardon, for the first time invaded +that forbidden territory. "Bad cess to me!" he complained plaintively. +"I'm the picthur av bad luck. I've a leaky connection below an' divil +a bit av red lead. Could ye lind me a dab av red lead from yer +shtore-room, Misther Schultz?" + +Mr. Schultz marvelled that any man could force his mind to dwell on +red lead, leaky pipe connections, sulphur and bedbugs in a ship like +the _Narcissus_ at a time like this. He had met a few innocents in his +day, but this Irish engineer was most innocent of all. + +"Sure, Mike!" he replied, and grinned at his feeble play on words. +"_Und_ as I gannot leave der bridge yet, here iss der key to der +store-room. Helb yourself, mine _Freund, und_ den gif me der key +back." + +"Ye addie-pated son of sin!" Mr. Reardon soliloquized as he took the +key and departed. "Faith, a booby birrd has more sinse nor you! D'ye +suppose I didn't wait until ye were on djooty before axin' ye, well +knowin' ye'd lind me the key an' I'd be alone in yer shtore-room!" + +Mr. Reardon was in the store-room less than two minutes. When he +emerged he carried a daub of red lead on an old spoon, as Mr. Schultz, +looking down on the dimly lighted main deck, observed. What he did not +observe, however, was the chief's action in tossing the spoon +overboard the instant he passed beyond the range of Mr. Schultz's +vision. It is probable, also, that the mate would have been disturbed +could he have seen Mr. Reardon in his state-room, with the door +locked, removing from beneath his dungaree jumper several fathoms of +light, strong, cotton signal halyard, two five-foot lengths of +half-inch steel chain, and a strip of canvas. His pockets also gave up +two padlocks, with keys to fit. This loot Mr. Reardon very carefully +hid in the space under his settee, after which, with due thanks, he +returned the key to Mr. Schultz. + +The remainder of the evening until nine-thirty Terence spent in the +wireless room with Herr von Staden. Then he retired, very low in +spirits, to his state-room, to make his preparations for wholesale +assault with a deadly weapon--possibly wholesale murder! He cut the +signal halyard into short lengths; then he cut the piece of canvas +into strips about two inches wide and secreted the halyard and canvas +strips here and there about his person. Then he descended to the +engine room and selected his monkey wrench from the tool rack on the +wall, helped himself to a handful of cotton waste, and returned to his +state-room mournfully keening "The Sorrowful Lamentation of Callaghan, +Greally and Mullen, killed at the Fair of Turloughmore." + +"Wirra," he murmured presently, "but 'tis a terrible thing to hit an +unsuspectin' man wit' a monkey wrench! An' that divil von Staden, for +all his faults, is not a bad lad at all at all. An' I'd give five +dollars--yes, seven an' a half--if he were bald an' shiny on any other +shpot save an' exceptin' the shpot I have to hit him. Ochone! + + + "'Come tell me, dearest mother, what makes me father shtay + Or what can be th' reason that he's so long away?' + 'Oh, howld yer tongue, me darlin' son, yer tears do grieve me sore, + I fear he has been murdhered in the fair av Turloughmore!' + + +"Sure, I haven't got the heart to dhrive the head av this monkey +wrench into that bald shpot. If he'd hair there I wouldn't mind." Mr. +Reardon sighed dismally. "I'll have to wrap a waddin' av waste around +me weapon, so I'll neither kill nor mangle but lay thim out wit' wan +good crack-- + + + "'It is on the firrst av August, the truth I will declare, + Those people they assimbled that day all at the fair, + But little was their notion that evil was in shtore, + All by the bloody Peelers at the fair av Turloughmore.' + + +"I must practice crackin' the divils! Sure, 'twould be an awful thing +to have the sin av murrder on me sowl--not that 'tis murrder to kill a +Dutchman that's a self-confessed pirate into the bargain. Shtill, 'tis +a terrible t'ought to carry to the grave--" + +Wham! Mr. Reardon brought his padded wrench down on his defenseless +bed. "Too harrd," he told himself. "Sure a blow like that on top av +the head would knock out the teeth av the divil himself! Less +horse-power, Terence!" + +Wham! He tried it again, this time with better results. For five +minutes he beat the bedclothes; then his spirits rose and, like the +mercurial Celt that he was, he chanted blithely a verse from "The +Night Before Larry Was Stretched": + + + "'Though, sure 'tis the best way to die, + Oh, the divil a betther a-livin'! + For sure whin the gallows is high, + Your journey is shorter to heaven; + But what harasses Larry the most, + An' makes his poor sowl melancholy, + Is to think av the time whin his ghost + Will come in a sheet to sweet Molly! + Oh, sure, 'twill kill her alive!'" + + +He slipped the short, heavy monkey wrench up his right sleeve, walked +out on deck and stood at the corner of the house, smoking placidly and +gazing down on the main deck forward. The look-out on the forecastle +head was not visible in the darkness, but Mr. Reardon was not worried +about that. "For why," he argued to himself, "should I go lookin' for +the skut whin if I wait a bit he'll come fluttherin' into me hand?" + +He did. At five minutes after ten Mr. Schultz hailed the look-out in +German, and although Mr. Reardon spoke no German, yet did he +understand that order. Mr. Schultz, a victim of habit, desired the +look-out to go to the galley and bring up some hot coffee for him and +the helmsman. It was the custom aboard the _Narcissus_, as it is in +most Pacific Coast boats, for the cook, just before retiring, to brew +a pot of coffee, drain off the grounds and leave it to simmer on the +galley range where, at intervals of two hours during the night, the +watch could come and help itself. + +Terence Reardon knew that the look-out, after heating the coffee and +bringing a few cups up on the bridge, would return to the galley and +partake of a cup and a bite himself. + +The man came down off the forecastle head, crossed the main deck and +disappeared in the galley. In about ten minutes Mr. Reardon saw him +climb up the port companion to the bridge; a minute later he came +down. Mr. Reardon waited until he was certain the fellow was sipping +his coffee in the galley; then with the utmost nonchalance he went up +on the bridge and hailed Mr. Schultz, who was standing amidships +blowing on a cup of coffee. + +"Begorra," he complained, "Divil a wink can I shleep to-night. I've +been sittin' wit' the wireless operator all evenin', an' now, thinks +I, he's weary listenin' to me nonsinse, so I'll go up on the bridge +an' interview Misther Schultz. If I--be the Rock av Cashel! What was +that?" + +"Vot? Vere?" Mr. Schultz exclaimed, and set down his cup of coffee. He +was all excitement, for he had been looking for the flash of a +searchlight for the past hour and he wondered now if the unsuspecting +Reardon had seen it first. + +"Over that way." Mr. Reardon pointed off the port bow. "Did ye not see +that light?" + +"A light. _Gott im Himmel!_" + +"Ye can't see it now," Mr. Reardon replied soothingly. He stepped +round to the back of the mate and permitted his trusty monkey wrench +to slip down into his hand. "But if ye continue to look in that +direction, Misther Schultz, ye'll see not wan light but several." + +"_Donnerwetter!_ I gannot see dem," Mr. Schultz protested, wondering +if there might not be some defect in his eyesight. + +"Have no fear. Keep lookin' that way an' ye'll see thim," Mr. Reardon +reassured him. "Ha-ha, ye divil!" he crooned--and struck. + +"I'll gamble ye saw the lights I promised ye," he breathed into the +ear of the unconscious mate as he deftly caught the falling body and +eased it noiselessly to the deck to avoid calling the attention of the +helmsman to the interesting tableau going on behind him. Quickly he +gagged Mr. Schultz with a strip of canvas; then he tied his hands +behind him and bound him at ankle and knee with the short lengths of +signal halyard. As a final attention he "frisked" the mate and removed +his keys and a heavy automatic pistol. + +"Lie there now, me jewel," he said, and trotted out to the starboard +end of the bridge, whistling shrilly "God Save the King." When the +swift patter of feet along the deck warned him that the steward was +coming, he walked back amidships and opened the little sliding trap in +the roof of the pilot-house, which on the _Narcissus_ was set just +below the bridge. The quartermaster's head was directly beneath the +trap. "Oh-ho, me laddybuck!" Mr. Reardon murmured, and dropped his +padded monkey wrench on that defenseless head. Instantly the +quartermaster staggered and hung limply to the wheel. + +"Bad luck to me, I'll have to hit ye agin," Mr. Reardon complained +--and did it. Then he slid through the trap into the pilot-house, +steadied the wheel with one hand and unlocked the pilot-house door +with the other to admit the steward. + +"Strike me pink!" that astounded functionary exclaimed as he gazed at +the quartermaster lying beside the wheel. + +"I will--if ye don't take howld av this wheel an' do less talkln'," +Mr. Reardon replied evenly. "Bring her round very slowly, me lad, an' +in the intherval I'll wrap up me little Baby Bunting on the floor +forninst ye." + +When the quartermaster had been duly wrapped _a la_ Mr. Schultz and +dragged clear of the wheel, Mr. Reardon returned to the bridge and +with brazen impudence set the handle of the marine telegraph over to +full speed ahead. He hummed "Colleen Dhas Cruthin Amoe" as with a +light heart he skipped down to the galley and found the look-out +eating bread soaked in coffee. Mr. Reardon nodded and said "Good +nicht, _amigo_" for his voyages had taken him to many ports and he was +naturally quick at picking up foreign languages. The fellow, +concluding Mr. Reardon desired a cup of coffee also, turned to the +rack to get him a cup. + +"How dare ye ate up the owners' groceries in this shameful manner?" +Mr. Reardon demanded. "Do ye not get enough at mess that ye must be +atin' between meals? Shame on you--" + +One tap did the trick. "'Tis a black way to repay a kind t'ought," Mr. +Reardon observed to his victim as he bound and gagged him; "but war is +war, an' a faint heart an' a weak stomach never shtole a ship back +from forty German pirates!" + +He closed the galley door on the unfortunate look-out and climbed up +on the boat deck to get Michael J. Murphy out of prison. Cautiously he +unlocked the state-room door with the key taken from Mr. Schultz, and +the skipper came forth. Mr. Reardon led him under an electric light +and gazed upon him wonderingly. + +"Begorra, Michael, me poor lad," he whispered, "be the look av the +white face of you I'm thinkin' ye ought to be in bed instid av out +raisin' ructions." + +"I'm weak; I have a fever," Murphy replied. "Still, half that fever +may be plain lunatic rage. Did you find a gun on the mate?" + +"I did. Take it, Michael, I'll have nothin' to do wit' it." + +The skipper grasped the weapon eagerly. "The ship is headed due west +undher full speed," Terence explained, "an' the mate, the +quarter-master an' the look-out have all received evidence av me +affectionate regard. Next!" + +"Von Staden. He kicked me and broke my ribs, Terence." + +"Wit' the greatest joy in life, Michael. The skut's busy in the +wireless room." + +So they went to the wireless room. Von Staden was taking a message as +they entered; at sound of their footsteps he turned carelessly and +found himself looking down the muzzle of the captain's automatic. + +"Will ye take it peaceably, ye gossoon, or must I brain ye wit' this +monkey wrench?" Mr. Reardon queried fiercely. + +"And take your hand off that key, you blackguard. No S O S," Murphy +ordered. + +The supercargo stared at them impudently. "This," he said presently, +"is one of those inconceivable contingencies." + +"Your early education was neglected, Dutchy. However, don't complain +and say I didn't give you warning. Terence!" + +"What is it, Michael?" + +"All well-regulated ships carry a few sets of handcuffs and leg irons. +If you will put your hand in my right hip pocket, Terence, lad, you'll +find a pair for present emergencies. They were in my desk and I +concluded to bring them along." + +"An' a pious t'ought it was, Michael." + +So they handcuffed Herr August Carl von Staden and gagged him, after +which Mr. Reardon, leaving the skipper to guard his prisoner, ran +round to his own room and got the two lengths of chain and the +padlocks. When he returned, Michael J. Murphy kicked his unwelcome +supercargo to the mate's store-room and Mr. Reardon locked him in +among the paint pots, pipe, old iron and other odds and ends which +accumulate in a mate's store-room. + +They went next to the door of the forecastle. It was open--and, what +was better, it opened inward. Also, it was of steel with a stout brass +ring on the lock, this ring taking the place of what on a landsman's +door would have been a knob. + +Terence Reardon and Michael J. Murphy listened. From within came a +medley of gentle sighs, snores and the slow, regular breathing of +sleeping men. Softly Mr. Reardon closed the door, turned the ring +until the latch caught, drew a section of chain through the ring in +such a manner as to prevent the latch from being released, passed the +ends of his chain round the steel handrail along the front of the +forecastle and padlocked them there. + +"Now, thin," Mr. Reardon announced, "that takes care av the carpenter, +the bos'n, four seamen, two waiters an' the mess bhoy. Do ye wait here +a minute, Michael, lad, whilst I run up on the bridge and give that +unmintionable Schultz the wanst over." + +The weak, half-dead Murphy sat down on the hatch coaming and waited. +The chief was away about ten minutes and the captain was on the point +of investigating when Mr. Reardon appeared. + +"That unfortunate divil had come to, an' was lookin' an' feelin' cowld +whin I wint up on the bridge," he explained, "so I wint to me room an' +got a pair av blankets to wrap round him where he lay. It's wan thing +to tap a man on the head, but 'tis another to let him catch his death +av cowld." + +Captain Murphy smiled. Ordinarily he would have laughed at the +whimsical Terence, but he didn't have a good laugh left in him. His +lung was hurting, so he suspected an abscess. + +They returned to the boat deck, and with his rule Mr. Reardon +carefully measured the exact distance between the ship's rail and the +center of the doors of the state-rooms occupied by the mates and +assistant engineers. This detail attended to, they went to the +carpenter's little shop and cut two scantlings of a length to +correspond to the measurements taken, and in addition Mr. Reardon +prepared some thin cleats with countersunk holes for the insertion of +screws. He worked very leisurely, and it was eleven o'clock when he +had everything in readiness. + +"There's nothin' to do now until midnight, whin the watch in the +ingine room is changed," Mr. Reardon suggested, "so lave us go to the +galley. Wan av me brave lads is in there, an' if he's not dead +intirely, faith, I'm thinkin' I might injoy a cup av coffee!" + +So they went to the galley and found the look-out glaring at them. He +made inarticulate noises behind his gag, so Mr. Reardon, much +relieved, found seats for each of them and poured coffee. Then he +filled his pipe, crossed his right leg over his left knee and puffed +away. He was the speaking likeness of Contentment. And well he might +be. + +The first assistant engineer had been driving the _Narcissus_ for an +hour at full speed at right angles to the course he believed she was +pursuing. He would, being totally ignorant of the change of masters, +continue to drive her at full speed until midnight, when he would come +off watch, tired and sleepy, and go straight to his state-room. The +second assistant would go direct from his state-room to duty in the +engine-room and continue to drive the _Narcissus_ at full speed until +four o'clock, and inasmuch as it would be quite dark still when the +third assistant came on at four o'clock to relieve the engineer on +watch, there was not the slightest doubt in the minds of Murphy and +the chief but that the deception could go on until breakfast. However, +that would interfere with their plans. Long before that hour the men +locked in the forecastle would have discovered their plight, and the +noise of the discovery might reach below decks and bring up, to +investigate, just a few more husky firemen and coal passers than even +the redoubtable Terence Reardon could hope to cope with successfully. + +"By four o'clock we'll be more than fifty miles off the course Schultz +was holding her on," the captain suggested. "In all likelihood the +German admiral wirelessed his last position and the course he was +steering, and von Staden gave Schultz his course accordingly." + +"Faith, we're not a moment too soon at that," Mr. Reardon replied. +"Schultz was lookin' for searchlights whin I tapped him. Be the Toe +Nails av Moses ye're right, Michael. We'll be so far off that course +be daylight they won't even see our shmoke. D'ye think that little +handful av bones, Riggins, can manage the wheel until we've claned up +the ingine-room gang? We can relieve him wit' wan av the Chinamen +then." + +"Tell him he'll have to stick it out. And by the way, Terence, come to +think of it, you had better run forward and remove the sidelights; +then unscrew all of the incandescent lamps on deck until the contact +is lost. You can screw them in again just before the watch is changed, +so they won't suspect anything, and unscrew them again after we have +the watch under lock and key. The fleet may be too far away to see our +smoke by daylight, but they may be close enough to see our lights +to-night! Tell Riggins to darken the pilot-house. The binnacle light +is enough to keep him company." + +"Thrue for ye," Terence replied, and hurried away to carry out +Murphy's instructions. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + + + +At twelve o'clock the second assistant engineer, hurrying along the +deck to relieve the first assistant on watch, found Mr. Reardon +leaning over the rail meditatively puffing his old briar pipe. In +answer to the former's query as to what kept the chief up so late, the +latter replied that he was burning sulphur in his room to kill +bedbugs. + +"The good Lord forgive me the lie," he prayed when a few minutes later +he was called upon by the first assistant, hurrying off watch, to +repeat the same tale. + +The first assistant and his watch had a shower-bath and turned in. +They were not interested in the workings of the deck department in the +dark; they could not know that the vessel's course had been changed; +they thought only of getting to sleep. Mr. Reardon waited until +one-thirty A. M. to provide against possible sleepless ones, and then +crept aft on velvet feet. The _Narcissus_ had very commodious quarters +in her stern, where her coolie crew had been housed in the days when +she ran in the China trade; and when the Blue Star Navigation Company +took her over these quarters had been fitted up to accommodate the +engine room crew. In the same manner, therefore, that he had +imprisoned the men of the deck department in the forecastle, Mr. +Reardon now proceeded to imprison the men of the engine department in +the sterncastle. This delicate mission accomplished, he went up +top-side and measured the diameter of the ventilators, in order to +make certain that the thinnest of his German canaries could not fly +the cage via that difficult route. Having satisfied himself that he +had no need to worry on this score, he made his way forward again. + +"Well, Michael, me poor lad," he announced as he rejoined the skipper, +"I'll tell you wan thing--an' it isn't two. The crew av the +_Narcissus_ off watch at this minute will never come on watch +ag'in--in the _Narcissus_." + +The skipper smiled wanly. "I'm sorry you must take all the risks and +do all the work, Terence," he replied. + +"Gwan wit' ye, Michael. Sure if I had a head on me like you, an' a +college edication in back av that ag'in, I'd be out playin' golf this +minute wit' Andhrew Carnegie an' Jawn D. Rockefeller--ayther that, or +I'd have been hung for walkin' away wit' the Treasury Buildin'." + +They discussed the remaining details of that portion of the ship +cleaning still before them. "Remember, Terence," Mike Murphy warned +the chief, "when the blow-off comes at four o'clock and the uproar +commences fore and aft, we have the means to keep them quiet. I'll go +forward and you go aft. When we threaten to throw burning sulphur down +the ventilators and suffocate them, they'll sing soft and low!" + +Mr. Reardon chuckled. "An' Schultz t'ought I was afther bedbugs whin I +asked the shteward for the sulphur," he replied. "Shtill an' all, +Michael," he added, a trifle wistfully, "I could wish for a bit more +excitement, considerin' the size av the job." + +"Don't worry, Terry, you may get it yet. I'm dizzy and weak, chief; +I'm fearful I'll not be able to last out the night--and these Germans +are desperate. Suppose we go forward now, while I'm able, and awaken +Mr. Henckel. It's high time he relieved Mr. Schultz, and he'll be +waking naturally if we let him oversleep much longer." + +The subjugation of Mr. Henckel was accomplished without the slightest +excitement or bloodshed. Mr. Reardon rapped at his door and Mr. +Henckel replied sleepily in German. The skipper and the chief merely +lurked, one on each side of his state-room door, until he stepped +briskly out; whereupon the captain jabbed him with the gun while Mr. +Reardon shook the monkey wrench under his nose. Indeed, Mr. Reardon +had the gag in the second mate's mouth even while it hung open in +surprise. They bound him hand and foot, and Mr. Reardon picked him up +and tucked him gently in his berth, for, as the chief remarked to him, +he was as safe there as anywhere and far more comfortable, although +Mike Murphy objected and was for putting him in the mate's store-room +with von Staden, whom they had put in the dirtiest and most +unwholesome spot aboard the _Narcissus_, for two reasons: In the first +place, he had kicked Michael J. Murphy and shot him through the +shoulder; and in the second place, he was the cleanest German and the +most wholesome pirate they had ever seen, and they figured the +contrast would annoy him. Mr. Reardon, however, objected to this plan. +He argued that von Staden would be glad of Mr. Henckel's company, and +was it not their original intention to keep that laddybuck von Staden +in solitary confinement? It was. They closed the state-room door on +Mr. Henckel, and left him to meditate on his sins while they repaired +to the carpenter's little shop, to return to the boat deck presently +with the scantlings and cleats Mr. Reardon had prepared. + +With the scantling the chief shored up the doors to the state-room +occupied respectively at the time by the first and third assistant +engineers; then he screwed the cleats into place at top and bottom, so +the scantling could not slip. Not for worlds would he have used a +hammer to nail them into place, for that would have spoiled the +surprise for the objects of his attentions. Throughout the entire +operation he was as silent as a burglar, although by way of additional +precaution the captain stood by with drawn pistol. + +"Now thin, Michael," Mr. Reardon whispered as they pussy-footed away, +"there are six fine Germans below in the ingine room, an' two Irishmen +an' half an Englishman on deck. The Chinee cooks don't count, for sure +the poor heathens would only get excited and turrn somebody loose if +we asked them to do anything desperate. And, as ye know, wan good +Irishman--and bad luck to the man that says I am not that--can keep a +hundhred Germans from comin' up out av that ingine room. Go to yer +bed, Michael, an' lie down until I call ye." + +"Better take this automatic," Murphy suggested, and showed him how to +use it. + +But Mr. Reardon resolutely refused to abandon his monkey wrench, +although he consented to carry the automatic to Riggins in the +pilot-house. The estimable Riggins had been steering a somewhat +erratic course, for he found it impossible to keep his eye on the +lubber's mark while the bound quartermaster glared balefully at him +from the floor. Indeed Riggins had been pondering his fate should that +husky Teuton ever get the upper hand again; hence, when he found +himself in a state of preparedness and was informed that he must stick +by the wheel until relieved, the prospect did not awe him in the +least. The present odds were counterbalanced by the strategic position +held by the minority, and Riggins was content. + +On his way back to his state-room, there to rest until the final call +to arms, Michael J. Murphy concluded it would be well to search the +quarters of the second mate and Herr von Staden for contraband of war. +So he did, with the result that he unearthed in von Staden's room the +rifle and revolver which belonged to the _Narcissus_, and under the +second mate's pillow he found another automatic pistol. He confiscated +all three weapons by right of discovery, and hid the rifle in the +galley, the last place anybody would think of looking for it. + +In the meantime Mr. Reardon proceeded further to strengthen his +position by closing the port entrance to the engine room and shoring +up the door with a stout scantling, cleated at top and bottom to hold +it securely in place. Then he donned Mr. Schultz's heavy watchcoat, +dragged round from the lee of the house the upholstered easy-chair +Mrs. Reardon had insisted upon his taking to sea with him for use in +his leisure moments, placed this chair on deck just outside the +starboard entrance to the engine room, loaded his pipe, laid his +trusty monkey wrench across his knee and gave himself up to the +contemplation of this riot we call life. He resembled a cat watching +beside a gopher hole. By half-past three o'clock he had finished +figuring out approximately the amount of money Mrs. Reardon would have +in the Hibernia Bank at the end of five years--figuring on a monthly +saving of fifty dollars and interest compounded at the rate of four +per cent. So, having satisfied himself that Johnny would yet be a +lawyer and the girls learn to play the piano, Mr. Reardon heaved a +sigh and reluctantly went to call Michael J. Murphy for the final +accounting. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + + + +At ten minutes to four Mr. Uhl, the second assistant, a man of some +thirty years and ordinarily possessed of a disposition as placid as +that of a little Jersey heifer, ordered one of his firemen to go and +call the watch to relieve them. Mr. Reardon, his monkey wrench firmly +grasped in his right hand, knew that at exactly ten minutes to four +Mr. Uhl would issue that order--so he was on the spot to receive the +fireman as the latter came leisurely up the greasy steel stairway. As +the fellow emerged on deck he paused to wipe his heated brow with a +sweat rag and draw in a welcome breath of cool fresh air. He did not +succeed in getting his lungs quite full, however, for Michael J. +Murphy, lurking beside the door, thrust the barrel of his gun in the +fireman's ribs, effectually curtailing the process of respiration +practically at once. From the other side of the door the chief +engineer stepped out and wagged his bludgeon under the fireman's nose. + +"_Ach!_" Mr. Reardon coughed, and grimaced pleasantly. "_Schmierkase +und Sauerkraut_, ye big shtiff! _Vat wilse du haben_, eh? _Zwei bier?_ +Damn the weather, as Misther Schultz would say." + +He laid his finger on his lips, enjoining silence; then with the same +finger he pointed sternly onward, and the fireman took the hint. In +the clear space aft the house and next to the funnel Mr. Reardon bound +and gagged him and laid him tenderly on his back to await +developments. + +"Now thin, Michael," he said to the skipper, "lave us go back an' see +can we catch another. At four o'clock, whin this lad fails to return, +Misther Uhl, the omadhaun, will sind up another man to see what the +divil ails the firrst man." + +And it was even so. This time it was the oiler. + +At five minutes after four a coal passer came up the stairs, and he +was swearing at the delay in being relieved. Something told Mr. +Reardon this fellow would make trouble, so without warning he hit the +coal passer a light rap "to take the conceit out av him." Two minutes +later the coal passer had joined his fellows beside the funnel. + +At a quarter after four Mr. Uhl scratched his head and said something +very explosive in German. He started up the stairs, got halfway +up--and came down. It had occurred to him very suddenly that three men +had already gone up the stairs and had failed to return. He called a +fireman and gave him some very explicit orders in German; whereupon +the man disappeared in the shaft alley. Five minutes later he +returned, pop-eyed with excitement and the bearer of a tale that +caused Mr. Uhl to arch his blond eyebrows and murmur dazedly "_So?_" + +Ten minutes passed. Mr. Reardon glanced interrogatively at Michael J. +Murphy. "I think the divils are suspicious," he whispered. "We should +have had another be now. Have a care now, Michael. Whin they come they +come wit' a rush an'--" + +A pistol shot echoed through the ship. It came up from forward. Three +more followed in rapid succession--a scream--a shout! + +"May the divil damn me!" Terence Reardon cried in a horrified voice. +"I clane forgot the little companion hatch at the ind av the shaft +alley. They've crawled down the shaft alley an' up on deck at the very +sterrn av the ship!" + +He dashed aft towards the spot where his prisoners were laid out close +to the funnel. As he turned the corner of the house he observed that +the electric lamp which he had so carefully screwed out of its socket +had been screwed in again, and by its light Terence beheld no less a +person than Mr. Uhl cutting the halyards that bound the oiler. The +fireman had already been cut loose, but the potent effects of Terence +Reardon's blow with the wrench still remained; though conscious, the +man was unfit for combat. The coal passer, evidently the first man to +be rescued by Mr. Uhl, was standing by. + +"Gower that, ye divils!" Mr. Reardon shrieked, and charged, swinging +his monkey wrench with all his horsepower. He missed his first stroke +at Mr. Uhl, who very deftly stabbed him high up on the hip for his +carelessness; then the chief swung again, and Mr. Uhl was out of the +fight. + +Not so the big coal passer, however. He planted in Terence Reardon's +face as pretty a left and right--hay-makers both--as one could hope to +see anywhere outside a prize-ring; whereupon the chief took the count +with great abruptness. The fireman reached for the monkey wrench--and +at that instant the weak, pale-faced skipper lurched around the corner +of the house and his automatic commenced to bark. + +It was not a time for sentiment. Michael J. Murphy glanced once at +Terence Reardon's bloody, upturned face, and the glazed eyes thrilled +him with horror. The chief engineer was dead! That meant that Michael +J. Murphy would soon be dead, too. Well, they had fought a good fight +and lost, so nothing now remained for him to do save slaughter as many +of the enemy as possible and go to his accounting like a gentleman. + +He turned his back on the heap of bloody, prostrate men, stepped over +a little rivulet of gore that ran rapidly toward the scupper as the +ship heeled to port, then hesitated and started back as she heeled to +starboard. He was vaguely conscious that Mr. Uhl had shut down his +engines before coming on deck and that in consequence the ship had +lost headway and was beginning to wallow. In his weak state her +plunging caused him to stagger like a drunken man. As he crossed to +the port side of the ship and gazed down the deck he noticed that the +incandescent lamps had all been screwed back in their sockets, and by +their brilliant light he beheld one of the firemen in the act of +removing the scantling from before the first assistant's door. Just as +the door swung open the captain fired, but evidently missed, for the +man sprang nimbly into the state-room for safety. + +If the great European War has proved nothing else to date, it has +demonstrated one comforting thing about the German people: one does +not grow impatient waiting for them to carry the fight to him. The +fireman had no sooner entered the first assistant's state-room than +the first assistant came out. He was wearing his pajamas and a piece +of young artillery, and without the slightest embarrassment he +commenced shooting at Michael J. Murphy, who, not to be outdone in +politeness while he could stand and see, promptly returned the +compliment. + +The first assistant's first shot nipped a neat little crescent out of +Mike Murphy's large red right ear; his second ripped clean through the +inside of the skipper's left leg. + +"High and then low," was the thought that capered through Mike +Murphy's brain. "God grant he don't get me through the middle! That's +what comes of fast shooting--so I guess I'll go slow." + +The electric lamp over his head was shattered and the fragments +scattered round him as he leaned against the corner of the house and +took careful aim at the first assistant, who missed his next shot by a +whisker and died in his tracks with two cartridges still in his gun. + +Dazedly Michael J. Murphy advanced along the deck, stepped over the +body and entered the state-room. In the corner the fireman crouched, +hands uplifted in token of surrender, so the skipper closed the door +and shored it up again with the scantling. Mechanically he picked up +the first assistant's huge revolver, broke it, removed the cartridges +and threw them overboard. Then he slipped a clip of seven cartridges +into his automatic and staggered round to Mr. Henckel's state room. + +The door was open. The bird had flown. + +Michael J. Murphy went in and sat down on Mr. Henckel's settee, for +he was very weak and dizzy; and at least nobody could shoot at him in +there. "Come, come, Michael," he croaked, "no going out this voyage. +You have work ahead of you. Pull yourself together and let us count +noses. Now then, there were two firemen, two coal passers, one oiler +and Mr. Uhl on watch. Terence killed Mr. Uhl with the monkey wrench, I +killed the big coal passer, I think I killed the oiler, and one +fireman was out of the scrap from the beginning. Then I killed the +first assistant and locked the other fireman in his room. That leaves +Mr. Henckel and a coal passer to be reckoned with. Now there was some +shooting up forward and somebody was hit. That means Riggins shot +somebody or somebody shot Riggins. The second mate probably went +forward to let the men out of the forecastle, while the fireman went +aft to let the engine-room gang out of the sterncastle. They haven't +had time to do it yet; they'll have to pry those rings out of the door +with a crowbar. I'll go aft and drive the fireman forward; when I have +them bunched I'll argue with them." + +He arrived at the break of the house and looked down on the deck aft. +The lights had been turned on and a man was just raising a short +crowbar to attack the door, from behind which came shouts and cries of +anger and consternation. + +Mike Murphy rested his automatic on the deck rail and fired twice at +the man in front of the sterncastle door. The fellow fled at once +dashing along the deck, zigzag fashion, to distract the skipper's aim, +and disappeared in the dark entrance to the starboard alleyway. So +Michael J. Murphy slid down the companion and followed into the +alleyway, firing two shots for luck as he came. + +Scarcely had he disappeared into the murk amidships when Terence +Reardon rolled groggily down the companion after him. Terence had no +means of ascertaining which alleyway the skipper had charged into--and +he did not care. Blind with fury he lurched into the port alleyway; in +consequence of which the fugitive, fleeing ahead of the captain down +the starboard alleyway and thinking to turn down the port alleyway and +double back to complete his labors at the sterncastle door, bumped +squarely into the chief engineer. + +Mr. Reardon said no word, but wrapped his arms round the man and held +the latter close to his breast. + +Thus for a moment they stood, gripping each other, each wondering +whether the other was friend or foe. + +Then Mr. Reardon decided that even if his nose was bloody he could not +possibly be mistaken in the odor of a fireman just come off watch. He +had lost his monkey wrench in the _melee_ on the upper deck--the +defunct Mr. Uhl having fallen upon it, thereby obscuring it from Mr. +Reardon's very much befogged vision, but his soul was still undaunted, +for Mr. Reardon, in common with most chief engineers still in their +prime, firmly believed that he could trounce any fireman he saw fit to +employ. He bit suddenly into the fireman's cheek just where the flesh +droops in a fold over the lower jaw, and was fortunate enough to +secure a grip that bade fair to hold; then he crooked his leg at the +back of his opponent's and slowly shoved the fellow's head backward. +They came down together, Mr. Reardon on top, content for once to hold +his man helpless--and rest--while his enemy's shrieks of pain and rage +resounded through the ink-black alleyway. + +Michael J. Murphy heard that uproar and halted. After listening a few +seconds he came to the conclusion that a German was in deep distress, +and that hence it was no part of his business to interfere. Besides, +he had business of his own to attend to. He could hear a chain +rattling up forward, and while it was too dark to see who or what was +doing the rattling, he found Mr. Henckel guilty on mere suspicion, and +fired at the sound; whereupon somebody said "_Ach, Gott!_" in tones of +deep disgust, two little flashes of fire cut the dark, and two bullets +whispered of death as they flew harmlessly down the alleyway. + +Instantly Mike Murphy returned the salute, firing at the other's +flashes; then he fell to the deck and rolled over into the scupper to +escape the return fire, which was not slow in coming. + +"I wonder where the devil he got that gun," was Murphy's comment. "Mr. +Uhl must have had it in his pocket and lent it to him." + +There was profound silence within the forecastle, and pending the +destruction of his attacker Mr. Henckel judged it imprudent to make +any further attempts at a delivery. He required time to formulate a +plan of attack, and in the interim he desired shelter. Mike Murphy +heard the patter of feet, the patter ceasing almost as soon as it +commenced--and he smiled grimly. + +"He's hiding," the captain soliloquized. "Now, where would I take +shelter if I were in his fix? Why, back of the hatch-coaming, of +course--or the winch." He had a sudden inspiration and called aloud: + +"Riggins! Riggins! Answer me, Riggins. This is Captain Murphy calling +you." + +"'Ere, sir," came the voice of Riggins from the pilot-house above. +The voice was very weak. + +"Climb out of the pilot-house, Riggins, to the bridge, turn on the +searchlight and bend it down here on the deck till I get a shot at +this scoundrel. Don't be afraid of him, Riggins. It's Henckel and he +can't shoot for beans. Get the light fair on him and keep it on him; +it'll blind him and he won't be able to shoot you." + +"The dirty dawg!" snarled Riggins wearily. "'E come up on the bridge a +while--ago--an' I drove 'im off--but 'e plugged me, sir--through the +guts, sir--an' me a married man! Wot in 'ell'll my ol' woman--say--" + +And that was the last word Riggins ever spoke. True, he managed to +crawl out of the pilot-house and up the short companion to the bridge; +he reached the searchlight, and while Mr. Henckel and Mike Murphy +swapped shots below him he turned on the switch. + +"Bend it on the deck, Riggins. On the deck, my bully, on the deck," +Mike Murphy pleaded as the great beam of white light shot skyward and +remained there; nor could all of Murphy's pleading induce Riggins to +bend it on the deck, for Riggins was lying dead beside the +searchlight, while ten miles away an officer on the flying bridge of +H.M.S. Panther watched that finger of light pointing and beckoning +with each roll of the ship. + +"Something awf'lly queer, what?" he commented when reporting it to his +superior. + +"Rather," the superior replied laconically. "It can't be the Dresden +and neither is it one of ours. We'll skip over and have a look at her, +Reggie, my son." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + + + +Michael J. Murphy had two shots left in his automatic, and he was +saving those for daylight and Mr. Henckel's rush, when a searchlight +came nickering and feeling its way across the dark waters. Slowly, +slowly it lifted and rested on the big blunt bows of the _Narcissus_, +hovered there a few seconds and came slowly aft, and as it lighted up +the main deck Mr. Henckel rose from behind the hatch-coaming. + +"_Deutschland uber Alles!" he yelled joyously--and rushed. + +Terence Reardon, having pounded his firemen into insensibility, had +crept down the port alleyway, and, unknown to Captain Murphy and Mr. +Henckel, he had, from the opposite side of the deck, watched the +flashes of their pistols as they fired at each other. + +"I'll have to flank that fella an' put a shtop to this nonsense," Mr. +Reardon decided presently, and forthwith crept across the deck on his +hands and knees until he reached the hatch-coaming. Mr. Henckel lurked +just round the other corner of the coaming, so close Mr. Reardon could +hear him breathing. And there the crafty chief had waited until Mr. +Henckel rose for his charge--whereupon Mr. Reardon rose also. + +"Ireland upper always, ye vagabone!" he yelled, and launched himself +at Mr. Henckel's knees. It was a perfect tackle and the second mate +went down heavily. + +In an emergency such as the present all Terence Reardon asked was good +fighting light. Fighting in the dark distressed him, he discovered, +for while polishing off the fireman in the black alleyway he had +missed one punch at the fellow's head, and had been reminded to his +sorrow and the ruin of his knuckles, that the deck of the Narcissus +was of good Norway pine. However, H.M.S. Panther was scarcely three +cable lengths distant now, and the officer on her flying bridge could +see that some sort of a jolly row was in progress on the deck of the +Narcissus; so he kept the searchlight on the combatants while Mr. +Reardon bent Mr. Henckel's back over the hatch-coaming, took his +automatic away from him, and proceeded to take a cast of the mate's +features in the vulcanite butt of the weapon. And vulcanite is far +from soft! + +When Terence Reardon had completed his self-appointed task he stood +up, hitched his dungarees, spat blood on the deck, and stood waving +from side to side like a dancing bear. His face was unrecognizable; +his dungarees, so neat and clean when he donned them the night before, +were now one vast smear of red, and he grinned horribly, for he was +war mad! + +"Next!" he croaked, and turned to the master for orders. + +But Michael Joseph Murphy was out of the fight. He lay prone on the +deck, conscious but helpless, and because his broken rib was tickling +his lung the froth on his lips bore a little tinge of pink. Only his +eyes moved--and they smiled at Terence Reardon as the triumphant +exiles of Erin faced each other. + +Terence Reardon turned and shook his battered fists full into the rays +of the searchlight. He was magnificent for one brief instant; then the +war-madness left him, and again he was plain, faithful, whimsical, +capable, honest Terence P. Reardon, chief engineer of the S.S. +Narcissus, who considered it a pleasure to discourse on the fairies +when he had nothing more important to do. Now that the fight was over +and the German fleet had overhauled them at last, he had time to think +of Mrs. Reardon and the children and his best job gone for +ever--tossed into the discard with his honor as a faithful servant. + +He sat down very suddenly on the hatch-coaming and covered his +terrible face with his terrible hands. + +"Ah, Norah! Norah!" he cried--and sobbed as if his heart must break. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + + + +When Captain the Hon. Desmond O'Hara, of H.M.S. Panther, boarded the +steamer Narcissus via the Jacob's ladder Mr. Reardon hove overside at +his command, he paused a moment, balanced on the ship's rail, and +stared. + +"My word!" he said, and leaped to the deck, to make room for a +pink-and-white middy. The pink-and-white one stared and said "My +aunt!" Then he, too, leaped to the deck, and a stocky cockney +blue-jacket poked his nose over the rail. + +"Damn my eyes!" said this individual. "'Ere's a bloomin' mess!" + +"Who is that person?" Captain Desmond O'Hara demanded, pointing to the +semiconscious Mr. Henckel, who was moaning and saying things in his +mother tongue. + +"That," said Mr. Reardon with a familiar wink, "was a fine, decent +German until I operated on him!" + +"So I observed. And who might you be?" + +"Me name is Terence P. Reardon, an' I'm the chief engineer av the +United Shtates steamer _Narcissus_, av San Francisco." + +"Ah! An Irish-American, eh?" + +Mr. Reardon looked down at the deck, smiled a cunning little smile and +looked up at Captain O'Hara. "Well, sor," he declared, "I had me +hyphen wit' me whin I shipped; as late as yestherd'y afthernoon 'twas +in good worrkin' ordher; but what wit' the exertion av chasin' our +Gerrman crew round the decks, faith I've lost me hyphen, an' I'm +thinkin' the skipper's lost his too. That's him forninst ye. For the +prisent he's in dhrydock awaitin' repairs, which leaves me in command +av the ship. And since he's in no condition to go to his shtate-room +an' unlock the ship's safe, an' sorra wan av me knows the combination, +the divil a look will ye have at our papers. I'll save time an' +throuble for us all be tellin' ye now that we've ten t'ousand tons av +soft coal undher deck, that we cleared from Norfolk, Virginia, for +Manila or Batavia, Pernambuco for ordhers, an' that we're a couple av +t'ousand miles off our course. So confiscate the ship an' be damned to +ye! Only I'm hopin' ye'll not be above takin' a bit av advice from wan +who knows. There's a Gerrman fleet not far off, an' if ye shtop to +monkey wit' us, faith ye may live to regret it--an' ye may not." + +Captain the Hon. Desmond O'Hara smiled sweetly. "Divil a fear," he +said, in no way cast down. "We met the beggars off the Falklands +yesterday and sunk them all but the Dresden. She slipped away from us +in the dark, making for the mainland, and we were looking for her when +we saw your searchlight cutting up such queer didos, so the Panther +dropped behind to investigate. Had it not been for your searchlight we +would have missed you." + +"An' be the same token a little dead Englishman signalled ye." Mr. +Reardon gave another hitch to his dungarees. "Sor," he said doggedly, +"I never t'ought I'd live to see the day I'd want to cheer a British +victh'ry--but I do." He glanced down at his right hand and shook his +head. "Englishmen that ye are," he continued, "I'll not offer ye a +hand like that--much as I want to shake hands wit' ye." + +"Faith, don't let that worry you, Mr. Reardon. I'm not an Englishman." + +"In the divil's name, you're not an--an--" + +"I'm an Irishman! My name is Desmond O'Hara." + +Mr. Reardon was fully aware that here was a grand specimen of the kind +of Irish he had been taught to despise--the Irish that take the king's +shilling, the gentlemen Irish that lead the king's cockneys into +battle. And yet, strange to say, no thought of that entered his head +now. He stepped up to Captain O'Hara, looked round cautiously as if +expecting to be overheard, winked knowingly and whispered, as he +jerked a significant thumb toward the unhappy Mr. Henckel: "Sure 'tis +the likes av us that can take the measure av the likes av thim." + +"It is," replied Captain O'Hara, and reached for Terry Reardon's awful +hand. "It is!" + +Together they lifted Michael J. Murphy into a boson's chair, the +jackies unslung a cargo derrick, Mr. Reardon went to the winch, and +the skipper was hoisted overside into the _Panther's_ boat and taken +aboard the warship for medical attention. Just before Mr. Reardon +hoisted him he drew the chief's ear down to his lips. + +"About von Staden," he whispered. "I thought I wanted to see him hung. +Legally he's a pirate; but, Terence, he was raised wrong; you know, +Terence--_Deutschland ueber Alles_. These Dutch devils thought it was +all right to steal our ship--national necessity, you know. Let von +Staden out of the mate's store-room and tell him the English have +us--that his fleet is gone. Then turn your back on him, Terence." + +Mr. Reardon followed orders. "Captain Murphy ordhered me to let ye +out," he explained to the supercargo, "an' towld me to turrn me back +on ye." + +"Please thank him for me," von Staden replied gently. "I scarcely +expected such kindness at his hands. You may turn your back now, Mr. +Reardon." + +So Mr. Reardon turned his back, and, despite the rush of the British +jackies to stop him, Herr August Carl von Staden reached the rail. +"_Deutschland ueber Alles!_" he shouted defiantly--and jumped. He did +not come up. + +Captain the Hon. Desmond O'Hara removed his cap. "They die so +infernally well," he said presently, "one hates to fight +them--individually. Yesterday the _Nuernberg_ fell to us. We outranged +her, and when she was out of action and sinking, with her men swimming +and drowning all round her, the _Panther_ was stripped of life +preservers in two minutes. Some of my lads went overboard to help the +Boche." + +Mr. Reardon remembered he had wrapped waste round the head of his +monkey wrench and curtailed his indicated horse-power when tapping +individuals; yet, when he fought them in bulk, with what savage joy +had he struck down Mr. Uhl, a poor, inoffensive devil and the victim +of a false ideal of national honor! Mr. Reardon was quite sure he +despised Englishmen; yet the tears came to his eyes when the jackies +carried poor little Riggins away from the searchlight, and he prayed +for eternal rest for the soul of his late assistants, for he had +learned in a night, as he fought with tooth and fist and monkey +wrench, what those who fight with tongue and typewriter will never +learn--that racial and religious animosities are just a pitiful human +bugaboo--in bulk. Only that valiant minority that sheds its blood for +the heartless majority can ever know this great truth--and the pity of +it--that warriors never hate each other. + +They are too generous for that. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + + + +Capt. Matt Peasley, with his heart in his throat, called up the +British consul at San Francisco. Cappy Ricks, looking very pale and +unhappy, sagged in his chair, while Mr. Skinner stood by, gnawing his +nails and looking as if he would relish being kicked from one end of +California Street to the other. + +"Hullo!" Matt Peasley began. Cappy Ricks shuddered and closed his +eyes. "Is this the British consul's office?... This is Captain +Peasley, of the Blue Star Navigation Company... Yes... About our +steamer _Narcissus_... You say the consul is on his way down to our +office... Thank you... Goodbye." + +Cappy Ricks sighed like an old air-compressor. "I hope I live till he +gets here," he declared feebly. "Deliberate race, the British. No pep. +Never get anywhere in a hurry." + +As if to give the lie to Cappy's criticisms, the British consul was +admitted at that moment. + +"Gentlemen," he announced as the heart-broken trio gathered round him, +"I have some very grave news for you." His voice was vaguely +reminiscent of that of the foreman in a quarry who calls upon a lady +to inform her that her husband has just been caught in a premature +blast and that the boys will be up with the pieces directly. "Your +steamer _Narcissus_, loaded with ten thousand tons of coal, has been +captured a hundred miles north-east of the Falkland Islands by His +Majesty's cruiser _Panther_. In view of your vessel's clearance--" + +A low moan broke from Cappy Ricks. + +"Tightwad!" he reviled. "Old Alden P. Tightwad, the prince of misers! +He thought he'd add a couple of ten-dollar bills to his roll, so he +encouraged his skipper to hire a lot of interned Germans to work his +ships in neutral trade! He was penny-wise and pound-foolish, so he cut +out the wireless to save a miserable hundred and forty dollars a +month. Bids are invited for the privilege of killing the damned old +fool--Skinner! What are you looking at?" + +"N-n-nothing!" stammered Mr. Skinner. + +"I won't be looked at that way, Skinner. I have my faults, I know--" + +"Ssshh!" Matt Peasley interrupted. + +"And I won't be 'sshh-ed' at either. I lost the ship. I admit it. I +O.K.'d the charter, and Murphy did his best to save her for us and +couldn't. I'm the goat, but if it busts me I'll reimburse you two boys +for every cent you have lost through my carelessness--" + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Ricks," the consul interrupted. "Pray permit +me to proceed. The circumstances attending this case are so very +unusual--" + +"My dear Mister British Consul, I shall not argue the matter with you. +You're too bally deliberate, and, besides, what's the use? The ship is +gone. Let her go. We'll build another twice as big. Of course I could +give you an excuse, but if I did you'd think I was old Nick Carter +come to life. We'll just have to take it up through our State +Department, present our alibi, and try to win her back in the prize +court." + +"She will never be sent to a prize court, Mr. Ricks. It doesn't +require a prize court to decide the case of the steamer _Narcissus_. +The evidence is too overwhelming. There could not possibly be a +reversal of the decision of our admiral." + +Mr. Skinner sat down suddenly to keep from falling down. The consul +continued: "The commander of the _Panther_, Captain Desmond O'Hara--by +the way, an old schoolmate of mine--has sent me a long private report +on the affair; by wireless, of course, and in code. It appears that in +Pernambuco harbor your German crew overpowered the captain--" + +"What?" cried Cappy, Matt and Skinner in chorus. "You admit that?" + +"We do, Mr. Ricks. And last night your chief engineer, Mr. Terence +Reardon, with the aid of the steward, one Riggins--a British subject +and unfortunately killed in the affray--and Captain Murphy overpowered +the German crew--" + +"Oh, Mr. Ricks!" gasped Skinner. + +"Oh, Matt!" shrilled Cappy Ricks. + +"Oh, Cappy!" yelled Matt Peasley. + +"Oh, nonsense," laughed the British consul. "They stole her back, +gentlemen, and when Captain O'Hara found her rolling helplessly and +boarded her, she was a shambles. Dead men tell no tales, Mr. +Ricks--yet it was impossible for any fair-minded man to doubt the +testimony of the dead men aboard your _Narcissus_! Her killed, wounded +and prisoners formed a perfect alibi. In the meantime, Mr. Reardon and +Captain Murphy are aboard the Panther, receiving medical attention, +and will be returned to duty in a few weeks; the _Narcissus_ is +proceeding to meet the other ships of our fleet. She will coal them at +sea." + +"Then you've confiscated her cargo?" Matt Peasley demanded. + +"We should worry about the cargo if they give us back our vessel," +Cappy Ricks declared happily. "We haven't received our freight money, +of course, but by the time I get through with the charterers they'll +pay the freight and ask no questions about the coal." + +"We confiscated it, Mr. Ricks," the British consul continued, "for the +reason that it was German coal. The supercargo who boarded the vessel +at Pernambuco told your captain his people had paid cash for it to the +charterers. But we're going to give you back your vessel because we +haven't any moral right to keep her, since her owners have committed +no breach of international law. The supercargo left fifteen thousand +dollars behind him when he jumped overboard, but Captain O'Hara +declined to confiscate that. At Captain Murphy's suggestion it will be +forwarded to the widow of the man Riggins. Captain O'Hara especially +requested that I call upon you and inform you that you have two of the +finest Irishmen in the world to thank for your ship." + +"Thank you, Mister Consul. By the way, can you reach Captain O'Hara by +wireless? If you can, I should be glad to pay for a message if you +will send it." + +"I shall be delighted indeed." + +"Then tell him the Blue Star Navigation Company thanks him for the +courtesy of his message, but that it does not agree with his statement +that we have two Irishmen to thank for our ship. We think we have +three! I know the Irish. The scoundrels never go back on each other in +a fight." + +The consul laughed. + +"By the way," he said, as he took up his hat preparatory to leaving, +"your ship is now equipped with wireless--a fine, powerful plant such +as they use in the German Navy. The supercargo brought it aboard at +Pernambuco." + +Matt Peasley, the Yankee, came to life at that. "Has that been +confiscated, too?" he queried. + +"No, captain. However, we have confiscated that German crew of +yours--" + +"Hallelujah!" yelled Cappy Ricks. + +"--and loaned you a crew of British seamen from the tramp _Surrey +Maid_. The _Scharnhorst_ torpedoed her off the coast of Chile, and we +found her crew on board one of the German transports when we captured +them after the fleet was destroyed. You're all fixed up, from skipper +to cabin boy--" + +"Wireless operator, too?" Matt Peasley cried. + +The consul nodded. "He's got a steady job," the youthful president +declared, and turned to Cappy Ricks for confirmation of this edict. +But Cappy, the pious old codger, had bowed his head on his breast and +they heard him mutter: + +"O Lord, I thank Thee! All unworthy as I am, Lord, thou loadest me +with favors--including a wireless plant, free gratis!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + + + +Long after the British consul had departed Cappy Ricks sat alone in +his office, dozing. Presently he roused and rang for Mr. Skinner. + +"Skinner," he said, "Matt reports that the late Riggins made an +allotment of his wages to his wife when he shipped aboard the +_Narcissus_?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Riggins's wages hereafter shall constitute a charge against the +_Narcissus_ while Mrs. Riggins lives and while the Blue Star +Navigation Company can afford to give up seventy dollars every month. +Attend to it, Skinner. Another thing, Skinner." + +"Yes, sir." + +"We ought to do something for Murphy and Reardon. Now then, Skinner, +you've never had a chance to be a sport heretofore, but you're a +stockholder in the Blue Star Navigation Company now, and as such I +feel that I should not use my position, as owner of a controlling +interest in the stock of the company, to give away the property of the +company in an arbitrary fashion. So I'm going to leave it up to you, +Skinner, to suggest what we shall do for them. I believe you will +agree with me that we should do something very handsome by those two +boys." + +"Quite so, sir, quite so. Well, to start off with, Mr. Ricks, I think +we ought to pay their hospital bills, if any. Then I think we ought to +give each of them a handsome gold watch, suitably engraved and with a +small blue star--sapphires, you know--set in the front of the case." + +"You feel that would about fill the bill, eh, Skinner?" + +"Well, next Christmas I think we ought to give them each a month's +salary." + +"Hum! You do?" + +"Yes, sir. I think that would be a very delicate thing to do." + +Cappy sighed. Poor Skinner! Victim of the saving habit! Decent +devil--didn't mean to be small, but just couldn't help it. A +bush-leaguer--Skinner. Never meant for big company-- + +"In addition--" Skinner began. + +"Yes, Skinner, my boy. Go on, go on, old horse. Now then, in +addition--" + +"It seems like the wildest extravagance, Mr. Ricks, but those men have +fought for their ship and I--remember, Mr. Ricks, this is only a +suggestion--I think it would be a very--er--tactful thing to do +to--er--" + +"It'll choke him before he gets it out," Cappy soliloquized. Aloud he +said: "Go on, Skinner, my dear boy. Don't be afraid." + +"At a time like this, when freights are so good and vessel property +pays so well, it seems to me--that is, if you and Matt have no +objection--that we ought to give Mike and Terence a--er--a little +piece of the _Narcissus_--the ship--er--they +love--say--er--a--ten-thousand-dollar interest--each--" + +"God bless you, Skinner! You came through at last, didn't you? The +president emeritus agrees with you, Skinner, and it is so ordered. + +"Now skip along and wireless the glad news to Mike and Terence. Tell +them when they have the coal out to proceed to Rio and load manganese +ore." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + + + +In due course Captain Michael J. Murphy and Mr. Terence Reardon came +off the dry dock, the sole visible evidence of that unrecorded second +naval engagement off the Falkland Islands being a slight list to +starboard on the part of the Reardon nose, and a notch in Murphy's +right ear. Mr. Skinner had had a local jeweler prepare the +presentation watches against the day of the home-coming of the +warriors of the Blue Star, and on a Saturday night Cappy gave a +banquet to Mike and Terence, and every employee of the Ricks' +interests who could possibly attend, was present to do the doughty +pair honor and cheer when the awards for valor were duly made by Cappy +and congratulatory speeches made by Mr. Skinner and Matt Peasley. It +was such a gala occasion that Cappy drank three cocktails, battened +down by a glass or two of champagne, and as a result was ill for two +days thereafter. When he recovered, he announced sadly and solemnly +that he was about to retire--forever; that nothing of a business +nature should ever be permitted to drag him back into the harness +again. Then he bade all of his employees a touching farewell, packed +his golf clubs, and disappeared in the general direction of Southern +California. He was away so long that eventually even the skeptical Mr. +Skinner commenced to wonder if, perchance, the age of miracles had not +yet passed and Cappy had really retired. + +Alas! On the morning of December 24th, Cappy suddenly appeared at the +office, his kindly old countenance aglow like a sunrise on the Alps. +Immediately he cited Mr. Skinner to appear with the payrolls of all of +the Ricks enterprises and show what cause, if any, existed, why there +should not be a general whooping up of salaries to the deserving all +along the line. The Ricks Lumber & Logging Company had already +declared a Christmas dividend; the accounts of every ship in the Blue +Star fleet had been made up to date and a special Christmas dividend +declared, and, in accordance with ancient custom, Cappy had appeared +to devote one day in the year to actual labor. Christmas dividend +checks and checks covering Christmas presents to his employees were +always signed by him; it was his way of letting the recipients know +that, although retired, he still kept a wary eye on his affairs. + +He had writer's cramp by the time he finished, but while the spending +frenzy was on him he would take no rest; so he seized a pencil and, +while Mr. Skinner called off the names of the deserving and the length +of time each had spent in the Ricks service, Cappy scrawled a five, a +ten or a twenty beside each name. Thus, in time, they came to the +first name on the Blue Star pay roll. + +"Matthew Peasley, president; salary, ten thousand dollars a year; +length of service, four months," Mr. Skinner intoned. "How about a +raise for Captain Matt?" + +Cappy laid down his pencil and looked at Skinner over the rims of his +spectacles. + +"Skinner," he said gravely, "you're only drawing twelve thousand a +year, and you've been with me twenty-five years! And here I'm giving +this boy Matt ten thousand a year and he's been on the pay roll only +four months. Why, it isn't fair!" + +"Remember, he was three years in the Blue Star ships that--" + +"Can't consider that at all when raising salaries. The salaries of +ship's officers are fixed and immutable anyhow, and when considering +raises for my employees. I can take into consideration only the length +of time they've been directly under my eye. Cut Matt's salary to five +thousand a year and let him grow up with the business. His dividends +from his Ricks L. & L. and Blue Star stock will keep him going, and he +hasn't any household bills to keep up. He and Florry live with me, and +I'm the goat." + +"I fear Matt will not take kindly to that program, Mr. Ricks-- +particularly at this time, when every ship in the offshore fleet is +paying for herself every voyage." + +"Why?" Cappy demanded. + +"Well," Mr. Skinner replied hesitatingly, "perhaps I have no business +to tell you this, because the knowledge came to me quite by accident; +but the fact of the matter is, Matt is going to build himself an +auxiliary schooner--" + +"Good news!" Cappy piped. "That's the ticket for soup! An auxiliary +schooner with semi-Diesel engines, four masts and about a million- +foot lumber capacity would be a mighty good investment right now. +Every yard in the country that builds steel vessels is filled up with +orders, but our coast shipyards can turn out wooden vessels in a +hurry; and, with auxiliary power, they'll pay five hundred per cent on +their cost before this flurry in shipping, due to the war, is over. I +don't care, Skinner--provided he builds a ship that's big enough to go +foreign--" + +"But this isn't that kind," Mr. Skinner interrupted. + +"No other kind will do, Skinner." + +"This is to be a schooner yacht--" + +"A what!" Cappy shrilled. + +"A yacht--eighty-five feet over all--" + +"Eighty-five grandmothers! Why, what the devil does that boy want of a +yacht? How much money does he intend to put into her?" + +"I do not know, Mr. Ricks; but we can be reasonably certain of one +thing; Matt Peasley will not build a cheap boat. She'll have a lot of +gewgaws and gadgets, teak rail, mahogany joiner-work--at the very +least, she'll cost him thirty thousand dollars." + +"Skinner," Cappy declared solemnly, "he might as well put the money in +a sack, go down to Clay Street Wharf and throw the money overboard! +The other night I saw a couple of soldiers having a pleasant time in a +shooting gallery, but what the president of the Blue Star Navigation +Company wants with a thirty-thousand-dollar yacht beats my time. Why, +he has more than thirty good vessels to play with all week, and yet he +wants a yacht for Sunday! Skinner, my dear boy, that is wild, wanton +extravagance." + +"Well, I dare say Matt thinks he can afford the extravagance." + +"Skinner, no man can afford it. Extravagance may reach a point where +it becomes sinful. And I say it's a crime to put thirty thousand +dollars into a yacht when the same thirty thousand, invested in a good +vessel, will yield such tremendous returns. Skinner, my boy, how did +you find out about this yacht nonsense?" + +"I was looking through Matt's desk for a letter I had given him to +read, and I ran across the plans. Thinking they were Blue Star plans, +I looked them over; there was a letter from the naval architect +attached--" + +Cappy threw down his pencil. + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet," he cried in deep disgust, "I thought +I was going to have a Merry Christmas--and now it's spoiled! Good +Lord, Skinner! To think of a man throwing away thirty thousand +dollars, not to mention the upkeep and interest after he's thrown it +away--" + +"You've just this very day thrown away about thirty thousand dollars +you didn't have to," Mr. Skinner reminded him. + +"I do have to. I've got to keep all my boys happy and satisfied and up +on their toes, or what the devil would happen to us? They're my +partners when all is said and done, and how am I going to face my +Maker if I don't give my partners a square deal? There's a vast +difference between justice and extravagance. Skinner, you don't +suppose Matt's like every other shellback of a skipper? Why, he's only +twenty-five years old; and if he's got the blue-water fever again, +after a year ashore, there'll be no standing him at thirty." + +"Well, he's got it, sir," Mr. Skinner opined firmly. "Did you ever +see an old sailing skipper that didn't get it? You remember Burns, who +had the _Sweet Alferetta_? His father died and left him a million +dollars, and five years later he came sneaking in here one day, told +you he was tired clipping coupons and that if you wanted to save his +life you'd give him back the _Sweet Alferetta_ and a hundred dollars a +month to skipper her! He sold his interest to his successor for two +thousand dollars when he fell into the fortune--and five years later +he bought it back for three thousand, just so he could have a job +again." + +"Yes," Cappy admitted; "they all get the blue-water fever--after +they've left blue water. I never knew a sailor yet who wouldn't tell +you sailoring was a dog's life; but I never knew one who quit and +quite recovered from the hankering to go back. I think you're right, +Skinner. This yacht is just a symptom of Matt's disease. He realizes +his business interests tie him to the beach; but if he has a sailing +yacht that he can fuss round with on week-ends in the bay, and once in +a while make a little cruise to Puget Sound or the Gulf of Lower +California, he figures he'll manage to survive." + +Mr. Skinner nodded. + +"Speaking of yachts," Cappy continued, "the case of old Cap'n Cliff +Ashley suggests a cure for this boy Matt. Cap'n Cliff was a Gloucester +fisherman, with the smartest little schooner that ever came home from +the Grand Banks with halibut up to her hatches. He couldn't read or +write and he'd never learned navigation; but he'd been born with the +instincts of a homing pigeon, and somehow whenever he pointed his +schooner toward Gloucester he managed to arrive on schedule; and any +time he got a good fair breeze from the west, like as not he'd run +over to England and sell his catch there. + +"Like most of his breed, Cap'n Cliff had to have a fast boat; he had +to keep her as immaculate as a yacht in order to be happy, and he was +never so happy as when he'd meet a squadron of the New York Yacht Club +out on a cruise and sail circles round the flagship with his little +old knockabout fish schooner. On such occasions old Cap'n Cliff would +break out a long red burgee with M.O.B.Y.C. in white letters on it. On +one of his trips to England he hooked up with a big schooner wearing +the ensign of the Royal Yacht Club and dassed 'em to race with him. + +"Well, sir, it happened that the late King Edward was aboard his yacht +that day, and you know what a sport he was in his palmy days. Cap'n +Cliff cracked on everything he had in the way of plain sail and, after +holding the King even for a couple of hours, he put his packet under +gaff topsails and fisherman's staysail and broke out the balloon jib, +bade Edward good-bye in the International Code--and flew! About six +hours after Cap'n Cliff came to anchor, the King loafed up in his +yacht, dropped anchor, cleared away his launch, and came over to visit +Cap'n Cliff and shake hands with him. + +"'My dear sir,' says Edward, pointing aloft to the red burgee with +M.O.B.Y.C. on it, 'pray to what yacht club do you belong?' + +"'My own bloomin' yacht club, your majesty,' says Cap'n Cliff; and if +he hadn't been a Yankee fisherman the King would have knighted him on +the spot! + +"And that remark, Skinner, my dear boy, clears the atmosphere in the +case of our own dear Matthew. He shall have his own blooming yacht +club, only his yacht shall carry cargo and pay her way." + +"You mean--" + +"I mean I'm going to send him to sea for one voyage, once a year, +which will break up that blue-water fever and save Matt thirty +thousand dollars as an initial investment, and about ten thousand a +year upkeep and interest. All that boy needs to cure him, Skinner, is +the old _Retriever_, totally surrounded by horizon and smelling of a +combination of tarred rope, turpentine, wet canvas, fresh paint, green +lumber and the stink of the bilge water. Lordy me, Skinner, it puts +them to sleep and they wake up feeling perfectly bully! Where's the +_Retriever_ now, Skinner, and who is in charge of her destinies?" + +"She's due on Puget Sound from the West Coast. Captain Lib Curtis has +her." + +"Good news! Well, now, Skinner, you listen to me: The minute he +reports his arrival you wire Lib to put the old harridan on dry dock +and slick her up until she looks like four aces and a king, with +everybody in the game standing pat. Can't have any whiskers on her +bottom when Matt takes her out, Skinner, because if the boy's to enjoy +himself she's got to be able to show a clean pair of heels. Then write +Lib to wire his resignation and give any old reason for it. Have him +resign just before the vessel is loaded and ready for sea, and tell +him to insist on being relieved immediately. Of course, Skinner, Matt +will get busy right away, looking for the right skipper to relieve +Captain Curtis--and about that time the president emeritus will shove +in his oar and ball things up. Every doggoned skipper Matt recommends +for the job is going to have his application vetoed by Alden P. Ricks, +and--er--ahem! Harumph-h-h!" + +"Yes, Mr. Ricks." + +"And you stick by me, Skinner. Follow all my leads and don't trump any +of my aces; and just about the time Matt begins to get good and mad at +my doggoned interference--you know, Skinner, my boy, I'm only a +figurehead--you cut in and say: 'Well, for heaven's sake! You two +still squabbling over a skipper for the _Retriever?_ Matt, why don't +you save the demurrage and take her out yourself--eh?'" And Cappy +winked knowingly and prodded his general manager in the ribs. + +"I guess that plan's kind of poor--eh, Skinner? I guess it won't +work--eh? Particularly when I come right back and say: 'Well, he might +as well, for all the use he is round this office. Here I go to work +and appoint him president of the Blue Star and he won't stay in the +office and'tend to the president's business. Yes, sir! Leaves all that +to you and me, Skinner, while he degrades himself doing the work of a +port captain.'" + +"All of which is quite true, Mr. Ricks," Mr. Skinner affirmed. "He +will not stay in the office--and he's getting worse. Two-thirds of his +time is spent round the docks." + +"Well, two-thirds of his time in 1915 will not be spent round the +docks, Skinner. Play that bet to win! We're going to have a busy old +year in the shipping game in 1915, and a busier one in 1916 if that +war in Europe isn't over by then. A voyage in the _Retriever_ will fix +the boy up, Skinner, and he'll stick round the office and put over +some real business. Yachts! Hah! What does a business man want of a +yacht?" + +"You overlooked one very important detail, Mr. Ricks," Skinner +ventured. + +"I overlook nothing, Skinner--nothing. His wife shall accompany him on +the voyage. I shall implant the idea in her head, beginning this very +night as soon as I get home. I'll just tell her she isn't and never +will be a true sailor's true love until she takes a voyage with her +husband. Romantic girl, Florry! She'll about eat that suggestion, +feathers and all, Skinner. She'll do the real work for us. Always +remember, my boy, that an ounce of promotion is worth enough +perspiration to float the _Narcissus_." + +"But what shall we do for a port captain?" + +"I've ordered Mike Murphy--via Matt, of course--to take a vacation +under full salary and recover from the wounds he received walloping +that German crew on the _Narcissus_. About the time Matt leaves in the +_Retriever_, Mike will be ready to go to work again or commit murder +if we don't give it to him; so we'll slip him a temporary appointment +as port captain. I'm going to make it permanent some day, anyhow. I +suppose you've noticed that Mike Murphy has a crush on your +stenographer; and I don't see how he's going to put anything over if +he never gets a chance to see the girl!" + +"I really hadn't noticed it, Mr. Ricks." + +"If it was a ten-cent piece you'd notice it," Cappy retorted. "And now +that matter is settled, how about this port steward? Is he a grafter? +If not, raise him five dollars a month. He's been with us only a +year." + +Late that afternoon, after Cappy had made the rounds of his office, +distributing his checks and wishing all hands the merriest of +Christmases, he paused at last at Mr. Skinner's desk and laid a +thousand-dollar check thereon. + +"Not a peep out of you, Skinner--not a peep!" he cautioned his general +manager. "No thanks due me. You've earned it a thousand times +over--and then some. Hum-m! Ahem! Harumph-h-h! By the way, Skinner, my +dear boy, I forgot to mention to you another little idea that's in the +back of my head." + +"You mean about sending Matt to sea for a voyage?" + +"Exactly. The sea is a wonderful institution, Skinner--wonderful! It +promotes health and strength; and--er--damn it, Skinner, my dear boy, +have you ever observed that there isn't a married skipper in our +employ that hasn't been lucky? Many well-known authorities prescribe a +sea voyage--" + +"What for, Mr. Ricks?" + +Cappy thrust his thumb into Skinner's ribs, winked, bent low, and +whispered: + +"Too slow, Skinner; too slow. I'm getting old, you know--I can't wait +for ever. And if the experiment succeeds--Skinner, my dear boy, you're +next! You've been married more than a year now--" + +"I fail to comprehend--" + +"Grandson!" Cappy whispered. "Grandson!" + +"Oh!" said Mr. Skinner. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + + + +One of the remarks most frequently heard on California Street was to +the effect that whenever Cappy Ricks girded up his loins and went +after something he generally got it. His scheme to get Matt Peasley to +sea for one voyage, accompanied by Florry, worked as smoothly as a +piston; and on the fifteenth of January the Peasleys went aboard the +_Retriever_ at Bellingham and towed out, bound for Manila with a cargo +of fir lumber. Matt made the run down in sixty-six days, a smart +passage, waited a week in Manila Bay before he could secure a berth +and commence discharging, discharged in a week, loaded a cargo of +hemp, with a deckload of hardwood logs, and was ready for the return +trip to San Francisco on April twenty-fourth, on which day he towed +out past Corregidor. + +His wife, however, was not with him on the return voyage. Following a +family conference, it was decided that Florry should return home on +the mail steamer--which action Cappy Ricks considered most significant +when Matt apprised him of it by cable, but failed to state a reason. +The president emeritus, immediately upon receipt of this information, +trotted into Mr. Skinner's office and laid Matt Peasley's cablegram on +the latter's desk. + +"Well, Skinner, my dear boy," he piped, rubbing his hands together the +while, "what do you know about that?" + +"Do you--er--suspect--er--something, Mr. Ricks?" + +"Suspect? Not a bit of it. I know! Neither Florry nor Matt would dream +of permitting the other to come home alone if there wasn't a third +party to be considered. Paste that in your hat, Skinner. It isn't +done." + +Cappy was right, for the same steamer that bore his daughter home +carried also a brief letter from his son-in-law conveying the tidings +of great joy. The old man was so happy he went into Mr. Skinner's +office and struck his general manager a terrible blow between the +shoulders, after which he declared it was a shame that his years and +reputation for respectability denied him the privilege of chartering a +seagoing hack and painting the town red! + +The _Retriever_ crept slowly up the China Sea on the first of the +southwest monsoon. At that period of the year, however, the monsoon is +weak and unsteady; and after clearing the northern end of Luzon the +_Retriever_ kicked round in a belt of light and baffling airs for a +week. Then the monsoon freshened somewhat and the _Retriever_ once +more rolled lazily away on her course, with young Matt Peasley humming +chanteys on her quarter-deck and pondering the mystery that confronts +all mankind in their first adventure in fatherhood. Would it be a boy +or a girl? He was expressing to himself for perhaps the thousandth +time the hope that it would be a boy, when from the poop he saw +something he did not relish. + +It was the ship's cat coming across the deckload toward him, in his +yellow eyes a singularly pleased expression and in his mouth a +singularly large rat. + +Matt Peasley stepped below, found an old glove and drew it over his +right hand, after which he returned to the quarter-deck. + +"Come, Tommy!" he called; and pussy came, to be seized by the tail +and, still holding fast to his prey, cast overboard. + +"It's bad luck to do that to a black cat, sir," the mate informed him. + +Matt Peasley's eyes were blazing. + +"And it's worse luck still for any mate aboard my ship who neglects to +put the rat-guards on the lines when the vessel is lying at the dock," +he growled. "You lubberly idiot!" + +"But I did put the rat-guards on the lines," the mate protested. + +"Yes, I know you did; but I had to remind you of it," Matt replied. +"You didn't get them on in time--and now the Lord only knows how many +rats we have aboard. Ordinarily I don't mind rats, but an Oriental rat +is something to be afraid of." + +"Why, sir?" + +"Because they carry the germs of bubonic plague, you farmer!" And Matt +very carefully removed his glove and cast it overboard after the cat. +"And it's a cold day when you can't find an occasional case of plague +in the Orient. The cat caught the rat and mauled it round; hence the +cat had to go, because I never permit in my cabin a cat that has been +on intimate terms with an Oriental rat. And now I bet I know what's +wrong with that fo'castle hand that went into the sick bay the day +before yesterday. He complained of swelling in the glands of his neck +and groins." + +The cook left the forward deckhouse and came aft over the deckload. At +the break of the poop he paused. + +"Captain Peasley," he announced, "Lindstrom is dead." + +"Tell everybody to keep away from him," Matt ordered. He turned to the +mate. "Mr. Matson," he announced, "the first duty of a murderer is to +get rid of the body. Go forward and throw Lindstrom's body overboard; +then stay forward. If you come aft until I send for you I'll blow your +brains out!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + + + +When the _Retriever_ was out from Manila seventy days Cappy Ricks +remarked to Mr. Skinner that Matt would be breezing in most any day +now. On the eightieth day he remarked to Mr. Skinner that Matt was +coming home a deal slower than he had gone out. The efficient Skinner, +however, cited so many instances of longer passages from Manila to San +Francisco that Cappy was comforted, although he was not convinced. +"You make me a type-written list of all those vessels and their +passages, Skinner," he cautioned; "and when you can't think of any +more authentic cases fake up a few. Florry's beginning to worry. She +knows now what it means to be a sailor's wife, and if that doggoned +Matt doesn't report soon 111 know what it means to be a sailor's +father-in-law. I wish to Jimminy I hadn't sent Matt out with the +_Retriever._" + +Ninety days passed. Cappy commenced to fidget. A hundred days passed, +and Cappy visited the hydrographic office and spent a long time poring +over charts of the air currents in the China Sea, along the coast of +Asia and in the North Pacific. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he quavered when he returned to the office; +"I'm a most unhappy old man." + +Mr. Skinner forgot for an instant that he was a business man and, with +a sudden, impulsive movement, he put his long, thin arm round the old +man and squeezed him. + +"If you didn't think so much of him, sir," he comforted Cappy, "you'd +worry less. She really will not be overdue until she's out a hundred +and twenty days." + +"Skinner," Cappy piped wearily, "don't try to deceive me. I've been +in the shipping game for forty-odd years, boy. I know it's about six +thousand miles from San Francisco to Manila, and if a vessel averages +ninety miles a day she's making a smart passage. Matt made it down in +sixty-six days, and he ought to come back in sixty, because he has +fair winds all the way. Skinner, the boy's a month overdue; and if he +never shows up--if he stays out much longer--Florry'll break her +heart; and my grandson--think of it, Skinner!--think of the prenatal +effect on the child! Oh, Skinner, my dear, dear boy, I want him big +and light-hearted and sunny-souled like Matt--and to think this is all +my doing--my own daughter! Oh! Oh, Skinner, my heart is breaking!" + +Mr. Skinner fled to his own office and did something most +un-Skinner-like. He blinked away several large bright tears; and while +he was blinking them the telephone bell rang. Mechanically Mr. Skinner +answered. It was Jerry Dooley, in charge of the Merchants' Exchange. + +"Mr. Skinner," said Jerry, "I've got some bad news for you." + +"The-the-_Retriever_--" Skinner almost whispered. + +"Yes, sir. I thought I'd tell you first, so you could break it to the +old man gently. The Grace liner _Ecudorian_ arrived at Victoria this +morning and reports speaking the _Retriever_ eight hundred miles off +the coast of Formosa. The vessel was under jib, lower topsail, +foretopmast staysail, mainsail and spanker. She was flying two +flags--an inverted ensign and the yellow quarantine flag. The +_Ecudorian_ steamed close alongside of her, to windward. Captain +Peasley was at the wheel--" + +"Thank God!" Mr. Skinner almost sobbed. "What was wrong with her, +Jerry? Hurry up, man! Hurry up! Tell me!" + +"He was alone on the ship, Mr. Skinner. Bubonic plague! Killed the +entire crew! Matt was the only man immune, and he's sailing the +_Retriever_ home alone!" + +Mr. Skinner groaned. + +"Good gracious Providence! Why didn't the _Ecudorian_ take him off?" + +"Credit them with offering it," Jerry replied. "He wouldn't come. He +declined to jeopardize the people aboard the steamer and he wouldn't +abandon the _Retriever_ with her full cargo; so what could they do? +They had to sail away without him." + +Gently Mr. Skinner broke the news to Cappy Ricks; for, of course, the +United Press dispatches had carried it to the later afternoon editions +and it would be useless for Mr. Skinner to attempt to lie kindly. +Cappy, with bowed head, heard him through; when finally he looked up +at Skinner his eyes were dead. + +"Quite what I expected of him, Skinner," he said dully. "And I'd +rather have him die than dog it! This report from the _Ecudorian_ +helps some, Skinner. It will do to keep hope alive in my Florry--and +every two weeks until the boy is born we'll--we'll--Oh, Skinner--" + +"Yes, sir; I'll attend to it. Leave everything to me, Mr. Ricks. I'll +have wireless reports and telegrams and cablegrams from every port on +earth telling of ships having spoken the _Retriever_, with the skipper +well and hearty, and sending messages of good cheer to his wife." + +"You--you won't be--er--stingy, Skinner? You'll send out the +_Tillicum_ to find him and tow him in, won't you? And you'll have real +telegrams--spend money, Skinner! I'll have to bring those messages +home to Florry--" + +"Everything, Mr. Ricks. And I'll start right in by slipping fifty +dollars to each of the waterfront reporters on all the papers. They're +good boys, Mr. Ricks. I'll tell them why I have to have the service. +Mrs. Peasley must have our fake reports confirmed in the papers--" + +"For work like that the marine reporters should have more money," +Cappy suggested wearily. His old hand reached out gropingly, closed +over Mr. Skinner's and held it a moment childishly. "You're a very +great comfort to me, Skinner--very great indeed! And you'll come home +with me to-night, won't you, Skinner? I'm a little afraid--I want you +near me, Skinner--in case I can't get away with it to Florry." + +His dry, dead eyes studied the pattern in the office carpet. + +"Two mates, a cook and ten A. B.'s!" he murmured presently. "One man, +even a Matt Peasley, cannot do the work of thirteen men. No, Skinner; +it isn't done. One man simply cannot sail a barkentine." + +But Mr. Skinner was not listening. He was on the long-distance phone +calling the master of the _Tillicum_, just about finishing discharge +of a cargo of nitrate at San Pedro. And presently Cappy heard him +speaking: + +"Mr. Ricks, listen! Grant, of the _Tillicum_, says Matt would go up +the China Sea on the southwest monsoon... Yes, captain. You say--ah, +yes; quite so... Grant says he'd edge over until he got into the Japan +Stream, and that would add a knot or two an hour to his speed... Yes, +Grant. Speak up! ... Grant says, Mr. Ricks, that about the middle of +September or the first of October Matt would run out of the southwest +monsoon into the northeast monsoon--that's it, Grant, isn't it? He'd +get them about off Formosa, eh?... Yes, Grant. Then he'd run into the +prevailing westerly winds and run north on a great circle about five +hundred miles below the Aleutian Islands--I see, Grant. All right! +Fill your oil tanks and take an extra supply on deck, head into the +North Pacific... Yes; use your own judgment, of course. Mine's no +good... Yes; and bring a lot of disinfectants and a doctor, so it'll +be safe to put a few men aboard when you find her and put your hawser +on her ... Yes, Grant. If you find her you'll not have reason to +regret it. Good-bye! Good luck!" + +"While the _Tillicum_ is on this wild-goose chase, Skinner," Cappy +said wearily, "she is chartered by the Blue Star Navigation Company to +Alden P. Ricks personally, at the prevailing rates. The stockholders +mustn't pay for my fancies, Skinner. You'll see to that, won't you?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + + + + +_Excerpt from the log of Captain Matt Peasley relief skipper of the +American barkentine Retriever; Manila to San Francisco._ + +May Third.--Seaman Olaf Lindstrom died to-day, following an illness +of thirty-six hours. He was taken with chills and fever on the morning +of the second, complained of a severe headache and vomited repeatedly. +Removed him from the forecastle to a spare room in the forward house, +which on the _Retriever_ has always been used as a sick bay. While +being supported along the deck he collapsed, and when the mate +undressed him and put him to bed he complained of soreness in his +groins. I examined them and found them slightly swollen. Treated him +for ague--calomel, salts, quinine and whisky, and one-fortieth-grain +strychnine hypodermic solution to keep up his heart action when the +fever registered one hundred and four and higher. He grew steadily +worse. Could not find anything in my Home Book of Medicine that +exactly described his symptoms, and was at a loss to diagnose +Lindstrom's case until I discovered the ship's cat with a rat it had +just killed. + +There were no rats aboard the _Retriever_ when she left San Francisco. +I recalled that the first night we tied up to the dock in Manila a +dirty little China Coast tramp lay just ahead of us; and as I passed +her on my way uptown I saw a rat run down her gangplank. She had +rat-guards on her mooring lines. We had just tied up to the dock and I +returned immediately and instructed the mate to be sure to put the +rat-guards on our mooring lines, and not to use any sort of gangplank. +When I returned to the vessel later that night I found that the mate +had neglected to put on the rat-guards and logged him for it. Before +we left the dock a Chinaman died of bubonic plague aboard that tramp, +and the port health authorities put the vessel in quarantine +immediately and prevented further spread of the disease. + +When I saw the ship's cat with a rat, therefore, I knew we had some of +that rotten China Coaster's plague rats aboard. Accordingly threw cat +and rat overboard just as the cook announced Lindstrom's death. Upon +looking up the information on plague, I am now convinced we have it +aboard--that Linstrom died of it. First Mate Olaf Matson wrapped +himself in my old bathrobe, gloved his hands and threw Lindstrom's +body overboard, following it with the gloves and bathrobe. + +I am, in a measure, prepared for plague. When I learned we had lain +close to a vessel with a case of plague aboard I laid in some plague +medicine, on general principles and just to have an anchor out to +windward. At the English drug store on the Escolta I bought a tiny +bottle of Yersin's Antipest Serum and another of Haffkine's +Prophylactic Fluid. It was all they had on hand and it wasn't much; +but--it is enough to save me--and I intend to be saved if possible. I +cannot afford to die now. I do not know how old the Haffkine's Fluid +is; and the older it is, the longer it takes to render one immune. The +antipest serum will render me immune immediately, but the duration of +the immunity thus granted lasts, at the most, only fifteen days. I +must, therefore, first take a hypodermic injection of antipest serum +to render me immune immediately and the next day follow with an +injection of Haffkine's Fluid, which gives permanent immunity, but not +for a week or longer when used alone. + +There is this devilish thing about it to be considered, however: I may +at this moment be inoculated with plague, for the period of incubation +is from three to seven days--and I've fondled that cat every day since +we left Manila. If I am already infected and do not know it, and while +in that condition take an injection of the antipest serum, the book +says the serum will immediately bring on a fatal and virulent attack +of the plague! On the other hand, if I am not inoculated and take the +antipest serum I am safe. + +The question before the house, therefore, is: Shall I take it or shall +I not? And if I do take it shall I be saving my life or committing +suicide? I am like the fellow in the story who was forced to drink +from one of two glasses of wine. He knew one of them contained poison, +but he didn't know which one it was! I shall make my will and flip a +coin to decide the issue. + +May Fourth.--Two a.m. Mate reports another sick man in the forecastle. +Wish I had some formaldehyde gas. Have told mate to sprinkle chloride +of lime in Lindstrom's bunk and to dust the walls and floors of the +forecastle and sick bay with it. That is the only disinfectant I have +aboard in quantity. + +At midnight I flipped the coin--heads I'd take it; tails I wouldn't. +The coin fell heads--and I took it. + +Four a.m.--Mustered the crew and gave them a lecture on bubonic +plague. I have sufficient antipest serum for four men. After +explaining that it was Hobson's choice, I asked the men to draw +matches, held in the hand of the first mate, to see who should be the +lucky ones. They all decided to take a chance and go without it, with +the exception of two seamen and the mates, who, learning that I had +taken it, decided to follow suit. Accordingly I inoculated them with +the antipest serum. + +Five p.m.--Inoculated myself with Haffkine's Fluid. + +Seven-thirty.--Seaman Ross died. Mr. Matson threw the body overboard. +No services. + +Midnight.--Mr. Matson is down with it. + +May Fifth.--Mr. Matson very ill and delirious. Cook moping round like +a drunken man; complains of severe headache. Wind blowing lightly from +south-west. Everything set. Inoculated second mate and the two seamen +with Haffkine's. + +May Sixth.--Mr. Matson died at noon today. Cook down with it; also +another seaman, and Mr. Eccles, the second mate. Have altered ship's +course and am running for Hongkong. Winds light and baffling. Have not +made thirty miles today. Calm at midnight. Mr. Eccles died just as the +watches were being changed. I now feel that I have escaped; so +examined Mr. Eccles' body. He went so fast I am curious. No swelling +of the glands at all. Am inclined to think his was pneumonic or +septicaemic. Threw him overboard myself. + +May Seventh.--Light and baffling airs all day; monsoon blowing in weak +puffs. Another seaman ill. So ends this day. + +May Eighth.--Cook died at noon. No buboes on him either. He turned +kind of black. I was chief undertaker. No airs to speak of. Ship +barely making steerage way. So ends this day. + +May Ninth.--Seaman Peterson died early this morning. Do not know +exact hour. Found him dead in his berth. Another funeral; no services. +Monsoon freshening. Made forty-eight miles today. Two more seamen on +sick report; and, to add to my worries, they are the very two I +inoculated with the antipest serum and Haffkine's. Is this stuff +worthless? + +May Tenth.--Seamen Halloran and Kaiser died within an hour of each +other this evening--Halloran at nine-thirty and Kaiser at +ten-eighteen. Put both bodies overboard immediately. + +I have four seamen left, and am doing the cooking, navigating, nursing +and undertaking. Wind freshening hourly. Made seventy-two miles today. +Glad Florry and Cappy Ricks cannot see me now, although, for some fool +reason, I have a notion I shall see them again. If I were going to get +plague it would have developed before now. I feel quite safe, but most +unhappy and worried. + +Midnight.--Seaman Anderson down with it. Jumped overboard to save me +the bother of throwing him overboard about the day after to-morrow, +which is a courtesy I did not expect of Anderson. I am obliged to him. +I am exhausted and so are my three remaining seamen. We cannot handle +the canvas now, so have taken in the foresail, royals, and topgallant +sails, hauled down the flying jib and got the gaff topsail off her, +leaving her under the jib, fore-topmast staysail, upper and lower +fore-topsails, main-topmast staysail, mainsail and spanker. Hove her +to and turned in. + +May Eleventh.--After a horrible breakfast, which I cooked, got under +way again. Monsoon blowing nicely, but under the small amount of +canvas I am forced to carry cannot make more than six miles an hour. +Have decided not to run to Hongkong. If I am to lose my three +remaining seamen I shall have lost them long before I sight land, and +the tug or steamer that hooks on to me off Hongkong will stick me with +a terrific salvage bill. If I'm going to be stuck I prefer to be stuck +closer to home, and if I manage to keep these three men the four of us +can sail her home. I'll take a chance and run up the coast of Asia +with the Japan Stream until I reach the northeast monsoon. I'm certain +to be spoken and can send word to Florry. In a pinch, at this season +of the year, I can sail her home alone. + +May Fifteenth.--I am alone on the ship. Into the Japan Stream, monsoon +blowing the sweetest it ever blew. Lucky thing for me I had the +forethought to trim her down; otherwise I should have had to cut away +a lot of canvas. And how Cappy Ricks would scream at the sail bill +later on! We were hove to overnight when Borden and Jacobsen died, on +the thirteenth. McBain complained of a headache and vertigo on the +morning of the fourteenth; so I laid to until he died, last night. I +was not with him when he passed. What good would it have done? I had +breakfast; and after breakfast I found him in his berth, dead. I +tossed him overboard, and every last rag of clothing, dunnage and +blankets aboard, with the exception of those in my own cabin. Then I +burned sulphur in the fore-castle, the galley, the cook's room and the +stateroom formerly occupied by the mates, closed the doors, and hoped +for the best. Slept a lot that day and night; and at eight this +morning slacked off my spanker and main sheets, checked in my foreyard +and topsail by taking the the braces to the donkey engine, and was off +for home. + +Have established my commissary in the lee of the wheel box. Set up a +small kerosene stove I found in the storeroom, and get along nicely. +It is quite an art to fry eggs with one hand and steady the wheel with +the other, but I managed it three times today. To-morrow I will cook +enough at breakfast to last me for luncheon and supper; hence will +only have to heat some coffee. + +Logged fifty-one miles by eight o'clock; then lashed the wheel and let +her take care of herself while I got steam up in the donkey and hauled +in my spanker and mainsail; then I slacked off my foreyard and topsail +yards, hove her to on the port tack, hung three red lights on the +forestay to show she wasn't under command, set my alarm clock and +turned in. I have to smile at the ease with which one man--provided he +is a sizable man and able to stand strain--can sail a barkentine +before the wind in fair weather. I am not worried. I am not going to +have bubonic plague. It is horribly lonely, but I am due for fair +winds--and I should worry. + +Even if I should get a blow and have to take the lower topsail off +her, I can lower the yard by the topsail halyards until it rests on +the cap; then I'll skip aloft and run a knife along the head of the +topsail and let it whip to glory. After that it may blow and be +damned! All the clothes the old girl is wearing now will never take +the sticks out of her. I've trimmed her down to jib, lower topsail, +fore-topmast staysail, mainsail and spanker. Wish I dared carry the +foresail. However, I must play safe. It is awful, though, to be in a +ship as fast as the _Retriever_ and have to crawl the way I'm +crawling. Crawl all day and sleep all night! Well, sometimes I can +crawl all day and night and sleep half a day. We shall see. I used to +be able to stand considerable before I hit the beach and got soft. The +necessity for firing the donkey every night would soon exhaust my fuel +supply; but I have a deck-load of hardwood logs! [Illustration: +(_Excerpt from the log of Cap't Matt Peasley_) "I am alone on the +ship--all the rest are now dead"--] + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + + + + +Four months had passed since the _Ecudorian_ had spoken Matt Peasley +off the coast of Formosa; during that period no further news had been +received in Cappy Ricks' office, although the diligent Skinner, aided +and abetted by the waterfront reporters, managed to have a piece of +cheering information for Florry about every two weeks. And, in order +to forestall any possibility of some garrulous girl friend, with a +male relative in the shipping business, "spilling the beans," as Cappy +expressed it, the old man had taken a house in the country, and came +to the office only twice a week to mourn for his lost Matthew and +glean what little comfort he could from the empty words of hope Mr. +Skinner dispensed so lavishly. + +"If we can only keep Florry buoyed up with hope until the baby comes!" +Cappy would groan. "She's worried; but, strange to say, Skinner, she +hasn't the slightest idea he's in any danger. Those fake cablegrams +and reports of ships speaking Matt--each time closer to home--have +done the trick, Skinner. Of course the boy's dead, and I killed him; +but Florry--well, she took a trip on the _Retriever_ and knows how +safe she is, and I've had a lot of old sailing skippers down to visit +me, and primed them to tell her just how they would get away with such +a proposition as Matt's--and how easy it would be. Besides, she knows +Matt had some plague prophylactic aboard--" + +"Yes; and I've told her she mustn't show the white feather--for your +sake," Mr. Skinner interrupted; "and I think she's sensible enough to +know she mustn't permit herself to show it--for the baby's sake." + +Cappy bowed his head and shook like a hooked fish. + +"When the baby's two weeks old I'll tell her," he moaned. "Oh, +Skinner, Skinner, my dear boy, this is going to kill me! I won't last +long now, Skinner. All my fault! I had to go butting in. That girl's +heart is breaking with anxiety. When she comes down to breakfast, +Skinner, I can see she's been crying all night." + +"Horrible!" Mr. Skinner murmured. "Horrible! We can only hope." + +On the twelfth of September Florry's baby was born. It was a boy, and +a bouncing boy at that; and Cappy Ricks forgot for the moment he had +rendered that baby fatherless, and came up to the city to report the +news to Skinner. + +"Well, Skinner, my dear boy," he announced with just a touch of his +old-time jauntiness, "little Matthew just arrived! Everything lovely." + +Mr. Skinner was about to formulate suitable phrases of congratulation +when the telephone bell rang. It was Jerry Dooley up at the Merchants' +Exchange; and he was all excitement. + +"Hey, Skinner," he cried. "The _Retriever_ is passing in!" + +"No!" Mr. Skinner shrieked. "It isn't possible!" + +"It is! She's coming in the Gate now--she's right under the lookout's +telescope; and there's only one man on deck--" + +Mr. Skinner turned to Cappy Ricks, put his arms round him and jerked +the old man from one end of the office to the other. + +"He's safe, he's safe, he's safe, he's safe!" he howled indecorously. +"Matt's sailing her in. He's sailing her in--" + +"You scoundrel!" Cappy shrilled. "Be quiet! Is she sailing in or +towing--" + +"She's sailing in." + +Cappy Ricks slumped down in his chair, his arms hanging weakly at his +sides. + +"Yes, Skinner," he barely whispered, "Matt's alive, after all. Nobody +else would have the consummate crust to sail her in but him. Any other +skipper under heaven would have hove to off the lightship and sent in +word by the pilot boat to send out a tug. Oh, Lord, I thank Thee! I'm +a wicked, foolish, bone-headed old man; but Lord, I do thank Thee--I +do, indeed!" + +Half an hour later Cappy Ricks and Mr. Skinner, in a fast motorboat, +came flying up the bay and caught sight of the _Retriever_ loafing +lazily past Fort Mason. On she came, with a tiny bone in her teeth; +and suddenly, as Cappy peered ahead through the spray that flew in +over the bows of the launch and drenched him to the skin, the +_Retriever's_ mainsail was lowered rapidly. The vessel was falling off +by the time the mainsail was down and Cappy and Mr. Skinner saw Matt +run aft, steady the wheel and bring the vessel up on the wind again. +She was now under spanker and the headsails. Matt lashed the wheel and +again ran forward, pausing at the main-topmast-staysail halyards to +cast them off and permit the sail to come down by the run. + +On to the topgallant forecastle Matt Peasley leaped, praising his +Maker for patent anchors on the _Retriever_. With a hammer he knocked +out the stopper; the starboard anchor dropped and the red rust flew +from her hawsepipe as the anchor chain screamed through it. With his +hand on the compressor of the windlass, Matt Peasley snubbed her +gently to the forty-five fathom shackle, cast off his jib halyards to +let the jib slide down the stay by its own weight, raced aft, and +gently lowered the spanker as the American barkentine _Retriever_, +with the yellow flag flying at the fore, swung gently to anchor on the +quarantine grounds, two hundred and twenty-one days from Manila. + +Cappy Ricks turned to his general manager. + +"Pretty work, Skinner!" he said huskily. "I guess there's nothing +wrong with that boy's health. Damn! The quarantine boat will beat us +to it! Matt's throwing the Jacob's ladder over the side for them." + +"We can't board her until she passes quarantine--" Mr. Skinner began; +but Cappy silenced him with a terrible look. + +"The word can't, Skinner, was eliminated from my vocabulary some fifty +years ago. We can--and I will! You needn't; but I've simply got to! +Hey, you!"--to the launchman--"kick her wide open and show some +speed." + +Despite the warning cries from the quarantine officers in the health +boat, the launch ran in along the _Retriever's_ side; Cappy Ricks +grasped the Jacob's ladder as the launch rasped by and climbed up with +an agility that caused Mr. Skinner to marvel. As his silk hat appeared +over the _Retriever's_ rail a wind-bitten, bewhiskered, gaunt, +hungry-looking semi-savage reached down, grasped him under the arms, +snaked him inboard and hugged him to his heart. + +Silence for a minute, while Cappy Ricks' thin old shoulders shook and +heaved as from some internal spasm, and Matt Peasley's big brown hand +patted Cappy's back. Presently he said: + +"Well, father-in-law--" + +From somewhere in Matt Peasley's whiskers Cappy's voice came +plaintively: + +"Not father-in-law, sonny. New title--this morning--six +o'clock--nine--pounds--grandfather! Eh? Yes; grandfather! Grandpa +Ricks!" + +"Boy or girl?" Matt Peasley roared, and shook the newly-elected +grandfather. + +"Boy! Florry--fine--never lost hope!" + +A port health officer came over the rail. He shook an admonitory +finger at Cappy Ricks. + +"Hey, you! Old man, you're under arrest--that is, you're in +quarantine, and you'll have to stay aboard this ship until she's +fumigated. Yes; and we'll fumigate you, too. Whadje mean by coming +aboard ahead of us?" + +"Cappy," Matt Peasley said, "tell that person to go chase himself! +Why, there hasn't been any plague aboard the ship in nearly five +months!" + +Cappy looked up and wiped the tears of joy out of his whiskers. + +"Scoundrel!" he cackled. "Infernal young scoundrel! What do you mean +by risking my _Retriever_, sailing her through the Gate with a crew of +one man?" + +"Take a look at me!" Matt laughed. "I'm all hands! And didn't I prove +I'm enough men to handle her? The pilots wouldn't board me, and by +sailing her in myself I saved pilotage and salvage claims. I lost the +lower topsail and the consignees are going to find a shortage in those +hardwood logs; but that's all--except that I haven't had a decent meal +in God knows when. Say, Cappy, what does he look like? A Peasley or a +Ricks?" + +"Both," Cappy chirped diplomatically. "Matt, are you all over the +blue-water fever?" + +"You bet!" he declared. "No more relief jobs for me. I've had plenty, +although it might have been worse. It was lonely and sometimes I +thought I was going crazy. Used to talk out loud to myself! I had some +awful weather; but I just tucked her head under her wing and let her +roll, and after I ran into the northeast monsoon, and later into the +westerly winds, I had it easier and got more rest. You know, Cappy, +when a ship is sailing on the wind, if you lash her helm a little bit +below amidships she'll steer herself. Slow work, but--I got here; and, +now that I'm here, I'm going to stay here. + +"Of course, Cappy," he added, "I've just got to have something with +sails to play with; but no more offshore sailing in mine--that +is--well, I'm going to stay home for a long time--after a while, +maybe--and meantime I'm going to build a little schooner yacht--" + +"For the love of Mike, do!" Cappy pleaded. "I'll be stuck in +quarantine with you for a couple of days and we'll kill time drawing +up a rough set of plans. And when that schooner yacht is ready, Matt, +I'll tell you what I want you to do." + +"What, Cappy?" + +"Send the bill to grandpa, Matthew!" + +"If I hadn't been a case-hardened old fool I'd have cheered you on +when you wanted to build that schooner yacht last year. I'd have saved +myself a world of grief." + +He placed his hand gently on Matt's shoulder and his face was +ineffably sad as he continued: "Of course, with you away and your fate +undecided, as it were, Matt, that infernal Skinner wasn't worth two +hoots in a hollow. Why, the boy flopped around the office like a +rooster with its head off, and as a result I've had to come out of my +retirement and keep an eye on things. Thank God, I can let go now. +Really, Matt, you have no idea how I long to separate myself from the +hurly-burly of California street. What I want is peace and +seclusion--" + +"You can have my share of that commodity for the remainder of my +natural life," Matt laughed happily, "I want noise and people. I want +screaming and yelling and fighting and risks and profits and losses +and liars and scoundrels and honest men all inextricably mixed." He +tossed his great sun-tanned arms above his head. "Lord, I want Life," +he half shouted. + +Cappy sighed. These young pups! When they grow to see life as old +dogs-- + +"Well, Matt, all I've got to say is that the first man that butts into +my private office and starts unloading a cargo of grief on me, is +going to get busted between the eyes with a paper weight. I'm through +with grief and woe. I don't give a hoot what happens to the world or +anybody in it. I want peace and a rest. I can afford it and wouldn't I +be a first-class idiot not to take it while the taking is good, Matt?" + +"No more mixing in the shipping end, eh?" Matt asked hopefully. + +Cappy raised his right hand solemnly. "Never again, Matt. I'm through +with ships and sailors and cargoes and the whole cussed Blue Star +fleet can sink and be damned to it, but I'll not lift a hand to save +it. I'm THROUGH." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + + + + +ALAS! Man proposes, but God disposes. Cappy had smoked his post- +prandial cigar next day and was in the midst of his mid-afternoon +siesta, when the buzzer on his desk waked him with its insistent +buzzing. He reached for the telephone. + +"My dear," he reproved his private exchange operator, "how often have +I told you not to disturb me between two and three o'clock?" + +"I knew you wouldn't mind being disturbed this afternoon, Mr. Ricks. +Your old friend Mr. Gurney, of New York, is calling." + +"Old Joe Gurney? By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet! Show him in." Cappy +was at the door to meet his visitor when the latter entered. Mr Joseph +Gurney, senior partner of the firm of Gurney & Harlan, was, like Cappy +Ricks, a shiping man and a Down-Easter. He and Cappy Ricks had been a +boyhood friends in Thomaston, Main, and Gurney & Harlan were the +agents and controlling owners of the Red Funnel line plying between +New York and ports on the West Coast. + +"Well, Joe, you doddering old pirate?" cried Cappy Ricks +affectionately. "Come in and rest your hands and feet. I'm +tremendously glad to see you. When did you drift into down?" + +He shook hands with Gurney and steered him toward a chair. + +"Ten minutes ago, Alden, my boy. Delighted to see you again, and +particularly pleased to see how carelessly you carry your years. I'm +three months younger than you--and I feel like the last rose of +summer." + +"You look it, Joe. Take a leaf out of my book and let the young +fellows 'tend to business for you. Don't let worry ride over you in +the shank of your old age, my boy. I never do. Haven't paid a bit of +attention to business in the last ten years, and that's why at my age +I'm looking so fit." + +"You'll live to be a hundred, Alden." + +Cappy smiled. + +"Well," he declared, "I'm going to live while I have the time. I never +expect to be a walking corpse just stalling round in an effort to +defer settlement with the undertaker, and I won't be a dead one until +the neighbors hear a quartet singing Lead Kindly Light out at my +house--Joe you look worried. Anything gone wrong with you, old friend? +Need some money? Have you married a young wife?" + +"It's Joey," Gurney confessed miserably. + +"What? My godson, little Joey Gurney?" + +"He's big Joey Gurney now." + +"Yes, and a fine boy, Joe--no thanks to you. His mother's influence +was strong enough to counteract any impulses for crime he might have +inherited from his father." + +Gurney smiled sadly at Cappy Ricks' badinage. + +"He is a fine boy, Alden, but--he's only a boy, and I'm afraid he's +going to make hash of his young life before it's fairly started." + +"Booze?" + +"No." + +"Well, then where did he first meet this woman?" + +Joe Gurney, Senior, hitched his chair close to his friend's and laid +an impressive hand on Cappy's knee. + +"Alden," he said feelingly, "you and I have been friends, man and boy, +for about sixty-five years. I believe we were five years old when we +robbed Deacon Follansbee's beehive and got stung to death." + +"Yes, and we've both been getting stung more or less ever since, only +somehow we still manage to recover and be none the worse for the +experience. At least, Joe, we learned about bees. When it comes to +boys, however, I've still got my experience coming. My little chap +died when he was twelve, you know. I've never quite gotten over his +loss; in fact, Joe, I was dreaming of him a minute ago when you +called." + +"You had him long enough, Alden, to realize how I feel about Joey." + +Cappy nodded. "Let's see," he answered, reflectively pulling his +whiskers, "Joey must be about twenty-four years old now, isn't he?" + +"Twenty-four last Tuesday; and at twenty-five he comes into his +mother's fortune. I've managed his little nest egg pretty well, Alden; +invested it all in the vessel property of Gurney & Harlan, and since +the war started I've swelled what originally was a quarter of a +million to about a million and a half. His stock in the Red Funnel +Line is worth a million at the very least, and the remaining half +million is represented by cold cash in bank and bonds that can be +converted into cash overnight. + +"Hum-m-m! Harumph-h-h! Quite a fortune for a youth of a twenty-five +to be intrusted with. I'll bet somebody will take it away from him +before he's thirty." + +"That's a safe bet, Alden. He has a candidate for his money on his +trail right now." + +"And he doesn't realize it?" + +"Alden, he's only twenty-four years old. What does a boy know at +twenty-four?" + +"Well, Joe, you and I had accumulated a heap of experience and hard +knocks at that age, and I seem to remember we each had a little money +we'd managed to save here and there. I don't agree with you at all on +this twenty-four-year-old excuse. My son-in-law, Matt Peasley--you +remember the Peasleys of Thomaston; Matt's a nephew of Ethan, who was +lost off the main yard of the _Martha Peasley_--was holding a master's +ticket for sail, any ocean and any tonnage, before he was twenty-one. +He's not much older than your Joey right now, but, nevertheless, he's +president of the Blue Star Navigation Company and worth a million and +a half, every dollar of which he has made by his own energy and +ability." + +"Well, of course, Alden, there are exceptions to every rule." + +"Not if you raise 'em right and you've got the right kind of stock to +work on and the boy is healthy and normal. Now I know your Joey comes +from the right stock; I know his mother raised him right until he was +sixteen when the good Lord took her away from you both; and I know he +is healthy and normal. Hasn't he proved that by falling in love? The +only conclusion I can draw, therefore, is that you've made a monkey +out of him, Joe Gurney." + +"Perhaps I have, Alden; perhaps I have," Gurney replied sadly. + +"No 'perhaps' about it. I know you have. You sent him to college and +gave him ten thousand dollars a year to spend. If you wanted to give +him a fine education and turn out a man and a gentleman you might have +gotten him into the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he would have +learned something of ships and graduated with a master's ticket; after +serving a few years and getting the corners knocked off him he could +have resigned and you would have had a sane, dependable man to sit in +at your desk when you're gone. By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, Joe +Gurney, you make me sick! You're like every other damphool American +father who accumulates a few million dollars in excess of his +legitimate needs and then gets all puffed up with the notion he's got +to give his son all the so-called advantages his own parents were too +poor to afford him--or too sensible. The result is you turn out an +undeveloped or over-developed boob, too proud to work and not able to +take a real man's place in the world because he hasn't been taught +how. And in the course of time he marries a female boob who has been +raised according to the same general specifications, and nine times +out of ten she's too refined to be bothered with a family. And +presently there's a trip out to Reno and the little squib in the paper +and--er--ahem! Drat your picture, Joe, you're the responsible party. +You created a ten-thousand-dollar-a-year parasite on the body politic +while your boy was still in his teens, and now you want to know what +the devil to do about it, don't you?" + +"That's exactly what I want to know, Alden," Gurney confessed +miserably, "and I've crossed the continent to get your advice. I +haven't very many real friends--the kind I can open my heart to--" + +"Tut, tut, Joe. Enough of vain repining. Now then, old friend, let's +get to the bottom of this thing and see if we can't buy this wreck in +from the underwriters, salvage it and put it in commission again. +Never say die, Joe! Where there's a will there's a lawsuit or a +heartache--particularly if the estate makes it worth while. Now then, +Joe, you must realize that it's the fashion nowadays, when a fellow +has to consult a specialist, to give his personal and family history +for three generations back before receiving treatment. So if I am to +diagnose Joey's case I'll have to have a history of Joey. Now then! He +graduated from college at the age of twenty-two did he not?" + +"He didn't graduate, Alden. He was requested to leave." + +"Hum-m-m! I didn't know that. What for?" + +"General uselessness and animal spirits, I suppose. It wasn't +anything dishonorable. The main contributory cause was an alleged poem +lampooning some individual they called Prexy." + +"Hum-m-m! And since leaving college what has he done?" + +"I've had him in my office." + +"Joe, answer my question. I know you've had him in your office. But +what has he done? Has he earned his salary?" + +"I'm afraid he hasn't, Alden. Somehow golf and tennis and week-end +parties and yachting and big-game hunting in Alaska and tarpon fishing +in Florida sort of interfere with business." + +"Well, that isn't much of a crime, Joe. I never had time to do those +highly enjoyable things and I couldn't afford them. When I could +afford them and had time to do them I was too old. You say the boy is +fond of yachting?" + +"It's his greatest hobby. In his taste for salt water he at least +resembles his ancestors. The Gurneys were all sailors and shipping +men." + +"Is he a good yachtsman, Joe?" + +"He has a schooner that's a hundred and six feet over all and he seems +to win pretty regularly with her. I never knew him to get worse than +second place in all the races he has entered." + +"Too bad," Cappy Ricks murmured sadly. "A noble ambition absolutely +misdirected. He would have been a skipper and, lastly, a good shipping +man if you had only managed him like a sensible father should. Now +about this girl he's in love with?" + +"That happened about three months ago. He met her at one of those +roof-garden, midnight cabaret, turkey-trot palaces in New York--" + +"Yes, I know. I always take in the sights when I go to New York, but +the last time I was at that one up near Fifty-fourth Street the noise +bothered me. And the show was very poor; in fact, after seeing it I +made up my mind I was off cabaret stuff for keeps." + +"You ancient scalawag! What were you doing in a place like that?" + +"Seeing life as it ought not to be, of course. Your boy Joey took me +up there, by the way. In-fer-nal young scoundrel! He showed me the +town and we had quite a time together." + +Joe Gurney's old eyes popped with amazement. + +"You went batting round with my Joey--an old ruin like you?" + +"Why not? We behaved ourselves, and besides I always trot a heat with +the young fellows whenever I get a chance. It keeps me young. I +enjoyed Joey a heap, although I could see he was a jolly young +jackass. Moreover, I'm his godfather, and I guess it was all right for +me to tag along and see to it that my godson didn't get into deep +water close to the shore, wasn't it? Don't you ever step out with Joey +and get your nose wet?" + +"Certainly not!" + +Cappy Ricks smiled wistfully. + +"If I had a son I'd pal up with him," he declared. "I'd want to get +out with him and raise a little dignified hell once in a while, just +to be a human being and keep him from being a mollycoddle. Ahem! +Harumph. So he flagged this damsel in the leg show, eh?" + +Joe Gurney nodded miserably. + +"Have you given her the once over?" Cappy demanded. + +"Yes, I went up there one night. I was afraid somebody would see me, +so I took along Joey's aunt, Matilda. We saw the young woman. She does +a dance specialty--an alleged Hawaiian hula-hula. It's fake from start +to finish." + +"You show a guilty technical knowledge of the hula, Joe," Cappy +reminded him. "But passing that, what's the latest report on the +situation?" + +"Horrible, Alden, horrible!" replied Joe Gurney. + +"Careful, Joe, careful! Many a wheat-straw skirt and sharks'-teeth +necklace may conceal a pure and honest heart." + +"Well, she's been married twice and divorced once, to begin with, +and--" + +"That's a-plenty, Joe." + +"And she has just completed her contract in the show and gone out to +Reno to acquire a six months' residence in order to get rid of husband +number two so she can take on Joey." + +"Who told you all this?" + +"I found it out--by asking." + +"Have you told Joey?" + +"No." + +"Does he know it?" + +Gurney nodded. + +"I had one of his young friends, whom I can trust, tip him off in +confidence. The news didn't make any difference to Joey. He asked her +about it, and she explained it all away to his entire satisfaction." + +"I dare say. And you haven't given any indication to your son that +you're on to him and his love affair?" + +"I thought best to pretend ignorance, pending my arrival at a solution +of the difficulty." + +"Therein you showed a gleam of real intelligence. Having humored your +boy all his life you could not expect to cross him in his first love +affair and get away with it. No, sir-ree! The thing to do is to put +the skids under Joey and his lady love before they know you know it. +Tell me more about her, however, before I begin making skids and skid +grease." + +"She is thirty-one years old--" + +Cappy Ricks threw up both hands. + +"Farewell, O my countrymen!" he murmured. + +"She has two children--one by her first husband and one by her second. +They're living with her mother. She supports them from the proceeds of +her hula dancing." + +"Score a white mark for her, Joe. Is she a good looker?" + +"A brunette, Alden, and Joey's Aunt Matilda admitted against her will +that she was a beauty. My lawyer tells me, however, that she hasn't an +ounce of brains, and proclaims the fact by laughing loudly when there +is nothing particularly worth laughing at." + +"I imagine you've had a detective agency investigating her." + +"I have. She has little education and no refinement; her people are +very ordinary. Her father is a whitewing in Philadelphia and is +separated from her mother, who keeps a boarding house in Muncie, +Indiana." + +"I'm afraid, Joe, she won't do for your daughter-in-law," Cappy Ricks +opined slowly. "But don't worry, my boy. You've come all the way from +New York to confide in me and get my advice, and somehow I have a +sneaking notion you've come to the right shop. If there's anybody +calculated to put a crimp in love's young dream, I'm that individual." + +"I knew Joey and you were good friends, and besides, you're his +godfather. He thinks a lot of you, Alden, and I kind of thought maybe +you might come East with me, see the boy, get him to confide in you +and--er--sort of advise him in the way he should go. I'm--er--well, +Alden, I'm afraid I feel too badly about this to talk to Joey. I might +lose my temper, and besides--besides, he's all I have and he reminds +me so much of his mother that I--" + +"Yes, yes, I understand, Joe. Leave it to me and I'll advise with him. +Yes, I will--with an ax handle! And I'll go East with you and tie +knots in his tail--only he won't know anything about it. It may cost +you a little money, but I assume expense is no object." + +"It would be cheap at a million." + +"Where that boy and your money are concerned you're such an ass, Joe, +I'm almost tempted to charge you a million extra for the operation. +However, considering Deacon Follansbee's beehive, and Joey's mother +and my godson--" + +Old Joe Gurney took Cappy Ricks' hand in both of his, that trembled so +with age and anxiety. + +"Dear old Alden," he declared. "I knew you wouldn't fail me." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + + + + +For a long time after old Joe Gurney had terminated his visit Cappy +Ricks sat in the position which with him always denoted intense mental +concentration. He had sunk low in his swivel chair and swung his old +legs to the top of his desk; his head was bowed on his breast and his +eyes were closed. + +Suddenly he started as if snake-bitten, sat up at his desk and reached +for the telephone. + +"Get me the West Coast Trading Company," he ordered the private +exchange operator, "and tell Mr. J. Augustus Redell I want to speak to +him." + +Redell answered presently. + +"Gus, my dear young friend," Cappy began briskly, "I want you to do me +a favor, and in so doing I think you'll find you are going to perform +one for yourself also." + +"Good news, Cappy. Consider it done." + +"Thank you, my boy, but this particular favor isn't done quite so +quickly. I want you to tell that Peruvian partner of yours, Live Wire +Luiz Almeida to dig up a specification for a cargo of fir to be +discharged on lighters at some open roadstead on the West Coast, and +the more open the port and the more difficult it is to discharge +there; and the harder it is to get any sane shipowner to charter a +vessel to deliver a cargo there, the better I'll be pleased. Surely, +Gus, you must have a customer down on the West Coast in some such port +as I describe, who is actually watering at the mouth for a cargo of +lumber and is unable to place it with a mill that will guarantee +delivery? Look into the matter, Augustus, and see what you can do for +me." + +"Do you want to furnish such a cargo from one of the Ricks Lumber & +Logging Company's northern mills and freight it in one of your Blue +Star Navigation Company vessels?" + +"No, I don't want to do it," Cappy replied; "but in this particular +case the acceptance of such a cargo and the freighting of it via a +Blue Star windjammer, even though the usual demurrage at such +discharging ports will cause the vessel a loss, is a consummation +devoutly to be wished. Ordinarily, if you made such a proposition to +me I'd call in the boys from the general office and tell them to throw +you out, but--well, in this case I'm willing to stand the loss, +Augustus." + +Yes, you are--not. Somebody else will recompense you for any loss, +Cappy Ricks, never fear. Do you want the West Coast Trading Company to +give you a bonus for accepting our order?" + +"No, my boy. I'll make Skinner sell you the lumber at the regular base +price at the mill, plus insurance and freight to point of discharge. +And I won't stick you too deep on the freight, even in wartime." + +"There's something wrong with you this morning, Cappy," Redell +declared, highly mystified. "You're too obliging. However, I'm not to +be outgamed. I have a specification for a cargo of half a million feet +for delivery at Sobre Vista, Peru; I've been trying for a month to +place the order and nobody will accept it because nobody wants to +guarantee delivery. On the other hand, the purchasers have been unable +to get any ship owner to charter them a vessel to go to Sobre Vista +without a guaranty of a perfectly prohibitive rate of demurrage per +diem; consequently I had just about abandoned my efforts to place the +order." + +"Fine business, Gus. And is Sobre Vista a rotten port at which to +discharge?" + +"It's vile, Cappy. It's an open roadstead and the vessel lies +off-shore and discharges into lighters. About four days a week the +surf is so high the lighters cannot lie alongside the ship or be run +up on the beach without being ruined, and to complicate the situation +they only have two or three lighters at the port. Labor is scarce, +too, and the few _cargadores_ a skipper can hire have a habit of +working two days and staying drunk for the remainder of the week on +the proceeds of those two days of labor. So you can see for yourself +that discharge in Sobre Vista is very hard on the skipper's nerves, +and that if he can work two days a week he's in luck. And when we +deduct from those two days all the national holidays and holy days and +saints' feast days that have to be duly celebrated, not to mention the +three hundred and sixty-five days in the year the populace doesn't +feel like exerting itself--well, Cappy, I couldn't give you anything +worse than Sobre Vista if you paid me for it." + +"May the good Lord bless you, Augustus! Come down and do business with +Skinner on the cargo. Get him to quote you a price f.o.b. ship's +tackles at the mill dock and tell him you'll furnish the tonnage when +the cargo is ready for delivery. There's no sense in worrying poor +Skinner until his worries are due, and when I send a Blue Star +schooner to load your cargo for Sobre Vista I'm going to have to fight +him and my son-in-law, Matt Peasley. But leave it to me, Gus. I'll +guarantee the tonnage." + +"This is certainly wonderful," the grateful Redell observed. "Thank +you, Cappy. What I'll do to those Peruvian customers of mine on price +will be a shame and a disgrace. Are you going to stick me for any +demurrage on the vessel, Cappy? Because if you are, I'll have to stick +my customers in order to get out clean." + +"No demurrage, Gus, not a penny." + +"Bully! Then I'll stick my customers anyhow. It makes the profit all +the greater, and since they expect to pay a reasonable demurrage I see +no reason why I should disappoint them." + +When Redell had hung up Cappy summoned into his presence Captain Matt +Peasley. + +"Matt," he queried, "what schooners have you got due at any one of our +northern mills within the next thirty days?" + +Matt Peasley pondered and counted on his big fingers. "The _Tyee_ will +be in from Valparaiso about that time," he answered. + +"Have you got her chartered?" + +"Oh, no. We're using her in our own trade. Skinner will have a cargo +ready for her by the time she gets back, although we don't know yet +where we will send her." + +"Well, Matt, you tell Skinner he can't have her and to look around for +some other vessel to take her place. I may give her to him at the last +minute, but then again I may not. When she arrives at the mill, +Matthew, my boy, tie her up to the mill dock to await my pleasure." + +"Why, what the devil are you going to do with the _Tyee?_" Matt +demanded, astounded beyond measure. + +"I might want to take a cruise for my health and use the _Tyee_ as a +pleasure boat," Cappy answered enigmatically. "They tell me she's as +fast as a yacht in a breeze of wind." + +"The longer I'm acquainted with you, father-in-law," Matt Peasley +declared, "the less I know you. You can have your _Tyee_, but for +every day she is held awaiting your pleasure your personal account +will be charged with something in three figures. I'll figure out her +average profit per day for the last five voyages and soak you +accordingly." + +"Fair enough," quoth Cappy Ricks. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + + + + +Three weeks later Alden P. Ricks arrived in New York. After he had +been driven to his hotel and had removed the stains of travel he +telephoned the office of Gurney & Harlan and got Gurney, Senior, on +the line. + +"Well, I'm here, Joe," he announced. "Have you followed my +instructions and cut Joey off at the pockets?" + +"I have, Alden. He's rather desperate as a result, and has been trying +to borrow money by hypothecating the inheritance due him on his +twenty-fifth birthday. You see, I didn't give him a second's notice; +just told him he was spending too much time in play and too much money +for pleasure, and that until he came into his private fortune he would +have to earn any money he desired to spend. I have been very firm." + +"That's the stuff, Joe. And is he trying to earn it?" + +"Yes, I think so. He's sticking round the office at any rate." + +"Hum-m-m! That's because it costs money to go anywhere else. Has he +succeeded in raising a loan by assigning an interest in his +inheritance?" + +"No, not yet. I blocked him at all the banks and with my old friends, +and I do not think he can borrow as much as he needs from any of his +friends. They, like him of course, are dependent on their fathers' +generosity." + +"Fine way to raise a boy! Bully. Well, I'll be down to your office in +about an hour and take you and Joey to luncheon at India House. You +haven't forgotten what I wrote you, Joe? You know your part, don't +you? . . . Well, see that you play your hand well and we'll save that +boy yet." + +Two hours later the Gurneys were lunching with Cappy Ricks at the one +New York club to which Cappy belonged--quaint old India House in +Hanover Square, haunt of shipping men and shippers, perhaps the best +and least-known club in New York City. Joey had been unaffectedly glad +to see his godfather; so much so, indeed, that Cappy rightly guessed +Joey had designs on the Ricks pocketbook; for after all, as Cappy +admitted to himself, he is a curmudgeon of a godfather indeed who will +refuse to loan his godson a much needed twenty-five thousand dollars +on gilt-edged security. In expectation of an application for a loan +before the day should be done, however, Cappy was careful not to be +alone with Joey for an instant, for something told him that only the +presence of Gurney, Senior, kept Gurney Junior from promptly putting +his fortune to the touch. + +"Well, Joey, you young cut-up," Cappy began as the trio settled in the +smoking room and the waiter brought the coffee and cigars, "I see +you're getting to be quite an amateur sailor. Your Dad tells me you +won your last race with that schooner yacht of yours in rather pretty +fashion." + +"It was a bully race, Mr. Ricks. I wish you could have been aboard +with me," Joey declared enthusiastically. + +"Hum-m-m! Catch me on a yacht!" Cappy's tones were indicative of +profound disgust. + +"Ricks, you're a kill-joy," old Gurney struck in. "All you think of +is making money, and you've made so much of it I should think the game +would have palled on you long ago. I tell Joey to go it while he's +young--while he has the capacity for enjoyment." + +"Joe, I tell you now, as I've told you before, you're spoiling this +boy. When he's twenty-five years old he comes into a fortune and +you're not even preparing him for the task of handling that money +wisely. You bought Joey that schooner yacht, didn't you?" + +"I bought her cheap," old Joe Gurney protested lamely. + +"They cost a fortune to maintain, Joe. Now if Joey wanted some +salt-water experience you should have sent him to sea as quartermaster +on one of your own Red Funnel liners; presently he would have worked +up to second mate; then first mate, and finally skipper. By that time +he would have known the salt-water end of his father's business, after +which he could sit in at a desk and learn the business end. Somehow, +Joe, when I see a shipping man's son fooling away his time on a +pleasure yacht instead of learning the shipping business, I feel as if +I'd just taken a dose of ipecac." + +"Godfather is out of sorts," Joey soliloquized sagely, and resolved to +wait a day or two before broaching the subject of a loan. Cappy Ricks +surveyed the young fellow severely. + +"Joey," he began, "I've no doubt you're quite a sailor on your +handsome yacht, in your yachting uniform, with all the real head work +to be done by your sailing master--" + +"Not a bit of it," Joey protested. "I'm not that kind of a yachtsman. +I'm the captain tight and the midshipmite, and the crew take orders +from me, because I don't employ a sailing master." + +"Do you mean to tell me that when you go on a cruise to the West +Indies you navigate the yacht yourself--lay out your own courses and +work out your own position?" + +Joey smiled patronizingly. + +"Certainly," he replied. "That's easy." + +"Sure. Play is always easy. But let me tell you, young man, if you had +command of a big three-legged windjammer, with a deckload of heavy +green lumber fresh from the saws, and ran into a stiff sou'-easter +such as we have out on the Pacific coast, you'd know what real +sailoring is like." + +"Joey could handle her like that," old Gurney declared with pride, +and snapped his fingers. + +"Could you, Joey?" Cappy Ricks demanded. "I have my doubts." + +"Why, I think so, Mr. Ricks. I might be a little cautious at first--" + +"Well, I don't think you could," Cappy interrupted. + +"Well, I do," old Gurney declared with some warmth. "I've been out +with Joey on his yacht and I know what the boy can do." + +"Bah! You're a doddering old softy, Joe. Yachting is one thing and +sailoring is another. I have an old lumber hooker on Gray's Harbor +now, loading for a port in Peru, and I'd certainly love to see Joey +with her on his hands. I'll bet fifty thousand dollars he couldn't +sail her down to Sobre Vista, discharge her and sail back inside of +six months." The old schemer chuckled. "Lordy me," he continued, "I'd +like to see Joey trying to make her point up into the wind! She'd +break his heart." + +"Look here, Alden," Old Joe Gurney commenced to bristle. "Are you +serious about that or are you just making conversation bets? Because +if you're serious I'm just shipping man enough to call you for the +sheer sporting joy of it." + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, you're on!" Cappy Ricks almost yelled. +"Put up or shut up--that is, provided Joey is as big a sport as his +father and will undertake to sail my schooner _Tyee_ to Sobre Vista +and back." + +"Oh, she's a schooner!" There was relief in Joey's voice. "Why, I'll +sail any vessel with a fore-and-aft rig. I thought perhaps you were +trying to ring in a square-rigger on me, and I'm not familiar with +them. But a schooner--pooh! Pie for little Joey!" + +"She's got three legs, and with a deck-load of lumber she's cranky and +topheavy. I'm warning you, Joey. Remember he is a poor ship owner who +doesn't know his own ship." + +Joey got up and went to a map laid out on a table, with a piece of +plate glass over it, to compute the sailing distance from Gray's +Harbor to Sobre Vista. He could not find Sobre Vista on the map. + +"Figure the distance to Mollendo and you'll be close enough for all +practical purposes," Cappy called to him, and winked at the boy's +father. "A little pep, here, boy," he whispered to Gurney, "and we'll +snare him yet." + +Joey came back from his study of the map. + +"I'd have the nor'west trades clear to the Line," he remarked to his +father. "After that I'd be liable to bang round for a couple of weeks +in the doldrums, but in spite of that--did you say I couldn't do it in +six months, Mr. Ricks?" + +"That's what I said, Joey." + +"Take the bet, dad," said Joey quietly, "and I'll take half of it off +your hands. I'll give you my note, secured by an assignment of a +twenty-five-thousand-dollar interest in mother's estate to secure you +in case Mr. Ricks should win and call you for his winnings--but he +hasn't a chance in the world." + +"Money talks," Cappy Ricks warned him and got out his check book. +"Joe, I'll make a check in your favor for fifty thousand dollars and +you make one in my favor for the same amount. We will then deposit +both checks with the secretary of the club, who will act as +stakeholder--" + +"'Nuff said, Alden P. Ricks. I accept the dare. Sonny, if you're a +worse sailor-man than you appear to be, you're liable to cost your +father a sizable wad. However, I can't resist this opportunity to put +a nick in the Ricks bank roll." Gurney snickered. "Alden," he +declared, "you'll bleed for a month of Sundays. Really, this is too +easy! For old sake's sake, I'll give you a chance to withdraw before +it is too late." + +"Let the tail go with the hide, Joe. I don't often bet, but when I do +I'm no piker. Joey, there's just one little condition I'm going to +exact, however. I'm going to send one of my own skippers along with +you on the _Tyee_, because your license as master only permits you to +skipper pleasure boats up to a hundred tons net register; so in order +to comply with the law I'll have to have a sure-enough skipper aboard +the _Tyee_. But he shall have orders from me to be nothing but a +companion to you, Joey. Once the tugboat casts you off, you are to be +in supreme command until you voluntarily relinquish your authority, +when of course he will take the ship off your hands. Any +relinquishment of authority, however, will be tantamount to failure, +and you will, of course, lose your twenty-five thousand." + +"That's a reasonable stipulation, godfather. I accept if father +does--that is, provided dad lets me in on half the bet." + +"Better let the young feller in, Joe," Cappy suggested. "If you don't +he might throw the race." + +"Well, I don't like to encourage the habit of betting, least of all +with my own son, but in view of the fact that this is a friendly +little bet and--er--well, you can have half, Joey." + +"Thank you, sir," said Joey. "Mr. Ricks, when do I start?" + +Cappy Ricks glanced at his watch. + +"The sooner the better," he replied. "The _Tyee_ is loading now, but +I'll wire them you're coming and to hold her for you. You have time to +arrange your affairs, pack a trunk and catch the Lake Shore Limited +for Chicago at five o'clock. From Chicago you take the--" + +"Never mind. I know the quickest route. Dad, I'll need some money +before I go." + +"How much, son?" + +"Oh, a couple of thousand, just to play safe. And I'll have to leave +you a batch of bills to settle for me." + +"All right, son, I'll settle them. Here's your two thousand. You can +pay me back out of your winnings on the voyage. And never mind about +your note or the assignment of an interest in your inheritance. If I +cannot take my own son's word of honor I don't deserve a son. Just +take care of yourself, Joey, because if anything should happen to you +it would go rather hard with your old man." + +He wrote Joey a check for two thousand dollars and took an +affectionate farewell of his son. + +"Now listen to me, my dear young Hotspur," Cappy Ricks commanded him +as he shook Joey's hand in farewell. "The schooner's name is _Tyee_ +and you'll find her at the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company's mill dock +in Aberdeen, on Gray's Harbor, Washington. And don't be afraid of her. +She was built to weather anything. The skipper's name is Mike Murphy, +and if you can't get along with Mike and learn to love him before +you're in the ship a week, there's something wrong with you, Joey. +Just don't start anything with Mike though, because he always finishes +strong, and whatever he does is always right--with me. When you get +out there he'll show you the orders I will have telegraphed him and +you have my word of honor, boy, that there'll be no double-crossing +and no interference unless you request it." + +"Right-o!" cried Joey, and was off to earn twenty-five thousand +dollars of the easiest money he had ever heard of. + +"Like spearing a fish in a bathtub," murmured Cappy Ricks dreamily, +and tore up the fifty-thousand-dollar check he had just written. "Joe, +if your boy is such easy game for a pair of old duffers like us, just +think what soft picking he must have been for that nimble-footed lady +with the raven hair, the pearly teeth and the eyes that won't behave!" + +"But she's coarse and brainless, Alden. I can't imagine a boy like my +Joey falling in love with a woman like that. He ought to know better. +Just remember how he was raised." + +"Fooey! Joey isn't in love. He only thinks he is, and the reason he +thinks it is because she has told him so a hundred times. Can't you +just see her looking up at Joey with her startled-fawn eyes and +saying: 'Oh, you do love me, don't you, Joey?' As if the fact that +Joey loved her constituted the eighth wonder of the world! And she's +probably told Joey she'll die if he ever ceases to love her; and he's +kind and obliging and wouldn't hurt a fly if he could avoid it. Why, +Joe, you old idiot, you mustn't feel that Joey has disgraced himself. +Isn't he planning to marry the woman? Only a decent man--a born +idealist--could hold that designing woman in such reverence. Blamed if +it isn't kind of sweet of the boy, although I _would_ love to give him +a kick that would jar all his relations--including his father!" + +Old Joe Gurney gazed at Cappy in admiration. + +"Alden," he declared, "you have a singularly acute knowledge of +women." + +"I employ about fifteen of 'em round my office; I had several narrow +escapes in my youth; I have had a sweet and wonderful wife--and I have +a replica of her in my daughter. And I do know young men, for I have +been young myself; and I know old fools like you, Joe, because I've +never had a son to make an old fool of myself over." + +"Well, now that you've hooked Joey for a six months' voyage, what's +next on the program?" Gurney asked after a brief silence. + +Cappy smiled--a prescient little smile. + +"Why, I'm going to pull off a wedding," he declared. "I'm going to +marry Joey to the sweetest, nicest, healthiest, prettiest, brainiest +little lady of twenty summers that ever threatened to put the Ricks +organization on the toboggan. She's my private secretary and I've got +to get rid of her or some of the young fellows in our office will be +killing each other." + +"Here, here, Alden, my boy, go slow! I ought to be consulted in this +matter. Who is this young lady and what are her antecedents?" + +"Say, who's running this layout?" Cappy demanded. "Didn't you come to +me squealing for help? Joe, take a back seat and let me try my hand +without any advice from you. The girl's name is Doris Kenyon and she's +an orphan. Her father used to be the general manager of my redwood +mill on Humboldt Bay, and her mother was a girlhood friend of my late +wife's; so naturally I've established a sort of protectorate over her. +She has to work for a living, and any time there's a potentially fine, +two-million-dollar husband like Joey lying round loose I like to see +some deserving working girl land the cuss. As a matter of fact, it's +almost a crime to steer her against Joey in his present state. But," +Cappy added, "I have a notion that before Joey gets rid of that +hula-hula girl he's going to be a sadder, wiser and poorer young man +than he is at present." + +"Your plan, then, is to give Joey six months away from his captor in +order that he may forget her?" + +"Exactly. Absence makes the heart grow colder in cases like the one +under discussion, and the sea is a great place for a fellow to do some +quiet, sane, uninterrupted thinking. The sea, at night particularly, +is productive of much introspection and speculation on the various +aspects of life, and in order to make Joey forget this vampire in a +hurry all that is necessary is to have a real woman round him for a +while. The first thing he knows he'll be making comparisons and the +contrast will appall him." + +"You don't mean--" + +"You bet I do. Joey's future wife accompanies him on the voyage, and +my bully port captain, Mike Murphy, and his amiable sister go along to +chaperone the party and make up a foursome at bridge. I've had a naval +architect at work on the old cabin of the _Tyee_, putting in some +extra staterooms, bathrooms, and so on, and in order to make a space +for the passengers I subsidized the two squarehead mates into berthing +with the crew in the fo'-castle. Doris always did want to take a +voyage in one of the Blue Star windjammers, and I had promised to send +her at the first convenient opportunity." + +"You deep-dyed, nefarious old villain!" + +"Old Cupid Ricks, eh? Well, it's lots of fun, Joe, this butting in on +love's young dream. And I'm just so constituted I've got to run other +people's affairs for them or I wouldn't be happy. I do think, however, +that this house party on the old _Tyee_ is about the slickest deal I +have ever put over. Joe, they're going to be right comfortable. I've +shipped a maid for the girls, and the cook this time is several +degrees superior to the average maritime specimen, for there's nothing +like a couple of days of bum cooking to upset tempers--and I'm taking +no chances. Also, just before I left I gave your future +daughter-in-law her quarterly dividend--you see, when her father died +I had to sort of look after the family, and I ran a bluff that Kenyon +had some Ricks Lumber & Logging Company stock--you know, Joe. Proud +stuff! I had to hornswoggle them. Well, as I say, I gave her the +money, and my girl Florry went shopping with her. Sports clothes? Wow! +Wow! White skirts, blue jersey, little sailor hat--man--oh, man, the +stage is set to the last detail! I even had them ship a piano. Doris +plays the guitar and has a pleasing voice, and just for good measure I +threw in a crackajack cabinet phonograph and a hundred records with +enough sentimental drip to sink the schooner." + +Joe Gurney stared at his old friend rather helplessly and shook his +head. Such finesse was beyond his comprehension. + +"You see, now," Cappy continued, "the wisdom of my course? I insisted +that you cut off Joey's allowance and get him hungry for money. You +did--and he got hungry. He would have been posted at his clubs in +thirty days; it is probable he owed a few bets here and there; his +tailor may have needed money. Consequently, by the time I arrived on +the scene he was ripe for any legitimate enterprise that would bring +him in the needful funds; we arranged the enterprise and he promptly +smothered it. Right off, Joe, your son said to himself: 'It will be +almost a year before I come into my inheritance, and in the interim +I'm going to get married, and a married man who lives on the scale my +wife will expect me to assume is going to need a lot more money than a +clerkship in his father's shipping office will bring him. Now, there's +Tootsy-Wootsy out in Reno with a five months' sentence staring her in +the eye before she'll be free to marry me, and I can't very well go +out to Reno to visit her without running the risk of incurring my +father's displeasure or the tongue of gossip. Consequently, I have +five months' time to kill, also, and how better can I kill it than by +a jolly sea voyage in a bally old lumber hooker? I can easily win +twenty-five thousand dollars from my godfather, and that twenty-five +thousand will carry us along until dad turns over my mother's estate +to me. Fine business! I'll go to it.' And, Joe, he's done gone! Of +course I'm going to win his twenty-five thousand bet because he +doesn't know what it means to discharge a vessel in Sobre Vista, and +Mike Murphy has orders from me to hire all the available stevedores +there to do something else while Joey is trying to hire them to +discharge the _Tyee_. Don't worry, Joe! The country is safe in the +capable hands of Mike Murphy." + +"I see. And the twenty-five thousand dollars you will win from Joey--" + +"Will reimburse me for the extraordinary expense I've been to in +saving your son. If Joey's end of the bet doesn't cover I'll nick you, +Joseph, although I figure Joey's end of it will pay the fiddler. He +won't miss it out of his two millions. Besides, I've noticed that the +only experience worth while is the kind you pay real money for--and +Joey has to buy his experience the same as the rest of us." + +Five days later Cappy Ricks dropped into the Red Funnel Line and laid +a telegram on old Joe Gurney's desk. + +"Read that," he commanded, "and see if you can't work up a couple of +cheers." + +Gurney read: + +"Aberdeen, Wash., June 3, 1916 + +"Alden P. Ricks + +"Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York + +"Joey arrived bung up and bilge free. Had loaded and hauled into +stream, waiting for him. Came out in launch, climbed Jacob's ladder +and stood on rail, sizing up ship. Saw Doris and almost fell face down +on deck. He says Doris is a dream, she says Joey is a dear. Take it +from me, boss, it is all over but the wedding bells. + +"M. CUPID MURPHY." + +Old Joe Gurney took Cappy Ricks' hand in both of his and shook it +heartily. + +"My worries are over, Alden," he declared. "You have, indeed, been my +friend in need." + +"My troubles and Joey's are just commencing, however," Cappy retorted +blithely. "However--'never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you' +is my motto. Where's that hundred-and-six-foot schooner yacht of +Joey's?" + +"She's at her moorings in Greenpoint Basin. Why?" + +"I want to borrow her for a cruise to San Francisco, via the Panama +Canal. Joey and his bride can sail her back. May I have her, to do +what I please with, Joe?" + +"Alden, don't ask foolish questions. Take her and God bless you! Joey +owns her, but I pay the bills; so her skipper takes orders from me." + +Two days later Joey's schooner _Seafarer_ was standing out to sea past +Sandy Hook, but Cappy Ricks was not aboard her, for that ingenious +schemer had boarded a train and gone back to San Francisco and his +lumber and ships. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + + + + +Cappy Ricks' meditations were interrupted by a knock at the door of +his private office. + +"Come in," he piped, and his son-in-law, Captain Matt Peasley, stuck +his head in. + +"The _Tyee_ is sailing in, Cappy," he announced. "The Merchants' +Exchange has just telephoned." + +"It's an infernal lie," Cappy shrilled excitedly. "It can't be the +_Tyee_. If it is, she's two months ahead of her schedule, and by the +Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, I fixed up that schedule myself." + +Matt Peasley grinned. + +"Perhaps Joey didn't like your schedule and re-arranged it to suit +himself," he suggested. + +"Impossible! That infernal young scoundrel put it over me? +Preposterous! Why, Mike Murphy was on the job. Get out, Matt, and +don't come in here again today throwing scares into the old man." + +Nevertheless, Cappy's confidence in human nature was badly jarred when +Captain Michael J. Murphy was announced two hours later. Indeed Cappy +could scarcely credit his sense of sight when the redoubtable Michael +entered the room. He glared at the worthy fellow over the rims of his +spectacles for fully a minute while Murphy stood fidgeting just inside +the doorway. + +"Well," said the Blue Star despot presently, "all I've got to say to +you, Mike Murphy, is that you're certainly a hell of a seaman to stand +idly by and see that young Joey do me up like this. Give an account of +yourself!" + +"They're engaged," Murphy protested valiantly. + +"That's my work, Mike, not yours. Don't take any credit that isn't +coming to you. I want a report on your end of this deal. How does it +happen that this boy harpoons me for twenty-five thousand dollars? +Have the _cargadores_ at Sobre Vista gone on the water wagon? Did Joey +out-bid you for their services? Have they added a lot more lighters to +their lighterage fleet? Has the surf quit rolling in on the beach? +Have the inhabitants of Sobre Vista been converted to the Mohammedan +faith and declined to celebrate saints' days and holy days? Is there +smallpox in the town, that the quietus has been put on fiestas and +fandangoes, and has Peru been annexed by Chile and the celebration of +the national holidays forbidden?" + +"No, Mr. Ricks. It's the same old _manana_ burg. The trouble was that +Joey is a better sailorman than he appeared to be. He cracked on all +the way down and made a smashing voyage, and, of course, as soon as we +got there he went ashore. Two other schooners were there ahead of us. +One was loading general cargo and the other was discharging it, and +when Joey heard they had been there a month he investigated conditions +and saw where you had him. Mr. Ricks, he came back as mad as a hatter. +Of course I saw he would have to wait until the other schooners were +out of the way before he could begin discharging, because they had +first call on the lighters; so in view of the situation and the fact +that Miss Murphy and Doris were a bit tired of the ship and wanted to +go ashore and see the back country, I organized a trip for them." + +"You left Joey aboard the Tyee, of course." + +"Yes, sir. And there's where I made my fatal break. The minute my +back was turned the son of a pirate got busy. It appears there was a +six-inch waste pipe leading from the crew's lavatory out under the +stern of the ship, and this pipe had rusted away and broken off at the +flange just inside the skin of the ship sometime during the vessel's +previous voyage. Of course it happened while she was homeward bound in +ballast, and was standing so high out of the water that this vent +where the pipe was broken was above the waterline; consequently not +enough of a leak developed to be noticeable. At the mill dock, +however, after we got her under-deck cargo aboard, the vessel had +settled until this vent was under water, and immediately she developed +a mysterious leak. In fact, due to the enormous pressure, the water +came in faster than the pumps could handle it. Fortunately, however, +we discovered where the leak was, though it was then too late to mend +it. To do so we would have had to take out the under-deck cargo again. +So I just whittled out a six-inch wooden plug, fastened it to the end +of the boat hook, ran it down the narrow space through which the +broken pipe led, found the vent, hammered the plug home, stopped the +leak, pumped out the well, finished taking on cargo and sailed for +Sobre Vista." + +"A small leak will sink a great ship," Cappy Ricks murmured. "I think +I anticipate the blow-off, Mike; but proceed." + +"Unfortunately for us that cargo of lumber we had was for the Peruvian +government. They were going to use it in the construction of barracks +or a new customhouse or something--and Joey knew this. And he knew +about that plug. So the minute my back was turned he pulled out the +plug and the water came in and trickled all through the cargo and the +ship commenced to settle. But Joey didn't care. He knew a little salt +water couldn't hurt the lumber. When the top of the _Tyee's_ rail was +flush with the water he plugged the hole again, got his crew busy with +the pumps, and by judiciously plugging and unplugging that leak he +kept the crew pumping all day and all night without raising the vessel +an inch, and the people ashore could see the streams of water +cascading overside and the crew pumping like mad. And presently Joey +gave up, went ashore, sought the captain of the port and put up a hard +luck story about a leak in his ship--a leak he couldn't find +anywhere--a leak that was getting away from him, because his men were +too exhausted to do any more pumping. And he said his ship would get +water-logged and settle until the surf began to break over her. And +presently the deck lashings would part under the battering of the surf +and the deck load would go by the board. Half of it would drift out to +sea, and the other half would pound on the beach and get filled with +sand, which would dull the saws and planes of the carpenters when they +came to cut it up. Also, the ship's cabin would be sure to go, and +unless he had help he would have to abandon the vessel and she would +lie there, submerged, at anchor, a menace to the navigation of the +port." + +"The scoundrel! The in-fer-nal young scoundrel!" cried Cappy Ricks. + +"Well, he got away with it, sir. Remember our cargo was for the +Peruvian government and they'd had the devil's own time getting it; +consequently they couldn't afford to lose any part of it and have +their anchorage ground menaced by a derelict. So the captain of the +port took it up with the commandant of the local garrison, and the +commandant, as Joey expressed it, heard the Macedonian cry and got +busy. He commandeered all the lighters the other schooners were using; +the soldiers rounded up the _cargadores_ at the point of the bayonet, +and they started discharging the American schooner _Tyee_, with the +spiggoty soldiers swelling Joey's crew at the pumps and Joey doing +business with that wooden plug according to the requirements. +Fortunately there weren't any surf days that week, and the way the +cargo poured out of the _Tyee_ was a shame and a disgrace. And when it +was all out Joey plugged the leak again, pumped out the ship, and +wired me at Mollendo to hurry back with the ladies or he'd sail +without me. So you can see for yourself, Mr. Ricks, it was a hard hand +to beat. And his luck held. He cracked on all the way home and, as you +know, sir, the _Tyee_ is fast in a breeze of wind, and you told me not +to interfere unless he asked me to." + +Despite his disappointment Cappy Ricks lay back in his chair and +laughed until he wept. + +"Oh, Mike," he declared, "it's worth twenty-five thousand dollars to +know a boy who can pull one like that. What do you think of him, +anyhow?" + +"He'll do. His father has spoiled him, but not altogether. I think a +heap of him, sir. Remember I've been shipmates with him a trifle over +four months, and that's a pretty good test." + +"Very well, Mike. I forgive you, my boy. I hope Miss Murphy enjoyed +the trip. Tell her--" + +The door opened and Joey Gurney, accompanied by Miss Doris Kenyon +entered unannounced. + +"Hello, godfather," yelled Joey joyously. He jerked the old man out of +his chair and hugged him. "I'm back with your schooner, sir. She was +easy to navigate, but that was a cold deck you handed me in Sobre +Vista--" + +"Glad to see you, Joey, glad to see you," Cappy interrupted. "Ah, and +here's my little secretary again. Miss Kenyon, this is a pleasure--" + +"Mr. Ricks," Joey interrupted him, "the lady's name is no longer Miss +Kenyon. She is now Mrs. Joseph K. Gurney, Junior. The minute we got +ashore at Meiggs' wharf and could shake the Murphys, who stood out +till the last for a church wedding, we chartered a taxicab, went up to +the City Hall, procured a license, rounded up a preacher--and got +married. What do you know about that?" + +"You're as fast as a second-story worker, Joey. I shall kiss the +bride." And Cappy did. Then he sat down and stared at the fruit of his +cunning labors. + +"Well, well, well!" cried Joey. "Kick in, godfather, kick in. You owe +me twenty-five thousand dollars, and if I'm going to support a wife +I'll need it." + +Cappy summoned Mr. Skinner, who felicitated the happy pair and +departed pursuant to Cappy's order, to make out a check for Joey. + +"And now," said Cappy, as he handed the groom his winnings, "you get +out of here with your bride, Joey, and I'll telephone Florry and we'll +organize a wedding supper. And to-morrow morning, Joey, I'd like to +see you at ten o'clock, if you can manage to be here." + +Joey promised, and hastened away with his bride. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + + + + +True to his word he presented himself in Cappy's lair promptly at ten +next morning. The old gentleman was sitting rigidly erect on the +extreme edge of his chair; in his hand he held a typewritten statement +with a column of figures on it, and he eyed Joey very appraisingly +over the rims of his spectacles. + +"My boy," he said solemnly, "sit down. I'm awfully glad you cabled +that hula-hula girl of yours in Reno that the stuff was all off." + +Joey's mouth flew open. + +"Why--why, how did you know?" he gasped. + +"I know everything, Joey. I'm that kind of an old man." + +Joey paled. + +"Oh, Mr. Ricks," he pleaded, "for heaven's sake don't let a whisper of +that affair reach my wife." He wrung his hands. "I told her she was +the only girl I had ever loved--that I'd never been engaged +before--that I--oh, godfather, if she ever discovers I've lied to +her--" + +"She'll not discover it. Compose yourself, Joey. I've seen to all +that. I knew you'd give Doris the same old song and dance; everybody's +doing it, you know, so I took pains to see to it that you'll never +have to eat your words." + +"I must have been crazy to engage myself to that woman," Joey wailed. +"I don't know why I did it--I don't know how it happened--Oh, Mr. +Ricks, please believe me!" + +"I do, Joey, I do. I understand perfectly, because at the tender age +of twenty-four I proposed marriage to a snake-charmer lady in the old +Eden Musee. She was forty years old if she was a day, but she carried +her years well and hid the wrinkles with putty, or something. Barring +a slight hare-lip, she was a fairly handsome woman--in the dark." He +reached into a compartment of his desk and drew forth a package of +letters tied with red ribbon. "You can have these, Joey," he +announced; "only I shouldn't advise keeping them where your wife may +find them. They are your letters to your Honolulu lady." + +Joey let out a bleat of pure ecstacy and seized them. + +"You haven't read them, sir, have you?" he queried, blushing +desperately. + +"Oh, yes, my boy. I had to, you know, because I was buying something +and I wanted to make certain I got value received. Pretty gooey stuff, +Joey! Read aloud, they sound like a cow's hoof settling into a wet +meadow!" + +"I'm so glad she took it sensibly," Joey announced, for he was anxious +to change the topic of conversation. "I suppose she saw it was the +only way." + +"No, she didn't, my son. Don't flatter yourself. On your way out West +to join the _Tyee_ you wrote her every day on the train. You told her +about your bet with me, and who I was and all about me. Lucky for you +that you did, and doubly lucky for you that you cabled her the jilt +from Sobre Vista, or she would not have come to me with her troubles. +Joey, that must have taken courage on your part. It's mighty hard for +a gentleman to cable a lady and break an engagement. That's the lady's +privilege, Joey." + +"I--I was desperate, Mr. Ricks. I had to. I had to have her out of the +way by the time I got back, or Doris might have found it out. You see, +I wanted to clear the atmosphere." + +"Well, you clouded it for fair! You see, Joey, in all those letters it +appears that you never once mentioned the words marriage or +engagement. But your cablegram was an admission that an engagement +existed, and the lady was smart enough to realize that. It appears +also that about a week after you cleared for Sobre Vista her annoying +husband was killed by a taxicab in New York, so that saved her any +divorce proceedings; and when your cablegram reached her she was a +single lady who had been heartlessly jilted. The first thing she did +was to hire a lawyer, and the first person that lawyer called on was +Alden P. Ricks, the old family friend. It appears a suit for breach of +promise was to be instituted unless a fairly satisfactory financial +settlement could be arrived at." + +"How much did she want?" Joey barely whispered the words. + +"Only a million." + +"How much did you settle for? I'll pay it out of my inheritance, Mr. +Ricks. Don't worry! I won't see you stuck, for you've stood by me +through thick and thin." + +"Why, I didn't give her anything, Joey. I just had her lawyer bring +her on to San Francisco for a conference. Of course when lunch time +came round and I hadn't heard any proposition I felt I could submit to +your father, I invited Miss Fontaine and her lawyer to luncheon with +me in the Palace Hotel Grill, and while we were lunching, who should +come up and greet me but my old friend, the Duke of Killiekrankie, +formerly Duncan MacGregor, first mate of our barkentine _Retriever_. +Mac is an excellent fellow and for some time I had felt he merited +promotion. So I made him a duke. + +"Well, the duke was awfully glad to see me, and being a gentleman I +couldn't do less than introduce him to the lady and her lawyer. He +only stayed at our table a minute and then rejoined his friends, but +all during the meal I could see Betsy Jane's mind wasn't on her +breach-of-promise suit. She asked me several questions about the duke, +and I told her I didn't know much about him except that he was +sinfully rich and a globe-trotter, and that we'd met in Paris. Lies, +Joey, but pardonable, I hope, under the circumstances. + +"Well, Joey, it seems that she and the duke were registered at the +same hotel and I'll be shot if his lordship didn't meet her--by +accident, of course--in the lobby that afternoon. He lifted his hat +and she smiled and they had a chat. The next day she cut an engagement +with her lawyer and me to go motoring with the duke in my French car, +and Florry's chauffeur driving, for, of course, the duke was an +expensive luxury and I was trying to save a dollar wherever possible. +That night the duke gave a dinner party in honor of the lady--and he +gave it aboard his yacht, the _Doris_, formerly the _Seafarer_, right +out here in San Francisco harbor--" + +Joey went up and put his arm round Cappy's shoulders. + +"Oh, Cappy Ricks, Cappy Ricks!" he cried, and then his voice broke and +his eyes filled with tears. + +"Yes," Cappy continued, "I had sort o' suspected she might pull that +breach-of-promise stuff on you, Joey--" + +"What made you suspect it?" + +"Why, I sort of suspected you were going to marry Doris Kenyon--" + +"You planned to get us together on the same ship--!" + +"Only place I could think of where you were safe from the Honolulu +lady and couldn't run away from Doris, Joey. Well, as I say, I had +sort of suspected she might sue you and disgrace you and break the +heart of that little girl I'd picked out for you long before you ever +met her--so I started to get there first and with the heaviest guns, I +borrowed your yacht for the duke and had him sail her round himself, +so he'd have her here to give the dinner party on. Then I got a +Burke's peerage and told MacGregor who he was and had him study up on +his family history and get acquainted with his sister, Lady Mary, and +his younger brother, the Honorable Cecil Something-or-other--in +particular he was not to forget to rave about the grouse shooting in +Scotland." + +Cappy paused and puffed his cigar meditatively for half a minute. + +"Joey," he continued, "any time you run a bluff, run a good one. If +you're starring a globe-trotting duke, have his ancestry all +straightened out in advance, because he's bound to break into the +newspapers and the motto of the newspaper editor is 'Show me.' And the +yacht--just one of the props of the comedy, Joey; and with a little +cockney steward in livery to say 'Your ludship'; and the name of the +yacht changed in case she'd ever heard you speak about the _Seafarer;_ +and the cabin done over in white enamel with mahogany trim; and a new +set of dishes with your family crest and the name of the yacht on +every piece in case you had ever had her aboard; and a private +secretary--borrowed him from my general manager, Skinner, by the +way--we were certainly there when it came to throwing the ducal front. +And we got away with it, for MacGregor's accent is just Scotchy +enough, and he comes of good family and has excellent manners. Yes, I +must say Mac made a very comfortable duke. Skinner's young man tells +me it would bring tears of joy to your eyes to see him kiss the lady's +hand. + +"Well, Joey, the upshot of it was that after paying violent court to +the lady for two weeks--Mac said he could have pulled the stunt the +night of the dinner, for she fell for the title right way, but I told +him to make haste slowly--the duke received a cablegram calling him +home from his furlough. Oh, yes, Joey, I had him in the army. Any +young unattached duke that doesn't join the British army these days +doesn't get by in good society, and I had my duke on a six months' +furlough to recover from his wounds. Fortunately a bunch of cedar +shingles had fallen on Mac's foot recently and he was dog lame, which +strengthened the play. + +"Of course the duke was up in the air right away. In a passionate +scene he confessed his love for that damsel of yours, Joey, and laid +his dukedom at her feet. Would she marry him P. D. Q. and help him +sail the yacht home? Would she? 'Oh, darling, this is so sudden!' she +cried, and almost swooned in his arms. From a cabaret to a dukedom. +Some jump! Sail the yacht home to England through the mine fields and +submarines? Perfectly ripping, by Jove! I give you my word, Joey, she +tacked on one of those New York British accents for the duke's special +benefit. There was a lot of beam to her _a_'s, Mac told me, but blamed +little molded depth to her mentality. So they were married in haste, +and after the duke had seen his bride in the elevator bound for their +rooms at the hotel, he excused himself to get a highball. And I guess +he got the highball, because I find it in this expense account he +turned in to me." + +"It sounds like a fairy tale," Joey murmured in an awed voice. "What +did the duke do next?" + +"Came right down to this office and informed me he was, plumb weary of +the life of a bon vivant and was anxious to get to sea again. So I +made him master of a new steamer we acquired recently, and he's gone +out to Vladivostok with munitions for the Russians." + +"But didn't you give him some money, Mr. Ricks?" + +"No. Why should I? Didn't I give him command of a steamer? You can +slip him a fat check if you feel that way about it, but I never coddle +my skippers, Joey, until I'm sure they're worth while. I think, +however, that Mac will make good. He's very thorough." + +"Wha--what became of Ernestine?" + +"Oh, by Godfrey, that's a sad story, Joey. It seems she waited at the +hotel for the duke to come back and he didn't come, so the following +morning she went down to the water front looking for the yacht--and +the yacht was gone. During the night I'd had it towed over to +Sausalito; consequently the launchman she hired couldn't find it down +in Mission Bay, and back to the beach she came. After a couple of days +had passed, however, she commenced to smell a rat, so she came down to +my office and asked me if I'd seen anything of the duke. + +"'Why, yes, I have,' I told her. 'The old duke came in here yesterday +afternoon, soused to the guards, and complaining he'd been cruelly +deceived into marrying a two-time loser with a couple of youngsters, +and inasmuch as he was certain the family wouldn't receive her he was +leaving the United States immediately, never to return. + +"'And this morning the justice of the peace who performed the ceremony +mailed him the license, which has been duly recorded in the office of +the Secretary of State in accordance with law; and inasmuch as the +license was sent to him in my care I am holding it in our safe until +he calls for it.' + +"Well, Joey, she looked at me and she knew the stuff was all off. +She'd married the duke; I had the license to prove it, and of course +she realized her breach of promise suit and claim for a million +dollars' worth of heart balm would be laughed out of court if she had +the crust to present it. So she did the next best thing. She abused me +like a pickpocket and ended up by getting hysterical when I told her +how I'd swindled her. When she got through crying I lectured her on +the error of her ways and suggested that inasmuch as she had had one +divorce already, another wouldn't be much of a strain on her, and I'd +foot the bill for separating her legally from John Doe, alias the +duke, on a charge of desertion. Then I offered her a thousand dollars +and a ticket back to New York for the surrender of all your letters to +her and that infernal cablegram and a release of all claims against +you. I guess she was broke for she grabbed it in a hurry, Joey. The +atmosphere is now clear, my son, and nothing further remains to be +done in the premises, save settle the bill of expense. Fortunately the +_Tyee_ made money on that fast voyage under your command, but the cost +of bringing the yacht round from New York, doing over the cabin, +buying the new dishes with the crest, and settling with the lady +should rightfully be borne by you. As I say, the duke was expensive, +for the rascal certainly rolled 'em high. Skinner has made me up a +statement of the total cost, with interest at six per cent to date, +and it appears, Joey, that you owe your godfather $12,143.18. On the +day you come into your inheritance, add six per cent to that sum and +send me a check." + +"But the twenty-five thousand dollars I won from you--" Joey began, +but Cappy held up a rigid finger, enjoining silence. + +"I am going to stick your dub of a father for that, as a penance for +his sins of omission, Joey; for by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, if ever +a boy won a bet and was entitled to it, you're that young man. +In-fer-nal young scoundrel! Keep it and split fifty-fifty with your +wife. You won a straight bet from a crooked gambler, and if I haven't +had a million dollars' worth of fun out of this transaction I hope I +may marry a hula-hula woman--and I've passed my three score and ten +and ought to know better!" + +"But about this man MacGregor--" + +"Don't worry about him. The Scotch are a hardy race and Mac is a +sailor. Joey, I know sailors. The scoundrels have a wife in every +port!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + + + + +During the period when Joey Gurney was busy doing all that Cappy Ricks +desired him to do and some things that were slightly off Cappy's +program, the president emeritus of the Blue Star Navigation Company +and allied interests was discovering that it is one thing to declare +for the simple life and quite another to live it. The Great War +challenged so much of the Ricks interest that he could not bear to +live far from morning and evening editions--and he wanted them red hot +off the presses. Things were doing in the shipping world. The most +inconceivable trades were being consummated daily, freights were +soaring, lumber prices had reached an unprecedentedly high level and +promised to go higher; there was something doing every minute and not +enough minutes in a working day to accommodate half of these +somethings. What more natural, therefore, than that Cappy presently +should find himself caught in the maelstrom, even though he told +himself daily that, come what might _he_ would keep out of it. + +The first indefinite evidence that he was about to be engulfed came in +the form of a newspaper story, ex the steamer _Timaru_, from Sydney, +via Tahiti. There it was, as big as a church--a paragraph of it, +tucked away in a column-and-a-half story of the bombardment of Papeete +by the German Pacific fleet early in September of 1914: + +"An incident of the bombardment was the sinking of the German freight +steamer _Valkyrie_ by shells from the German fleet. The vessel had +been captured by the French gunboat _Zeile_ some weeks previous and +was at anchor in the harbor, under the guns of the _Zeile_, when the +German squadron appeared off the entrance. The gunboat immediately was +made the target for the German guns, and sunk. During the attack, +however, a wild shell missed the _Zeile_ and struck the _Valkyrie_, +tearing a great hole in her hull and causing her to sink in ten +fathoms at her anchorage." + +Ten fathoms! Sixty feet! Why, at that depth Cappy should have known +that her masts and funnel would be above water; that in all +probability she carried war-risk insurance; that she was so far from +anywhere the underwriters would have abandoned her, even had she not +been a prize of war, since there are no appliances in Papeete for +salving a vessel of her size; that she could be raised if one cared to +spend a little money on doing it; that one projectile probably had not +ruined her beyond repair; that she was a menace to navigation in +Papeete Harbor and hence would have to be gotten out of the way, +either by dynamite or auction; that--well, any number of thats should +have occurred to Cappy Ricks to suggest the advisability of keeping +track of the wreck of the _Valkyrie_. However, for some mysterious +reasons--his resentment against the German cause, probably--the golden +prospect never appealed to him, for when he had finished reading the +article he merely said: + +"Well, what do you know about that? Skinner, it's a mighty lucky thing +for that German admiral that I'm not the Kaiser, for I'd certainly +make him hard to catch. The idea of sinking that fine steamer--and a +German steamer at that! Here was the little old French gunboat, about +as invulnerable as a red-cedar shingle; and instead of moving into +proper position and raking her with their light guns--instead of +calling on her to surrender--these Germans had to go to work in a +hurry and inaugurate a campaign of frightfulness. The minute they were +off the harbor--Zowie! Blooey! Bam! It was all over but the cheering, +and they'd chucked an eight-inch projectile through a ship that was +worth four of the gunboat. + +"Skinner, that's what I call spilling the beans. Why they didn't take +their time, recapture that freighter and give her skipper a chance to +hustle across to San Francisco or Honolulu and intern, is a mystery to +me. The idea! Why, for that German fleet to waste ammunition on that +Jim-Crow town and a hand-me-down gunboat was equivalent to John L. +Sullivan whittling out a handle on a piece of two-by-four common fir +in order to attack a cockroach!" + +Cappy was so incensed that he growled about the Germans for an hour. +Then he forgot the _Valkyrie_, notwithstanding the fact that the press +jogged his memory again when the German fleet, deciding that prudence +was the better part of valor, fled from the Pacific to escape the +Japanese, only to be destroyed in the South Atlantic by the British +fleet. A resume of the operations of the German squadron in the +Pacific brought forth mention of the destruction of the _Zeile_ and +the _Valkyrie_. However, Cappy's mind was not in Tahiti now, but off +the Falkland Islands, for he was very much pro-Ally and devoted more +thought to military and naval strategy than he did to the lumber and +shipping business. + +However, the climax of Cappy's indignation over the disaster to the +_Valkyrie_ was not attained until a few months later when, in +conversation on the floor of the Merchants' Exchange with the skipper +of the schooner _Tarus_, who happened to have been in Papeete at the +bombardment, he learned he had done the German admiral a grave +injustice. He came back to his office, boiling, declaring the French +were a crazy nation, and that, after all, he could recall meeting one +or two fine Germans during the course of a fairly busy career. He +summoned Mr. Skinner and Matt Peasley to hear the sordid tale. + +"Remember that steamer _Valkyrie_ the Germans were supposed to have +sunk by accident in the harbor of Papeete during the bombardment in +September of 1914?" he queried. + +"I believe I read something about it in the papers at the time," Mr. +Skinner replied. + +"What about her?" Matt Peasley demanded. + +"Why, the Germans didn't sink her at all, Matt! The Frenchmen did +it," Cappy shrilled. "The crazy, frog-eating jumping-jacks of +Frenchmen! The tramp wasn't flying the German flag--naturally the +Frenchmen had hauled it down; so the Germans didn't investigate her. +Besides, they were in a hurry--you'll remember the Japs were on their +trail at the time; so they just devoted forty minutes to shooting up +the town, and beat it. I don't suppose they ever knew they hit the +_Valkyrie_; perhaps they figured that, having sunk the gunboat, the +_Valkyrie_ could up hook and away at her leisure, since there was +nothing left to prevent her. + +"Huh! Makes me sick to talk about it; but the skipper of the _Taurus_ +was there at the time and he tells me that, though the _Valkyrie_ was +pretty well down by the stern, her bulkheads were holding and she +wouldn't have sunk if those blamed Frenchmen, fearful that the German +fleet was coming back after her, hadn't gone aboard and opened her sea +cocks! Yes, sir. Rather than risk having her recaptured, they opened +her sea cocks and sunk her! And, at that, they didn't have sense +enough to run her out to deep water. No! They had to do the trick as +she lay at anchor; and there she lies still, a menace to navigation +and a perennial reminder to those Papeete Frenchmen that he who acts +in haste will repent at leisure." + +To this outburst Mr. Skinner made some perfunctory remark, attributing +the situation to a lack of efficiency, while Matt Peasley went back to +his office and grieved as he reflected on the corrosive action of salt +water on those fine, seven-year-old engines. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + + + + +Time passed. Mr. Skinner developed a pallor and irritability that +bespoke all too truly an attack of nerves, from overwork, and sore +against his will was hustled off to Honolulu for a rest while Cappy +Ricks had the audacity to take charge of the lumber business. +Whereupon Mr. J. Augustus Redell, of the West Coast Trading Company, +discovered the unprotected condition of the Ricks Lumber & Logging +Company and promptly, in sheer wanton deviltry, proceeded to sew Cappy +Ricks up on an order for a million grape stakes. + +A word here regarding the said J. Augustus Redell. He was a blithe, +joyous creature, still in the sunny thirties, and what he didn't know +about the lumber business--particularly the marketing of lumber +products--could be tucked into anybody's eyes without impairing their +eyesight. Mr. Redell had fought his way up from office boy with the +Black Butte Lumber Company to lumber broker with offices of his own. +He had owned a retail yard in which business he had gone "bust" for +more money than the world appeared to contain. But he had fought his +way back and paid a hundred cents on the dollar, including some +hundred and forty thousand dollars he had owed the Ricks mills at the +time of his collapse. Because he was young and fine and good-natured +and brave and brilliant, Cappy had always admired J. Augustus Redell, +but after the latter had so splendidly re-established his credit and +formed a partnership with a Peruvian gentleman, one Senor Luiz +Almeida, known locally as Live Wire Luiz, Cappy found that he had for +the genial J. Augustus an admiration that amounted to affection. The +West Coast Trading Company, under which title Live Wire Luiz and J. +Augustus Redell did a lumber brokerage business with Mexico, Central +American and South American countries principally, had Cappy Ricks' +entire confidence, although he would have died rather than admit this. +Live Wire Luiz he ignored and always dismissed as a factor in the +affairs of that company, but whenever Redell had a deal on that was +too heavy for his financial sinews, Cappy could always be depended +upon to lend a helping hand. On his part, Redell revered Cappy Ricks +as only an idealistic and naturally lovable rascal of a boy can revere +an idealistic and lovable old man. To J. Augustus Redell little, old, +naive, whimsical, gentle, terrible, brilliant, cunning, generous, +altruistic, prudent, youthful old Cappy Ricks was a joy forever. With +the impishness of his tender years, Mr. Redell could conceive of no +greater joy than picking on Cappy Ricks just to see the latter fight +back. + +Quite early in their friendship, the astute Redell discovered a rift +in Cappy's armor--two rifts, in fact. The first was that Cappy feared +and loathed old age and fiercely resented even the most shadowy +intimation that with age he was, to employ a sporting phrase, "losing +his punch." The second weakness that lay exposed to Redell was Cappy's +passion for wringing a profit, by ingenious means, from apparently +barren soil where no profit had ever hitherto burgeoned. At heart +Cappy was a speculator; only the fact that he was a prudent and +careful speculator had conduced to enrich him rather than impoverish +him. + +Now, Cappy was fully convinced, from optical evidence, that J. +Augustus Redell was a gambler. He admired Redell's genius for +business, the soundness of his decisions, the alertness of his mind +and the brilliance of his financial _coups_, but--he deprecated the +younger man's daring. Cappy called it recklessness. By degrees the old +gentleman had come to assume a proprietary interest in Gus Redell and +the latter's affairs, for the younger man frequently sought counsel +from Cappy and not infrequently, a loan! Cappy knew his young friend +to be the soul of manly honor, but--he was young! Ah, yes! He was +young. Ergo, he was foolish. True, his foolishness had not as yet been +discovered, but Cappy was certain it would come to the surface sooner +or later. The boy was reckless--a gambler. Cappy abhorred gambling. He +never gambled. Occasionally he speculated! What more natural, +therefore, than that little Cappy should presently arrogate to himself +the privilege of stabbing young J. Augustus to the vitals from time to +time, just to impress upon the boy the knowledge that this is a hard, +cold, cruel world with a great many bad men in it! + +Nothing could possibly have delighted Redell more. Whenever Cappy +stabbed him, forthwith he set about to stab Cappy in return, and thus +had developed a joyous business feud. These best of friends spent an +hour and a half daily, at luncheon, "picking" on each other, telling +tales on each other, eternally "joshing" for the edification of a +coterie of their lumber and shipping friends who always lunched in a +private dining room at the Commercial Club and who were known within +that organization as the Bilgewater Club. + +Early in 1915 Redell had seen an opportunity for inducing Cappy Ricks +to speculate in grape stakes--to his financial hurt and humiliation. +There was to be an election that fall--a special election to see +whether California should "go dry" or "stay wet," and for some reason +not quite apparent to Mr. Redell, a great many people believed the +state would "go dry." Among the people who so believed, Redell +discovered, were the woodsmen who, during the winter of 1914, would, +under normal conditions, have split from redwood trees sufficient +grape stakes to support such new vineyards as would come into bearing +in the fall of 1915. Fearing that there would be no market for their +grape stakes when the making of wine should be prohibited by law, +these woodsmen had made no effort to supply the demand; wherefore the +Machiavellian J. Augustus Redell, taking advantage of Mr. Skinner's +absence from the office of the Ricks mills, cleverly managed to +inculcate in Cappy Ricks the idea that it would be a splendid and +profitable venture if he, the said Cappy, should wade into the grape +stake market and corner it. The idea appealed to the speculative part +of the old gentleman's nature and he had gone to work in a hurry, only +to discover, after he had accepted orders from the West Coast Trading +Company for a great many carloads of grape stakes for future delivery, +that, when the day of reckoning should come, he would not be enabled +to pick up enough grape stakes to fill his orders, for the very +sufficient reason that nobody had manufactured grape stakes for that +year's market, and they were not available at any price! + +It had been a cruel blow and Cappy's weakness had been exposed without +mercy to the members of the Bilgewater Club by Mr. Redell, who +thereafter kept both eyes wide open, knowing that sooner or later +Cappy would retaliate. + +Retaliation was, of course, inevitable. Cappy realized this. For the +first time in his career as a lumber and shipping king the sly old dog +realized he had been out-thought, out-played, out-gamed and +man-handled by a mere pup. And, though he had taken his beating like +the rare old sport that he was, nevertheless the leaves of memory had +a horrible habit of making a most melancholy rustling; and for two +weeks, following his ignominious rout at the hands of J. Augustus +Redell, Cappy's days and nights were entirely devoted to scheming ways +and means of vengeance. Curiously enough, it was the West Coast +Trading Company that accorded him the opportunity he craved. + +Having massacred Cappy in the grape-stake deal and established an +unlimited credit thereby, the West Coast Lumber Company, per Senor +Felipe Luiz Almeida, alias Live Wire Luiz, decided to purchase a +little jag of spruce from the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company. Cappy +Ricks looked at the proffered order, saw that it called for number one +clear spruce, and promptly accepted it at a dollar under the market. +He was to bring the spruce in to San Francisco on one of his own +schooners, lay her alongside the _City of Panama_ and discharge it +into her, for delivery at Salina Cruz, Mexico. + +Cappy knew, of course, that Live Wire Luiz handled exclusively the +West Coast Trading Company's Mexican, Central and South American +business. He knew, also, that there were many points about the lumber +business that the explosive little Peruvian had still to learn; so he +decided to stab the West Coast Trading Company, through the innocent +and trusting Senor Almeida, with a weapon he would not have dreamed of +employing had J. Augustus Redell placed the order. Live Wire Luiz knew +the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company always sold its output on mill +tally and inspection; that Cappy Ricks' grading rules were much fairer +to his customers than those of his competitors; that when he +contracted to deliver number one clear spruce he would deliver exactly +that and challenge anybody to pick a number two board out of the lot. +But what Live Wire Luiz did not know was that there are two kinds of +number one spruce on the Pacific Coast. One grows in California and +the other in Oregon and Washington--and Cappy Ricks had both kinds for +sale. + +"Aha!" Cappy murmured as he glanced over Live Wire Luiz's order after +the latter had gone. "Number one clear spruce, eh? All right, sir! +Away down in my wicked heart I know you want some nice number one +stock from our Washington mill, at Port Hadlock; but unfortunately you +have failed to stipulate it--so we'll slip you a little of the +California product and teach you something you ought to know." + +Whereupon Cappy sent the order to his mill on Humboldt Bay, +California. Though this plant manufactured redwood lumber almost +exclusively, whenever the woods boss came across a nice spruce or +bull-pine tree among the redwood he was wont to send it down to the +mill, where it was sawed and set aside for trusting individuals like +Live Wire Luiz. When seasoned this spruce was very good stock. +Unfortunately, however, experts differ in their diagnosis of +California spruce. There are those who will tell you it is not spruce, +but a bastard fir; while others will tell you it is not fir, but a +bastard spruce. Cappy Ricks had no definite ideas on the subject, for +he didn't own enough of that kind of stumpage to grieve him. All he +knew or cared was that when such outlawed stock was billed as spruce +no judge or jury in the land could say it was fir; also, that in its +green state it possessed an abominable odor! + +The lumber was delivered to the _City of Panama_ in due course and, as +Cappy had suspected, Live Wire Luiz failed to come down to her dock +and take a smell. This was a privilege left intact for the consignee +at Salina Cruz; and he, according to Mexican custom, which only +demands a ghost of an excuse to seek a rebate, promptly wired a +protest and declared himself swindled to the extent of five dollars a +thousand feet, gold. + +Also, having been similarly outraged once before, he demanded to know +why he had been sent California spruce; whereupon Live Wire Luiz +called up Cappy Ricks, abused him roundly and sent him a bill for six +dollars a thousand, rebate! Unfortunately for the West Coast Trading +Company, however, it had already discounted Cappy's invoice; so the +latter could afford to stand pat--which he did. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + + + + +Shortly after noon on the day of his small triumph over the West Coast +Trading Company, Cappy Ricks bustled up California Street, bound for +luncheon with the Bilgewater Club. + +On this day, of all days, Cappy would not have missed luncheon with +the Bilgewater Club for a farm. As he breezed along there was a smile +on his ruddy old face and a lilt in his kind old heart, for he was +rehearsing his announcement to his youthful friends of how he had but +recently tanned the hide of a brother! He almost laughed aloud as he +pictured himself solemnly relating, in the presence of J. Augustus +Redell and Live Wire Luiz, the tale of the ill-favored spruce, +excusing his own mendacity the while on the ground that he wasn't a +mind reader; that if the West Coast Lumber Company desired northern +spruce they should have stipulated northern spruce; that, as alleged +business men, it was high time they were made aware of the ancient +principle of _caveat emptor_, which means, as every schoolboy knows, +that the buyer must protect himself in the clinches and breakaways. +And lastly, he planned to claim it the solemn duty of the aged to +instruct the young and ignorant in the hard school of experience. + +Judge, therefore, of his disappointment when, on entering the lobby of +the Merchants' Exchange Building, on the two top floors of which the +Commercial Club is situated, he encountered Redell and Live Wire Luiz +leaving the elevator. + +The West Coast Trading Company had offices in the same building and, +as Redell carried a plethoric suit case, while Live Wire Luiz followed +with a small hand bag, Cappy realized they were bound for parts +unknown. In consequence of which he realized he had rehearsed to no +purpose his expose of the pair before the Bilgewater Club. He halted +the partners and secured a firm grip on the lapel of each. + +"Cowards!" he sneered. "Running out on me, eh? By Judas Priest, I +just knew you didn't dast to stay and hear me tell the boys about that +spruce. Drat you! The next time you'll know the difference between +attar of roses and California spruce!" + +Redell put down his suit case, pulled out his watch, glanced at it and +then at his partner. + +"Shall I tell him, Luiz?" he queried. + +Live Wire Luiz thereupon consulted his watch, scratched his ear and +said: + +"Friend of my heart, do you theenk eet ees safe?" + +"Oh, yes. He isn't a bit dangerous, Luiz. He's lost all his teeth and +all he can do now is sit and bay at the moon." + +Live Wire Luiz shrugged. + +"I theenk maybe so you are right, _amigo mio_. The steamer she will go +to depart in half an hour, an' that ees not time for thees ol' +high-binder to do somet'ing. Eet ees what you call one stiff li'l' +order. I admit thees spruce bandit ees pretty smart, but--" again Live +Wire Luiz shrugged his expressive shoulders--"he ees pretty ol', no? I +theenk to myself he have lose--what you call heem? ah, yes, he have +lose hees punch!" + +"I fear he has, Luiz; so I'll tell him. At least the knowledge will +gravel him and take all the joy out of that stinking little spruce +swindle of his." + +"'Twon't neither!" Gappy challenged. "I stung you there--drat your +picture!--and I'm glad I did it. I rejoice in my wickedness. Cost you +five hundred dollars for making a monkey out of the old man in that +grape-stake deal, Gus." + +"Why," said Redell wonderingly, "I thought you'd forgiven me that, +Cappy." + +"So I have; but I haven't forgotten. Expect me to lose my self- +respect and forget about it? No, sir! When I go into a deal and emerge +in the red, I take a look at my loss-and-gain account and forget it; +but when I'm ravished of my self--respect-wow! Look out below and get +out from under! In-fer-nal young scoundrel! If I don't show you two +before I die that I haven't lost my punch I'll come back from the +grave to ha'nt you. Go on and spin your little tale, Augus-tus. You +can't tell me anything that'll make me mad. What you got on your mind +besides your hair, Gus? Out with it, boy; out with it! I'm listening." + +And Cappy came close to Redell and inclined his head close to the +young fellow's breast; whereupon Redell put his lips close to Cappy's +ear and answered hoarsely: + +"I'm going to Papeete to bid in that sunken German steamer, +_Valkyrie_." + +Cappy nodded. + +"Huh!" he said. "Is that all? Well, when you return from Papeete +you're going to take another journey right away." + +"Where?" + +"Into the bankruptcy court first, and then up to the Home for the +Feeble-Minded. On the level, boy, you're overdue at the foolish farm." + +"I'll take a chance, Cappy. All you old graybeards can do is sit on +the fence and decry the efforts of the rising generation. You just +croak and knock. Of course I admit that once on a time an opportunity +couldn't fly by you so fast you wouldn't get some of the tail +feathers; but that was a long time ago." + +He paused and glanced at his partner. Sorrowfully Live Wire Luiz +tapped his forehead with his brown, cigarette-stained forefinger. + +"Senile decay!" Redell murmured. + +"Sure; I bet you, Mike!" Live Wire Luiz answered. + +He wagged his head lugubriously, turned aside and affected to wipe +away a vagrant tear with his salmon-colored silk handkerchief. + +"Look here!" Cappy rasped. "This thing is getting personal. Never mind +about my years, you pup. If my back is bent a trifle it's from +carrying a load of experience and other people's mistakes. And never +mind about my noodle! It may have a few knots and shakes in it, but +they're tight and sound, and it's free of pitch pockets, wane and +rotten streaks; so this old head grades as merchantable timber still. + +"As for your head, Gus, and that of this human firecracker with you, +both have streaks of sap round the edges, and I'll prove it to you +yet. No; on second thought I don't have to prove it. You've already +done that yourself! You're going to Papeete to try to bid in the +_Valkyrie_, and she's junk!" + +"Partly." Redell admitted. "She's been under water about two years and +I suppose the teredo have digested her upper works by now; but they +can be rebuilt quickly and without a great deal of expense." + +"How about her boilers? You'll have to retube them." + +"I don't think so. I was talking with Captain Hippard, of the +Morrison-Hippard Line. They had the steamer _Chinook_ under water a +year in Norton Sound, but they raised her and brought her to San +Francisco under her own steam. You know, Cappy, it's the combination +of water and air that makes iron and steel rust. It seems that when a +boiler is under water and not exposed to the air it rusts very slowly; +also, the rust is like a soft film--it doesn't pit and scale off in +great flakes. And a couple of years under water will not do any +appreciable damage to the _Valkyrie's_ boilers. The _Chinook_ is +running yet, notwithstanding the fact that fifteen years ago she was +submerged for a year." + +"Huh!" Cappy grunted. + +"The same condition, of course, holds true with regard to her hull, +only more so," Redell continued. "The paint will protect the hull +perfectly. Of course if, after getting her up, she is permitted to lie +exposed to the air, the soft film of rust will promptly harden and +scale off and she'll go to glory in a few months. However, nothing +like that will happen, because the minute she's up she'll be +thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed and painted. Of course the asbestos +cover will have peeled off her boilers, but even at that I'll bring +her to San Francisco under her own steam. She'll just be ungodly hot +below decks and a hog for coal until the boilers are re-covered." + +Cappy sighed. He was not prepared to combat this argument, for he had +a sneaking impression Redell was right. However, he returned undaunted +to the attack. + +"She's shot full of holes," he declared. + +"She has one hole through her, and when she's loaded light that hole +is above water line. The wrecking vessel that goes down to salve her +will have steel plates, tools and mechanics aboard, and new plates can +be put in temporarily. And if that cannot be done those holes can be +patched with planking and cemented over." + +"Well, all right. Grant that. But think of her engines, Gus. Think of +those fine, smooth bearings and polished steel rods all corroded and +pitted by salt water. The water may not have a disastrous effect on +the boilers and hull, but an engine can't stand any rust at all and +still remain one hundred per cent efficient. I tell you I know, Gus. I +had my _Amelia Ricks_ submerged on Duxbury Reef for a week; then I +hauled her off and she lay on the tide flats in Mission Bay another +three weeks until I could patch her up and float her into the dry +dock. Do you know what it cost me to make her engines over again? +Thirteen thousand dollars, young man--and, at that, they're nothing to +brag of now." + +"Quite right; but that's because you didn't employ a German engineer +and tell him you were going to put the _Amelia Ricks_ on Duxbury Reef. +Are you familiar with the characteristics of German engineers, Cappy?" + +Cappy threw up both hands. + +"I'm neutral, Gus. Between them and the French it's a case of heads I +win, tails you lose." + +"No, no, Cappy. You're wrong. The Germans are a careful, thrifty, +painstaking, systematic race, and the chief of the _Valkyrie_ was the +flower of the flock. When that little French gunboat captured her this +chief engineer looked into the future and saw himself and the +_Valkyrie_ interned indefinitely--and he didn't like it. It just broke +his heart to think of a stranger messing round among his engines; so +the instant he got into Papeete and blew down his boilers he did a +wise thing. He knew the war risk insurance would probably cover the +_Valkyrie's_ loss as a war prize, but there was a chance that her +German owners might send one of their hyphenated brethren down to +Papeete to buy her in the prize court; and if that happened the chief +wanted them to have a good ship. Perhaps, also, he figured on getting +his old job back after the war. At any rate he got out a barrel of +fine heavy grease and slobbered up his engines for fair." + +It was too much. Cappy Ricks was too fine a sport not to acknowledge a +beating; he was too generous not to rejoice in a competitor's gain. + +"You lucky, lucky scoundrel!" he murmured in an awed voice. "Not +enough salt water will get through that grease to hurt those engines. +Gus, how did you find this all out?" + +"Well, you can bet your whiskers, Cappy, I didn't depend on hearsay +evidence and water-front reporters to dig it up for me. The minute I +heard her sea cocks had been opened and that her funnels and masts +were sticking up out of the harbor I concluded I was interested; so I +sent Bill Jinks, of our office, down to Papeete to get me some +first-hand information. The chief of the _Valkyrie_ is interned there, +of course." + +"May mad dogs bite me! Why in the name of all that's sweet and holy +didn't I have sense enough to do that?" Cappy mourned. + +"You have lose the punch!" chirped Live Wire Luiz, and Cappy glared at +him. + +"She's an honest vessel, Cappy." + +"An' what you s'pose she have in her?" Live Wire Luiz demanded. "Oh, +notheeng very much, Senor Ricks. Just two t'ousand tons of phosphate." + +"Worth ten or twelve dollars a ton, Cappy." + +"An' t'irteen hundred tons of the good coal to bring her to San +Francisco, _Ai_, Santa Maria!" Live Wire Luiz blew a kiss airily into +space and added: "I die weeth dee-light!" + +"You haven't got her yet," Cappy snapped viciously. + +"No; but we'll get her all right," Redell declared confidently. + +"How'll you get her?" + +"We've only one real competitor to buck--an Australian steamship +company. They're crazy to get her; and as there are no French bidders +on this side of the world, naturally and in view of the present +condition of world politics the French authorities in Papeete are +pulling for the Britisher. Jinks is now in Papeete and I'm about to +start for there at one o'clock. Two bids, Cappy; I'll be the dark +horse and file my bid at the last minute, after I've sized up the lay +of the land. But, before I do so, I'm going to take the representative +of that Australian steamship company into my confidence and find out +what he's going to bid. For instance, now, Cappy, if you were bidding +against me, how high would you go?" + +"She's a long way from nowhere," Cappy replied thoughtfully. "It means +sending a wrecking steamer down there with a lot of expert wreckers, +divers, mechanics and carpenters; it means lumber for cofferdam and +pontoons; it means donkey engines, cables, pumps, the stress of wind +and wave--" + +"She lies in a protected cove, Cappy; the mean rise and fall of the +tide, so close to the equator, is about eighteen inches, and the water +is so clear you can always see what the divers are doing. Forget the +stress of wind and wave." + +"Forty thousand dollars would be my top figure if I were the +Australian bidder," Cappy declared, and added to himself: "But, as +Alden P. Ricks, seventy-five might not stagger me in view of the +present freight rates." + +"Just what I figured," Redell answered. "She'll cost us two hundred +thousand dollars before we get her in commission again. I figure the +Australian people will not go over forty thousand dollars. They won't +figure Jinks as a heavyweight. I told him to create the impression +that he was a professional wrecker--a sort of fly-by-night junk +dealer, who would buy the vessel if he could get her at a great +bargain. Then I'll drop quietly into Papeete, and at the eleventh hour +fifty-ninth minute I'll slip in a bid that will top the Australian's. +If by any chance Jinks' bid should also top the Australian's I'll just +forfeit the certified check for ten per cent of my bid, run out and +leave the ship to Jinks, the next highest bidder. The chances are I'll +make a few thousand dollars at that." + +"How do you purpose raising her--provided you are the successful +bidder?" + +"Well, she has four hatches and she lies on an even keel. I'll build a +coffer dam on her deck round these four hatches and pump her out. If +we have enough pumps we can pump her out faster than the water can +leak in under the coffer dam. When I've lightened her somewhat I'll +kick her into the shore, little by little, until she lies in shallow +water with her bulwarks above the surface. Then I'll patch the holes +in her, pump her out--and up she'll come, of course." + +"You say that so glibly," Gappy growled, "one would almost think you +could whistle it." + +"Don't feel sore, Cappy. Do you know what a vessel of her age and +class is worth nowadays? Well, I'll tell you. About sixty dollars a +ton, dead weight capacity--and the _Valkyrie_ can carry seven thousand +tons; that's four hundred and twenty thousand dollars--" + +"If you can get her up," Cappy interrupted. + +"If I bid her in I'll get her up. Don't worry." + +'"It'll clean you of your bank roll to do it." + +"Of course. Luiz and I aren't millionaires like you; so we'll just +form a corporation and call it the S. S. Valkyrie Company and sell +stock in our venture. I have you down right now for a +ten-thousand-dollar subscription at the very least, though you can +have more if you want it." + +"Gus," Cappy pleaded, "if you bid that boat in for forty thousand +dollars I'll give you ten thousand dollars for your bargain and +reimburse you for all the expense you've been put to." + +"Nothing doing, Cappy." + +"I'll make it--let me see--I'll make it twenty thousand." + +"You waste your breath. She'll pay for herself the first year she's in +commission." + +"I'll furnish the sinews of war, Gus, for a half interest in her. Let +me add her to the Blue Star Fleet and you'll never regret it." + +"Sorry, Cappy; but Luiz and I are ambitious. We want to get into the +steamship business ourselves." + +"Well, then, I've offered to do the fair thing by you two lunatics," +Cappy declared with a great air of finality. "So now I'll deliver my +ultimatum: I'm going to keep the _Valkyrie_ and not give you two as +much as one little piece of her. Yes, sir! I'm going to send a +representative to Papeete and match you and that Australian chap for +your shoe-strings. Gus, you know me! If I ever go after a thing and +don't get it, the man that takes it away from me will know he's been +in a fight." + +"Indeed, I know it, Cappy--which is why I kept this information +carefully to myself. However, I guess you'll not get in on this good +thing." + +"Why?" + +"You're too late for the banquet." + +"Not one leetle hope ees left for you, Cappy Reeks," Senor Almeida +asserted. "The _Moana_, on which my good partner have engaged passage +to-day, ees the last steamer which shall arrive to Papeete before the +bids shall be open. The next steamer, Capitan Reeks ees arrive too +late." + +"Yes; and the _Moana_ sails in just twenty-five minutes, Cappy. If +you're thinking of sending a man down to bid against me you'll have to +step lively." + +Cappy Ricks was now beside himself; this gentle, good-natured heckling +had made of him a venerable Fury. + +"I'll cable my bid!" he shrilled. + +"No you won't Cappy, for the reason that there is no cable to Tahiti." + +"Then I'll wireless it!" + +"Well, you can try that, Cappy. Unfortunately, however, the only +wireless station in Tahiti is a little, old, one-cat-power set. It can +receive your message, but it can't send one that will reach the +nearest wireless station--and that's at Honolulu. And until the bank +in Tahiti can confirm drafts by wireless I imagine it will not pay +them on presentation." + +Cappy surrendered. He couldn't stand any more. + +"Good-bye, Gus," he said. "Good luck to you! If you get that vessel +you'll deserve her, and when you're forming the S.S. Valkyrie Company +I'll head the list of stock subscribers with a healthy little chunk. +You know me, Gus! I'm the old bell mare in shipping circles; a lot of +others will follow where I lead." + +"I forgive you the spruce deal, Cappy. You're an awful pirate; but, +for all that, you're a grand piece of work. God bless you!" And Redell +put his arm round the old man affectionately. "Good-bye." + +And, followed by Live Wire Luiz, who was going to the dock to see his +partner aboard the _Moana_, Redell disappeared into California Street. + +"Dammit!" Cappy soliloquized bitterly. "I can't eat lunch now. One +bite would choke me." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + + + + + +And he turned toward the entrance to the Merchants' Exchange, being +minded to enter a telephone booth and notify the Bilgewater Club he +would not be present that day. As he walked through the gate into the +Exchange, however, he was accosted by a heavy, florid-faced man +carrying a thick woolen watch coat over his arm. This individual was +Captain Aaron Porter, one of the San Francisco bar pilots, and he +greeted Cappy with a respectful query after the old gentleman's +health. + +"I don't feel very well," Cappy replied wearily. "I'm getting old, +captain--getting old." + +Then he noted the watch coat the pilot was carrying and decided +subconsciously that there could be no connection between it and the +sultry August weather prevailing at that moment; consequently it +informed the observant Cappy, as plainly as if it had a tongue and had +spoken, that Captain Aaron Porter expected shortly to be exposed to +the chill northwest winds outside as he piloted a vessel to sea. In +the manufacture of sheer inane conversation, therefore, Cappy tugged +the coat and said: + +"Going to take a ship out this afternoon, captain?" + +"Yes, sir. I'll be responsible for the _Moana_ until we cross the +Potato Patch--" + +"The _Moana!_" Cappy cried, and pulled out his watch. "You'd better +be stepping lively, then. She sails at one, and you have twenty +minutes to get to Greenwich Street Pier." + +"Oh, there's no hurry, Mr. Ricks. She'll be delayed from half to +three-quarters of an hour waiting for the Australian mail. The mail +train from the East is late, and of course the _Moana_ cannot sail +till--" + +"You will pardon me, captain," Cappy Ricks interrupted politely, "but +I've just thought of a very important matter. I must run and +telephone." + +As J. Augustus Redell had just pointed out, twenty minutes was +scarcely ample time in which to decide on the right emissary to send +to Papeete, get into communication with the said individual and induce +him to go. In addition, such a person would have to have time to pack +some clothing; also, to procure a letter of credit at the bank and +purchase a ticket, not to mention the time requisite to receive his +instructions and get to the steamer's dock. But with almost an +hour--well, a wide-awake man can accomplish much in an hour, and Cappy +Ricks was a natural leader of forlorn hopes. In the brief interval +required to accomplish the journey from the door of the Merchants' +Exchange to a telephone booth a flock of bright ideas capered through +Cappy's ingenious head like goats on a tin roof. + +"Main 2000!" he barked, and in five seconds he had the connection. +"Put Skinner on the line!" + +Cappy's own private exchange operator had the temerity to inform him +that Mr. Skinner was out at luncheon. + +"The in-fer-nal scoundrel--just when I need him! Put Captain Matt +Peasley on the line, and be quick about it. Matt! Matt, listen! This +is the old man speaking. Get an earful of what I'm going to tell you +now, and don't ask any questions--just obey! Do you remember that big +German freighter--the Valkyrie--sunk in Papeete Harbor?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"She's a prize, Matt. I've just been given a low-down on her +condition. Gus Redell is leaving on the _Moana_ to bid her in at the +government sale--the young scoundrel told me all about it and twitted +me because we were asleep on the job and let the good thing get away +from us. The _Moana's_ supposed to sail at one o'clock, but the +Eastern mail is late--she won't get away from the dock until about +one-thirty; but when she does--" + +"When she does we'll have a man aboard her to beat Redell to the +German steamer," Matt Peasley interrupted. "I've got the message. +Where are you, father-in-law?" + +"At the Merchants' Exchange." + +"You attend to the funds and I'll do the rest." + +"Confound you!" rasped Cappy Ricks. "You're so headstrong, you'll jam +things up yet if you don't listen to me." + +"But you'll have to send somebody Redell doesn't know." + +"That doesn't matter at all. Now, son, will you listen to me? I'll +attend to the money and I'll also frame this entire deal. Is Miss +Keenan in the office--you know--Skinner's stenographer?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"She's been wanting to go on a vacation. When I heard about it I asked +her how she'd like a cruise to Alaska--remember we have the _Tillicum_ +leaving at six to-night for St. Michael's. She said that would be +fine; so I gave her a pass and the owner's suite on the _Tillicum_." + +"So I hear. Her trunk was sent to the _Tillicum's_ dock this morning +and she has her suit case in the office. She planned to work today and +go aboard the _Tillicum_ after office hours." + +"Good! Then she's all ready lor a voyage to Tahiti. Have the private +exchange operator phone our wharf office instantly and tell them to +load Miss Keenan's trunk on the first wagon handy and rush it over to +the _Moana_. Give Miss Keenan fifteen hundred dollars and tell her +she's to go to Papeete. If she kicks about clothes tell her to get +along with what she has and buy what she needs on arrival." + +He waited while Matt Peasley gave the necessary instructions to the +exchange operator. Then: + +"It's all right, sir. Miss Keenan will go. She'll be on her way in +five minutes. I've told her to go aboard and buy her ticket from the +purser or from the ticket agent at the gang plank." + +"Fine business! Now who else have we in our employ that I can send? I +want a man--and a rattling smart one." + +"Mike Murphy, the skipper of the _Narcissus_," Matt suggested. + +"The very man! He's discharging at Union Street Wharf. Phone the +wharfinger's office and tell him he'll not regret taking a message +down to the dock to Captain Murphy. Murphy will probably be at lunch +aboard. Tell the wharfinger to tell him to throw a few clothes into a +suit case--that he's to go to Papeete on mighty important +business--and to meet me at the head of Greenwich Street Dock at +one-twenty, without fail, for his orders and his money. Having phoned +these orders, Matt, take the office automobile and scorch to the water +front to see that they're carried out. Take Miss Keenan with you. +Good-bye." + +And Cappy Ricks dashed out of the Merchants' Exchange as though the +devil was at his heels walloping him at every jump. It was four blocks +to the Marine National Bank, but the California Street cable car took +him there in four minutes. Gasping and perspiring Cappy trotted into +the cashier's office, where for ten precious seconds he stood, +open-mouthed, unable to say a word. + +"Well, Mr. Ricks," the cashier greeted him, "if you can't talk make +signs." + +Cappy flapped his hands and made three rapid strokes with his index +finger, like a motion-picture actor writing a twelve-line letter; then +the words came in a veritable cascade. + +"Letters of credit," he croaked-"two." The cashier picked up a pencil +and a scratch pad. "One, twenty-five thousand, favor Michael J. +Murphy; one, favor--oh, what in blue blazes is that girl's first name? +Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I never heard her first name--she's just Miss +Keenan. Oh, the devil! Call her Matilda--that's it--Matilda +Keenan--fifty thousand dollars for her; and--" + +"You appear to be in a terrific hurry for them, Mr. Ricks, so I'll +get them started immediately," the cashier interrupted, and turned his +memorandum over to an underling, with instructions to give Mr. Ricks' +letters of credit precedence over all other business. + +"Now write--check--your favor--seventy thousand. I'll sign it--hope +Skinner has enough cash on deposit; if he hasn't--my personal note, +you know." + +"A mere trifle, Mr. Ricks. We will not worry over that." The cashier +filled in the check and Cappy signed it with a trembling hand. "And +now," the cashier continued, "we will have to have Miss Keenan and Mr. +Murphy come to the bank to register their respective signatures--" + +"Nothing doing!" Cappy piped. "Give me the cards and I'll have 'em +write their signatures on them aboard the steamer and send them ashore +by the pilot. None o' your efficiency monkey business, my son! I +guarantee everything." + +He dashed to the telephone and yelled into the receiver: "Taxicab! +Taxicab!" + +"One of the cars belonging to the bank is at the curb, Mr. Ricks. The +chauffeur will take you wherever you desire to go," the cashier +suggested. + +"Bully for you!" Again Cappy commenced to flap his hands. +"Stenographer--where's the stenographer? Oh, Judas Priest, nobody +helps me! Bless your sweet heart, my dear, here you are, aren't you? +Yes, and I'll not forget you for it either. No, no, no! No notes. Just +stick piece of paper in the typewriter--now then! Ready! Dictation +direct to machine. Er--ah! Harumph-h-h! Oh, suffering sailor! What's +the name of the French bank in Papeete? I don't know. I'm a director +and vice president of this infernal bank--and I don't know I'm alive! +Man, man, I want it--a thing--a what-you-may-call-'em--a--Oh, the +devil! Why do I deposit in this dratted bank? Eureka! I have it! I +want a notice." + +"You mean an advice, Mr. Ricks." + +"Bully boy! An advice. That's it. Holy mackerel, how I love a man +that's fast on his feet! A notice to the bank in Papeete, Island of +Tahiti, that you've given Captain Michael J. Murphy a letter of credit +for twenty-five thousand dollars--only one notice for one letter of +credit. I'm up to skullduggery. Man, man, why don't you dictate? Usual +courtesies--good customer of your bank--you know; usual flubdub. No +advice regarding Miss Keenan's letter of credit--just Murphy's." + +The cashier good-naturedly shouldered Cappy Ricks aside and dictated +to the bank's correspondent in Papeete a brief note to the effect that +the Marine National had that day issued to Captain Michael J. Murphy a +letter of credit in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars; that it +understood Captain Murphy was proceeding to Papeete on some matter of +business and took this occasion to commend him to their kindly +offices. + +"Stick that in an envelope--address envelope, seal it, and write +outside: 'Kindness purser S.S. _Moana._' The mail to Papeete is +closed, but I'll see that the _Moana's_ purser delivers it to the +bank," Cappy ordered. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + + + + +Ten minutes later Cappy dashed up to the entrance of Greenwich Street +Pier and found Matt Peasley waiting for him, with Captain Murphy. Miss +Keenan had already gone aboard the _Moana_, the huge funnel of which, +as Cappy noted with a thrill, was still sticking up over the roof of +the dock. He crooked his finger and Michael J. Murphy leaped up on the +running board of his car. + +"Mike," said Cappy solemnly, "listen to me! Here's a letter of credit +in your name for twenty-five thousand dollars, and an advice to the +bank in Papeete from our bank here stating that the letter of credit +has been issued. Give this letter to the purser, together with a +good-sized bill, and ask him to deliver it to the Papeete bank when +the _Moana_ arrives there. Here, also, is a letter of credit for Miss +Keenan in the sum of fifty thousand--and the bank in Papeete has no +notice of it! Remember that! It's important. Keep it to yourself. Miss +Keenan has the expense money for both of you; tell her to split the +roll with you. Tell her, also, that her name from now until she gets +back is Matilda Keenan, and to sign her drafts that way. + +"Here are the signature cards. You sign yours and have her sign hers; +then you give both to Captain Porter, the pilot, when he leaves the +ship, and ask him to deliver them to me. I, in turn, will deliver them +to the bank. Tell Miss Keenan she is absolutely under your orders; +that she's to forget she ever heard of the lumber and shipping +business. Both of you are to keep away from a man by the name of J. +Augustus Redell. He's aboard and he's our enemy, captain. He's going +to bid forty thousand dollars on the German steamer _Valkyrie_; so you +bid forty thousand and five dollars--and take her away from him. At +the very last minute have Miss Keenan put in a bid for thirty +thousand--in case--you know, Mike--we might catch it going and coming. +It might pay to have you fall down on your bid--you know, Mike! She's +the dark horse--the reserve capital. "Papeete--one-horse town, Mike. +Everybody knows the other fellow's business--principal competitor for +the steamer is an Australian steamship company. Considering condition +world politics today, and no French bidders, naturally Frenchmen will +pull for the Britisher. Expect bank will leak and tell 'em you only +arrived with twenty-five thousand--you know, Mike! Can't be too +careful. Trust nobody--and remember this man Redell is the smartest +young man in the world and the trickiest scoundrel under heaven. Don't +hold him cheap. He's a holy terror! He'd pinch the gold out of your +wisdom teeth while you'd be laughing at him." + +"How high am I to go--if it becomes necessary to bid more than--" + +"Shoot the piece!" Cappy ordered. It is to be regretted that the +Bilgewater Club, cut off from the house rules in a private dining +room, had a habit of shooting craps occasionally after luncheon, and +Cappy Ricks had picked up the patois of the game. "Seventy-five +thousand is the limit; but satisfy yourself she's worth the limit +before you go to it." + +"And Redell is going to bid forty thousand, sir?" + +"That's his limit. He told me so in confidence when he felt certain I +couldn't possibly be a competitor--told it to me, and kidded me for a +dead one at twenty minutes of one, when he knew I couldn't possibly +have time to act. But he forgot the mail--it was delayed--" + +"I get you, sir. There's more to this job than merely acquiring the +ship," retorted the astute Murphy. + +"There's a million dollars' worth of satisfaction in it for me if I +can beat Gus Redell to that steamer. He says I've lost my punch." + +But Captain Murphy was off down the dock, suit case in hand, while +Cappy dismissed his borrowed car and climbed into the office car with +Matt Peasley. Five minutes they waited at the head of the dock--and +then four huge motor trucks, laden with mail, lumbered through the +dock gate. Cappy beamed into Captain Matt Peasley's face. + +"I guess this is a rotten day's work for the president emeritus, eh?" +he chuckled. "President emeritus! By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, if I +waited for you and Skinner to get wise to all the good things that are +lying round loose, the Blue Star Navigation Company would be in the +hands of a receiver within the year. Matt, if you expect to manage the +Blue Star you'll have to wake up. You're slow, boy--s-l-o-w-w! For +heaven's sake, don't force me back into the harness! You know I've +been wanting to retire for years." + +"Well, our messengers are aboard, so let's get out of here. I'm +hungry; I haven't had any lunch," Matt replied. + +"Come to think of it," Cappy answered cheerfully, "I believe I could +eat a little something myself. However, I still have one small duty to +perform, Matthew. I've got to send a wireless." + +"To whom?" + +"That scoundrel Redell, of course. Think I'm going to swat him and +leave him in ignorance of the fact?" + +Immediately upon arrival at the Commercial Club, Cappy sent the +following message: + +"J. Augustus Redell, + +"Aboard S. S. _Moana_. + +"Augustus, my dear young friend, I have known men who grew rich by +keeping their mouths closed! + +"CAPPY." + +"There!" said Cappy, as he dispatched this simple declarative +sentence. "I'll wager one small five-cent bag of smoking tobacco our +friend Gus Redell will not sleep to-night. He'll just lie awake +wondering what in Sam Hill I meant by that." + +When he got back to his office he found an aerogram, which read as +follows: + +"Alden P. Ricks + +"258 California Street + +"San Francisco + +"Everything lovely. After getting aboard decided to bluff; went to +Redell, told him I was your representative. He went green clear back +of the ears; said he had observed delay in sailing. Told him he'd +better quit and go ashore with pilot; that I had bank roll choke +hippopotamus. Your wireless handed him that moment! Would hesitate +repeat his language. Have agreed pay him for his first-class ticket. +All first-class cabins sold out; had to have it for Matilda. Steerage +an awful place for a skipper, but will have to make the best of it. + +"MUHPHY." + +Mr. Skinner, alarmed at the shrill screams emanating from Cappy +Ricks' office, rushed in and found the president emeritus rolling +round in his swivel chair, beating the air and stamping on the floor. + +"Good gracious, Mr. Ricks!" Skinner cried. "What's the matter? Are +you hurt?" + +"Hurt!" Cappy shrilled. "Hurt? Well, I should say so! Skinner, my boy, +if you ever lose your punch you'll know just how much I'm suffering. +As Live Wire Luiz would say: 'I die weeth dee-light!'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + + + + +Three months later Cappy Ricks sat alone in his office, his feet on +his desk, his old head bowed on his breast. Apparently he was having a +gentle snooze. Suddenly he sat up with the suddenness of a +jack-in-the-box and stepped to the door leading to Mr. Skinner's +office. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he said, "do you remember that stinking +Humboldt spruce I sawed off on Live Wire Luiz one day when you were +out to lunch?" + +Mr. Skinner nodded. + +"They claimed a rebate of six dollars a thousand on it," he declared; +"and we declined to allow the claim. Well, I've decided to allow it, +Skinner. Tell Hankins to draw a check for the rebate in full and bring +it in to me. Send in a stenographer." + +Cappy clawed his whiskers as the stenographer took her seat at his +desk. + +"Ahem! Hum! Harumph-h-h!" he began. "Take letter." + +"Mr. J. Augustus Redell + +"President West Coast Trading Co. + +"Merchants' Exchange Building, City. + +"My dear Gus: Having waited for several weeks in the hope of meeting +you at the Bilgewater Club, to which, due to some mysterious reason, +you appear to have been excessively disloyal of late, I despair of the +delight of a personal interview and am accordingly writing you. + +"You will recall that jag of odoriferous spruce your excitable partner +was chump enough to buy from the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company. On +the receipt this morning of a communication from my exceedingly +capable representative in Papeete I came to the conclusion that I +could afford to allow the rebate claimed by the excessively +sour-balled Senor Almeida, and accordingly I am inclosing herewith, to +the order of your company, the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company's check +for $536.12. + +"I also beg to tender you my assurance that if I have seemed in the +past to cherish an unchristian resentment of that little deal in grape +stakes, the memory of the outrage no longer rankles in my bosom. For +you, my dear young friend, I entertain the kindliest, the most +paternal of feelings. I have not only forgiven, but I have also +forgotten; for my honor is clear again and I figure I can pretty +blamed well afford myself the luxury. + +"Regarding that steamer _Valkyrie_, please be advised that the next +steamer to Australia, via Papeete and Raratonga, will carry a Blue +Star flag and my instructions to our representative to have it tacked +to the main truck of the _Valkyrie_ as she dies submerged in the +harbor. Since I assume you will be interested in learning the details +of our acquisition of the steamer in question, and since, further, I +cannot see that I have anything to lose by withholding this +interesting information, please be advised that we bought her in for +twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars. + +"I fear you will be inclined to doubt this and accuse me of romancing +for the purpose of dropping more salt in a wound still fresh and +bleeding; but I assure you such a suspicion would be a grave injustice +to an old man whose portion from you should be pity, not opprobrium. + +"To begin, it was very easy--after we had you out of the way. Like a +sensible man, you knew you were licked and threw up the sponge to save +yourself unnecessary punishment. It has been my experience that only a +very wise man has sense enough to do that; consequently, despite your +youth and impetuosity, I seem to see the glimmer of a very brilliant +commercial future for the West Coast Trading Company. + +"However, to the story: When Mike Murphy got down to Papeete he found +a couple of broken-down junk dealers hanging round--the kind of +fellows who would have been glad to bid in the vessel at a couple of +thousand dollars for the privilege of breaking her up for junk and +gutting her of her cargo. A little reflection convinced Captain Murphy +that he could eliminate these small fry and centre his attention on +the Australian steamship company; and he was aided in arriving at this +conclusion by your Mr. Jinks, whom he found glooming at the dock on +the arrival of the _Moana_ minus your handsome self. By the way, Mr. +Jinks' action in aiding and abetting Murphy, after discovering that +his own company was out of the running, was so sportsmanlike that, if +you will kindly advise me of the expense to which you were put in +sending him to Papeete, we will gladly send you our check to cover. + +"It took the capable Murphy about an hour and a half to get the lay of +the land--and then he started to play his little game. In the rather +restricted society of Papeete Murphy played the fool. Every little +while he would apparently acquire a small jag and get very +confidential. He told everybody his business--in confidence--and +everybody in Papeete knew just how much he was going to bid on the +wreck. Finally, the day before the bids were to be opened--Murphy was +waiting till the last minute before filing his--the captain of the +port got a wireless from some adventurer down in Noumea, asking him to +withhold the opening of the bids till he could get up to Papeete and +make a bid. Murphy had already fooled away three weeks in Papeete and +if the captain of the port hearkened to the request from the man from +Noumea it would mean a wait of another three weeks. Consequently he +awaited the next move with interest. + +"Well, Augustus, the captain of the port had the temerity to delay the +opening of the bids, and Murphy noticed that his competitor hired an +attorney and made a bitter and formal protest against the delay. +However, it looked to Murphy like they had made just a little bit too +much noise--so he hired an attorney and made a lot of noise himself. +The captain of the port overruled both protests, however; and about +that time Murphy decided to put over a dirty Irish trick. He announced +he could see very clearly there was a move on to double-cross the +legitimate bidders and that he wasn't going to hang round any longer. +The _Timaru_ was due the next day, so he and Jinks engaged passage to +San Francisco on her; and, just before he left, Murphy went up to the +bank and drew eighteen thousand dollars on his letter of credit. + +"He got a certificate of deposit in his own name, and that same +afternoon his attorney filed a sealed bid with the captain of the +port. + +"Now I had suspected there might be a leak from that French bank in +favor of the Australian; so I had taken care to have it advised by the +Marine National here that the latter bank had issued a letter of +credit for twenty-five thousand dollars to Captain Murphy. Therefore, +the Papeete bank very naturally concluded that twenty-five thousand +dollars was all the money Murphy had with him! And when he drew +eighteen thousand dollars on it they thought they knew the exact +amount of his bid; they thought, also, he had made a bid, in view of +the fact that his attorney filed one the same afternoon. At any rate, +the news reached the Australian and he withdrew his bid and +substituted another. Since he was the possessor of straight inside +information as to the amount of his single competitor's bid, he saw no +reason why he should waste money; so he bid four thousand pounds, or +approximately nineteen thousand five hundred dollars. They say he felt +pretty sore when the bids were opened and the _Valkyrie_ went to Miss +Matilda Keenan for twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars. + +"Miss Keenan, by the way, is Skinner's stenographer. Murphy was only +the decoy. She carried the real bank roll and nobody suspected her; in +fact, Murphy was so certain of his prey he didn't even bid! He tells +me the _Valkyrie_ is really a gift, and that, at the widest possible +estimate of salvage cost, the Blue Star Navigation Company has +purchased, for two hundred thousand dollars, a +four-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar ship--thanks to you! + +"With kindest regards, and again assuring you of the pleasure I have +always taken in our friendship--a friendship which, I trust, nothing +will ever disrupt--I am + +"Cordially and sincerely--" + +Cappy paused and gazed at the stenographer appraisingly. + +"Read that over again, my dear young lady," he commanded. + +The girl complied and Cappy nodded his satisfaction. + +"You and Mr. Skinner get along all right?" he queried. + +"Oh, yes, sir." + +"I'm very glad to hear that. You've been substituting for Miss +Keenan, haven't you?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well, you can have the job for keeps if you want it. You suit me. +Take letter: 'Miss M. Keenan--' I called her Matilda, but her name's +Mary; so let it go at that. + +"My dear Miss Keenan: Captain Murphy arrived on the _Timaru_, with the +information that he had taken a chance and left our affairs in the +laps of the gods and the capable hands of his understudy. It has been +pretty tough sledding waiting for the next Australian steamer, but, +thank God! she made port yesterday and your report of the success of +your mission is before me. I thank you. Yen're a good girl, and I am +very happy to learn of your engagement to Captain Murphy. He is a +splendid fellow and I am sending him back to Papeete in command of our +_Amelia Ricks_, which has been fitted up as a wrecker, to raise the +_Valkyrie_. You had better wait in Papeete and marry him there, as I +am opposed to long engagements among my employees; and Michael will do +better and faster work if he settles all his personal worries before +tackling those of the Blue Star Navigation Company. + +"On his return with the _Valkyrie_ I shall make him port captain of +the Blue Star Fleet, which job will keep him home nights. And since, +by his ingenuity, he succeeded in purchasing for twenty-two thousand +five hundred dollars a piece of property for which I was prepared to +pay as high as seventy-five thousand dollars, for your wedding present +I shall allot you and Captain Murphy a ten-thousand-dollar piece of +the _Valkyrie_. It should earn you thirty per cent and make you +independent in your old age. + +"Very sincerely--" + +Cappy Ricks ceased dictating and clawed his whiskers reflectively. + +"Yes," he murmured irrelevantly; "I guess that's considerable of a +knock-out from an old fogy who's lost his punch!" + +Then, to the stenographer: + +"That will be all, my dear. As you pass through the general office +tell those fellows out there that I've gone into executive session +with myself and am not to be disturbed unless it's something very +important. I've got to decide which one of our skippers to promote +into the _Valkyrie_ when we get her up and I must think up a new name +for her. I think I'll call her the J. H. Skinner. Skinner's a little +slow on his feet, but he means well and he's old enough to have a ship +named after him." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + + + + +The practical theft from the West Coast Trading Company of the German +steamer _Valkyrie_, had, to Cappy's mind, atoned for the loss and +humiliation he had suffered in that grape stake deal. His honor was +clean again and for weeks he taunted Redell with the latter's +inefficiency, insufficiency and general business debility, until, +having extracted the last shred of triumph from the affair, a vague +sympathy for Redell commenced to surge up in Cappy's kindly heart and +he commenced casting about for an opportunity to do the former a +favor. + +Redell had enjoyed his beating, for he was, indeed, a rare sport. +However, he would have to retaliate. The feud must go on. Unless he +could mix a modicum of fun with his profits, J. Augustus would not +have regarded the fight worth while, so accordingly he kept his eyes +and his ears open for a handy weapon with which to jab Cappy through +that same old rift in his armor--his passion for a large profit +through an adroit and ingenious deal in a commodity where even a very +modest profit was not discernible to ordinary mortals. + +Finally Redell found the opportunity he sought. He was so proud of +his formula that he could not forbear remarking casually to Live Wire +Luiz one bright day that, granted good health and the approval of +Providence for one week, he would knock Cappy Ricks for a goal. And he +narrated his scheme. + +"Friend of my heart!" the little Peruvian cried excitedly, and held +out his arms to Redell, inviting a fraternal embrace. "I love you! +Damn eet! I say eet! You are one wezard weeth the money-making +schemes!" + +Mr. Redell cautiously compromised on a hearty handshake; to avoid a +kiss he was careful to keep the table between himself and Live Wire +Luiz. + +"Shall we empty the corporate sock and climb aboard for every cent we +can beg, borrow or steal?" he demanded. + +"Sure, I bet you!" Live Wire Luiz cried; for, though a featherweight +physically, he was possessed of the courage of an Alexander. + +J. Augustus Redell put on his hat, took from a pigeonhole in his desk +the last trial balance of the West Coast Trading Company's books and +departed for a conference with his banker. Half an hour later he +returned, and the expectant Luiz promptly noted a cloud on Mr. +Redell's sunny countenance. + +"I can't arrange for a loan," he reported disgustedly. "The limit, in +view of our present obligations, has been reached." + +"On the margin of ten cents," suggested Live Wire Luiz, "take a +chance, _amigo_. Thees is not speculation. It ees what you call the +ceench weeth the copper reevets." + +"I figure it that way; nevertheless, copper-riveted cinches sometimes +aren't properly cinched and Fortune backs out of the packsaddle. I +dare not take a long chance on this, Luiz. If something went wrong +we'd be sadly embarrassed. We dare not take a chance up to the limit +of what money we have on hand, because we need those funds for other +things." + +Live Wire Luiz swore mournfully in Spanish. Redell nodded and retired +to his own office, where for an hour he sat with his head in his +hands, searching his agile brain for a bright idea that would lead him +out of his dilemma. Suddenly he leaped to his feet, tossed his hat to +the ceiling and caught it again as it came down. + +"Cappy Ricks is my meat," he declared aloud. "Besides, I owe Cappy +one for making a monkey out of me on that last deal. He hoisted me on +my own petard. Now I'll hoist him, and incidentally annex a profit for +the West Coast Trading Company." + +He rushed out into California Street and for the major portion of the +day was very busy among various shipping offices. When he returned, +late in the afternoon, to the offices of the West Coast Trading +Company, his alert young face wore a pleased and confident smile. Live +Wire Luiz noted this and took heart of hope. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL + + + + + +Cappy Ricks was, for the thousandth time since his voluntary +retirement from active business some ten years previous, overwhelmed +with his ancient responsibilities. Mr. Skinner had, under the +insistent prodding of his wife, consented grudgingly to a vacation and +had gone up into the Sierras to loaf and fish. + +Scarcely had Skinner departed when one of the Blue Star steamers ran +ashore on the Southern California coast, and Captain Matt Peasley left +immediately for the scene of the disaster to superintend the work of +floating the stranded vessel. This left Cappy riding herd on the +destinies of the Blue Star ships, with Mr. Hankins, Skinner's +understudy, looking after the lumber. + +Prior to boarding the train, Matt Peasley had ventured the suggestion +that Mr. Skinner be ordered by wire to return to town at once; but +this veiled hint that the Blue Star ships could not be managed by the +man who had built up the Blue Star Navigation Company had been +received very coldly by the president emeritus of the Ricks interests. + +"Young feller," Cappy informed his son-in-law testily, "I'll have you +know I was managing the Blue Star Navigation Company quite some years +before you quit wearing pinafores; so I guess, while you and Skinner +are away from the office, we can manage to stagger along after a +fashion." + +"But I don't like to have you worried with business after you've +retired--" + +"Retired!" Cappy hooted. "Swell chance I've got to retire! I'll die in +the harness whether I want to or not. Tut, tut, my boy! Don't be +afraid to put me in as a pinch hitter for this organization. The worst +I can do is to single--and I might clout a home run." + +"But Skinner has been away two weeks--" + +"Enough! It would be a bad thing to obsess Skinner with the notion +that we can't get along without him. Then he never would take a rest; +and I don't want any martyrs or neurasthenics round my office. You got +anything on the fire that's liable to burn or boil over, before you +get back?" + +"Nothing to worry about, Cappy," Matt answered. "Our five-masted +schooner _Mindoro_ is the only vessel requiring immediate attention. +She arrived at Sydney yesterday with lumber from Gray's Harbor, and as +yet I haven't been able to get a satisfactory return cargo for her." + +"What have you been holding out for?" + +"I want to get a cargo for delivery in San Francisco if possible. The +vessel will be ready to go on dry dock by the time she gets back here; +and besides, I'm planning to put a semi-Diesel-type engine in her." + +'"Not by a jugful! She wasn't built with a shaft log, and I won't have +you weakening my _Mindoro_ by cutting away her deadwood--" + +"Tish! Tush! You're a back number, Cappy. They don't cut through the +deadwood any more. They run the shaft out over her quarter and hang it +on struts." + +"She'll carry a helm--" + +"She'll not; but if she does, let her. It'll give the helmsman +something to do." + +Cappy subsided, fearful that if he persisted he might be given new +evidence of the fact that times had changed a trifle, here and there, +since he had--ostensibly--gone on the retired list. + +"Well, I'll take care of the _Mindoro_," he assured his son-in-law. +"Early in life I adopted the woodpecker as my patron saint. Ever +since, whenever I want anything I keep pecking away, and pretty soon I +bust through somewhere." + +The following morning, bursting with a sense of responsibility, Cappy +came bustling down to the office and got on the job at eight-thirty. +After looking through the mail he called up all the freight brokers in +town and urged them to make a special effort to line up a San +Francisco cargo for the _Mindoro_; then he summoned Mr. Skinner's +stenographer and was busy dictating when Mr. J. Augustus Redell was +announced by a youth from the general office. Cappy went to the door +to welcome his beloved young friend and business enemy. + +"Come in, Gus, my dear boy," he chirped, "and rest your face and +hands." He turned to the stenographer. "That will be all, my dear, for +the present. I can't dictate business secrets in the presence of +this--ahem--harumph-h-h!--er--" + +His desk telephone rang. Cappy took down the receiver and grunted. + +"J. O. Heyfuss & Co. are calling you, Mr. Ricks," his private exchange +operator announced. + +Cappy smiled and nodded. J. O. Heyfuss & Co. were ship, freight and +marine insurance brokers. + +"Something doing for my _Mindoro_," he soliloquized aloud. + +"Mr. Ricks?" a voice came over the wire. + +"Hello there!" Cappy replied at the top of his voice. For some reason +he always shouted when telephoning. "Ricks on the job! Whatja got for +my _Mindoro_, Heyfuss?... Zinc ore? Never carried any before. Don't +know what it looks like.... Yes; that freight rate is acceptable. We +should have more, but God forbid that we should be considered human +hogs... Yes.... Sure it's for discharge in San Francisco? ... All +right. Close for it.... Good-bye!... Hey there, Heyfuss! Don't close +in a hurry. See if you can't get the charterers to pay the towage over +to her loading port. If they won't pay all, strike 'em for half." + +He hung up without saying good-bye. + +"Well, that's out of the way," he declared with satisfaction. "Just +closed for a cargo of zinc ore from Australia to San Francisco ex our +schooner _Mindoro_. Matt Peasley's been hunting wild-eyed for a cargo +for her--scouring the market, Gus--and nothing doing! And here the old +master comes along and digs up a cargo while you'd be saying Jack +Robinson. By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, if you can show me how the +rising generation is going to get by--" + +He paused suddenly, leaned forward, and pointed an accusing finger at +his visitor. + +"Gus," he charged, "you're up to something. I can see it in your eyes. +You look guilty." + +Mr. Redell hitched his chair close to Cappy and with his index finger +tapped the old gentleman three times on the right knee-three +impressive taps. + +"Alden P. Ricks," he began with equal impressiveness, "I have a +scheme--" + +Cappy chuckled and slapped his thin old thigh. + +"I knew it! By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet! Gus, if you ever come into +my office and fail to unload a scheme on me I'll think you aren't +enjoying your usual robust health. What are you going to start now? A +skunk farm for cornering the market on Russian sable?" + +"Cut out the hilarity. This is serious business, Cappy. I can show you +where you and I can waltz into the Chicago Pit, make a killing on +December wheat, and escape with a sizable wad before our identity is +discovered." + +Cappy, caught off his guard, blinked at the enormity of the prospect; +but, remembering his dignity as a business man, he shook his head +sadly and replied: + +"Wheat! Wheat, eh? A lumber and shipping man monkeying with wheat? Not +for little old Alden P. Ricks! No, sir! When I go speculating I stick +to my specialties--lumber and ships. Did you ever hear of a gambler, +winning a fortune at faro, who didn't drop his winnings on the +ponies?" + +"But this is a beautiful layout." + +"I don't know anything about wheat and I'm too old to learn. Besides, +I don't trust you, Gus. You're an infernal scoundrel; and experience +has taught me that any time I take your tip and go in on a deal I have +to step lively to keep from being walked on." + +"But this time I'm free from guile. I won't stab you, Cappy." + +"No use! The last boat just left, Augustus." + +[Illustration with caption: He always shouted when telephoning.] + +Mr. Redell, however, was made of rather stern stuff. He was a young +man who never took "No" for an answer. Persistence was his most +striking characteristic. + +"Now listen," he implored. "Let the dead past bury itself. I give you +my word of honor, Cappy, that this deal is on the level. Just let me +put all my cards on the table while you take a look; then, if you +don't want to come in, all I ask is your word of honor that you'll +stay out while I round up a partner with red blood in his veins." + +Cappy pricked up his ears at that. He saw that Redell was serious; he +knew that once the latter passed his word of honor he never broke it. +Still, Cappy did not wish to appear precipitate in his surrender; so +he said weakly: + +"I am against speculation." + +"You mean you're against foolish speculation," Redell corrected him. +"I take it, however, that you have no objection to playing a sure +thing." + +"Well," Gappy admitted, "in that event I might be persuaded. +Nevertheless, I'm afraid of you. There's a fly in the ointment, even +if I cannot see it. You owe me a poke, and you'll never rest until +you've squared the account between us." + +Mr. Redell held up his hands in abject distress. + +"Cappy," he pleaded, "don't say that. You wrong me cruelly. It is in +my power to stand idly by and let you assimilate a poke right now; +but, just to show you I haven't any hard feelings, I'll do something +nice for you instead." + +"What do you mean--nice?" + +"I'll save you money--not only today but for years to come; and I'll +save your self-respect." + +"Shoot!" + +"Call up J. O. Heyfuss & Co. and tell them to take their cargo of zinc +ore in bulk for your schooner _Mindoro_ and go to the devil with it!" + +"But, good gracious, boy, I have to get something for her homeward +trip!" + +"In this case nothing is better than something. Do you know anything +about zinc ore?" + +"Yes; as much as an Eskimo knows about the doctrine of +transubstantiation." + +"I thought so. Well, I'll enlighten you. Zinc ore is blamed near as +heavy as lead, and it's as fine as cement. Load it in a ship in bulk +and, what with the pitching and rolling of a vessel on a long voyage, +she opens up every seam and crack in her interior; then this powdered +ore sifts into the skin of the ship and down into her bilge, and +you'll never be able to get it out without tearing the ship apart. +Why, after a vessel has freighted a cargo of zinc ore there may be as +much as fifty tons left in her after she's supposed to be discharged; +and, of course, thereafter she'll carry that much less cargo than she +did before. Besides, the consignees are liable to send you a bill for +the shortage; you can gamble your head they'll deduct it from the +freight bill." + +"Holy sailor!" Cappy was appalled. + +"Why," Redell continued, "I'm surprised at your ignorance, Cappy!" + +"And I'm amazed at your intelligence! Where did you get all this +zinc-ore dope?" Cappy challenged. "How do you know it's true?" + +"I got it from Captain Matt Peasley. I heard him give it to J. O. +Heyfuss on the floor of the Merchants' Exchange two weeks ago, when +Heyfuss tried to sneak up on his blind side and hang that cargo of +zinc ore on him. I guess they weren't importing much zinc ore when you +were active in business, Cappy, or you'd have known all about it. You +see the plot, don't you? As soon as Heyfuss learned that Matt Peasley +and Skinner had gone away, leaving a defenseless old man on the job, +he organized himself to spear you." + +"The shameless son of a sea cook! By gravy, Gus, you're my friend!" + +"Need any more proof?" + +"Not a speck." + +"Then I'll give you some. Call up Heyfuss and declare that ore cargo +off; after you've done that I'll tell you where you can get something +better. Moreover, you can close the deal yourself and save the +brokerage." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + + + + + +Cappy Ricks called up J. O. Heyfuss and in a few terse sentences told +that individual where to head in. + +"Now, then--" he began, facing round on Redell once more. + +Again Redell's index finger tapped Cappy's knee. Dramatically he +pronounced a single word: + +"Wheat!" + +"Wheat?" + +"Wheat!" + +"What kind of wheat?" In his amazement Cappy was rather helpless. + +"Number One white Australian wheat." + +"You jibbering jackdaw! Wheat? Don't you know blamed well that wheat +is one of the commodities Australia never exports to these United +States? Why? Because we don't need her doggoned wheat! We grow all the +wheat we need and a lot more we don't need; we export that, and it's +just as fine wheat as you'll find anywhere. Moreover, any time our +crop is a failure, our next-door neighbor, Canada, is +Johnny-on-the-spot, ready to make prompt delivery. So what in thunder +are you talking about?" + +For answer J. Augustus Redell drew from his pocket that morning's +paper and pointed to the headline of a front-page story. Cappy +adjusted his spectacles and read: Bakers Announce Six-Cent Loaf! + +"Hum-m-m!" said Cappy. + +"You bet! And it's a smaller loaf, by the way. Doesn't that argue +that there is something doing in wheat, when the price of bread goes +to six cents for a half portion?" + +"Well, there might be something in that, Gus. Crack along and tell me +some more." + +"Until the identity of the real culprits is fixed, Cappy, we must +blame the war in Europe for the six-cent loaf; likewise for the +fifteen-dollar shoe that formerly cost our wives six or seven; for the +eleven pounds of sugar for a dollar, when twenty to twenty-two pounds +was the standard in the good old days. Europe is too busy fighting to +pay much attention to farming; the wheat farmers of Canada are +somewhere in France instead of being at home 'tending to business; and +it has been up to Uncle Sam and the Argentine Republic to feed the +world, you might say. Naturally speculators have seized upon this +condition to shoot the price of wheat to the skies, and in desperation +the millers have been casting about to buy cheaper wheat. +Investigation discloses the fact that Australia has an enormous +quantity of wheat on hand; some of it is the surplus of the 1915 crop. +Of course she has exported all she could to England; but, at that, she +has been handicapped." + +"How?" + +"Because when a ship sails from Liverpool with goods for Australia, it +is a rare case when that same ship promptly loads with Australian +goods and puts back to Liverpool. She takes a cargo of coal, say, from +Newcastle up to Manila; a general cargo from Manila to Seattle or San +Francisco; thence to a West Coast port with a general cargo; thence to +New York with nitrate; thence to Europe with foodstuffs or munitions. +Australia hasn't had the tonnage to export her wheat and it's been +piling up on her. Now they've simply got to sell something to get some +ready money." + +"This is perfectly re-markable!" + +Redell took a document from his pocket and gravely handed it to Cappy, +who examined it and discovered the same to be a charter party, +consummated the day before between the West Coast Trading Company, +owners of the barkentine _Mazeppa_, and Messrs. Ford & Carter, a well +known export and import firm whose principal business was done in +grain. Cappy read the charter party carefully and even verified the +signatures, with which he was familiar. The vessel was to carry a +cargo of wheat from Melbourne to San Francisco at a freight rate that +fairly shrieked the word "Dividend." + +"Re-markable!" Cappy declared. "Preposterous!" + +"Seeing is believing. Call up Ford & Carter, and they'll jump over +themselves to give you a cargo of wheat for your _Mindoro_." + +"Im-possible!" + +"Well, I'm telling you. Why, it stands to reason, Cappy! Canada and +the United States are so much nearer Europe than is Australia that it +has been cheaper to use our wheat, and the result is we've been +cleaned out; and the newspapers are filled with dismal stories of the +sufferings of the poor due to the increased price of bread." + +"Come to think of it, Gus, there _has_ been a lot of that stuff in the +papers lately. But, of course, when a fellow's stomach is full and he +isn't in danger of being attached for debt, he never thinks of the +less fortunate brother. Yes, Gus, I dare say the demand for our wheat +now exceeds the visible supply." + +"Is it any wonder, then, that this condition of affairs should come to +the attention of the Australian exporters? Just because Australian +wheat has never been shipped into the United States is no reason why +it shouldn't be shipped--particularly when the price of flour goes up +daily. Why, we pay two and a half dollars for the fifty-pound sack of +flour that formerly cost us a dollar and a quarter! Eggs are up to +seventy cents a dozen--by jingo, Cappy, what's going to become of us?" + +"God knows!" Cappy answered dismally. + +Redell had him hypnotized. Already Cappy could see the gates of the +poorhouse opening to receive them all. Redell's voice brought him back +to a realization of his peril. + +"You'll find, Cappy Ricks, that for months to come every sailing +vessel that carries lumber to Australia from the Pacific Coast will +come back with a cargo of wheat while these war prices are +maintained." + +"Great Jumping Jehoshaphat! How'd you get next to all this, Gus?" + +"The early bird gets the worm, and success comes to the man who +creates his own opportunities. I thought it all up out of my own head, +Cappy, and then tried it out on Ford & Carter. It knocked 'em cold for +a minute; but that was only because the proposition was so unusual. +When I explained the situation to them, however, and gave them time to +digest it, both offered to take me out to luncheon. You can see for +yourself they've chartered our Mazeppa at a fancy freight rate." + +Cappy licked his lips. + +"The _Mindoro_ is sound, tight and seaworthy," he murmured. "She could +carry wheat." + +"Come on in, Cappy. The water's fine!" + +"I'll do it! Gus, you're a mighty good fellow, if I do say it that +shouldn't. I have five windjammers en route to Australia this minute, +and, by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, if I can get wheat charters for +all of them on the return trip I'll accept, if it costs me money. Gus, +something has got to be done about this high cost of living or we'll +all go to hell together. There comes a time in a man's life when he +must put aside the sordid question of 'How much is there in it for +me?' and ask himself: 'How much can I put in it for the other fellow?' +Gus, it's our Christian duty to furnish tonnage to import this wheat. +We should, as patriotic citizens, make it our business to boom +Australian wheat in the United States and give these doggoned pirates +that gamble in the foodstuffs of the country a run for their money. +Food prices should be regulated by this Government. The Chicago Pit +should be abolished by legislative enactment--" + +"Well, they won't do it this year, Cappy," Redell interrupted dryly. +"Still, it occurred to me that I saw an opening where two high-minded +philanthropists--to wit, Alden P. Ricks and J. Augustus Redell--might +strike a blow for freedom and at the same time give these wheat +speculators a kick where it will do them the most good. When one +cannot annihilate his enemy the next best thing is to take some money +away from him; and you and I, Cappy Ricks, can take a young fortune +away from these fellows, while at the same time depressing the price +of wheat and doing our fellow countrymen a favor. Are you prepared to +volunteer under my banner? If so, hold up your right hand." + +Cappy held up his right hand. + +"Out with it, Gus," he ordered; "out with it! This is most +interesting." + +"Ah! You're interested now, are you? Well, bearing in mind the fact +that your specialty is lumber and ships, I will give you an +opportunity to withdraw before it is too late. Besides, it occurs to +me that I have already done enough for you today." + +"Don't be greedy, Gus. Remember there is an exception to every rule. +Besides, I'm getting old and--er--ahem!--hell's bells, boy, I've got +to have my fling every once in a while. Come now, Gus! Out with it! I +believe your proposition embodied the coupling of both our names in +the betting, did it not?" + +"It did, Cappy. Still, come to think of it, I really ought not to come +in here and tempt you into speculating--" + +"How much money do you want?" Cappy shrilled impatiently. "Cut out +this infernal drivel and get down to business. Unfold your +proposition; and if it looks to me like a winner I'll take a flyer +with you if it's the last act of my sinful life." + +"On your own head be it, Cappy. Here goes! However, before laying my +plan before you, perfect frankness compels me to state that my visit +to you was not born of an overweening desire to do you a kindness or +make money for you. Philanthropy is not my long suit--in business +hours; and my interest in you today is purely a selfish one." + +"Go on; go on, boy! Am I a child in arms?" + +"I have made a ball, Cappy," Redell continued, "and I want you to fire +it. I have a splendid prescription to make a clean-up in December +wheat--" + +"Give me your prescription." + +"Well, sir, my prescription lacks one small ingredient to make it a +standard household remedy. You can supply that ingredient--to wit, +cash of the present standard of weight and fineness. Every spare +dollar that Live Wire Luiz and I can get our hands on is working +overtime in the legitimate business of the West Coast Trading Company; +every loose asset with a hockable value has been hocked, and we dare +not strain our credit with our banker by borrowing money with which to +speculate. If I apply for a sizable loan, without putting up +collateral, he'll ask me what I want to do with the money--and if I +answer truthfully he'll throw Luiz and me and our account out of his +bank. And I never was a very successful liar. Therefore, in +consideration of the valuable information I can furnish, I suggest +that you carry me for a quarter of a million bushels of December +wheat." + +"How much will that cost me?" Cappy queried warily. + +"We'll operate on margin. I think a margin of ten cents a bushel will +do the trick; of course, if wheat should go up a point you'll be asked +to come through with more money. However, I have a sneaking notion +that a well-known heavyweight like you can place his order with any of +the local brokers without having to put up a single cent; at the most +they might ask you for five thousand or ten thousand dollars. But they +know you're good for any engagement you may make; they'd be tickled to +death to have your promissory note. I suggest that you get in touch +with a sound brokerage house in this city--one that is a member of the +New York Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade--and sell, for my +account, two hundred and fifty thousand bushels of December wheat at +the market." + +"What'll I do for myself?" + +"Go as far as you like. You know your own limitations. I'm desirous +of selling a quarter of a million bushels at the market; and, as I am +furnishing the plans and specifications for this raid, I suggest that +you sell at least a quarter of a million yourself." + +"Funny business!" Cappy murmured. "Selling a quarter of a million +bushels of wheat you do not own and never will! Hum-m-m! Ahem! +Harumph-h-h! Then what?" + +He bent his head and gazed very severely at Mr. Redell over the rims +of his spectacles. For reply Mr. Redell took from his pocket thirteen +sheaves of paper and handed them to Cappy, who investigated and +discovered them to be thirteen forty-eight-hour options on thirteen +sailing vessels bound to Australian ports with lumber, and not as yet +provided with a return cargo to the United States. + +"By to-morrow morning I shall have exercised those options and closed +for thirteen cargoes of wheat," Redell explained. "You have five +vessels bound to Australia also. Give me an option on them for their +return cargo and that will make eighteen." + +"Yes, yes. Then what?" + +"I will charter all of the eighteen to Ford grain of it, in order to +protect themselves against a falling market." + +"Naturally. And the market is--" + +"December wheat closed in the Chicago Pit yesterday at $1.89 1/2, and +the market has been very stiff for quite a while. The bulls are right +on the job." + +"Will not the advent of all this Australian wheat depress the market?" +Cappy shrilled excitedly. + +"Not unless the bears happen to find it out, Cappy," Redell retorted +gently. "It is our job to bring the matter to their attention, for it +so happens that Alden P. Ricks and J. Augustus Redell are the only two +people in the United States who happen to know about it. Ford bulls +will get panicky; the bears will take heart of hope, and with Number +One white Australian wheat they'll beat the brains out of the market +and in all probability kick it down to $1.85, at which figure we +promptly buy as much wheat as we have previously sold. Thus we cover +our shorts, and the difference between $1.89 1/2 and $1.85, less +brokerage and interest--if any--will be, roughly speaking, four cents. +Four cents on a quarter of a million bushels is ten thousand +dollars--not a great deal, truly, in these days of swollen fortunes, +but, nevertheless, a nice piece of velvet--eh, Cappy, you sporty boy?" + +"It isn't so much the money we make," Cappy replied sagely. "It's the +fun we have making it, my boy; the joy of putting over a winner. The +instant a man begins to love money for money's sake he's a knave and a +fool. Kill him! But--er--ahem--as you say, my dear young friend, ten +thousand each is not to be--er--sneezed at." + +"Then you're coming in on the deal?" + +"I should tell a man!" + +After the fashion of the West they shook hands on it and went to +luncheon at the Commercial Club. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + + + + + +Directly luncheon was over and Cappy Ricks had returned to his office, +J. Augustus Redell moved into action. He called on Messrs. Ford & +Carter, talked the situation over with them, and showed them where +they, having the necessary tonnage in hand with which to guarantee +delivery, could bring a couple of million bushels of fine Number One +white Australian wheat to the Pacific Coast, cut the price a cent, and +doubtless unload every kernel of it at a fair profit. There was every +probability that wheat would go to two dollars. For his part in +producing this profit Mr. Redell desired a commission of five per cent +on all sales of wheat imported in the bottoms he had under option and +which he stood ready to turn over to Ford & Carter without profit, +since the owners of the vessels would pay him the customary broker's +commission on the freight money earned on the voyage. Ford & Carter +said they would think the matter over; so Mr. Redell tactfully +withdrew, stating that he would call up the following day for an +answer. + +He knew Ford & Carter would promptly dispatch a long cablegram to +their agent in Australia, instructing him to get a forty-eight-hour +option on the wheat, with a guaranty of delivery to the vessels as +they arrived from time to time. Meantime, Ford & Carter would quote +every milling company in the West, subject to prior acceptance and +their ability to deliver Number One Australian wheat at a price that +would be of interest. If the milling companies accepted this rather +nebulous quotation and telegraphed orders, and Ford & Carter's +Australian agent could purchase at a satisfactory price the wheat to +fill these orders, then Ford & Carter would make formal acceptance and +purchase the wheat. If, on the other hand, their agent in Australia +failed to get the wheat, then Ford & Carter had an "out" with the +milling companies who desired to buy the wheat from them, and the +entire matter would be off, with Ford & Carter merely out a couple of +hundred dollars in telegraph bills. That was the bet they had to make +to put their fortune to the touch; and right cheerfully did they make +it. + +J. Augustus Redell gave them all the time he could. His +forty-eight-hour options on the vessels then en route to Australia had +cost him nothing; that was a courtesy which one shipowner always +extends to another, free of charge, unless the vessel happens to be on +demurrage at the time the option is given. When his options were +within two hours of expiring he called on Ford & Carter. + +"We'll take 'em all," Carter almost shouted at him. "They'll be +arriving with sufficient time elapsing between arrivals to guarantee +us immunity from any undue delay or embarrassment in loading them. +We've bought the wheat and sold it; now give us the tonnage to freight +it, Redell, and we'll all be happy, and a little richer than we were +the day before yesterday." + +Redell took up the telephone and called each shipowner, in turn, to +inform him that he would exercise his option on the latter's ship, and +for the owner to prepare charter parties and send them up to his +office for signature. + +"I will have no difficulty in getting the owners to agree to an +assignment of these charters to you," he advised Carter. "You and Ford +are brothers in good standing, I take it. However, if they insist on +doing business through me, in order that they may hold me responsible, +I'll simply recharter to you at the same rate." + +"Lovely!" cried Messrs. Ford & Carter in unison. + +Ten minutes later J. Augustus Redell burst into Cappy Ricks' sanctum +and wakened the old gentleman from his afternoon siesta. + +"The trap is set," he announced. "Come on, Cappy! We're going up to +the broker's office now and give the order to sell our December wheat. +I can't go alone, you know. There wouldn't be an odor of sanctity +about the transaction if I did." + +"We'll have Gregg & Company attend to it for us," Cappy announced. +"You remember Harry Gregg, don't you? Used to be in the steamship +business years ago. Gosh, that boy knows me! He'll take a stiff finger +bet from Alden P. Ricks." + +Together they motored uptown to the office of Gregg & Co., where +Cappy's card gained him instant admittance to the broker's private +office. Redell remained in the anteroom on pretense of speaking to an +acquaintance, and the instant Cappy disappeared into Gregg's office +Redell stepped out into the hall, where he waited until Cappy had +booked his order and came hunting for him. + +"Well, I've sold my two hundred and fifty thousand bushels at a +dollar-ninety," Cappy announced. + +"How much margin?" Redell demanded. + +"Oh, Gregg didn't sting me very hard. Ten cents a bushel. It seemed +like a good bet to him. He looks for a drop in December wheat." + +"Met a pest out here and couldn't seem to get away from him," Redell +explained. "Take me in and introduce me to Gregg, and I'll give him an +order to sell a jag of wheat for me." + +Cappy complied and Redell gave the broker his order. + +"It will take about twenty-five thousand dollars to margin this trade, +Mr. Redell," the latter remarked easily as he wrote out the order and +handed a copy to Redell. + +"Nonsense!" Cappy struck in. "Mr. Redell is one of our most +delightful, trustworthy and popular young men, and to ask him for +twenty-five thousand dollars today would prejudice his standing with +his banker. I guarantee him, Harry. Treat him as you'd treat me. I +guarantee him up to a hundred thousand dollars." + +"Your guaranty goes with me, Mr. Ricks," Gregg answered promptly, and +shoved the copy of the order he had just booked over to Cappy, +together with the fountain pen. Cappy wrote: "O. K. Alden P. Ricks." +Redell gave his check for ten thousand dollars margin and the deal was +closed. When the scheming pair returned to Cappy's office the latter +gave Redell his check for ten thousand to reimburse Redell for +margining the trade, in accordance with Cappy's verbal agreement to +provide the sinews of war. + +"Now then, Cappy," Redell announced as he stuffed Cappy's check into +his pocket, "the next move is to return to my office, close those +charters with the owners and turn the ships over to Ford & Carter. +That matter attended to, I shall, with eighteen charter parties in my +pocket, drift casually over to the Merchants' Exchange. There I shall +find the market reporters for both of our sunrise sheets; if they are +not there I shall wait until they arrive. These gifted young men I +shall draw to one side; to them I shall, with great gusto, relate a +tale of Number One white Australian wheat, shortly to descend upon the +United States of America in no less than eighteen vessels, now +chartered for that purpose, with more to follow. In proof of this +statement I shall exhibit the charter parties; and then--" + +"Front-page story!" Cappy declared, interrupting. + +"Not yet--but soon. To get on the front page a story must be rather +unusual. A perusal of our daily rags will convince the most skeptical +that the sensational, the unusual, the bizarre are what appeal most to +the men who make the newspapers. The unusual thing about our deal lies +in the fact that this is the first time in the history of Australia or +the United States that the former country has exported wheat into the +latter--the first time the latter has ever had to call on an outsider +for help. Then, Cappy, it will be a front-page story--and how those +boys will hop to it! Why, we'll get a column about Australian wheat +invading the land of the free whose rapacity threatens the very food +that goes into the mouths of little children! Little children and +their mouths is good stuff! I'll use that line when slipping the story +to the boys. They might overlook it if I didn't. I'll remind them of +the six-cent loaf of bread, the sufferings of the poor, and how far +the importation of Australian wheat will go to knock the Chicago wheat +barons for a goal." + +"Here, here! You're too precipitate," Cappy cautioned. "Don't tip +this story off to both reporters. That's coarse work. Tell it to one +only. Put him under obligations to you by seeming to give him a scoop. +Tell him you won't say a word to his competitor, and he'll tell his +city editor the story is exclusive; then they'll be certain to play it +up big." + +"Cappy, you're the shadow of a rock in a weary land! Who'll tip off +the other reporter?" + +"I will, of course. Leave it to me. A man doesn't go through the mill +of Big Business without knowing the way of that singularly useful +individual, the newspaper man." + +Redell sat down and laughed until the tears ran down his merry +countenance. Cappy thought the outlook sufficiently cheerful to +warrant that laugh, and suspected nothing. He even joined in the +laugh. + +"And to-morrow morning, when that story appears, the local brokerage +firms will be calling up Ford friend and gave him a paternal hug. He +winked wickedly. + +"My dear boy," he suggested, "suppose you and I go out and pin one on? +Hey? How about you, boy? A pint of '98, in order that we may properly +drink confusion to the wolf of want and damnation to dull care!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + + + + + +Late that afternoon Cappy Ricks graciously summoned the Chronicle +reporter to his office and told him in detail all he knew about the +Australian wheat invasion. + +"Of course," he added, "this may be mere street gossip; but I think +there's something in it, my boy. At any rate, I thought you might care +to be tipped off to the situation. It looks like a corking story to +me. I suggest that you call up Ford & Carter and see what they have to +say about it." + +"I wonder whether the Examiner reporter has a tip on this?" the +Chronicle man queried hopefully. + +"Not from me. This story is for you, young man. That's why I called +you down to my office." + +About the same hour J. Augustus Redell might have been seen at the +press table on 'Change, unfolding a similar story to the market +reporter of the Examiner, who thought it was a humdinger of a story, +and so declared. + +"All right. Glad you think so," Mr. Redell replied, beaming upon him. +"And just to show you I'm right, I'll not breathe a word of it to the +Chronicle man." + +Having planted his journalistic bomb, Mr. Redell glanced at his watch. +It was exactly eleven o'clock. "I still have time," he murmured, and +departed immediately to the office of Gregg of December wheat, but to +cease selling the instant the market hesitated to absorb it or the +price broke a point. At the same moment, in another brokerage office, +Cappy Ricks was issuing a similar order. Before the market closed, +Cappy had succeeded in selling a hundred and eighty thousand bushels, +while Redell had disposed of a hundred and thirty. Evidently the bears +took it as it came, for the market closed strong at $1.89. + +Neither Cappy nor Redell reported at his office the following day. At +the hour when the market opened in Chicago both schemers appeared on +the floor of the Merchants' Exchange and bent their gaze upon the only +blackboard on 'Change they had not heretofore honored with their +scrutiny--the board in back of the Grain Pit, which carried the +quotations on the Chicago Board of Trade, already beginning to come in +by wire. + +For an hour the trading was inactive. Then suddenly the price broke +half a point as somebody tossed a lot of fifty thousand bushels on the +market. Cappy and Redell each wondered whether he might not be the +responsible party; and while they pondered somebody unloaded a hundred +thousand bushels at $1.88. Cappy gasped as the quotations appeared on +the blackboard. + +"Something doing, Gus!" he whispered; Redell nodded. + +And now commenced a period of wild trading. The price crept back to +$1.89, only to be assaulted and beaten back to $1.87; then, fraction +by fraction and point by point, the price fell; and J. Augustus Redell +wagged his head approvingly. + +"They have received our message," he said. "The riot is on!" + +When the price had been beaten down to $1.83 Cappy turned to his +associate. + +"I'm through!" he said. "Time to cover my shorts." And he trotted away +to a telephone booth. + +As for Redell, he would not intrust his fortune to a telephonic order, +but sprang into 'his runabout, parked at the curb outside the +Exchange, and scorched uptown to Gregg & Co.'s offices, where he +learned that he had sold four hundred and ten thousand bushels of +December wheat. One hundred thousand had been sold at $1.90, two +hundred and eighty thousand at prices varying from $1.89 to $1.88 1/8, +and the remainder at 1.88. + +"Buy me four hundred and ten thousand bushels at the market," he +ordered. + +Before he left the office the sale had been confirmed and Mr. Redell's +shorts had been covered at a price ranging from $1.83 to $1.83 5/8, +whereupon he closed out his trade and received a check for his margin +and his profits. An hour later he met Cappy Ricks again on 'Change. + +"Well, Cappy?" he queried. + +"I cleaned up, thank you," the old gentleman informed him. "Sold, +bought, and got the money. This is one time it rained duck soup and I +was there with a bucket." + +He prodded Mr. Redell playfully in the short ribs and the incident was +closed. They had made a profit of more than twenty thousand dollars +each; and when each returned to his office he forgot all about +December wheat until half past five that evening, when both met on the +deserted floor of the exchange to scan the blackboard. December wheat +had closed that day at $1.83! Two days later J. Augustus Redell called +Cappy Ricks on the telephone. + +"That you, Cappy?" + +"Yep!" + +"Redell speaking. Read the story on the front page of the Chronicle +this morning?" + +"No; what was it?" + +"The British Government has placed an embargo on the exportation of +wheat from Australia; so all those eighteen charters I negotiated with +Ford were placed with Ford & Carter subject to Ford & Carter's ability +to make delivery and to prior sale. Before Ford & Carter could make +them firm orders and get in over their heads, I tipped them off to the +possibility of this government embargo." + +"You tipped them off! How did you know the British Government was +going to clap an embargo on Australian wheat?" + +"Why, I didn't know," Redell confessed. "I just guessed it would; so I +advised Ford than I did--and I made a trifle more than twenty-four +thousand dollars," + +"Is that so? Well, listen to me tell it; When you and I cashed in that +day our deal was closed wasn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"And I'd played fair with you?" + +"You certainly did, Gus." + +"Then I was freed from any further obligations to take you into +partnership with me, was I not?" + +"That's how I figure it, my boy." + +"That's how I figured it also, Cappy. Consequently, being morally +certain that the British Government would place an embargo on the +exportation of Australian wheat--Cappy, you must admit that the +British Government would have been absolutely crazy if it hadn't--I +just called on Gregg & Co. and bought another half million bushels of +December wheat at $1.83 to $1.84 a bushel. Then I sat tight and waited +for that embargo story to break. Cappy, do you know that story just +raised hell on the Chicago Pit today? The bears were caught napping; +and the bulls got busy and kicked the price up to $1.90 again, at +which figure I unloaded and took my profit." + +"You amazing rascal! Why didn't you tip your partner off to that +deal?" + +"We were no longer partners. You admitted that a moment ago. When I +first outlined this scheme I didn't have a dollar to spare with which +I could speculate. Every last cent was tied up in the business of the +West Coast Trading Company. So I schemed to take you in as a partner +on one-half of the deal; and you not only financed me but guaranteed +me to the broker! Your introduction was all I wanted. After that my +credit was as good as December wheat; in consequence of which, without +a cent invested, I was actually enabled to carry a trade for half a +million bushels! Much obliged to you, Cappy. You're a fine old sport, +and I like you--I wouldn't be surprised if you laid off on me after +this--eh, Cappy?" + +"Gus," said Cappy Ricks, "one of these days the Democratic party is +going to wake up and discover that America isn't where they left it +the night before! And when that happens they're going to ask you about +it, you--you--infer-nal--" + +The phone clicked. J. Augustus Redell had hung up. + +"Drat it!--God bless him!" murmured Cappy Ricks--and hung up, too. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + + + + + +Whenever Cappy Ricks made up his mind that his Blue Star Navigation +Company ought to add another vessel to its rapidly growing fleet, he +preferred to build her; for a few bitter experiences early in life had +convinced him that the man who buys the other fellow's ship quite +frequently is given a bonus in the shape of the other fellow's +troubles--troubles which have the unhappy faculty of tilting the +profit-and-loss account over into the red-ink figures. In order to +avoid these troubles, therefore, Cappy would summon his naval +architect, whom he would practically drive to distraction by fussing +over the plans submitted before giving a final grudging acceptance. +The blue prints approved, Cappy would spend a week picking holes in +the specifications, and when there was no more fault to find Mr. +Skinner, his general manager and the president of the Ricks Lumber & +Logging Company, would send a list of the timbers, planking, and so on +required, to one of Cappy's sawmills in Washington; for Cappy had a +theory--the good Lord knows why or where acquired--that Douglas fir +from the state of Washington was better for shipbuilding purposes than +Douglas fir grown in Oregon. Perhaps he figured that the Columbia +River, which separates the two states, made a difference in grade. + +The woods boss would then be adjured to select his trees with great +care. No tree would do that sprouted a limb within eighty feet of the +butt, and the butt had to be at least six feet in diameter, in order +that it might produce fine, clear, long-length planks that would not +contain "heart" timber--the heart of a log having a tendency to check +or split when seasoned. When the material was sawed a Blue Star steam +schooner would transport it to San Francisco Bay, and it would be +stored in Cappy's retail lumber yard in Oakland, to be seasoned and +air-dried; following which Cappy Ricks would let the contract for the +building of the vessel to a shipyard on Oakland Estuary, and sell the +builder this seasoned stock at the price of rough green material, even +though it was worth two dollars a thousand extra--not to mention the +additional value for the extra-long lengths furnished specially. +Cappy's ancestors, back in Maine, had built too many ships to have +failed to impress upon him the wisdom of this course; for, on this +point at least, initial extravagance inevitably develops into ultimate +economy. + +Following the laying of the keel, Cappy would come out of retirement +and become an extremely busy man. He had the vessel's engines to +consider; and for two weeks his private office would resound with the +arguments and recriminations of Cappy and his port engineer. There +would be much talk of pistons, displacement of cylinders, stroke, +reciprocating engines, steeple compound and triple-expansion engines, +Scotch boilers, winches, compressors, dynamos, composition and iron +propellers and the latest developments in crude-oil burners. And on +the day when the port engineer, grown desperate because of the old +man's opposition to some detail, would fly into a rage and resign, +Cappy would know that, at last, everything was all right; whereupon he +would scornfully reject the resignation and take his port engineer to +luncheon at the Commercial Club, just to show he wasn't harboring a +grudge. + +In the meantime the port captain would be making daily visits to the +shipyard to make certain that the builder was holding rigidly to the +specifications and not trying to skimp here and there; and on +Saturdays Cappy would accompany him and satisfy himself that the port +captain wasn't being imposed upon. Finally the ship would be launched; +and as she slid down the ways Cappy Ricks would be standing on her +forecastle head, his old heart fluttering in his thirty-six-inch chest +and his coat-tails fluttering in the breeze, one arm round the port +captain and the other round the port engineer. As the hull slipped +into the drink he would say: + +"Boys, this is the life! I love it! By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, +there's more romance in ships than you'll find in most married lives!" +Then he would wave an arm up Oakland Estuary, which prior to the great +war was the graveyard of Pacific Coast shipping, and say with great +pride: "Well, we've done a good job on this craft, boys; she'll never +end in Rotten Row! Every sliver in her is air-dried and seasoned. +That's the stuff! Build 'em of unseasoned material and dry rot +develops the first year; in five years they're punk inside, and +then--some fine day they're posted as missing at Lloyd's. Did you ever +see a Blue Star ship lying in Rotten Row? No; you bet you didn't--and +you never will! I never built a cheap boat and I never ran 'em cheap. +By gravy, the Blue Star ships are like the Blue Nose that owns 'em! +They'll be found dead on the job!" + +Quite early in 1915 the Blue Star Navigation Company had found ample +opportunity, due to a world scarcity of tonnage, to dispose of several +of their oldest and smallest steam schooners at unbelievably fine +prices. + +"Get rid of them, Matt," Cappy advised his son-in-law, Captain Matt +Peasley, whom he had made president of the company. "You have the +permission of the president emeritus to go as far as you like. Big +boats for us from now on, boy. Slip the little ones while the slipping +is good. These high prices will not prevail very long--only while the +war continues; and at the rate they're slaughtering each other over in +France the war will be over in six months; then prices will fall +kerflump! Then we'll build a couple of real steamers." + +So Matt Peasley promptly sold five steam schooners, following which he +made up his mind that the world still had two years of war ahead of +it. Accordingly he urged the letting of contracts for two +seven-thousand-five-hundred-ton steel freighters immediately. + +"Nothing doing!" Cappy declared. "Why, it's rank nonsense to think of +building now at wartime prices. If our recent sales have pinched us +for tonnage we'll have to charter from our neighbors and worry along +as best we can until the war is over." + +"You're making a mistake, Cappy Ricks," his son-in-law warned him. + +"Ask Skinner if I am. Skinner, let's have your opinion." + +Mr. Skinner, always cautious and ultra-conservative promptly advised +against Matt Peasley's course; but Matt would not be downed without a +fight. + +"I know prices for ship construction are fearfully high just now," he +admitted; "but--mark my words!--they're going to double; and if we +place our contracts now, while we have an opportunity to do so, we'll +be getting in on the ground floor. I tell you that war hasn't really +started yet; and the longer it continues the higher will prices on all +commodities soar--but principally on ship construction. Father-in-law, +I beg of you to let me get busy and build. Suppose the boats do cost +us a quarter of a million dollars more each than we could have built +them for in 1914. What of it? We have the money--and if we didn't have +it we could borrow it. I don't care what a ship costs me when freight +rates are soaring to meet the advance in construction costs." + +Nevertheless, Cappy and Mr. Skinner hooted him down. Three months +later, however, when Cappy Ricks had changed his mind, and Mr. Skinner +was too heartbroken to curse himself for a purblind idiot, it was too +late to place the contracts. Every shipyard in the United States and +abroad was loaded up with building orders for three years in advance, +and the Blue Star Navigation Company was left to twiddle its corporate +thumbs. Matt Peasley was so angry that he almost speculated on the +delight of being at sea again, in command of a square rigger, with +Cappy Ricks and Mr. Skinner signed on as A.B.'s; in which condition of +servitude he might dare to call them aft and knock their heads +together. However, he managed to have his revenge. Every time nitrate +freights went up a dollar a ton he told them about it with great +gusto, and the day he chartered the _Tillicum_ for Vladivostok, with +steel for the Russian Government at seventy-five dollars a ton, he +had poor Cappy moaning in his wretchedness. + +"Just think how nice it would be," he taunted his aged relative, "if +we had only placed contracts for two big boats when I urged it. By the +middle of summer I'd have them both on the Vladivostok run--perhaps at +a hundred dollars a ton; and long before the war is over you could do +what you've been trying to do for the past ten years." + +"Do what?" Cappy queried. + +"Retire!" Matt retorted meaningly. + +"In-fernal young scoundrel!" Cappy was angry enough to commit murder. +"Out of my office!" he shrilled, and pointed to the door. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + + + + + +For once in his busy life it was, figuratively speaking, raining duck +soup, and poor Cappy was there with a fork! When he had recovered his +composure he sent for Matt Peasley. + +"Matt, my dear boy," he confessed miserably, "this is certainly one +occasion upon which father appears to have overlooked his hand. +However, none of us is perfect; and if we're caught out without an +umbrella, so to speak--" + +"We?" Matt reminded him witheringly. "Cappy, it's all right to use +that 'we' stuff when you're talking to Skinner, but trot out the +perpendicular pronoun when you're talking to me. I hate to say 'I told +you so'; but--" + +"Lay off me!" Cappy pleaded. "I'm an old man, Matt; so be easy on me. +Besides, I don't make a mistake very often, and you know it." + +"I do know it. But when you blocked me on that building scheme you +certainly made up for lost time. Really, Cappy, you mustn't make me +play so close to my vest in these brisk times. If I'm to manage the +Blue Star Navigation Company I mustn't have my ideas pooh-poohed as if +I were a hare-brained child." + +"I know, Matt; I know. But I built up the Blue Star Navigation Company +and the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company by playing 'em close, and it's +a hard habit to break. + +"However, let us forget the past and look forward with confidence to +the future. Matt, my dear boy, since we cannot get a shipyard to build +a steamer for us, I'm going to break a rule of forty years' standing +and buy one in the open market. I guess that'll prove to you I'm not +so hide-bound with conservatism as you think. Go forth into the +highways and the byways, Matt, and see what they have for sale." + +"How high do you want me to go?" + +"As high as they hung Haman--if you find it necessary." + +"That's certainly a free hand; but I'm afraid it comes too late. I +doubt if there is an owner with the kind of steamer we want who is +crazy enough to sell her." + +"Tish! Tush! All things are for sale all the time. Scour the market, +Matt, and you'll find Cappy Ricks isn't the only damned fool left in +the shipping business. My boy, you'd be surprised at the number of +so-called business men who are entirely devoid of imagination. Dozens +of them still think the war will end this fall, but I'm willing to +make a healthy bet that the fall of 1917 still finds them going to it +to beat four of a kind." + +"You said something that time, father-in-law," Matt replied +laughingly. + +Then he roughed the old man affectionately and went forth into +California Street, where he wore out much shoe leather before he +located what he considered a bargain and reported back to the +president emeritus. + +"You're right, Cappy!" he declared. "You aren't the only boob in the +shipping business. I've located another." + +"That's what you get by taking father's advice," Gappy retorted +proudly. "Have you bought a steamer?" + +"No; but I'm going to buy one this afternoon. She's going to cost us +half a million dollars, cash on the nail, and I have an option on her +at that figure until noon today. Skinner has a lot of lumber money he +isn't using, and I'm going to borrow a quarter of a million from his +company on the Blue Star note at six per cent. Don't want to run our +own treasury too low." + +"Dog-gone that Skinner! That's some more of his efficiency. I own both +companies, and it's just like taking money out of one pocket and +putting it into the other; but Skinner's a bug on system. Just think +of making me pay myself six per cent interest! However, I suppose we +must have some kind of order. What's the name of the steamer?" + +"The _Penelope_." + +Cappy Ricks slid out to the edge of his chair, placed one hand on each +knee, and appraisingly eyed his son-in-law over the rims of his +glasses. + +"Say that again, Matt--and say it slow," he ordered. + +"I said _Penelope--P-e-n-e-l-o-p-e_. Maybe you call her the +_Pen-elope!_" + +"Are you buying her as is?" Matt nodded. "To hear you tell it, Matt, +one might gather the impression that half a million dollars is about +what we give the janitor at Christmas. Boy, half a million dollars is +real money." + +"Not in the shipping business these days, Cappy. Why, you have to +wave that much under an owner's nose before he'll look up and show +interest enough to ask you who you are and who let you in." + +"Well, the man who would, in cold blood, consider paying half a +million dollars for the _Penelope_ is certainly ripe for a padded +cell," Cappy jeered. "That fellow Hudner, of the Black Butte Lumber +Company, owns her, does he not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then you know exactly the condition she's in. I'll bet a cooky her +bottom plates are rusted so thin from lack of an occasional coat of +red paint that if you were to stand on her bridge and toss a tack +hammer down her main hatch you'd punch a hole in her. She's a long, +narrow-gutted, cranky coffin--that's what she is; and the worst-found +ship in Pacific waters. Why, let me tell you something, young man: she +can't get by the inspectors this minute." + +"She has just gotten by them," Matt contradicted. "Passed yesterday." + +"What does that signify? When her skipper has her up for inspection he +scours the water front like a hungry dog, borrowing a boathook here, a +sound life-boat there, some fire buckets elsewhere, a hose from the +fire tug, and a lot of engine-room tools wherever he can get them. As +for life preservers, he rents them for ten cents each from a marine +junk dealer. So, when the inspectors arrive, the _Penelope_ is a +well-found ship; as soon as they pass her the skipper returns the +equipment, with thanks. As for paint--why, the only painting she ever +gets is when Hudner lays her alongside some British ship to discharge +a foreign cargo of lumber into the lime-juicer; then her mate steals +all the paint in the Britisher's lazaret. The poor, unfortunate devil! +He has to do something to make a showing with the _Penelope's_ owner! +I tell you, Matt, I know this man Hudner! He's as thrifty as an +Armenian and as slippery as a skating rink. He's laying to stab you, +boy. Mind your step!" + +"Even so, Cappy, she's a bargain. I expect to spend fifty thousand +dollars putting her in first-class condition after we get her." + +"You expect to spend it! Why, how you talk! Hudner is the one that +should spend that money. For the love of trade, what is he selling +you? A ship or a hulk?" + +"I don't care what she is; we can make her pay for herself and earn +half a million or a million extra before this war ends. And she won't +be such a bad vessel after she's shipped a couple of new plates. She +has a dead weight capacity for six thousand tons and was built at +Sunderland in 1902. When she went ashore off Point Sur, in 1909, +Hudner bought her from the underwriters for five thousand dollars and +spent more than half her original cost repairing her. That, of course, +made her tantamount to a ship built in the United States, and under +American registry she can run between American ports. And that's what +we want. She'll be just the thing to carry lumber to New York, via the +Canal, when the war ends and the nitrate harvest is over." + +Cappy Ricks threw up his hands. + +"You see before you, my boy," he said mournfully, "a dollar-burdened, +world-weary old man, who for ten years has been trying to retire from +active business, and cannot. The reason is he dassent; if he dassed, +this shebang would be in the hands of the sheriff within a year. Now, +listen, young feller! I know all about the _Penelope_. Before the war +she had repaid Hudner, with interest, every cent she cost him, and +since the war I suppose she's made half a million dollars. Now when +Hudner finds he has to spend a lot of money fixing her up, he figures +it's best to get rid of her and saddle somebody else with the bill. +Her intrinsic value is just about one hundred and twenty-five thousand +dollars, and when Hudner asks half a million for her he expects to get +four hundred and fifty thousand. In order to play safe, go back and +offer him four hundred thousand dollars; presently he'll come down +fifty thousand and you'll come up fifty thousand, and the trade will +be closed on that basis. Meantime I'll sit here and weep as I reflect +on the cost of putting that ruin in fit shape to receive a Blue Star +house flag. I tell you, Matt, I wouldn't send Pancho Villa to sea in +her as she is now." + +Matt Peasley, like Cappy Ricks, was a Yankee; when he did business he +liked to chaffer; and, after all--he thought--there was a certain +shrewd philosophy in what his foxy father-in-law had said. At least +Cappy had supplied him with ammunition for argument; so he went back +to Hudner's office and argued and pleaded and ridiculed, but all to no +avail. He returned to Cappy Ricks' office. + +"I fought him all over his office," he complained, "but he wouldn't +come down a cent. I think we'd better take a chance and give him half +a million." + +"Fiddlesticks! Stay with him, Matt. I know Hudner. He acts like he's +full of bellicose veins, but anybody can outgame him. Let your option +expire; then to-morrow meet him accidentally on 'Change and talk with +him half an hour about everything on earth except the S. S. +_Penelope_. Just before you leave him he'll grab you by the lapel of +your coat and ask if you're still interested in the _Penelope_. Then +you say: 'Why, yes--moderately; but not at half a million.' Then you +make him a firm offer--for the last time--of four hundred and fifty +thousand dollars; and he'll say: 'I'll split the difference with +you'--and before he can crawfish you accept. You're bound to make at +least twenty-five thousand by following my advice, Matt." + +Matt Peasley ran his big hand through his thick black locks. + +"By jingo," he declared, "we'd make twenty-five thousand dollars while +we're dickering with Hudner!" + +"I know, my boy; but then I don't like Hudner, and it's awful to do +business with a son of a horsethief you don't like and let him put one +over on you. That's the thrill of doing business, Matt. Though I'd +hate to have anybody think I'm in business for fun, still, if I +thought I couldn't get some fun out of business I'd go right down to +Mission Street Wharf and end all." + +"Nitrate freights are up to thirty dollars a ton," said Matt later +that day. "They were twelve a year and a half ago. Cappy, we can't +risk the delay; and I'm sorry I took your advice and let my option +expire. I insist on buying." He reached for Cappy's desk 'phone. "I'm +going to tell Hudner to prepare the bill of sale--that I'll be up in +fifteen minutes with the check. He who hesitates is lost, and--" + +The door opened and a youth stood in the entrance. + +"Mr. J. O. Heyfuss is calling," he announced. + +"Show him in immediately," Cappy ordered, glad of the opportunity to +delay Matt's telephonic acceptance of the vessel at Hudner's price. +"Hold on a minute, Matt," he continued, turning to his son-in-law. +"Heyfuss is a ship broker; maybe he has a ship to sell us; she might +prove to be a better buy than the _Penelope_... Howdy, Heyfuss? Come +in and sit down." + +Mr. Heyfuss entered smilingly, saluted both satellites of the Blue +Star and sat down. + +"Well, gentlemen," he announced, "wonders will never cease. Every day +I'm seeing, hearing and doing wonderful things in the shipping +business. Day before yesterday I bought the old barkentine _Mayfair_. +She'd been laid up in Rotten Row for seven years, and for at least +four years the tide has been rising and falling inside her. She cost +me seven hundred and fifty dollars, and I sold her the same afternoon +to Al Hanify for a thousand. Not very much of a profit; but then it +was Saturday and everybody closes up shop at noon, you know. So I felt +the day wasn't a blank, anyhow. + +"And what do you suppose Al did? You'll laugh. He called up Crowley +her out on Hanlon's Marine Way, putting a new bottom in her. They're +going to spend twenty thousand dollars on her; and when she's ready +for sea Redell has a cargo of fir for Sydney waiting for her. + +"She'll come back with coal and make her owners at least fifty +thousand dollars." + +"That's all very interesting to outsiders, but commonplace stuff to +us," Cappy reminded his visitor. "Have you got a commission to sell a +ship for somebody?" + +"Want one?" + +"Surest thing you know!" + +"All right. I'll sell you the _Alden Besse_. She's an old tea clipper, +built in the forties; but she's sound and tight. Been a motion picture +ship for the past five years. I can deliver her to you for forty +thousand dollars." + +"No, you'll not. I sold her to the motion picture people for fifteen +hundred," Cappy countered, "and I don't want her back at any price. I +send my boys to sea to earn a safe living, not to visit Davy Jones' +locker." + +"Well, I think I might get you the old Australian prison ship, +_Success_. She was built at Rangoon in 1790, of teak, and will last +forever. Perhaps you saw her when she was exhibited at the Exposition +last year. Might get her for you kind of cheap." + +"Nothing doing. Heyfuss, we want a steamer." + +"Sorry, but I haven't a thing in steamers. Just sold the last one I +had ten minutes ago--the _Penelope_." + +"The what!" Matt Peasley and Cappy cried in chorus. + +"The _Penelope_. Sold her to a big Eastern powder company. She goes +into the nitrate trade, of course. These munition manufacturers must +have powder, and to get powder they must have nitrate, and to get +nitrate they must have ships, and to get ships they must pay the +price. I got Hudner a million dollars for that ruin of a _Penelope._" + +Matt Peasley gently seized J. O. Heyfuss by the ear and led him to the +door. + +"Out, thief!" he cried. "You can't sell us anything; so we don't want +you hanging round this office. You might steal the safe or a roll-top +desk, or something." + +Heyfuss departed, laughing good-naturedly, and Matt Peasley turned to +confront Cappy Ricks. The latter had shrunk up in his chair and was +looking as chopfallen and guilty as a dog caught sucking eggs. He +favored his big son-in-law with a quick, shifty glance, and then +looked down at the carpet. + +Matt folded his arms and stared at him until he looked up. + +"Don't you go to pick on me!" he warned Matt furiously. "I'll not be +picked on in my own office, even by a relative." + +Matt threw back his head and chanted, + + + _"There was I, waiting at the church, + Waiting at the church--"_ + +"I was right!" Cappy shrilled. "My mode of procedure was without a +flaw." + +"Absolutely! The operation was a success, but the patient died." + +"But a feller just has to haggle!" Cappy wailed. He was almost on the +verge of tears. "It's the basic principle of all trading. Why, I've +made my everlasting fortune by haggling. Drat your picture, don't you +know that the very pillars of financial success rest on +counter-propositions?" + +"Listen, relative, listen: I haven't said a word to you, have I?" Matt +replied. + +"No; but you looked it, and I'll not be looked at." + +"All right, Cappy, I'll not look. But I can't help thinking." + +"Thinking what?" + +"That it's about time you quit talking about retiring--and retired!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + + + + + +With this Parthian shot Matt himself retired, leaving Cappy to shiver +and bow his head on his breast; in which position he remained +motionless for fully an hour. + +"I guess the boy's right," he soliloquized finally. "I think I'd +better retire, after pulling that kind of a deal twice in the same +place. The pace is getting too swift for me, I think; I can't keep +up... Well, I guess they've got the goods on me this time. Matt was +certainly on the job twice, and I blocked him both times ... Oh, Lord! +I'll never hear the last of this... By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, +I've lost my punch! Matt didn't say so; but he thinks it. And I don't +blame him a bit." + +The door of Cappy's office opened and again the youth stood in the +entrance. "Mr. Redell is calling; there's a gentleman with him," he +announced. + +"Tell 'em I'm busier'n a cranberry merchant," Cappy snarled. "And +unless you're figuring on hunting a new job, my son, don't you come in +here again today." + +The youth retired. However, he knew from experience that Cappy Ricks +never discharged anybody save for insubordination or rank +incompetence; hence, he did not hesitate to disobey the old +gentleman's edict. + +"Mr. Redell says his business is very important," he announced, +presenting himself once more at the door. + +"All right! No rest for the weary. Show them in." + +J. Augustus Redell entered, accompanied by no less a personage than +the British Consul. Cappy greeted them without enthusiasm and bade +them be seated. + +"Well," J. Augustus Redell announced cheerily, "It's plain to be seen +that Little Sunshine hasn't been round this office recently." + +Cappy grunted. + +"What's gone wrong, Cappy?" + +"Everything! Been going wrong for years and I never realized it until +this afternoon. Ah, Gus, my dear young friend, how I envy you your +youth, your capacity to think, your golden dreams, your boundless +energy, your ability to make two-dollar bills grow where one-dollar +bills grew before, thus making an apparently barren prospect as +verdant as a meadow in spring. But make the most of your opportunity, +young feller! The day will come to you, as it has come to me, when +everything you do will be done twenty minutes too late; when every +dollar you make will be subject to a cash discount of one hundred per +cent; when every competitor you held cheap will suddenly develop the +luck of the devil, the brains of a Demosthenes, and the courage of a +hog going to war." + +"I should judge that you have recently suffered a great bereavement." + +"I have, Augustus, I have. Through my indecision I have just lost a +bank roll a greyhound couldn't have jumped over. Suppose it was a +paper profit? I grieve just the same." + +"Forget it, Cappy! Life is real, life is earnest, and you have a bank +roll of real profits a giraffe couldn't reach the top of." + +"Oh, it isn't the money, Gus. Money is only a vulgar symbol of my +bereavement. The trouble is--I've lost my punch! I can't think, Gus; I +can't act promptly. I'm out of touch with my times. I remind myself of +nothing so much as the old rooster that suddenly discovered he had +been elected to furnish the dinner the following Sunday. His hens +cackled and called to him that they had found some worms, but he +wouldn't pay any attention to them; just leaned up against the wire +netting in the poultry yard and said to himself: 'Oh, hell! What's the +use? Today an egg--tomorrow a feather duster!'" + +"Don't be pessimistic, Cappy. Don't! It doesn't become you, and I +don't believe a word you're telling me. You're still the old he-fox of +the world; and I've come to you for help on a deal that's going to +mean a whole lot of money to both of us if we can only put it +through." + +"I'm sorry, Gus, but I'm not interested. As a matter of fact, I've +retired." + +"Nonsense! Nonsense! I know where there's a beautiful ten-thousand- +ton, net register, steel steamer to be bought for three hundred +thousand dollars--" + +Cappy Ricks threw out an arm and pressed his hand against Redell's +mouth. + +"Sh-h-h!" he warned. "Sh-h-h! Hush!" + +With the agility of a man half his age Cappy ran to the door, bolted +it on the inside and returned to his desk. He was rubbing his hands +and his eyes were aglow with interest. + +"What are you sh-h-h-ing about?" Redell demanded. + +"Matt Peasley and that cowardly Skinner. Not a word of this to them, +Gus! Not--a--whisper!" And he winked one eye and twisted up the corner +of his mouth knowingly. Mr. Redell nodded his promise and Cappy went +on: "Now Gus, my dear young friend, start in at the beginning and tell +me everything. I assume, of course, that this is real business and not +another of your jokes on the old man. Word of honor, Gus?" + +"Word of honor, Cappy." + +"All right; blaze away! Come, come! What have you got to offer?" + +"I have a condition and I offer you a half interest in it if you can +suggest a plan to circumvent His Royal Highness, Kaiser Wilhelm--" + +"Hum-m-m! Enough!" Cappy interrupted, and turned to the British +Consul: "This is an international affair, eh? See if I don't state the +proposition in a nutshell--if I may be pardoned the bromide. This +steamer is a German, and the proposition is to get her under the +American flag so firmly that she'll stay there; then, I suppose, we're +to charter her to the British Government, or one of Britain's +allies--Russia, for instance." + +J. Augustus Redell and the British Consul exchanged admiring winks. + +"What did I tell you, Mister Consul?" Redell declared triumphantly. +"Mr. Ricks knows the story before we have told it. And yet he's +complaining about the loss of his punch!" + +Cappy looked slightly self-conscious; it was plain the compliment +pleased him. + +"Well, Gus, my boy," he answered, "I have lost my punch, though at +that I'm not exactly a pork-and-beaner. Hum-m-m! Ahem! Harumph-h-h! +This must be a hard order to fill. Mister Consul, when Gus Redell has +to come to me for help. That son of a gun can move faster and go +through more obstacles than quicksilver. Gus, what's gone wrong with +you? Have you lost your punch too? And at your age?" + +"Looks like it, Cappy. I've thought and thought until I'm desperate, +and not an idea worth while has presented itself. That's why I've come +to you." + +"Well, I don't guarantee a cure, my boy. But I'll say this much: If +you and I can't put this thing over, then it just isn't put-overable. +Fire away, Gus!" + +"Have you ever heard of the steamer _Bavarian?"_ + +"Of course! She belongs to Adolph Koenitz and flies the German flag. +Since the war started she's been interned down in Mission Bay." + +Redell nodded. + +"Adolph Koenitz never became an American citizen, despite the fact +that he had lived in San Francisco twenty years and operated three +steamers out of this port. He was a reserve officer in the German +Navy; and when the war broke out he interned his ships, placed his +entire estate in his wife's name and reported for duty. He perished in +the Battle of Jutland, both his boys were killed at Verdun, and now +his widow would like to sell the _Bavarian_ and get some cash. She had +a large income from an estate in Germany, but the war cut that off. + +"Also, it appears that Koenitz was rather heavily involved, and the +expense of maintaining those interned steamers, with their German +crews aboard, has his widow badly worried; in fact, she has reached +the point where she finds it necessary to sell one of the steamers in +order to hang on to the other two. She has tried to raise a mortgage +on the _Bavarian_, but nobody cares to loan money on an interned +German steamer." + +"Naturally," Cappy replied sarcastically. "And I'm amazed that you +should consider me boob enough to consider seriously buying the same +steamer outright! Gus, I'd have about as much use for that steamer as +I would have for a tail. Even if I should buy her now, and not use her +until the war is over, I should be risking my money; for the German +Government, if you remember, issued an order in 1915 forbidding its +subjects to sell their interned ships without the consent of the said +government. And, even if Mrs. Koenitz can procure the Kaiser's +consent, I fail to see the wisdom of tying up three hundred thousand +dollars in an idle investment." + +"Ah, but under those circumstances she wouldn't be an idle +investment." + +"Yes, she would, my boy. Great Britain issued an Order in Council in +1914 notifying all neutral nations that she would not sanction the +transfer of registry of any German vessel. A few daring devils took a +chance--and what happened? The British Navy overhauled the ships at +sea and took them into a British port where a British prize court +confiscated them. There is the case of the _Mazatlan_, for instance. +She was German owned and flew the German flag; her owner put her under +the Mexican flag, and subsequently she was sold at a bargain to one of +our neighbors, who put her under American registry. Do you know where +the _Mazatlan_ is now? Well, I'll tell you: She's freighting war +munitions for Johnny Bull--and our optimistic neighbor isn't +collecting the freight money either." + +"Quite true, Mr. Ricks; quite true--in ordinary cases," the Consul +told him smilingly. + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet! I smell a mouse. Hum-m-m! That +simplifies matters. We-l-l! If you are in position, Mister Consul, to +give me your word of honor as a gentleman and an officer of your king +that the British Navy will turn its blind side to the _Bavarian_ when +she puts to sea, I'll buy the _Bavarian_ so fast it'll make your head +swim. In return for this favor, of course, I am to charter the ship at +the going rates to--" + +"Our ally, the Russian Government, Mr. Ricks. And you have my word of +honor, which is all I can give you; for a deal like this, as you know, +cannot be made in writing. I have had the matter up with the +Admiralty, however, and permission has been granted me to give the +verbal assurance of my government." + +"I'll make a finger bet with your government, Mister Consul. As for +Kaiser Bill's consent to the transfer--_heraus mit 'em!_ We'll get +along without that. Wilhelm doesn't cut much ice with me these days +and I'm willing to wager the price of the _Bavarian_ that such ice as +he does cut will blame soon melt. Gus, you say Mrs. Koenitz wants to +sell?" + +"Yes." + +"And she doesn't care who buys?" + +"Not a particle! She's sore on the Kaiser; it's been thumbs down on +Wilhelm ever since Adolph and the boys lost the number of their mess. +She says to me: 'Herr Riddle, dot Kaiser orders war like I order +beer!' However, there's an 'if' to the transfer. While we know the +British Navy will not bother us should we buy the steamer, still +enthusiastic Britishers all over the world will have their eyes on the +_Bavarian_ and clamor for her capture. Great Britain cannot +publicly--or, at least, obviously--make any exceptions to her Order in +Council, and we'll have to mess up that steamer's title and nativity +to save John Bull's social standing. We must make a bluff at deceiving +him. If we can show some sort of legal transfer to another flag J. B. +can play blindman's buff with dignity and honor; otherwise nix!" + +Cappy Ricks' eyes sought the ceiling. + +"What have I done to deserve this?" he demanded of an invisible +Presence. "Why am I afflicted thus? Job had his boils; but you and I, +Augustus, are covered with a financial rash, bleeding at every pore, +and with no relief in sight." + +"I told you this was a tough one, Cappy. I've pondered the situation +until my brain is addled like a last year's nest egg, and finally I've +come to you as a last resort. If you can't cook up an airtight scheme, +then there is no help; and I'm going to forget the _Bavarian_ and +attend to some business more profitable and less debilitating." + +"There must be an out, Gus. It's too good a thing to abandon. Suppose +you and the Consul go away and give me time to concentrate my thoughts +on this problem. It's a holy terror; but--Well, I've seen dogs almost +as sick as this one cured." + +"God bless you!" Mr. Redell murmured fervently. "Consul, let us +depart and leave Mr. Ricks to himself. Call me up, Cappy, when you see +a ray of light. Two heads are better than one, you know." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + + + + + +When his visitors had gone Cappy Ricks gave orders that he was not to +be disturbed on any pretext whatever. Then he locked himself in, swung +his legs to the top of his desk, slid low in his chair until he rested +on his spine, bowed his head on his breast and closed his eyes. The +battle was on. + +One hour later J. Augustus Redell entered breathlessly in response to +a telephonic invitation from Cappy. + +"Gus," the latter began, "am I right in assuming that you possess a +reasonable amount of influence with that hair-trigger partner of +yours, Live Wire Luiz?" Redell nodded. "And is Luiz absolutely +trustworthy? Will he stay put and keep his mouth closed?" + +"He is my partner, Cappy. He's mercurial, but a gentleman. I'd trust +him with my life, and I always trust him with my bank roll. He +requires no watching." + +"Good! Gus, send Live Wire Luiz down to Guaymas and have him +incorporate the North and South American Steamship Company there, +under the extremely flexible and evershifting laws of the Republic of +Mexico. Luiz is a Peruvian and speaks Spanish, and knows the Mexican +temperament. He can easily procure three Mexicans to act as a dummy +board of directors; his own name, of course, for obvious reasons, must +never appear in connection with this company. A thousand dollars ought +to cover this Mexican expense." + +"Consider that point attended to, Cappy." + +"Fine! Now then, when this corporate vehicle is in running order and +has opened an office in Guaymas, Live Wire Luiz will write your +company, The West Coast Trading Company, saying that his company has +been referred to you by some mutual friends in Guaymas. Of course Luiz +doesn't sign this letter. It is signed by the North and South American +Steamship Company, per the dummy secretary or president. The letter +goes on to say that the latter company is in the market for a steamer, +the general specifications of which, singularly enough, fit the +_Bavarian._ The vessel is to be used for transporting troops up and +down the west coast of Mexico and for freighting munitions from Japan; +and in a delicate way it might be hinted that the de facto Mexican +Government is the real buyer. A commission of five per cent is offered +you for buying the vessel for them, said commission to be split +fifty-fifty with the North and South American Steamship Company; this +being the Mexican way of doing business, as you know." + +"Consider that matter attended to also. I'll write the letter myself +before Luiz starts for Guaymas, so I'll be certain the job will be +done exactly right." + +"As soon as you receive this letter you get busy and wire the North +and South American Steamship Company that you have just the vessel +they want, price three hundred thousand dollars. Live Wire Luiz will +then cause a reply to that telegram to be sent, advising you that his +clients would not balk at paying half a million! That, of course, is +hint enough for you. Right away you see the old Mexican graft sticking +out, and you say to yourself, 'Why not?' And you do! You reply to that +telegram, saying you erred when naming the price in your first +telegram; that it is five hundred thousand instead of three. Then you +come down to me and I hand you three hundred thousand dollars in +currency; for in such a transaction as this, checks, with their +indorsements, provide a trail that may prove embarrassing. You take +that money and deposit it in escrow in any local bank against a bill +of sale of the _Bavarian_ from Mrs. Koenitz to the North and South +American Steamship Company, of Guaymas, Mexico. Before doing so, +however, have Mrs. Koenitz place the vessel under Mexican registry. +She can do that through the Mexican Consul for the de facto +government; and when the bill of sale is turned over to you, record it +promptly with the Mexican Consul. Later you will record it in Mexico. + +"The vessel is now the property of the North and South American +Steamship Company; and the North and South American Steamship Company +is the property of Cappy Ricks and the West Coast Trading Company, per +Senor Felipe Luiz Almeida. But we must never admit this. To have the +North and South American Steamship Company transfer the vessel to us +would be very coarse work indeed; so we must avoid that." + +"How?" + +"I'll get to that presently. The steamer is now in our possession, and +you will already have notified her German skipper and crew to hunt a +new residence. You will then put an American skipper in charge and +ship American engineers and a crew of parrakeets; and on the very day +the sale is consummated, just before the customhouse closes, have the +skipper clear the vessel for Guaymas and put to sea that night. Since +she carries no cargo the collector of the port will not stop you; the +risk of going to sea is all our own--if we care to take it. + +"The next day the newspaper boys will be hot on the trail. An interned +German merchantman has suddenly transferred to Mexican registry and +put to sea! Now! Inquiry at the customhouse and at the Mexican +consulate shows that the vessel has been sold, and the trail leads +straight to the office of the West Coast Trading Company. You are +interviewed--and say nothing; and that day, when I appear on 'Change, +these baffled journalists drive me into a corner and ask me what I +think about it. And I'll tell them it's just another case of the lowly +Mexican peon being hornswoggled by the foxy Americano. The Mexicans +wanted a ship and asked the American to buy one for them. He did--only +he forgot to tell them she was a German. She was such a good buy they +snapped her up without asking questions, though in all probability the +poor devils had no knowledge of Kaiser Wilhelm's edict that no German +ships shall be sold without the consent of the German Government. I +will say that it looks to me as if the ancient rule of _caveat emptor_ +applied, and that the Mexicans are stung and have no comeback. Then, +again, it may be a shrewd German trick to put something over. + +"Well, they make a snorting story out of what I give them; the frau's +friends read it and think she's done something smart. Nobody feels +sorry for a Mexican. Next morning you come out with a blast of +righteous indignation and admit that you cannot or will not deny that +the vessel was sold to parties representing the de facto Mexican +Government. You deny, however, that you sold them a pig in a poke; and +the papers print a copy of your letter to the North and South American +Steamship Company specifically advising them that the vessel was a +German and liable to prove an embarrassment. This, of course, clears +you, and the blame for the graft is placed where it belongs--on the +shoulders of the North and South American Steamship Company, which has +deliberately stung the de facto government!" + +"Cappy," said J. Augustus Redell admiringly, "you're immense!" + +"I accept the nomination. Upon her arrival in Guaymas the _Bavarian's_ +name is changed to _La Golondrina_, or _Sobre las Olas_, or _Manana_, +or _Poco Tiempo_--whatever's right. I think we may safely gamble that +she will arrive in Guaymas in the light of what the British Consul +told us; and, in view of her departure unannounced, no British warship +on the West Coast can get so far north as Guaymas in time to intercept +her. + +"Well, having changed her name, she picks up a general cargo and comes +back to San Francisco, where she goes on dry dock and is cleaned and +painted, has her gear overhauled, fills up with fuel oil and stores, +and--but that's enough. Now comes the blow-off. + +"Strange to relate, you haven't received a cent of that five-per-cent +commission due you from the North and South American Steamship Company +for buying the _Bavarian_ for them. The issue is in dispute. They +claim you are not entitled to any commission, because you stung them +with a German vessel; and you claim you told them she was a German, +but that they needed her so badly they would take a chance. Also, the +fact that she went to sea that time in such a hurry, and forgot to pay +for her fuel oil and stores, looks rather suspicious; so, when the +vessel comes off dry dock, with about ten thousand dollars' worth of +bills against her, you decide to protect your claim for the +commission--and, by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, Gus, you libel her! +The news breaks into the papers, and next day every creditor of the +ship files a libel on her, also, to protect his claim. Gus, she'll +have so many plasters on her she'll look like a German coming home +from the war." + +J. Augustus Redell leaped from his chair and picked little Cappy Ricks +up in his arms and hugged him. + +"Oh, Cappy! Cappy!" he yelled. "You're the shadow of a rock in a weary +land--a cup of cool water in the suburbs of hell!" + +"Are you game?" Cappy gurgled. + +"Does a cat eat liver? Cappy, you've solved the problem! Naturally the +North and South American Steamship Company does not directly or +indirectly make any attempt to lift these libels and get the vessel to +sea. Why? I'll tell you--or, rather, I'll tell the newspaper boys and +they'll tell everybody. It will appear that as soon as the Mexican +Consul here got an inkling of the apparent plan of the North and South +American Steamship Company, of Guaymas, to sting Don Venustiano +Carranza by slipping him a steamer with a clouded title, he must have +wired Don Venustiano to round up the directors of the said company and +give them the _ley fuga_. Fortunately for these culprits, however, +they got next in time to get out from under. Mounting swift steeds, +the entire board of directors fled north and east, never pausing until +they had joined Pancho Villa; and we learn from some Border gossips +that all three subsequently were killed in action. But, before leaving +Guaymas, they left their tangled steamship affairs in the hands of +their attorney--" + +"Nothing doing, Gus! They left their tangled steamship affairs in the +hands of my attorney, and they gave him an absolute, ironclad, +airtight power of attorney to sell the ship, receive and receipt for +all money due the company, and so on, and so on, ad libitum, ad +infinitum; said power of attorney being nonrevocable for five years." + +"Great stuff! In due course the libelants sue in the United States +District Court; your attorney appears for the defendants and confesses +judgment, but pleads for a ten-day stay of execution until he can +raise a mortgage on the vessel. But, strange to relate, the ten-day +stay expires and the judgments against the steamer are not paid; so +the judge of the United States District Court orders the steamer sold +at public auction on the floor of the Merchants' Exchange to the +highest bidder, to satisfy the claims of the creditors. Thirty days +later the United States Marshal conducts the sale, and a gentleman +named Cappy Ricks buys her in. The United States Marshal gives the +said Ricks a bill of sale for her, which the said Ricks thereupon +records in the United States Customhouse, and--" + +"_Und Hoch der Kaiser! Und Hoch der_ John J. Bull! We've finally got +that clear American title we've been looking for. It makes no +difference what the nationality of a vessel is; the minute she enters +the territorial waters of the United States of America she is amenable +to the laws of the United States of America, one of which reads +thusly: 'Thou shalt pay thy bills; and if thou dost not, then _poco +tiempo_ thou shalt be made to pay them, even unto the seizure and sale +of thy ship.' And with the purchase of that ship, under an order of +sale issued by the United States District Court, she becomes a United +States ship; we register her as such; and the United States simply has +to stand back of the bill of sale it gave us. Germany knows that; +England knows it; Austria knows it; and from the jackstaff of the late +_Bavarian_, now renamed the _Alden M. Peasley_, in honor of my first +grandson, there floats--" + +J. Augustus Redell raised his index finger, enjoining silence: + +"Now then! One, two, three! Down, left, up! + + + _"O-ho, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so-ho pro-houdly we hailed at the twilight's last + gleaming?"_ + +Cappy Ricks sprang to attention. Presently, through the partition, +his cracked old voice reached Mr. Skinner: + + + _"Then conquer we must, when our cause is so just; + And this be our motto: 'May we nev-er go bust!'"_ + +"What's doing here?" Mr. Skinner demanded, banging at the door, +which was locked. + +"Go way back and sit down!" Cappy shrilled. "I'll show you and Matt +Peasley where to head in, yet--see if I don't!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + + + + + +Cappy Ricks and J. Augustus Redell arrived at the Merchants' +Exchange promptly at one o'clock on the date of the sale of the S. +S. _General Carranza,_ as the _Bavarian_ was now called. +Just inside the door they paused and looked at each other. + +"Whe-e-e-ew!" murmured Cappy Ricks. "All the shipping men in the +world are here to bid on our property, Gus." + +Mr. Redell whistled softly. "This," he said, "will be some auction!" + +Cappy chuckled. + +"There is only one thing that a shipping man in this country has +more respect for than an Order in Council--and that is an Order in +the United States District Court!" + +"Naturally. It's backed up by our army and navy." + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, somebody's sporting blood is going +to be tested today; and something tells, me, Augustus, my dear +young friend, that it's going to be Matt Peasley's." + +"What makes you think so, Cappy?" + +Again Cappy chuckled. + +"Having used German methods to bring about this auction sale," he +confessed, "I concluded to steal a little more of this Teutonic stuff; +so I established a system of espionage in Skinner's office and another +in Matt Peasley's. Gus, I got a lot of low-down information on those +two young pups; they're trying to slip something over on the old dog." + +"Well, they'll never teach him any new tricks, Cappy." + +"You know it! I observe that, as usual, Jim Searles will conduct the +auction. He's climbing up on the block now, and, by the Toenails of +Moses, Matt Peasley is on the job! Look, Gus! You can see his black +head sticking up out of the heart of the riot." + +As Cappy and Redell joined the crowd Jim Searles, by acclamation the +auctioneer of the Port of San Francisco, rapped smartly with his +little gavel, and a tense silence settled over the crowd. + +"This," Mr. Searles announced, "will be a fight to a finish, winner +take all. In accordance with an order of the United States District +Court I am about to sell, at public auction, to the highest bidder, +the Mexican Steamship _General Carranza_, ex-German Steamship +_Bavarian_, to satisfy the following judgments: Mr. J. Augustus +Redell--" + +"Cut it out!" roared Matt Peasley. "We've all read the list of +creditors, and you're only gumming up the game. Come down to business +Jim." + +"Good boy, Peasley! Sure! Cut it out, Jim! Get busy!" A dozen voices +seconded Captain Matt Peasley's motion and Jim Searles rapped for +order. + +"How much am I offered?" he cried. + +"One million dollars!" roared Matt Peasley. + +On the fringe of the eager crowd Cappy Ricks leaned up against his +friend Redell and commenced to laugh. + +"The young scoundrel!" he chortled. "He never said a word to me about +this auction; he was afraid I'd butt in and block his purchase; so, +for his impudence, I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget. Bid, +Gus! Bet 'em as high as a hound's back." + +"Captain Matt Peasley, representing the Blue Star Navigation Company, +bids one million dollars. Chicken feed! Won't some real sport please +tilt the ante?" Jim Searles pleaded. "Don't waste my time, gentlemen. +It's valuable. Let's get this thing over and go back to our offices." + +"One million five hundred thousand!" called J. Augustus Redell. + +"I called for a sport and drew a piker," Jim Searles retorted. "Mr. J. +Augustus Redell, of the West Coast Trading Company, bids a million and +a half." + +Young Dalton Mann, representing the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, +raised his hand and snapped his fingers at the auctioneer. + +"And a hundred thousand!" he shouted. + +"And a hundred thousand!" Matt Peasley retorted. + +"And fifty thousand!" Mann flung back at him. + +Matt Peasley eyed his antagonist belligerently. + +"That's doing very well for a young fellow," Searles complimented the +last bidder. "Skipper Peasley, are you going to let this landlubber +outgame you? He has bid a million and three-quarters. Think of the +present high freight rates and speak up, or remain forever silent." + +The bidding had so suddenly and by such prodigious bounds reached the +elimination point that every piker present was afraid to open his +mouth in the presence of these plungers. Matt Peasley licked his lips +and glanced round rather helplessly. He knew he had about reached the +limit of his bidding, but he suspected that Mann had reached his also. + +"And ten thousand!" he shouted desperately. + +"Cheap stuff! Cheap stuff!" the crowd jeered good-naturedly. + +Cappy Ricks nudged J. Augustus Redell as Mann waved his hand in token +of surrender. "One million seven hundred and sixty thousand I am +offered," the auctioneer intoned. "Any further bids?" He waited a full +minute; then resorted to three minutes of cajolery, but in vain. There +were no more bids. + +Jim Searles raised his hammer. + +"Going--once!" he called--and waited. "Going--twice!" Another pause. +"Going--" + +"Two million dollars!" cried J. Augustus Redell; and a sigh went up +from the excited onlookers. + +"Ah! Mr. Redell is a sport, after all! Two million, flat!" Searles +looked down on Matt Peasley. "Die, dog, or eat the meat ax!" he warned +the unhappy young man. + +"Let him have her," Matt growled; and, very red of face, he commenced +to shoulder his way through the crowd. + +"Beat it, Cappy; he's coming!" Redell warned the president emeritus. + +Cappy Ricks, dodging round the flank of the crowd, fled through the +side entrance of the Merchants' Exchange; and he was tranquilly +smoking a cigar in his private office when Matt Peasley dropped in on +him an hour later. Cappy eyed him coldly. + +"Is Skinner back from luncheon?" he demanded. Matt nodded. "Tell him +to come in here. I want to see him," Cappy continued ominously. "And +you might stick round yourself." + +Mr. Skinner made his appearance. + +[Illustration: "Two million dollars'" cried J Augustus Redell.] + +"Close the door," Cappy commanded. + +Mr. Skinner looked a little startled and surprised, but promptly +closed the door. + +"You wanted to see me, Mr. Ricks?" he queried. + +Cappy Ricks edged forward until he was seated on the extreme edge of +his chair. Then he rested a hand on each knee, bent his head, and +glared at the unhappy Skinner over the rims of his glasses. After +thirty seconds of this scrutiny he turned to his son-in-law. + +"Well," he said, "I hear you've been attending an auction sale and +making a star-spangled monkey of yourself bidding a million seven +hundred and sixty thousand dollars on that Mexican steamer. Matt, have +you taken leave of your senses?" + +"No, sir--not quite; but Gus Redell has. He bought her in for two +million dollars. Of course he was acting for somebody else, because +every cent he has is working overtime in the West Coast Trading +Company." + +"Oh!" Cappy murmured. "Then you didn't get her, after all?" + +"No, sir! So perhaps you'd better not holler until you're hit." Matt +sighed. "By Neptune," he declared, "I'd give a cooky to know the name +of the crazy man who paid two million dollars for that steamer!" + +"Behold the lunatic, Matt! Grandpa Ricks, in his second childhood! Gus +Redell was bidding for me, sonny." + +Matt Peasley sat down rather limply and stared at the president +emeritus. + +"Cappy," he said presently, "you sent a boy to do a man's work. I had +the boat bought for a million seven hundred and sixty thousand! For +heaven's sake, why didn't you tell me you wanted her? And I would have +laid off. For the love of heaven, why did you go bidding against me?" + +"Why didn't you tell me you wanted her, you big simp?" Cappy retorted. +"You never said a word to me; and naturally Redell thought you were +acting for somebody else. He had orders from me to get her and damn +the cost--and he fulfilled his orders." + +"A comedy of errors, truly!" Mr. Skinner observed witheringly. + +Matt Peasley raised his huge arms and clenched his great fists in +agony. + +"Oh, Cappy! Cappy!" he pleaded. "Won't you please retire? You're just +raising hell with the organization!" + +"All right, Matt; I'll retire. But, before I do, I'm going to give +Skinner a piece of my mind. Skinner, what the devil do you mean by +going up to the Marine National Bank and borrowing a million dollars +on the credit of the Ricks Lumber Company? I admit I have given you +entire charge of the lumber end, and you were quite within your rights +when you negotiated the loan and signed the note as president; but how +did it happen that you didn't consult with the old man, if only as a +matter of common courtesy?" + +"I-I-that is, I-well, I didn't mean to be discourteous, Mr. Ricks. Oh, +I wouldn't have you think, sir--" + +"No; you'd have me be a dummy if you could. Why, you almost put the +skids under me; because, when I went up to the Marine National to make +a little personal loan in a spirit of preparedness, I discovered that +the loan you had been given on my assets had jazzed my personal credit +all to glory! I used to be able to borrow a million dollars on my bare +note; but I'll be shot if they didn't make me dig up a lot of +collateral this time! Skinner, I wouldn't have thought that of you. +After trusting you as I have done for a quarter of a century, to find +you giving me the double-cross just about breaks my heart. Great +Godfrey, Skinner, how could you be so false to me? I expect that sort +of thing from Matt--those one loves the best always swat one; but from +you--Skinner, I don't know what prevents me from demanding your +resignation here and now, unless it be because of your previous +splendid character and loyal service." + +"Oh, Mr. Ricks, Mr. Ricks!" Poor Skinner held up his hands appealingly +and commenced to weep. "Please do not think ill of me. I swear--" + +"You loaned the Ricks Lumber Logging Company's million dollars to Matt +Peasley to help buy that steamer for the Blue Star Navigation Company; +and he, the son of a pirate, went to work and borrowed it from you, +well knowing he had no business to do so. What are you paying the +Marine National for that money?" + +"Five per cent," Skinner sniffled, for his heart was broken. + +"What are you soaking the Blue Star Navigation Company for it?" + +"Six," Skinner confessed miserably. + +"That's all right, Skinner, my boy. Cheer up! I forgive you. That +little profit of one per cent saves your bacon, boy. I guess there's +some good left in you still; and I'm happy to have this evidence that, +though I own both companies, you have not forgotten you are +responsible for the profit-and-loss account of one of them, and Matt +Peasley for the other. You did quite right to claim that one per cent +jerk from Matt. Business is business!" + +"Yes, you bet it is!" Matt Peasley struck in. "And I want you to lay +off on Skinner, because what he did was done in fear and trembling, +and under duress. We were both afraid you'd block the purchase; so we +agreed to keep our plans secret from you, because--Well, somehow I did +want that bully big boat the very worst way." + +"And that's exactly the way you set about getting her, Matthew. +However, you're young--you don't know any better; so I forgive you. Of +course I realized you wanted, that steamer, boy. I knew your heart was +set on seeing our house flag floating from her mainstruck; so I--Well, +I just thought I'd get her for you, to sort of square myself for those +two bonehead plays I pulled earlier in the year." + +"Oh, but you shouldn't have paid two millions for her, Cappy! Business +is one thing and sentiment is another." + +"Why, I didn't pay any such price for her! Originally I bought her, +as a German, for three hundred thousand dollars; in addition to that +I've spent about ten thousand dollars improving her, and maybe five +thousand more fussing up the trail of my operations so no smart +secret-service operative could come round and hang something on me." +He reached into his coat pocket and drew forth the United States +Marshal's bill of sale. "Here, sonny," he announced, "is your Uncle +Sam's certificate of title. Hustle up to the customhouse and get it +recorded; then make out a bill of sale for a one-third interest to the +West Coast Trading Company and record that also. Then change her name +to _Alden M. Peasley_, in honor of your first-born, and put her under +these two flags." + +He jerked open a drawer in the desk and brought forth a bright new +edition of Old Glory, followed by the familiar white muslin burgee +with the blue star. + +"Skinner!" + +"Yes, Mr. Ricks." + +"The United States Marshal has paid all the debts of the _Alden M. +Peasley_, and this afternoon he'll send his check for the proceeds of +the sale still remaining in his hands to my lawyer, who holds a most +ungodly power of attorney from that dummy Guaymas corporation Live +Wire Luiz organized to buy the ship for us. Our attorney will cash +that check and send the cash down to you. Please bank it to my credit +and take up that note I gave the Marine National; then get the +securities I hocked and tuck them back in my safe-deposit vault. As +for the interest at five per cent, which the Ricks Lumber & Logging +Company will have to pay on that million you borrowed to help Matt +Peasley hornswoggle father, you just charge that to your personal +account as a penance for your sins. As for the six per cent you pay +the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company for the money loaned your Blue Star +Navigation Company, Matt Peasley, just charge that to your personal +account as a penance for your sins." + +Both culprits nodded dazedly. + +"Now," Cappy continued, "I'll tell you something else: The _Alden M. +Peasley_ belongs to the West Coast Trading Company and Alden P. Ricks; +they own one-third for bringing the deal to my attention and +furnishing some labor, and I own two-thirds, or the lion's share, for +doing a lion's work--to wit, putting up the cash and promoting the +deal to a clean title. Consequently, though you two boys own a nice +little block of stock in the Blue Star Navigation Company, you don't +own a red cent in the _Alden M. Peasley_, because she doesn't belong +to the Blue Star Navigation Company, but to the president emeritus +thereof. However, as I am about to retire for keeps this time, I'll +tell you what I purpose doing with my two-thirds of the _Alden M. +Peasley_: Skinner, my dear boy, I kidded you into tears. Bless you, +boy, it broke your heart when you thought your old boss figured you'd +quit being Faithful Fido, didn't it? Skinner, loyalty like yours is +very, very precious; and your affection is--er--Skinner, you human +icicle, you can't bluff me! I'm on to you, young feller! Matt, you +prepare a deed of gift for one-half of my two-thirds interest to +Skinner, and take the other half for yourself; and when the _Alden M. +Peasley_ has earned what I put into her, credit my account with it. +After that, you and Skinner and Gus Redell and Live Wire Luiz can +collect the dividends." + +"Oh, Mr. Ricks! This is too much," Skinner began. + +"Tut, tut, sir! Not a peep out of you, sir! How dare you argue with +me? Now just one word more before you fellers go: The next time you +boys go bidding on a ship at auction, take a leaf out of Cappy Ricks' +book and bid against yourself! You can always scare the other fellows +off that way; the sky is the limit--and you're bound to get your money +back. So you should _Ish ka bibble_. + +"Now you two young freshies go back to your desks and try to learn +humility. Thus endeth the first lesson, my children." + +Matt Peasley came close to Cappy and put his big arm round the little +old man. + +"Cappy," he whispered, "please don't retire!" + +"All right, son," Cappy answered; "but get that infernal cry-baby, +Skinner, out of my office. He's breaking my heart." + +If J. Augustus Redell had been content to sue for peace following his +deal with Cappy in Australian wheat, all would have been well for that +young man. Alas! As we have already stated, he was young--and there is +an old saying to the effect that youth must be served. J. Augustus +Redell, like Oliver Twist, desired more. His triumph over Cappy in the +wheat deal merely whetted his desire for more of the Ricks blood, and +in the end the ingenious rascal evolved a plan for making Cappy the +laughing stock of the Bilgewater Club for a month of Sundays. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + + + + + +MONSIEUR LE CAPITAINE RICKS + +Cappy Ricks entered his office at the unheard-of hour of eight- +thirty. On his way to his sanctum at the end of the long suite of +offices Cappy paused in the lair of Mr. Skinner, who looked up, +amazed. + +"Hello!" he saluted the president emeritus. "What brings you down on +the job so early this morning, Mr. Ricks?" + +"I've got a hen on," Cappy replied briskly. He glanced at Skinner and +rubbed his hands together. "Skinner, my dear boy," he continued, "this +is a one-horse concern." + +"Three sawmills with a combined output of a million feet a day on a +ten-hour shift--not to mention a billion feet of stumpage--isn't my +idea of a one-horse concern," Mr. Skinner retorted with some asperity. + +"Tut, tut, Skinner! I'm not referring to the lumber end at all; so +don't get touchy. I'm referring to the Blue Star Navigation Company. +It's a dinky proposition. + +"Forty-two vessels--windjammers, steam schooners and foreign-going +freighters--" began Mr. Skinner; but Cappy cut him short: + +"Foreign-going grandmothers! We've got the _Narcissus_ and the +_Tillicum_." + +"How about my boat--the _John P. Skinner?_" + +"Oh, yes! That one we scraped up off the bottom of Papeete Harbor," +Cappy answered maliciously. "Well, that makes three; and really the +_Skinner_ and the _Narcissus_ are the only vessels built to go +foreign. Remember, Skinner, we built the _Tillicum_, for the +coast-wise lumber trade, even though she's so big our competitors +thought when we launched her we were crazy to build such a whale for +that trade." + +"Well, Mr. Ricks?" + +"We ought to have more big bottoms, Skinner. We'll have hell- +cracking freight rates during the war and for a long time +thereafter--and here we sit round like a lot of dubs, too conservative +to help ourselves to the gravy. Why, you and Matt Peasley ought to be +knitting socks in an old ladies' home, for all the progressiveness +you're displaying." + +"I am not in charge of the shipping end, Mr. Ricks." + +"No; but you've got a tongue in your head, haven't you? You were +practically in charge of the Blue Star for more than six months-- +during the entire period Matt was at sea in the _Retriever_ and we +thought he was a goner. Why, dog-gone you, Skinner, even when you +thought Matt was dead you didn't suggest increasing the fleet. I'm +surprised, Skinner, my boy, that in my old age, after gathering a lot +of young fellows round me to carry on the business, I've still got to +be the bell mare!" + +Mr. Skinner had nothing to say to this; if he had it is doubtful +whether he would have said it, for he had been too long with Cappy +Ricks not to know the signs when the old gentleman took the bit in his +teeth and declared for a new deal. + +"I'm going into my office to do some tall thinking, Skinner," Cappy +continued. "Remember! No visitors until I've threshed this whole +business out to my satisfaction. I'm not in to anybody." + +Cappy retired to his office, sat down on his spine in his upholstered +swivel chair, swung his thin old shanks to the top of his desk, bowed +his head on his breast, and closed his eyes. Scarcely had he done so +when the door opened and Matt Peasley thrust his head in. + +"Well, Matt?" Cappy queried without opening his eyes. + +"I have an offer of forty thousand dollars for our old bark _Altair_, +Cappy. What do you think we ought to do?" + +"Take it!" Cappy shrilled. "You jibbering jackdaw! Grab it! She's +been a failure since the day I built her; never balanced, always +burying her nose in the seas, and drowning a sailor about once a year. +If we keep that ship much longer she'll sail herself under some day +and we'll be out the forty thousand. _Altair!_ Fancy name! Skinner got +it out of Ben Hur. He'd been in the shipping game ten years then and +hadn't learned that was the name of a star! We should have called her +the _Water Spaniel_. Sell her, Matt, and we'll put the money into a +steamer that can run foreign." + +"If you can tell me where we can buy, even at three times her +intrinsic value, a steamer that will run foreign, I'm willing to +consider selling the _Altair_. Just at present she's earning big +dividends; and until we can find a place to invest her selling price, +the money will earn six per cent instead of sixty, as at present." + +"Clear out and let me think!" Cappy commanded, and Matt Peasley +retired to Mr. Skinner's office. + +"Have you noticed the old gentleman lately?" he inquired of Skinner. +"Ever since his grandson arrived grandpa has been paying attention to +business." + +"He's dissatisfied with his own and our efforts thus far. He thinks +he's been a piker and that you and I are his first-assistant pikers. +He has ships on the brain." + +"He's getting pretty cocky," Matt agreed; "but, at that, I guess he +has a license to be." + +"I've been with him twenty-six--yes, twenty-seven--years; and I know +him, Matt. He's cooking up something prodigious--and it will soon be +done." + +The door of Cappy's office opened and Cappy stood in the entrance. + +"Skinner," he ordered, "get me a letter of credit for about twenty +thousand dollars. I'm going travelling." + +"Where?" Matt and Skinner queried in chorus. + +"To Europe." + +"You're not!" Matt Peasley declared. "You're liable to be torpedoed en +route." + +"I know, but then, too, I'm liable not to be; and if I am, why, I'm an +old man, and I'll only be cheating the devil by a few years or a few +months. Come in here, you two dead ones." + +They followed him into his office. + +"We need some steamers," Cappy announced. "Every shipyard in the +United States that could build the kind of steamer we want is full up +with contracts for the next three years; so I'm going to Norway or +Sweden or Denmark, or some non-belligerent European country, and see +whether I can't place some contracts there for a couple of real +freighters. Then, too, I may be able to pick up good vessels over +there at a reasonable price. Under the Emergency Shipping Act we can +get them provisional American registry--and that's all we need. Before +a great while Uncle Sam is going to turn his antiquated shipping laws +inside out, and any foreign-built boats we may acquire now will be +given the right to run in the coastwise trade also." + +"See here, Cappy," Matt reminded the old man; "you're retired and I'm +in charge of the destinies of the Blue Star Navigation Company. I +don't want you working yourself to death." + +"You mean you don't want me butting in. Nonsense! What's the use of +having a grandson if a fellow doesn't hustle up something for the boy +to sharpen his teeth on when he grows up? Here I've been living from +day to day, just marking time on the road to eternity and figuring +life wasn't worth while because the stock was going to die out with +me. Up until recently I was content with a little old one-horse +business; but now, by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, boy, we've got to +get out and shake a leg! Freighters! That's what we want. Big, +well-decked tramps, flying the Stars and Stripes in every port on +earth. Why, what kind of a nation are we getting to be, anyway? We're +a passel of mollycoddles, asleep on the job. We haven't half enough +ships to coal our navy. In the event of war it would take us a week to +dig up ships enough to transport the New York Police Department. I +tell you, Matt, when I'm gone you'll have to have something for that +grandson of mine to do or he'll grow up into one of these idle-rich, +ne'er-do-well, two-for-a-quarter dudes. You bet I've been doing a deal +of thinking lately. We can't send that boy to college, and spoil him +before he's twenty-five. We'll run that young man through high school; +just about that time he'll begin to get snobbish and we'll take that +out of him by sending him to sea as a cadet on one of our own ships. +We'll teach him democracy--that's what we'll teach him. When he's +twenty-one he'll be a skipper like his forebears and you'll be only +about forty-six. Good Lord! To think of you two young fellows running +my Blue Star ships--and not enough ships to keep you busy! +Preposterous! I can't consider--Well, Hankins, my dear boy, what's +troubling you?" + +Mr. Hankins, the secretary, had entered. + +"I wanted to see Mr. Skinner a moment. I'll wait. Didn't know you +were busy." + +And he started to retire. Cappy checked him: "Finish with Skinner, +Hankins. He'll be in consultation here with Matt and me for an hour +yet." + +"I just wanted to know, Mr. Skinner, whether all those cablegrams to +Captain Landry, of the _Altair_, are to be charged to general expense, +Captain Landry's personal account, or to the _Altair_." + +"It seems to me you should charge them to Captain Landry, Hankins," +Mr. Skinner spoke up. "It isn't ship's business and it isn't Blue Star +business. If he wants this office to cable him every day about his +family--" + +"Here! What's this you're talking about, Skinner?" Cappy interrupted. + +"When Captain Landry sailed for Callao his wife didn't accompany +him--" + +"Lucky rascal! He told me he was expecting an heir." + +"And he's still expecting that heir." + +"Naturally," Mr. Hankins explained, "he's been anxious for news; and +ever since his arrival in Callao he's cabled us every other +day--latterly every day--asking whether the baby has been born, and +whether it's a boy or a girl." + +"A very pardonable human curiosity, my boy. Proceed." + +"Unfortunately the baby appears to be held up on demurrage and I think +we've spent at least fifty dollars cabling to Landry that the +youngster has failed to report. I imagine the skipper has spent twice +that sum inquiring for news--" + +"Of course! It's his first baby, isn't it? You must allow for human +nature." + +"I thought we would--for the first half dozen cablegrams; but after it +became a habit it appeared that Landry ought to pay for his fancies." + +"He should," Mr. Skinner declared firmly. "Charge the cablegrams to +Landry." + +"Nothing doing!" piped Cappy. "Charge 'em to general expense. Dang +you, Skinner, I despair of ever breaking you of that habit of +operating on the cheap!" + +"Oh, very well, sir--only the expense is getting to be quite an item." + +"I'm just about to send him another cablegram," Mr. Hankins declared +fretfully. "The _Altair_ is due to sail from Callao and the baby is +still unborn; it will be two months old, at least, before the skipper +gets any further news." + +"Let's see your cablegram," Cappy ordered, and Mr. Hankins passed it +over. Cappy read it. "Holy suffering sailor!" he cried. "Why this +concern isn't in the hands of a receiver is a mystery to me." He +looked up at Mr. Hankins with blood in his eye. "Here you are, +Hankins, trying to saddle a bill of expense on a poor, heartbroken, +anxious, embryo parent-to-be. Knowing full well that he only makes a +hundred and fifty dollars a month, you admit to an endeavor to stick +him for fifty dollars' worth of cablegrams from this end, not to +mention those from his end. If you had spent your time, sir, figuring +out a way to cut down that cable expense, instead of discovering a +rotten way to get rid of it--Why, look here! You can use your code +book and save a couple of dollars." + +"Code book!" Mr. Hankins protested indignantly. "Why, who ever heard +of a code book for cabling on baby business?" + +"Use your shipping code. Here; hand me that code book. There's bound +to be something to fit the occasion--there always is. Hum-m-m! Ahem! +Harumph-h-h! Let us see what we shall see under the head of cargoes; +Loading! Discharging! Demurrage! Ahem! That won't do. He'd be liable +to confuse it with the ship's business. Harumph-h-h! Arrivals. Now we +have it. Landry has been asking of an expected arrival, hasn't he?" +Cappy ran his index finger down the page. "Here you are, Hankins. +Hum-m-m! Afilamos--meaning no new arrivals. Naturally Landry will say +to himself: 'Well, for heaven's sake, when will that child arrive?' We +should enlighten him on that point." + +"We cannot." + +"Very well, then. Say so. Here you are. Affumicata--meaning: We cannot +guarantee time of arrival. Hankins, have you talked with Mrs. Landry's +physician in order to get the latest ringside reports?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What does he say?" + +"Well, he says he thinks it will be twins, in a couple of days at the +most." + +"Good news! Here you are. Afilaba--meaning: Heavy arrivals expected +shortly. Now then, Hankins, he'll want some news of his wife, won't +he? How about her?" + +"She went to the hospital this morning." + +Cappy closed his eyes and pondered; then once more took up the code +book. Followed a silence. Then: + +"Bully! He'll understand perfectly, being a sailor. Desdoble-- +meaning: Is now in dry dock. And, of course, Landry will want to know +whether his wife is in any danger. Danger! Danger! Ships are sometimes +in danger. When? When they're wrecked, of course. Let us look under +the head of wrecks... No; nothing seems to fill the bill. Wreck, +wrecked, worse, writ, write, wrong--ah, I have it! Wohlgemuth-- +meaning: There is nothing wrong." He looked up at Mr. Hankins. "Now +there's the kind of cablegram to send--even on baby business. Those +four code words translated mean: No new arrivals; heavy arrivals +expected shortly; is now in dry dock; there is nothing wrong. +Literally translated it means: Baby not born yet; twins expected +shortly; your wife now in hospital; everything lovely! I suppose, +Hankins, you have carbon copies of all these cablegrams you've been +sending?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Code them all, so far as possible, and ascertain how much money you +might have saved the Blue Star by the exercise of a little common +sense; then charge the cablegrams, on the coded basis, to our general +expense, and charge to your personal account the sum you might have +saved by the exercise of the ingenuity and efficiency I have a right +to expect of a man who draws down as fat a salary as you do." + + + + + + +CHAPTER L + + + + + +Mr. Hankins withdrew, greatly crestfallen, and the despot of the Blue +Star office turned to his trusted lieutenants. + +"Well," he declared, "one after the other you have to come to the old +man to be shown. I guess I've proved to you two boys this morning that +I'm to be trusted with buying a few ships and letting contracts for a +few more, haven't I?" + +"I don't like the idea of Cappy Ricks on a steamer that's likely to be +torpedoed. I don't want you to go to Europe alone--" + +"I'm not going alone. Captain Mike Murphy, our new port captain, is +going with me. I wouldn't think of buying a steamer unless that +splendid fellow O.K.'d the hull. And Terry Reardon, our new port +engineer, will accompany me also. Terry has to O.K. the engines. +Between the three of us, it's going to take a smart trader to sell us +any junk, I'm telling you!" + +"I ought to go with you," Matt suggested. + +"You have your work at home, attending to the fleet. It isn't much of +a fleet, I'll admit; but such as it is it requires some attention. +I'll be the chief scout of this organization and see whether I can't +rustle up some major-league vessels from some of those bush-league +European owners." + +"I've had a fine time getting good men to take their places in the +_Narcissus_ since you promoted Mike and Terry in my absence!" Matt +complained. "Mike and Terry know her well--and she's such a big brute +to handle." + +"Where is the _Narcissus_, by the way?" + +"Loading nitrate at Tocopilla and Antofagasta, Chile. This is her last +voyage under the old charter." + +"Got any new business in sight for her?" + +"I won't have the slightest difficulty getting another nitrate charter +and at a rate double what she's been getting." + +"Every vessel taken off the nitrate run stiffens the freight rate in +these days, when they have to have so much nitrate in the manufacture +of war munitions," the astute Cappy declared. "If I were you, Matt, +I'd find her a good outside cargo or two, and then slip her back in +the nitrate business again. Freights may have advanced in the +interim." + +"I have a mighty profitable cargo offered me this morning, Cappy. An +agent of the British Government called on me and offered a whopping +price for carrying a cargo of mules and horses from Galveston to +Havre. I think I shall turn the proposition down. It's too dangerous, +Cappy." + +"You mean we might have our ship blown up by a German submarine?" + +Matt nodded. + +"Well, we'd collect our freight in advance, wouldn't we? And the +British Government will guarantee to reimburse us if the ship is lost, +will it not? Well, then, where's the risk?" + +"There's the danger to the crew." + +"Any man that goes to sea knows he has to take a chance. Bet you Mike +Murphy could take that cargo of livestock across and bring another +cargo back. He's luckier than a cross-eyed coon. And another thing, +Matt: If you accept that business we can kill two birds with one +stone--yes, three--because Mike and Terry and I will cross over on the +_Narcissus_ and save the price of transportation from here to New +York, and from New York to Liverpool. Then, while the _Narcissus_ is +discharging and taking on another cargo, we'll go scouting for +available steamers." + +"It might be done, though I hate to think of it Cappy. If we lose the +vessel they'll pay us a million and a half for her, of course--and +she cost us less than three hundred thousand a year ago. And, as you +say, we'll collect the freight in advance. They're very anxious to get +the _Narcissus_. She's a whopping big boat, and that's the kind of a +vessel they need for a horse transport." + +"Yes; and, by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, it will be a bully vacation, +and a bully vacation is something I haven't had since the night of the +big wind in Ireland. Moreover, I combine business with pleasure, which +is always desirable; and, if that isn't excuse enough, I want to tell +you it's cheaper to travel dead-head on our own boats than to pay for +three round-trip tickets to Europe on a Cunard liner." + +"But suppose a German submarine--" + +"Matt, all my life I've played a quiet, safe, sane, conservative game. +I've always longed for adventure and never had it. Why, just consider +a moment what a tiresome thing life would be were it not for the +prospect of death at any moment! That's all that keeps us hustling, my +boy--trying to put over a winning run before the game is called on +account of darkness. Hell's bells! Don't try to scare me with a sheet +and the rattle of old bones. Suppose they do blow us up? We don't lose +a dollar; in fact, we make money--and we can take to the boats, can't +we?" + +"They only give you fifteen minutes--" + +"We'll have the boats swung overside, provisioned and ready, two days +ahead." + +"But they don't care how far out to sea they leave you. I spent two +weeks in an open boat once and I know you can't stand two days. The +exposure--" + +"When we get down to Galveston," Cappy interrupted triumphantly, +"I'll have Mike Murphy buy a nice, staunch little secondhand motor +cruiser, thirty-eight or forty feet long, with plenty of power and +comfortable living accommodations for half a dozen people. Mike will +arrange for extra oil and gasoline tankage, and we'll swing this +cruiser in on the main deck and let it rest there in a cradle, with +the slings round it, ready to lift overside with the cargo derricks at +a minute's notice. I'll be as snug in that little cruiser as a bug +under a chip--and we'll tow the lifeboats. So that settles it--and if +it doesn't I'd like to know who's the boss of this shebang, anyhow!" + +Mr. Skinner glanced covertly at Captain Matt Peasley and shook his +head almost imperceptibly, as who should say: "Better give in to him, +Matt. I know him longer than you do; he'll have his way if it kills +him." And Matt took the hint, with the result that some six weeks +later Cappy Ricks, accompanied by his faithful port captain and his +equally faithful port engineer, cleared for Galveston aboard the +Sunset Limited. And at Galveston began the only real vacation Cappy +Ricks had ever had. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LI + + + + + +To begin, there was the task of superintending the installation of the +accommodations for the cargo of mules and horses. Cappy was +particularly interested in the ventilating system below decks, for he +was fond of horses and had resolved to deliver the cargo without the +loss of a single animal. Of no mediocre turn of mind mechanically, he, +assisted by Terry Reardon, made a few suggestions that the British +veterinaries in charge were very glad to accept. + +The real enjoyment of the trip, however, Cappy found down at the +breaking corrals where the horses were detraining. They were all young +and full of life, and fully ninety per cent of them had only been +halter-broken. In the lot was many an outlaw whose ancestors had run +wild for generations in Nevada; and as the delivery contract specified +that a horse to be accepted must be broken--God save the mark!--as +Terence Reardon remarked after seeing one passed as broken, following +five minutes of furious pitching and squealing--Cappy Ricks was one +of the first at the corral and the last to leave. Perched on the +topmost, rail, he piped encouragement to the lank, flat-bellied border +busters who, a dozen times a day, risked life and limb at five dollars +a bust. + +Mike Murphy and Terence Reardon, who had ridden more than one China +Sea typhoon and West India hurricane, marvelled that men should take +such risks for any amount of money. Privately they considered Cappy +Ricks an accessory before the fact, inasmuch as Cappy hung up at least +five hundred dollars in small prizes for the vaqueros. Whenever they +had a "bad one" they could always induce Cappy to offer ten dollars +for staying two minutes and five dollars a minute for each minute over +the limit--which seldom reached two minutes. Also, Cappy was willing +to furnish two silver dollars whenever some adventurer thought he +could put a dollar between each leg and the saddle and have the +dollars there when the horse surrendered. They ran in a couple of +trained buckers on Cappy and depleted his bank roll considerably +before he began to smell a rat. + +To these plainsmen, charged with the destinies of the mounts for the +young British soldier, Cappy Ricks was known familiarly as Cap. Before +the last of the horses had been passed as broken and hustled aboard +the big _Narcissus_, Cappy knew each horse wrangler by his first name +or nickname, and had learned the intricacies of many hitherto +unheard-of games of chance that flourish along the Rio Grande. He was +an expert at cooncan, and Pangingi fascinated him; then they taught +him Mexican monte, and one worthless individual stole an ace out of +the deck, whereupon all hands had a joyous hack at Cappy, who, when +informed privately by his friend, Sam Daniels, foreman of the outfit, +that he was in bad company and being skinned alive, went uptown and +bought some specially constructed dice, which he introduced brazenly +into a crap game, thereby more than catching even. He was the last man +in the world a gang of wicked cowboys would suspect of guile; all of +them, quite foolishly, thought he had more money than brains. + +Eventually, however, the _Narcissus_ was loaded, Cappy moved into the +owner's suite, and his new-found friends bunked in a temporary deck +house forward when they weren't busy below decks playing chambermaid +to the cargo. And with Cappy's motor cruiser swung in the cradle, +ready for launching from the main deck aft, the _Narcissus_ slipped +out of Galveston and went snoring across the Gulf of Mexico, bound for +Le Havre. + +Mike Murphy was not happy, however. He resented Cappy Ricks, who would +persist in going below to inspect the cargo and in consequence smelled +like a hostler. Moreover, Michael was the port captain of the Blue +Star Navigation Company now and not the master of the ship; and the +_Narcissus_ wasn't out of sight of land before Mike made the discovery +that the boatswain of the ship was absolutely inefficient, that the +cook was wasteful, that the first officer was too talkative, and the +skipper too easy-going. + +And these conditions, on a ship he had once commanded, irked Murphy +exceedingly. Terence Reardon was in much the same state of mind. Being +port engineer, he investigated the engine room and found that his +favorite monkey wrench had been lost; there were two leaky tubes in +the main boiler; the ash hoist was out of kilter; his successor in the +_Narcissus_ was carrying ten pounds of steam less than Terence used to +carry; and there was something not quite right with the condenser. The +engine room crew Terence characterized to Mike Murphy as a gang of +"vagabones," and hinted darkly at sweeping changes when the ship +should get back to the United States. Once he went so far as to state +that he might have expected as much when, upon leaving the _Narcissus_ +to become port engineer, he had given her to his old first assistant; +since he had never known a first assistant, barring himself, to make a +good chief! + + + + + + +CHAPTER LII + + + + + +On the very day the _Narcissus_ left Galveston the German submersible +V-l4 left her base at Zeebrugge, with oil and torpedoes sufficient to +last her on an ordinary three weeks' cruise, and promptly headed for +that section of the Atlantic where information and belief told her +commander the hunting would be good. And it was--so good, in fact, +that to the very great disgust of her crew she had just two torpedoes +in stock when the man on watch at her periscope reported a large +freight steamer to the west. Promptly the V-l4 submerged and proceeded +on a course calculated to intercept the freighter, which presently was +discovered to be the U.S.S. _Narcissus_. + +The captain of the V-l4 almost licked his chops. He had heard of the +_Narcissus_. The neutrality laws of the United States had prevented +him from hearing of her by wireless when she cleared from Galveston, +but he had been on the lookout for her, just the same, ever since a +Dutch steamer from New York, with an alert German chief mate, had +touched at Copenhagen, from which point the dispatches that mate +carried had gone underground straight to the office of the German +Admiralty. The information anent the _Narcissus_ had been brief but +illuminating: She had been chartered to carry horses for the British +Government from Galveston to Le Havre, and the word to get her at all +hazards had been passed to the submarine flotilla. + +Captain Emil Bechtel, of the V-l4, did not possess an Iron Cross of +any nature whatsoever, and as he studied the oncoming _Narcissus_ +through the periscope he reflected that this big brute of a boat would +bring him one, provided he was lucky. He remembered he had but two +torpedoes left, and under the circumstances he paused to consider. + +Clearly--since the _Narcissus_ was laden with horses and mules for the +enemy she was carrying contraband--she must not escape. On the other +hand, there had been a deal of unpleasantness of late because +President Wilson had been protesting the sinking of vessels without +warning--and the _Narcissus_ was a United States steamer. Consequently +if he torpedoed her without warning the temperamental Kaiser might +make of Captain Emil Bechtel what is colloquially known as the goat; +whereas, on the other hand, should he conform to international law and +place her crew in safety before sinking her, there was a chance that +her wireless might summon a patrol boat to the vicinity--Bechtel had +sighted one less than an hour before--and patrol boats had a miserable +habit, when they sighted a periscope, of shooting it to pieces. + +Then, too, it was just possible that the perfidious English had +mounted a couple of six-inch guns on her after getting to sea--and the +German knew a six-inch shell, well-placed, would send his vessel to +the bottom. Moreover, it was sunset; in half an hour it would be +twilight; he had no knowledge of the speed of the _Narcissus_ and she +might try to make a run for it, thus forcing him to come to the +surface and shell her should he miss with his torpedoes. Further, if +he attacked her and she escaped, there was an elderly gentleman with +whiskers back in Berlin who would do things to him if the Kaiser +didn't. + +There was, however, one course open to the German. To his way of +thinking, during the exciting diplomatic tangle with the United +States, he would be damned if he did and damned if he didn't; but if +he did, and nobody could prove it, old Von Tirpitz would ask no +questions. + +"I'll let her have it," Captain Emil Bechtel concluded; and he passed +the word to get ready. + +A minute later Cappy Ricks, smoking his after-dinner cigar on the +bridge of the Narcissus with her skipper and Mike Murphy, pointed far +off the port bow. + +"There's a shark or a swordfish, or something, breaching," he said. "I +can see his wake." + +Mike Murphy took a casual glance in the direction Cappy was pointing, +while the master of the _Narcissus_ reached for his marine glasses and +lazily put them to his eyes. + +"Shark be damned!" yelled Murphy. "It's a torpedo or I'm a Chinaman! +Hard-a-starboard!" + +He leaped for the engine-room telegraph and jammed it over to Full +Speed Astern; then dashed into the pilot house and commenced a furious +ringing of the ship's bell, summoning the crew to boat drill, the +while his anxious eye marked the swift progress of the white streak +coming toward them. What wind there was happened fortunately to be on +the vessel's port counter, and as the helmsman spun the wheel the big +vessel fell off quickly and easily, while the rumble of her shaft, +suddenly reversed, fairly shook the ship. To Cappy Ricks it seemed +that the vessel must be brought up standing, like one of the broncos +he had seen ridden with a Spanish bit; but a big ship under full +headway is not stopped very abruptly, and the _Narcissus_ swept on, +turning as she went in order to offer as little target as possible to +the torpedo. + +"Will we make it, Mike?" Cappy Ricks queried in a very small, awed +voice. + +Mike Murphy turned and found his owner at his elbow. + +"I hope it hits her forward," he replied. "That motor cruiser is +cradled aft and we might save it. They never hailed us--ah-h-h, +missed!" + +The torpedo flew by, missing the big blunt bow by less than three +feet. + +"I guess they'll get us just the same," Mike Murphy murmured quietly; +"but we're going down fighting." + +And, disregarding the master of the _Narcissus_, who was staring +vacantly after the flying torpedo, he rang for Full Speed Ahead, and +called down the speaking tube to the chief to hook her on for all he +had; then, with his helm still hard-a-starboard, he swung the ship in +as small a circle as possible and headed her at full speed back over +the course so recently traveled by the torpedo. + +"That was a beautifully timed shot--that last one," he informed Cappy +Ricks admiringly. "If we'd sighted it thirty seconds later--" + +"Where the devil are you going, man?" Cappy yelled frantically. + +"I'm going to give that fellow a surprise," Murphy growled. "He +expected us to run for it after that first one missed--and I'm running +for him! He may not get me with the next one if I come bows on--and I +might ram him! I'll take a chance. Keep your eyes open for his +periscope." + +Aboard the V-l4 Captain Emil Bechtel said nothing, but thought a great +deal--when he saw that his first torpedo had missed its prey. He was +in for it now; he had started something and he had to go through. And, +anticipating that the _Narcissus_ would show him her heels and steer a +zigzag course, he immediately launched his last torpedo as the horse +transport lay quartering to him. + +To his disgust, however, the steamer, having avoided the first +torpedo, did not run as he had anticipated. Instead, she continued to +turn round on her heels, each revolution of her wheel lifting her out +of the course of the second torpedo, since the submarine had fired +slightly ahead of the vessel, knowing that if she continued for two +minutes on the course he expected her to take she would steam fairly +across the path of the huge missile. So he missed again--the torpedo +slid under her stern--and here was that demon horse transport bearing +down on him at full speed and with a bone in her teeth. + +"The jig is up," murmured Bechtel, and gave the order to submerge +deeper, for he would not risk showing his periscope to the keen eyes +on that bridge. + +For ten minutes he waited, while the submarine scuttled blindly out of +the path of the onrushing transport; then, concluding that the +_Narcissus_ had passed him, he came up and took a look round. He was +right. A cable length astern and another off his port quarter the +steamer was plunging over the darkening sea, and Captain Emil Bechtel +knew he had her now; so promptly he came to the surface. + +Mike Murphy, glancing off his starboard quarter, saw her periscope +come swiftly up; then her turret showed; then her turtle deck flashed +for a moment on the surface, like a giant fish, before she rose higher +and the water cascaded down her sides. + +Cappy Ricks' anxious face turned a delicate green; he glanced up at +his bully port captain as if in that rugged personality alone could he +hope for salvation. Murphy caught the glance, shook his head, walked +over to the engine-room telegraph and set the handle over to stop. + +"No use, sir," he informed Cappy. "That Dutchman is out of torpedoes, +so he's coming up to shell us. We'll heave to and save funeral +expenses." He turned to the master of the _Narcissus_. "Captain, I'll +stay on the bridge and conduct all negotiations with that fellow; get +your mates, round up everybody and prepare to abandon the ship in a +hurry. Get the motor cruiser overside first." + +As the captain hurried away, Terence Reardon came up on the bridge. +The port engineer's gloomy visage portended tears, but through his +narrowed lids Cappy Ricks saw not tears, but the light of murder. +Terence did not speak, but thoughtfully puffed his pipe, and, with +Murphy and Cappy Ricks, watched the booby hatch on the submarine's +deck slide back and her long, slim, three-inch gun appear, like the +tongue of a huge viper. + +Heads appeared round the breech of the gun; so Michael J. Murphy +seized a megaphone and shouted: + +"_Nein! Nix!_" accompanying his words with wild pantomime that meant +"Don't shoot!" + +Captain Emil Bechtel was vastly relieved. He was not an inhuman man, +even if, on occasion, as has already been demonstrated, he could, for +the sake of national expediency, sink a ship without warning. Having +missed with both torpedoes, he could now, in the event of national +complications, enter a vigorous denial of any affidavits alleging an +attempted breach of international law, and his government would uphold +him. This knowledge rendered him both cheerful and polite, as he hove +to some hundred yards to starboard of the _Narcissus_ and informed +Captain Michael J. Murphy that the latter had just fifteen minutes in +which to save the ship's company; whereat Michael J. proved himself +every inch a sailor, while Terence P. proved himself a marine +engineer. If there was a word of opprobrium, mundane or nautical, +which the port skipper didn't shout at that submarine commander, the +port engineer supplied it. In all his life Cappy Ricks had never +listened to such rich, racy, unctuous abuse; it lifted itself about +the level of the commonplace and became a work of art. Cappy was +horrified. + +"Boys! Boys!" he pleaded. "This is frightful!" + +"What do you expect from a German, sir?" Murphy demanded. +"Frightfulness is his middle name." + +"I mean you two--and your language. Stop it! You'll contaminate me." + +"Well, sor," Terence Reardon replied philosophically, "I suppose +there's small use cryin' over spilt milk--musha, what are they up to +now?" + +"They're dragging a collapsible boat up from below," Mike Murphy +declared. "That means they're going to board us, place bombs in the +bilges, and sink us that way. They know blamed well we've wirelessed +for help and a patrol has answered; so that--" + +"No profanity!" Cappy shrilled. + +"So he has decided he won't try to sink us by shell fire with such a +small gun. It'll be dark in five minutes and he's afraid the flame of +the discharge or the reports of the gun may guide the patrol boat here +before he's finished his job. Oh, wirra, wirra!" + +Murphy's surmise proved to be correct, for he had scarcely finished +speaking before the submarine commander hailed him and ordered him to +let down his gangway. Terence P. Reardon's eyes flamed with the lust +for battle. + +"Be the great gun av Athlone," he cried, "if they're comin' aboard +sure we can get at them!" + +Murphy's rage vanished as suddenly as it had gripped him; he smiled at +Terence affectionately, approvingly. + +"You with your monkey wrench, eh, Terry, my lad? And they with +automatic pistols and wishful of an excuse to use them, not to mention +the nitroglycerin and guncotton bombs they'll be carrying--a divilish +bad thing to have kicking round in a free-for-all fight?" he queried. + +Terry's face showed his deep disappointment. + +"They'll see us all in the boats," Murphy continued; "then they'll go +below, set the bombs, light a slow fuse to give them time to get back +to the submarine--and then--" + +"With all these poor dumb beasts aboard?" Cappy Ricks quavered. +"Horrible! Horrible! I could kill them for it." + +"I could kill them for a greater crime than that," his port captain +reminded him. "Didn't they try twice to sink us without warning? Damn +them! They're forty fathoms outside the law this minute." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + + + + + +For the first time in his life Cappy Ricks was in financial and +physical danger coincidently. Old he was, and a landlubber, for all +his courtesy title; but in his veins there coursed the blood of a long +line of fighting ancestors. It occurred to him now that in all his +life he had never cried "Enough;" that always, when cornered and +presumably beaten, he had gone into executive session with himself +and, fox that he was, schemed a way out. In this supreme moment there +came to him now the words of the gallant Lawrence: "Don't give up the +ship!" They inspired him; his agile old brain, benumbed by the shock +of the exciting events of the last quarter of an hour, threw off its +paralysis; his little five-feet-four body thrilled with the impact of +a sudden brilliant idea. + +"I have it!" he piped. "By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, it might be +done! Mike, the submarine lies to starboard. Tell the mate to lower +the port gangway." + +Murphy ran out on the end of the bridge and bawled the order. Then he +came back, and he and Terence and Cappy Ricks put their heads together +while in brief, illuminating sentences Cappy Ricks unfolded the fruit +of his genius. + +"Tell me," he pleaded when he had finished, "is that scheme +practicable?" + +"It might be done, sir," Mike Murphy assented. + +"I'll thry anything the wanst," Terry Reardon almost barked. + +"It means some fighting--probably some killing." + +"Sorra wan av me'll feel broken-hearted at killin' the likes av that +Dutchman," Terry answered. "Shtill, we'll be needin' some help, I'm +thinkin'." + +"We'll get it, or I'm no judge of human nature. Mike, pass the word +for Sam Daniels, the boss of muleteers and broncho busters. Sam used +to be a Texas Ranger." + +Accordingly Sam Daniels was sent for and arrived on the jump. + +"Sam, my dear boy," said Cappy calmly, "I'm enlisting volunteers to +raise hell with that submarine. They're going to put bombs in the +bilges and blow up the ship." + +"Count me in, Cap," Sam Daniels replied laconically. "Want me to +rustle up a couple of the boys?" + +"Yes, about three real ones--boys that are handy with a six-shooter." + +"I guess most of the boys from the border have their guns in their war +bags. I'll go get them together." + +He did--in about three minutes; by which time the collapsible boat +from the submarine had been launched and was pulling toward the +_Narcissus_. While her master directed them to pull round to the port +gangway, Sam Daniels slipped down unobserved into Number Three hatch, +two of his horse wranglers disappeared with an equal lack of +ostentation down the gangway into Number Two hatch, and a third man +went forward and down Number One. The trap was set. + +A stout young lieutenant clad in soiled dungarees, his uniform cap +alone denoting his rank, came briskly up the companion, followed by +four jackies carrying the bombs. A fifth man remained in the boat, +fending it away with a boat hook from the tall black side of the +_Narcissus_. + +"Who commands here?" the German demanded in most excellent English. + +"I do," the master of the _Narcissus_ replied, and stepped a pace +forward. + +"Then hurry and get your boats overside. We're going to bomb the ship, +and if anybody remains aboard when those bombs explode it will be his +fault, not ours." + +The motor cruiser had already been dropped overboard, and the +life-boats, having been for two days swung out in the davits, were +quickly filled and lowered away. As each boat pulled clear of the ship +the man in charge of it was ordered by the submarine lieutenant to +stay to port of the _Narcissus_, and to pull well clear of the ship +before proceeding to pass the towing painters to the cruiser. + +"Are all your men off the ship?" the officer queried of the skipper as +the latter entered the last boat and gave the order to lower away. + +"All off; I've accounted for all of them," was the answer. + +The German waited until the boat had slipped away in the gloom before +turning to his command. + +"Proceed!" he said briefly; and, followed by his four men, he led the +way down the cleated temporary gangway built diagonally down Number +Three hatch to accommodate the horses when they had been led aboard. + +The better to facilitate their progress, Terence Reardon had turned on +all the electric lights in the ship, and the detail proceeded quickly +to the lower hold, where they set two bombs and piled double-compressed +baled hay round them, with the fuse leading out from under the bales. +In addition to blowing a hole in the ship they were taking the added +precaution of setting her afire after the explosion. + +From the spot where the bombs were set a long alleyway, lined on each +side with the rumps of horses, each neatly boxed in a stall just wide +enough and long enough to inclose him firmly and hold him on his feet +in the event of rough weather, led forward and aft to the bulkheads. +And in one of these stalls, close up against the rump of a horse he +could trust, Sam Daniels, the ex-Texas Ranger, crouched, with one eye +round the corner of the stall, calmly watching the grim proceedings. +Something told him that, having arranged the bombs in that hold, the +enemy would not light the fuses until he had set similar bombs at the +bottom of the other hatches; then, all being in readiness, a man would +be sent into each hold to light the fuse, scurry on deck, descend to +the waiting boat, and be pulled clear of danger before the fuses +should burn down to the fulminating caps. + +So Daniels waited until the men were about to pick up the remaining +bombs and ascend to the deck; whereupon he stepped quietly out into +the alleyway, a long-barreled forty-five in his hand, and pussyfooted +swiftly toward the Germans, whose backs were now turned toward him. +Halfway down the alleyway, on one of the heavy six-by-six-inch +uprights temporarily set in to support the weight of the hundred mules +on the deck above, was the electric switch controlling the circuit in +that hold--and Sam Daniels reached up and turned it down. Instantly +the hold was in darkness; and then the horseman spoke: + +"Hey, you Dutchies! Stay right where you are! I want to have a little +powwow with you before you go any farther." + +Having said this, the astute Mr. Daniels, out of a vast experience +gained while fighting Mexicans and outlaws in the dark, promptly lay +down. In case the enemy should become rattled and fire at the sound of +his voice he preferred to have plenty of room for the bullets to pass +over him. + +"Who's there?" the lieutenant demanded in English; and by the firm, +resolute voice the Texan knew that the German was not rattled and that +his men would not fire unless he gave the word. + +"Great thing, this naval discipline!" Mr. Daniels soliloquized. Aloud +he replied: + +"The fastest, straightest little wing shot with a six shooter that +ever was, old-timer!" + +"What do you purpose doing, my friend?" + +"I purpose giving you some good advice; though whether you accept it +or not is a matter of indifference to me. You will observe that this +hold is in comparative darkness. I say comparative, because through +the hatch space a certain amount of light is projected from the deck +above, and you and your men are standing in that light, whereas I am +in the dark. I can see you and you cannot see me. I have a forty-five +caliber revolver in my hand and another in reserve. There are five of +you fellows, constituting a fair target--and I seldom miss a fair +target. I can kill all five of you in five seconds. Of course some of +you may manage to fire at the flash of my gun and accidentally kill +me; but--make no mistake about it, son--I'll get you and your gang +before I kick the bucket. Now, then, which do you want to do--live or +die? I'm going to be fair to you fellows and give you some choice in +the matter--which is more than you did when you launched those two +torpedoes at us. Speak up, brother! I'm a nervous man and dislike +suspense." + +The German lieutenant glanced at his men, who had not yet touched the +other bombs and were looking stolidly at him for orders. He licked his +lower lip and scowled, sighed gustily--and made a swift grab for his +automatic. A streak of flame came out of the dark alleyway and the +German's arm hung limp at his side. He had a bullet in his shoulder. + +"Told you I was a wing shot!" the plainsman cautioned him pleasantly. +"I would have put that one through your heart if I didn't need an +interpreter. I imagine these roustabouts with you only speak their +mother tongue." + +"What do you want me to do?" + +"Well, first, I want you to leave that high explosive right where it +is. Then I want you to deposit all your sidearms on the floor, and +have your men do likewise." + +The German had had his lesson and arrived at the conclusion that valor +without discretion is not good business. He slipped his belt off and +let it drop to the floor; at a word from him his men did likewise, +whereupon Daniels stood up, threw on the electric switch, and revealed +himself and his artillery to the gaze of the invaders. + +"Forward; in a bunch, up the gangway!" he ordered. + +They obeyed. As the Texan passed the little heap of belts, with the +automatics in the holsters attached, he gathered them up and followed. +Just before the procession reached the main deck he halted them and +whistled--whereupon Michael J. Murphy, Terence P. Reardon and Cappy +Ricks came to the edge of the hatch and peered over. + +"Well, look who's here!" Cappy exclaimed maliciously. "Five nice +little pirates, who would sink my _Narcissus_ without so much as a +be-damned to you! Mike, bring the irons. Terence, my boy, restrain +yourself. If you use that monkey wrench until I give the word the Blue +Star Navigation Company will have a new port engineer. Undress these +fellows. Just remove their caps and outer garments--and be quick about +it." + +"Tell them to molt--_muy pronto!_" Sam Daniels ordered the lieutenant, +who relayed the order in a voice that had in it a suspicion of tears. + +In three minutes they were undressed and handcuffed together; leg +irons were put on them, and they were expeditiously gagged and chained +to a stanchion. + +"Now then, Terence, I have work for you and your monkey wrench," Cappy +continued. "You're about the same size as this officer. Into his +dungarees and uniform cap; and don't forget to slip on his belt, with +the automatic." + +"In two shakes av a lamb's tail, sor. What next?" + +"As you run down the gangway to the waiting boat, hold your +handkerchief over that Irish mug of yours. Pretend you're blowing your +nose. The man in the boat won't recognize you until you're on top of +him." + +"Wan little love tap--no more!" Terence breathed lovingly. + +"When Terence has tapped him, Sam," Cappy continued, "you go down and +help to get him out on the landing stage. He'll be off our hands there +and the submarine people cannot see what's happened to him. They're +still lying on our starboard beam." + +Terence and the deadly Samuel disappeared, to return presently and +report all well. Thereupon Michael J. Murphy retired to the port side +of the house, lit a kerosene torch he had brought up from the engine +room and waved it. He waited. Presently, in the gloom off to port, he +saw the red and green side lights of the little cruiser. For a moment +both lights were visible; then the master of the _Narcissus_, now in +charge of the cruiser, ported his helm and showed his red only. Murphy +waited, and presently both red and green showed again. + +"Starboard now, and show your green," Murphy pleaded. + +The red went out and the green alone showed; so Mike Murphy +extinguished his torch and rejoined Cappy Ricks, Terence and the +ubiquitous Mr. Daniels. + +"Sam, my dear boy," Cappy was saying as Murphy came up, "Mike and +Terence own in the _Narcissus_ and they work for me--hence their +alliance. You owe me no fealty--" + +"The hell I don't, Cap!" Sam retorted lightly. "You're a fine old +sport, and I'm for you till the last dog is hung." + +"Sam, I am deeply grateful. Your friendship is very dear to me indeed. +I have a twenty-two-thousand acre ranch down in Monterey County, +California--don't know why I bought it, unless it was because it was a +bargain and ranch property in California is bound to increase in +value--and you're my foreman if we ever get out of this with a whole +skin. I'll make it the best job you ever had, Sam." + +"Thank you, Mr. Ricks!" A moment before it had been Cap. "If you never +saw a man fight for a good job before, just watch me!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIV + + + + + +The horse tenders in the other holds were summoned and informed that +for the present the _Narcissus_ would not be bombed. Quickly two of +them, with Mike Murphy and Sam Daniels, donned the dungarees and caps +of the prisoners and strapped on their belts containing the automatics +in their holsters. In the interim Terence had descended to the +collapsible boat bumping at the gangway and fended her off until Sam +Daniels, the two cowboys and Mike Murphy joined him; whereupon Terence +took one pair of oars, while Murphy handled the other, and the boat +crept out from the steamer and headed directly for the submarine, +which had been ratching backward and forward under a dead-slow bell, +watching the towering black hulk of the _Narcissus_ rolling idly. A +light showed on the turret of the submarine, outlining vaguely the +figures of half a dozen men on her small deck. + +The disposition of Mike Murphy's forces was such that the chances of +the enemy detecting the substitution of the boarding party before it +should reach the submersible were reduced to a minimum. In the bow of +the collapsible one of the cowboys sat, facing the stern; Terence and +Mike also faced the stern, by reason of the fact that they were +rowing; and Sam Daniels and the other cowboy, seated in the stern +sheets, were under orders to turn and look back at the _Narcissus_ as +the boat came within the radius of the meager light from the +submarine's turret. Thus they ran little risk of premature discovery. + +"For," as Cappy Ricks sagely reminded them just before they pulled +away from the _Narcissus_, "the German is both cautious and cocksure. +The capture of his bombing party has been effected without a sound; +the commander saw our men leave the steamer in the boats; he sees the +_Narcissus_ now not under command and wallowing; he figures that all +is lovely and the goose honks high. Therefore, he will be off his +guard, since his suspicions have not been roused. His deck is very +dimly lighted by that single light on the turret, and he knows that +light is sufficient to guide the boat party back to the submarine. +There is no sea running to speak of; so it will not be necessary for +him to turn his searchlight on you to light the way for you. + +"Moreover, he will not care to use his searchlight, because it may +guide a patrol boat to this spot, and Terence has very carefully +turned out all the lights on the ship which might be visible from a +distance, because that is precisely what that lieutenant would or +should have done if we had given him time. And when you row toward +that submarine, row like the devil, because that's the way the bombing +party would row in their hurry to board the submarine and steam clear +of the explosion. It is my guess that the instant you heave alongside +you will be snagged with boat hooks by the men on her deck. In the +excitement of making a quick get-away nobody will be looking into your +faces, anyhow; they'll see your familiar dungaree suits and caps; some +of them may even give you a hand to help you when you leap aboard. Do +not despise such help; just extend your left hands and before you let +go the enemy's right bend your guns--and you, Terry, your monkey +wrench--over their heads. You'll have the deck in a pig's whisper! +Then, Mike, the rest is up to you. I've made the ball; now you fire +it. + +"I take it the submarine will be in such a hurry to get away that all +the men on her deck will reach down and snake the boat in; once out of +danger, they'll plan on knocking that collapsible down and storing it +away at their leisure. Tackle 'em while they're busy with the +boat--provided you get aboard unsuspected. Terence, remember to shout +the minute you go into action--and I'll give you fighting light." + +Following these instructions, Cappy had very solemnly shaken hands all +round and departed for the bridge, where he removed the canvas +covering from the searchlight, bent the reflector toward the +submarine, and waited, with his nervous old finger on the switch. + +In pursuance of Cappy Ricks' instructions, Mike Murphy and Terence +Reardon rowed furiously toward the submarine--so furiously, indeed, +that the harsh grating of their oars in the rowlocks apprised Captain +Emil Bechtel of their approach some seconds before the boat was +visible. At his brisk command the men on deck stepped down to the low +pipe railing on the port side of the deck, prepared to snag the boat +the instant she drew alongside. When he could hear the sound of the +commander's voice, Mike Murphy chanced a quick look over his shoulder, +noted the position of the submarine, and turned his head again. + +"Four more strokes, Terry; then ship your oars," he cautioned the +engineer in a low voice. + +At the fourth stroke Terence obediently shipped his oars; with a deft +twist of one oar, Murphy straightened the boat and shot neatly in +alongside the submarine, the deck of which was less than three feet +above the water. As Cappy Ricks had anticipated, the men on that deck +promptly snagged the boat at bow and stern with boat hooks--and on the +instant Cappy Ricks' bully boys leaped for their prey. + +As luck would have it, Terence P. Reardon was the only one offered a +helping hand--and he did not despise it; neither did he forget Cappy's +last instructions. With neatness and ample force he brought his monkey +wrench down on the German's skull; and then to Cappy Ricks, waiting on +the bridge of the _Narcissus_, came the ancient Irish battlecry of +_Faugh-a-ballagh!_ For the benefit of those not versed in the ways of +the fighting Celt, be it known that _Faugh-a-ballagh_ means Clear the +Road. And history records but few instances when Irish soldiery have +raised that cry and rushed without clearing a pathway. + +The fight was too short and savage for description. Suffice it to say +that not a shot was fired--the work was too close for that, for the +surprise had been complete. Even before Cappy Ricks could focus the +steamer's searchlight on the fracas, it was over. Terence P. Reardon +got two in two strokes of his trusty monkey wrench; Sam Daniels and +his two fellow-bronco-busters each laid open a German scalp with the +long barrels of their forty-fives; and Michael J. Murphy, plain +lunatic-crazy with rage, disdaining all but Nature's weapons, tied +into the amazed Captain Emil Bechtel under the rules of the +Longshoremen's Union--which is to state that Michael J. Murphy +clinched Emil Bechtel, lifted him, set him down hard on his plump +back, crawled him, knelt on his arms, and addressed him in these +words: + +"Hah! (A right jab to the face.) You would, would you? (Left jab to +face.) You pig-iron polisher! (Bending the nose back forcibly with the +heel of his fist.) When I get (smash) through with your (smash) head +(smash) it'll be long (smash) before you'll block (smash) your hat +again (smash) on the Samson post, you--" + +"Out av me way, Michael, lad, till I get a kick at his slats!" crooned +Terence P. Reardon, heaving alongside. + +"You gossoon! Take care of the scuttle; don't let them close it down, +or they'll submerge and drown us. Leave this lad to me, I tell you. +He's the captain, and why shouldn't he be killed by one of his own +rank?" + +Thus rebuked, Terence curbed his blood-thirsty proclivities. Leaving +his countryman to beat his devil's tattoo on the submarine commander, +Terence leaped to the open scuttle just in time to bang another head +as it appeared on a level with the deck. + +"Let that be a lesson to you!" he called as the unconscious man slid +back down the companion into the interior of the vessel. + +Then he sat on the lid of the scuttle, poised his monkey wrench on +high over the scuttle, and awaited developments, the while he tossed +an order over his shoulder to Sam Daniels: + +"Bring me the bum!" + +"Which one?" Mr. Daniels queried. + +"The German bum, av coorse," Terence retorted waspishly. + +"But all these bums are Germans--" + +"Not that kind av a bum!" howled Terence. "I mean the bum in the +boat." + +Thus enlightened, Sam brought a bomb from the boat and handed it to +the engineer. In the interim Mike Murphy had polished off his man to +his entire satisfaction and joined Terence at the scuttle, while one +of the horse wranglers, a cool individual and a firm believer in +safety first, collected the weapons from the fallen. + +Mike Murphy approached the scuttle and bawled down it to the amazed +and puzzled crew below. As a linguist Mike was no great shakes, +particularly when called upon to juggle German; but he was a resolute +fellow and not afraid to do his best at all times. Consequently his +hail took the form of "Hey! _Landsmann!_" + +Something told Terence Reardon that Michael was through; so he added +his mite to the store and bellowed: + +"_Spreckels die deutsch,_ ye blackguards?" + +Then both sat back to await developments. Presently a voice at the +foot of the companion said: + +"Hello dere! Vat iss?" + +"Vat iss? Hell iss! Dot's vat! Listen to me, you Dutchy. I'm the +skipper of that horse transport your commander tried to sink without +warning, and I'm in command of the deck of this craft, with the +scuttle open; and you can't submerge and wash me off, either. When I +give the word I want you and your men to come up, one at a time and no +crowding. And if you're not up five minutes after I order you up I'll +not wait; I'll set a bomb in your turret, back off in the small boat +and kill with revolvers any man that tries to come up and see where +the fuse is burning in order to put it out. Do you surrender, or would +you rather die?" + +"Vait a minute und I find oud," the German answered promptly. + +It required five minutes for a council of war below decks; then the +interpreter came to the foot of the companion and informed Mike Murphy +that, considering the circumstances, they had decided to live. In the +interim the skipper of the _Narcissus_ had arrived, with +re-enforcements, in the cruiser, and reported that his crew was +getting back aboard the steamer as fast as possible and would have her +under command again in a minute. At Murphy's order the unconscious +Germans were put aboard the cruiser; later, when the remainder of the +submersible's crew came up, one at a time, they were disarmed and +lined up on the little deck; whereupon Michael J. Murphy addressed +their spokesman thus: + +"Listen--you! It would be just like you to have set a time bomb +somewhere in this submarine to blow her up after you were all safely +out of her. If you did you made a grave tactical error. You're not +going to leave her for quite a while yet. You're going to sit quietly +here on deck, under guard, while the steamer hooks on to this +submarine and tows her; and if my prize crew is blown up, remember, +you--" + +The spokesman--he was the chief engineer, by the way--yelled "_Ach, +Gott!_" and leaped for the scuttle. Mike Murphy followed him into the +engine room in time to see him stamp out a long length of slow-burning +fuse. + +"Any more?" Murphy queried. + +"Dot von vas sufficient, if it goes off," the German answered simply. + +"All right!" Mike Murphy replied. "I'll take a chance and so will you. +You'll stay aboard and run those oil engines." + +Half an hour later with the submarine's crew safely under lock and key +on the _Narcissus,_ the big freighter continued on her course, +followed by the captured submarine, with Michael J. Murphy in her +turret and a quartermaster from the _Narcissus_ at her helm. In the +engine room her own engineer grudgingly explained to Terence P. +Reardon the workings of an oil engine and the ramifications of the +electric-light system--and during all of that period the deadly monkey +wrench never left the port engineer's hand. + +Sam Daniels and his comrades were once more back aboard the +_Narcissus,_ attending to the horses; and Cappy Ricks, his heart so +filled with pride that it was like to burst, occupied the submarine's +turret with the doughty Michael J. For an hour they discussed the +marvelous coup until there was no angle of it left undiscussed; +whereupon fell a silence, with Michael J.'s eyes fixed on the dark +bulk ahead that marked the _Narcissus_, and Cappy's thoughts on what +Matt Peasley and Mr. Skinner would say when they heard the glorious +news. + +For nearly an hour not a word passed between the pair. + +Presently Cappy's regular breathing drew Murphy's attention to him. He +had fallen asleep in his seat, his chin bent on his old breast, a +little half-smile on his lips. And as Murphy looked at him pridefully +Cappy spoke in his sleep: + +"Holy sailor! How Mike Murphy can swear!" + +Terence P. Reardon came to the foot of the little spiral staircase +leading to the turret. + +"Michael, me lad," he announced, "the internal-combustion ile ingin' +is the marine ingin' av the future. They're as simple as two an' two +is four. Listen, _avic!_ Does she not run like a twenty-four-jewel +watch? An' this man that invinted thim was a Ger-r-man--more power to +him! Faith, I'm thinkin' if the Ger-r-mans were as great in war as +they are in peace 'twould need more nor the Irish to take the measure +av thim!" + +"Irish?" Mike Murphy answered irritably. "Terence, quit your +bragging! God knows the Irish are great--" + +"The greatest in the wide, wide wur-rld!" Terence declared, with all +the egotism of his race. + +"Whist, Terry! There's a little old Yankee man aboard; if you wake him +up he'll call you a liar." + +"The darlin' ould fox!" Terry murmured affectionately, and went back +to his engines. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LV + + + + + +The entire office force of the Blue Star Navigation Company and the +Ricks Lumber & Logging Company had assembled in the general office to +greet Cappy Ricks, Mike Murphy and Terence Reardon upon their return +from Europe, and to hear at first hand the story of their wanderings +and adventures. And when the wondrous tale had been told, and business +was once more resumed, Matt Peasley, Mr. Skinner, Mike and Terence +convened in Cappy Ricks' office for further discussion. + +"We sent that half million dollars to New York to be transferred to +the credit of the French Government when the bill of sale for that +steamer should be deposited with the bank there," Matt remarked +presently. "What kind of a vessel did you buy, Cappy? What are her +dimensions?" + +"What kind of a ship did I buy?" Cappy piped. "Hum-m-m! A ship is +good. I bought four; and--believe me!--they're no skiffs, either. All +of them are big foreign-going steel tramps, with lots of speed and +power." + +"Four for half a million dollars?" Matt Peasley cried unbelievingly. + +"They would have cost anybody else a million and a half; but--er-- +well, you see, Matt, I had a stand-in with the right people. The four +vessels I bought were all prizes of war--German merchantmen converted +into commerce raiders, which had slipped through the cordon of British +cruisers and got into the North Atlantic, where French cruisers +overhauled them and brought them into port. They were all there and up +for sale to the highest bidder when we got there with the horses and +our captured submarine. + +"I bid half a million for the lot, which is probably about half of +what it cost to build them; and there was a Frenchman and an +Englishman bidding against me. They each had me topped, and the +vessels were knocked down to the Frenchman; but when he found I was a +competitor--that I was Monsieur le Capitaine Ricks--that's what they +called me, Matt--in command of the party that captured a German +submarine, intact and without the loss of a single man on either +side-say, Matt, the stuff was all off! + +"He and the Englishman went into a conference; and the result was, the +Frenchman ran out on his bid and forfeited his ten-per-cent certified +check. That left the Englishman the next highest bidder; and he ran +out on his bid and left the ships to me! Then the Englishman shook +hands with me and the Frenchman kissed me. I thought the least I could +do was to make good to them on the earnest money they had forfeited, +and they accepted it. Then the President of France heard about it and +came down to Brest to see me; and he kissed me, too, and gave me the +Officers' Cross of the Legion of Honor. I didn't tell him I was just a +private in the ranks. Oh, no! Nothing doing. I was introduced as +Monsieur le Capitaine Ricks--and that settled it. I was an officer, +for all my courtesy title; and I took the Cross, because I was prouder +than Punch to have it. + +"Then the Chamber of Deputies met and voted the Frenchman and the +Englishman back their forfeited earnest money; and they gave me back +my checks, and I wrote new ones for the same amount and split the swag +fifty-fifty between the two nations for the care of their wounded. +Then I gave a dinner aboard the submarine, and President Poincare was +present. I presented the submarine, with the compliments of the Blue +Star Navigation Company, to the Republic of France, and the President +accepted, all hands went out on deck and we cracked a bottle of +champagne over that submersible's bows and rechristened her." + +"What name?" Matt and Skinner chorused. + +"The Shamrock--out of compliment to Mike and Terence." + +"Fine!" Matt cried. "Then what?" + +"Nothing, Matt. Our business was finished and I was anxious to get +back on the job; so we engaged skippers and crews to bring our four +freighters to New York, and came home. + +"Better step lively, boy, and dig up some business for them! Mike will +give you the data on their tonnage." + +Matt drew Mike Murphy aside. + +"Tell me, Mike," he whispered, "did the old man get soused at that +dinner aboard the _Shamrock?_" + +"Look here, Matt," Murphy answered; "what Monsieur le Capitaine Ricks +does outside of office hours is none of my business--or yours, either. +And if you don't like that answer help yourself to a new port captain. +I'm not telling everything I know, Matt." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVI + + + + + +On the morning of April 3, 1917, Cappy Ricks came down to his office, +spread a newspaper on his desk and carefully cut from it the war +address of President Wilson to Congress, made the night before. This +clipping the old gentleman folded carefully; he placed it in an +envelope, sealed it and wrote across the face of the envelope: +"Property of Alden Matthew Peasley." Then he summoned Mr. Skinner, +president of the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he began, "have you read the President's +Message to Congress?" + +"I have," replied Skinner. + +"I guess that President of ours isn't some tabasco, eh? By the Holy +Pink-Toed Prophet, he's just naturally read Bill Hohenzollern out of +the party. Bully for Woodrow!" + +Mr. Skinner's calm cold features refused to thaw, however, under the +heat of his employer's enthusiasm, seeing which Cappy slid out to the +edge of his chair and gazed contemplatively at Skinner over the rims +of his spectacles. "Hum-m-m!" he said. The very tempo of that +throat-clearing should have warned Mr. Skinner that he was treading on +thin ice, but with his usual complacence he ignored the storm signal, +for his mind was upon private, not public affairs. + +"I'm offered the old barkentine _C. D. Bryant_ for a cargo of redwood +to Sydney," he began. "The freight rate is two hundred and twenty +shillings per thousand feet, but the _Bryant_ is so old and rotten I +can't get any insurance on the cargo if I ship by her. I'm just +wondering if--" + +"Haramph-h-h! Ahem-m-m!" + +"--it's worth while taking a chance to move that foreign order." + +"Skinner!" Cappy almost shouted. + +Mr. Skinner looked at him, startled. + +"How can you think and talk of old barkentines and non-insurable +foreign cargoes at this crisis in our country's history?" the autocrat +of the numerous Ricks corporations shrilled furiously. "Dad burn your +picture, Skinner, are you human? Don't you ever get a thrill from +reading a document like this?"--and he tapped the envelope containing +the press clipping. "What kind of juice runs in your arteries, anyhow? +Red blood or buttermilk? Is your soul so dog-goned dead, crushed under +the weight of dollars, that you have failed to realize this document +is destined to go down in history side by side with Lincoln's +Gettysburg speech? I'll bet you don't know the Gettysburg speech. Bet +you never heard of it!" + +"Oh, nonsense, Mr. Ricks," Skinner retorted suavely. "Pray do not +excite yourself. Suppose war does impend? Is that any reason why I +should neglect business?" + +"Of course it is, you gibbering jackdaw! I feel like setting fire to +the building, just to celebrate. Can't you step into my office on a +day like this and discuss the country and her affairs for five +minutes, just to prove you're an American citizen? Can't you rejoice +with me over these lofty, noble sentiments--" + +"Words, words, empty words," warned Mr. Skinner, always a reactionary +Republican. + +"Skinner," said Cappy with deadly calm, "one more disloyal peep out of +you and I shall have no alternative save to request your resignation. +I think you're a pacifist at heart, anyhow!" + +"Huh," snorted Skinner. "You've changed your tune, haven't you? Who +trotted up and down California Street last fall, soliciting campaign +contributions for the Republican nominee from the lumber and shipping +interests? Wasn't it Alden P. Ricks? Who thought the country was going +to wrack and ruin--" + +"That was last fall," Cappy interrupted shrilly. "We live and +learn--that is, some of us do," he added significantly. "Never mind +about my politics last fall; just remember I haven't any this spring. +I'm an American citizen, and by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, some +German or Germans will find it out before I'm gathered to the bosom of +Abraham. I have a right to disapprove of my President if I feel like +it, but I'll be shot if I'll let anybody else pick on him." And Cappy +shook his head emphatically several times like a squinch-owl. + +"Oh, I'm for him, now that we're committed to this war," Skinner +declared in an effort to soothe the old man. + +"Sure! We're locking the stable door after the horse has been stolen. +If we'd been for him when the _Lusitania_ was sunk instead of being +divided in our opinions and swayed in our judgment by a lot of +hysterical pacifists and German propagandists we'd have been into the +war long ago and saved millions of human lives; we'd have had the war +won." He sighed. + +"What a prime lot of jackasses we Americans are!" he continued. "We +talk of liberty and demand license; we prate of democracy and we're a +nation of snobs!" + +"You wanted to see me about something," Skinner reminded him. + +"Ah, yes; I was forgetting. This envelope, Skinner, contains the +President's address. Take it and put it in the vault, and when my +grandson is twelve years old give that press clipping to his mother +and tell her I said she was to read it to the boy and make him learn +it by heart. I won't be on hand to do the Americanizing of that +youngster myself, and most likely Matt Peasley will be too busy to +think much about it, so I'm taking no chances. You rile me to beat the +band sometimes, Skinner, but I'll say this much in your favor: I have +never known you to forget anything." + +"Thank you, sir." + +Mr. Skinner took the envelope and departed, and Cappy rang for a +stenographer. + +"Take a telegram, fast day message," he barked: "'His Excellency, The +President, White House, Washington, D. C. Dear Mister President: I did +not vote for you last fall, but your address of last night makes me +ashamed that I did not. I am controlling owner of the Blue Star +Navigation Company, operating a fleet of fifty vessels of various +kinds, twelve of which are foreign-going steam freighters. Am also +controlling owner of the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company, cutting a +million feet of lumber daily. Everything I control, every dollar I +possess, is at the service of my country. God bless you, sir! Alden P. +Ricks.' + +"That sounds sloppy, but it's the way I feel," Cappy declared. "When a +man has a big heart-breaking job to do and a lot of Philistines are +knocking him, maybe it helps him to retain his faith in humankind to +have some fellow grow sincerely sloppy and slip a telegraphic cheer in +with the hoots. Besides, if I didn't let off steam today I'd swell up +and bust myself all over the office--" + +The door opened and Mr. Terence P. Reardon, port engineer of the Blue +Star Navigation Company, entered. Mr. Reardon's right eye was in deep +mourning and at no very remote period something--presumably a +fist--had shifted his nose slightly to starboard; indeed, even as he +entered Cappy's office a globule of the rich red Reardon blood +trembled in each of the port engineer's nostrils. His knuckles were +slightly skinned and the light of battle blazed in his black eyes. + +"Terence, my dear, dear fellow," murmured the horrified Cappy, "you +look as if you had been fed into a concrete mixer. Have you been +fighting?" + +"Well, sor," Mr. Reardon replied in his deep Kerry brogue, "ye might +call it that for lack of somethin' more expressive. I've just fired +the chief engineer o' the _Tillicum."_ + +"Mr. Denicke? Why, Terry, he's a first-rate engineer. I'm amazed. He +was with us ten years before you entered the employ--worked up from +oiler; in fact, I must have an explanation of your action in this +case, Terence." + +"He called the President a nut. I fired him for that. Then he said +the Kaiser was the greatest single force for civilization that ever +was, an' wit' that I gave him a lift under the lug an' we wint at it. +He's in the Harbor Receivin' Hospital this minute, an' I'm here to +tell ye, sor, wit' all respect, that if ye don't like the way I've +treated that Dutchman ye can get yerself a new port ingineer, for I'll +quit, an' that's somethin' I'm not wishful to do." + +Quite calmly Cappy Ricks pressed the buzzer on his desk. The cashier +of the Blue Star Navigation Company entered. "Son," said Cappy, +"hereafter, when making out Mr. Reardon's pay check, tack onto it +twenty-five dollars extra each month. That is all." + +"Thank you, sor," murmured Mr. Reardon, quite overcome. + +"Get out!" cried Cappy. "You're a vision of sudden death. Go wash +yourself." + +As Mr. Reardon took his departure Cappy sighed. "If Skinner only had +a set of works like that port engineer!" he murmured. "If he only +had!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVII + + + + + +It will be recalled that war with Germany was declared on Good +Friday. Bright and early on Saturday morning Cappy Ricks arrived at +his office and immediately summoned Mr. Skinner. + +"Skinner, my dear boy," he chirped, "'the tumult and the shouting +dies. We're down to brass tacks--at last; and now is time for all good +men and true to come to the aid of the party. I'm too old to bear +arms, and when I was young enough bantam battalions weren't +fashionable; nevertheless, I am enlisting for the war, and I start in +this morning to do my part. I won't wear any uniform, but believe me, +Skinner, I'm the little corporal who's going to mobilize the Blue Star +Navigation Company and the Ricks Lumber & Logging Company, together +with all and sundry of their subsidiary corporations. I'm starting +with you, Skinner. Are you figuring on enlisting?" + +"Certainly not, sir. I'm forty-three years old, married--" + +"No excuses necessary, Skinner. Even if you had planned to enlist I +would have forbidden the banns. You'd make a bird of a paymaster or +quartermaster, but as an enlisted man--well, the other bad soldier +boys would toss you in a blanket. So I'll assign you to a job in civil +life. Skinner, what do you know about aeroplanes?" + +"Absolutely nothing, except that they fly." + +"Then learn something! Skinner, the ideal wood for aeroplane +construction is clear Pacific Coast spruce. I've been reading up on +the subject. Inasmuch as this war must be won in the air, you can +imagine the number of aeroplanes the country must turn out in the next +eighteen months. Stu-pen-dous, Skinner, simply stu-pen-dous! Try to +visualize the wastage alone in the aeroplanes on the battle fronts; +consider the thousands of seaplanes that will scour the Atlantic on +the lookout for submarines, and then ask yourself, Skinner, what the +devil those overworked army and navy officers in Washington are going +to do about laying in a supply of clear Pacific Coast spruce before +these pirates of lumbermen get next and boost the price clear out of +sight. Skinner, what is clear spruce worth at the Northern mills +today?" + +"About fifty-five dollars per thousand, sir. For years clear spruce +never rose in price beyond thirty-five dollars, but purchases by the +British Government have shot the price up during the past year." + +"Exactly! And purchases by the United States Government will shoot the +price up to a hundred and fifty dollars a thousand if you and I don't +get busy. Now then, Skinner, listen to me! We have a couple of +thousand acres of wonderful spruce timber adjacent to our fir holdings +at Port Hadlock, Washington. Wire the mill manager to swamp in a +logging railroad to that spruce timber, put in logging camps and +concentrate on spruce. The clear stock we'll sell to the Government, +and the lower grades will be snapped up by the box factories." + +Mr. Skinner nodded his comprehension of the order and Cappy continued: +"Wire our mill managers at Astoria, Oregon and Eureka, California, to +log out all the spruce they come across among the fir. As for you, +Skinner, accept no more orders for clear spruce from our regular +customers, and go easy on accepting orders for any kind of lumber from +our Eastern customers. All those car shipments must be made up of +kiln-dried stock, and we'll want most of the space in our dry kilns to +cook this clear green spruce for Uncle Sam, because he's going to want +it in a hurry, and if he can't get it when he wants it--why, chaos has +come again and all hell's let loose!" + +"What price do you propose charging the Government for this clear +spruce?" the cautious Skinner queried. He owned a little stock in the +Ricks Lumber & Logging Company and already he had a vision of an extra +dividend. + +"Absolute cost plus ten per cent," replied Cappy promptly. "No excess +profits at the expense of the country at war, Skinner." + +He gazed upon Skinner contemplatively for several seconds. "And mind +you don't figure the cost too liberally," he warned him. + +"Very well, sir. Is that all?" + +"Not by a jugful! You scatter round the market and buy up every stick +of clear two-inch spruce sawed and on hand at the Northern mills. Buy +at the market, but do not hesitate to go five dollars over the market +if necessary to get the stock. Then place orders for all the clear +spruce the mills can cut and deliver within the next six months, and +we'll have the market hog tied. + +"Got to do it, Skinner. I tell you there isn't a whole lot of +difference between a lumberman and a manufacturer or a food +speculator. When he gets the public foul, doesn't the public pay +through the nose? Haven't we been doing it ourselves in the matter of +ship freights? But we must reform, Skinner, we must reform and get +down to a cooperative basis, no matter how great the agony. On this +spruce deal alone, for instance, we'll save the Government a couple of +million dollars. See if we don't." + +"We're entitled to a liberal profit," Mr. Skinner protested. "If--" + +"No ifs, buts or ands! Obey orders! About the time we have the market +on clear spruce well cornered the lumbermen's boys will be in the army +and the lumbermen themselves will have begun to realize that they must +sacrifice something for their country. And once we're sane we'll be +able to work hand in glove with the Government. The United States of +America has been money-mad for a long time, Skinner, but this war is +going to spiritualize us and show us that there's a lot more in life +than dollar-chasing. Hop to your job, P. D. Q., Skinner, my boy; and +as you pass out send Captain Matt Peasley in to me." + +Matt Peasley came smilingly into his father-in-law's office. "Well, +Cappy," he hailed the old gentleman, "I understand you've come out of +your retirement." + +"You're damned whistling, I have!" Cappy rejoined. "Something doing, +boy, something for everybody! Have they told you about it in the +general office?" + +"Told me about what?" + +"About the President asking me if I would cooperate with him to the +extent of serving as the Pacific Coast member of the Shipping Board? I +guess that isn't some honor, eh? How the devil he ever dug up an old +fossil like me is a mystery. I wired him, advising that he appoint a +younger man, but he replied that he knew I was the livest shipping man +in the country and an American through and through. So, of course, +Matt, I have accepted." + +"Your forty odd years' experience will be of inestimable value to the +country in this emergency," Matt declared heartily. "I'm proud of +you." + +"Thank you, son. Now then, Matt, to business! The Government's going +to need every one of our ships that can run foreign." Matt nodded. +"Very well, then," Cappy continued; "as fast as their present charters +lapse, decline to recharter except for single trips. We must go on a +war basis and be prepared to turn our ships over to the Government on +short notice. I'll be too busy to keep my eye on the details of the +Blue Star's transactions with the Government, so I'll give you a +straight tip now--I want no gouging. Remember that, Matthew, my son." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + + + + + +The following day Cappy had a call from Sam Daniels. + +"Hello, Sam," Cappy greeted his lanky ranch manager. "What brings you +up to town? Not that I'm not glad to see you, for I was on the point +of writing you on some matters that had occurred to me." + +"I've come up to resign my job," Daniels declared humbly. + +"Resign the best job you've ever had, Sam!" Cappy was amazed. + +"To resign the best job I ever will have, Mr. Ricks." + +Mr. Daniels hitched his chair close to his employer's desk. "Boss," he +said, "I'm awful sorry, but I'm goin' soldiering." + +Cappy Ricks sprang to his feet with an oath. "You're not!" he shouted. +"I won't hear of it. You're too valuable a man to go into the army and +get yourself killed--particularly since you can do your share at home. +Why, I was just going to write you and give you your orders for +patriotic duty. You go back to the ranch, Sam, and get busy. Plant +spuds, wheat, oats, barley, corn--plant all you can of it. Raise +heifers, sheep, hogs, cows, bulls, calves, turkeys--everything that +can be eaten. Raise horses--and in particular, raise mules." + +"I'd rather raise hell with a bunch of Germans," Sam Daniels declared +feelingly. + +"Your job is to help produce cereals and canned beef for the +hell-raisers," Cappy declared. "The army will want horses for the +artillery and mules for the transport. Why, this war may last for +years. Sam, you infernal scoundrel, you get back on the farm. You're +forty-five years old and you've been shot and whittled enough in your +day to last you the remainder of your natural life. Let the young +fellows do the fighting abroad, while you and I and the other hasbeens +do it at home." + +"I'd a heap rather lay off in the brush somewheres an' snipe Germans," +Mr. Daniels pleaded. "On the level, boss, if they'll give me a +Springfield rifle with telescopic sights I'll guarantee to sicken +anythin' I get a fair sight on at a thousand yards." + +"In-fer-nal scoundrel! How dare you argue with me! You get back on +your job!" + +"Boss, I'm going into the army," Daniels announced sadly, but +nevertheless firmly. "I'm givin' you a month's notice so you can get a +man to take my place." + +Cappy surrendered. "All right, Sam. If you survive, your job will be +waiting for you when you get back. However, you needn't give me any +notice. I'll have another man in charge of the ranch to-morrow, and +you can enlist today." + +"And you're not sore at me, Mr. Ricks?" + +"Sam, I'm proud of you. Wish I were young enough to go it with you. +Are you in a hurry to get to France?" + +"Certainly am." + +"Then join the marines. They always go first. Good-bye, Sam. Good +luck to you and God bless you! Draw your wages as you go out and tell +the cashier I said to give you an extra month's wages for tobacco +money." + +Mr. Daniels withdrew, visibly filled with emotion. Ten minutes later +Cappy Ricks, watching at his office window, saw Mr. Daniels cross the +street and enter the marines' recruiting office. Immediately Cappy +called that recruiting office on the telephone and asked for the +doctor. + +"Look here, doctor!" he said. "In a few minutes a lanky, battle +scarred rancher is coming in to be examined. I don't want him to +enlist. He's my ranch manager and worth more to the country in his job +than at the Front. You turn him down physically, doctor, and I'll +guarantee to send you five fine recruits instead of that old fossil. +His name is Sam Daniels, and I'm Alden P. Ricks, of the Blue Star +Navigation Company, across the street." + +"We need an automobile to send our recruiting sergeant out through the +state," the wary medico replied. "Now, if you could loan us one--" + +"I'll have my own car and chauffeur over in half an hour, and you keep +him as long as you need him," Cappy piped. "Only tell Sam Daniels he's +faltering on the brink of the grave and send him back to me." + +An hour later Mr. Daniels slouched into Cappy Ricks' office. "Well, +Private Daniels," the old man saluted him, "you look downcast. Has +something slipped?" + +"I should say it has. The doc over to the recruitin' office says I got +a heart murmur from smoking cigarettes, which it's a cinch the +excitement o' battle brings on death from heart failure, an' then +folks would say I died o' fright." + +"He's crazy Sam! Tell him to go chase himself." + +"I guess he's right, Mr. Ricks. He 'most cried to let me go, an' was +for waivin' the heart murmur, but it seems I got a floatin' kidney, +an' flat feet. Gosh, I never knew I had flat feet, but then I've rid +horses all my life an' ain't never hiked none to speak of." + +He was silent several minutes, studying the pattern of the office +carpet. Presently he looked up. "Is my successor at the ranch already +appointed?" he queried. + +"Go back to the fields and the kind-faced cows, Samuel," quoth Cappy +gently. "Hurry, or you'll miss the train." + +Sam Daniels fled, and hard on his heels came Mrs. Michael J. Murphy, +_nee_ Miss Keenan. It will be recalled that prior to her happy +alliance with Michael J. Murphy, Mrs. Murphy had been Cappy Ricks' +favorite stenographer. He received her cordially. + +"Now then, what's gone wrong, my dear?" he demanded. "Have you and +Mike been making a hash of your married life that you should come in +here on the verge of tears?" + +Mrs. Murphy blinked away a tear or two and sat down. "Some of the boys +in the office will be enlisting, Mr. Ricks," she faltered. "I wonder +if there might be a vacancy for me--if I might not have my old +position back?" + +Cappy Ricks was genuinely concerned. "Why, Mike won't let you earn +your living," he declared. "Why do you make such an extraordinary +request?" + +"For Mike's sake, Mr. Ricks. Of late he has been very nervous and +distrait; scarcely touches his meals, and thinks, talks and dreams of +war. Last night he dreamed he was back in the navy and shouted out an +order that woke him up." + +"Come to think of it, I believe Mike did spend several years in the +navy prior to going into mercantile marine," Cappy observed. "So he +has the war fever again, eh? Wants to go back?" + +"Ever since he received a letter from the Navy League. They're +searching out all the old navy men--gun pointers particularly--and +asking them to come back to help train the young fellows just coming +into the service. Mike was a gun pointer--" + +"Well, what in thunder is he hesitating for?" Cappy piped wrathfully. + +"About me. Mike's married to me, you know, and he worries about what +will happen to me if he should be killed. He knows I'll be +broken-hearted if he enlists--he's afraid I'll not let him go. But if +I got my job back and was self-supporting, Mike's conscience would +be--" + +"Do you want him to go?" + +"No, Mr. Ricks, but he must go. I do not want to make a coward or a +slacker out of Mike. I've got to do my part, you know." + +"My dear," said Cappy feelingly, "you're a noble woman. Go back and +attend to your little home; Mike may go whenever he's ready and his +salary with the Blue Star will go on while he is in the navy; his job +will be waiting for him when he comes back. Good old Mike! How +dreadful a crime to hobble that Irishman with a first-class fight in +sight." + +When Mrs. Mike had left the office Cappy stiffened out suddenly in his +chair, clenched his fists and closed his eyes, as if in pain. And +presently between the wrinkled old lids two tears crept forth. Poor +Cappy! He was finding it very, very hard to be old and little and out +of the fight, for in every war in which the United States had engaged +representatives of the tribe of Ricks had gladly offered their bodies +for the supreme sacrifice, and as Cappy's active mind ran down the +long and bloody list his heart swelled with anguish in the knowledge +that he was doomed to play an inglorious part in the war with Germany. +Mr. Skinner coming in with a letter to Cappy, observed the old man's +emotion and asked him if he was ill. + +"Yes, Skinner, I am," he replied. "I'm sick at heart. God has given +me everything I ever wanted except six big strapping sons. Just think, +Skinner, what a glorious honor would be mine if I had six fine boys to +give to my country." His old lips trembled. "And you could bank on the +Ricks boys," he added. "My boys would never wait to be drafted. No, +sir-ree! When they heard the call they'd answer, like their ancestors. + +"Skinner, what has come over our boys of this generation? Why don't +they volunteer? Why does the President have to beg for men? Has the +soul of the idealist been corroded by a life of ease? Did the spirit +of adventure die with our forefathers? Is it any harder to die just +because war has become more terrible--more deadly? Oh, Skinner, +Skinner! To be young and tall and strong and whirled in the cycle of +vast events--to play a man's part in a glorious undertaking--to feel +that I have enriched the world with my efforts, however humble, or +with my body revitalized the soil made fallow by a ravishing monster. +I feel, Skinner--I feel so much and can do so little." + +Nevertheless, he did do something that very afternoon. One after the +other he examined all the young men in his employ, discovered which of +them could afford the luxury of enlisting and then asked them bluntly +whether they were going to enlist. Three of them said they were, and +Cappy promised each of them a month's salary the day he should report +to him in uniform. Nine others appeared to be uncertain of their duty, +so Cappy fired them all, to the great distress of Mr. Skinner and Matt +Peasley. Cappy, however, turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances. + +"A man who won't fight for his country is no good," he declared; "and +I won't keep a no-good son of a slacker on my pay roll. Get married +men or men who have been rejected for military service to take the +places of these bums who haven't courage enough even to try to +enlist." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIX + + + + + +The campaign for the Liberty bonds brought Cappy an appointment from +the mayor as captain of a corps of volunteer bond salesmen to work the +wholesale lumber and shipping trade, and for three weeks the old +gentleman was as busy as the proverbial one-armed paper hanger with +the itch. He was obsessed with a fear that the bond issue would be +under-subscribed by about a billion and a half and result in the +United States of America being accorded a hearty Teutonic horse laugh. +Consequently he made five separate subscriptions on his own account, +and just before the lists closed on the last day he was again overcome +with apprehension and subscribed for an additional ten thousand +dollars' worth for his grandson! When the result of the Liberty-bond +campaign was made known he almost wept with joy and gave a wonderful +dinner to his corps of salesmen, after which he went down to his ranch +to rest for a week and see what Sam Daniels was up to. + +The morning he returned to town, prepared to leap, heart and soul into +the hundred-million-dollar Red Cross drive, he had a visit from his +port captain, Michael J. Murphy. + +"Well, sir," Murphy announced, "I've cleaned up all the little details +in my department, your new port captain is on the job, and I'm about +to go over to the naval training station on Goat Island and hold up my +hand again. But before I go, sir, I want to express to you something +of what I feel for what you've done for me and mine." + +"Tut, tut. Not another peep out of you, sir!" Cappy commanded. To be +thanked for anything always made him feel uncomfortable. "What branch +of the service do you hope to get into, Mike?" + +"I want to get aboard a destroyer, sir, though they're the divil an' +all to live aboard. They offer the best chance for action. Patrolling +the submarine zone, you know." + +"Gosh," Cappy groaned; "everybody's got the submarines on the brain, +and I'm tagging along with the rest. Mike, I swear I can't sleep +nights, thinking of this war. It breaks my heart to realize I'm out of +it. And because I'm a shipping man, naturally my fool brain runs to +submarines and how to control them. Mike, I have a great yearning to +sink a submarine; the screams of those scoundrels aboard her would be +music to my ears." + +"It's a serious problem," Murphy declared soberly; "but I'm hoping our +Yankee ingenuity will solve it." + +"Well, we haven't done it to date, and in the meantime all the nut +inventors in the world are sending their nut ideas in to the National +Council of Defense. Of course I have a bright idea too. I'm a great +hand at hatching cute schemes, you know. However, I differ from the +average submarine nut in this--that I want to try out my theory in +practice before submitting it to an expectant world. Still, I'd need +you to help me; and now that you're going into the navy I suppose I'll +have to forget it." + +"I seem to remember a scheme of yours that resulted in the capture of +a submarine last year," Murphy reminded the old man. "That was a bully +scheme, and I'm willing to wager that the head which produced it can +produce another just as good. Tell me your plan for eliminating +submarines, Mr. Ricks." + +"My scheme doesn't contemplate a continuous performance," Cappy +hastened to explain, "but it might work out once or twice--and in this +great international emergency anything is worth trying once. I could +demonstrate my theory in about two months--with your help." + +"Then," declared Michael J. Murphy, "I'll wait until you give the +demonstration before enlisting in the navy." + +"Bully for you, Mike! I'll declare Terry Reardon in on the experiment +also, for the reason that one of the ingredients required is a chief +engineer with courage to spare. Now then, for my scheme: Do you know +the _Costa Rica?_" + +"That old steamer that used to run to Panama for the Pacific Mail?" + +"The same." + +"What about her?" + +"She's in the bone yard--laid up for keeps, Mike. Her plates are so +thin and soft the least jar would punch a hole in her; she's wrecked +and strained from fifty years of service; her engines are worn out, +her boilers are burned out, her gear is antiquated, and even in these +times of abnormal freight rates she's too far gone to patch up and +keep running. They kicked her up in the mud of Oakland Inner Harbor +yesterday, and there she'll be stripped of everything of value and +left to rot. My plan, Mike, is to buy the old _Costa Rica_ for a +couple of thousand dollars, turn Terence Reardon and his gang loose on +her engines and boilers for a couple of weeks and take the old coffin +out for one final voyage. She can make eight or nine knots in good +weather, and if she's torpedoed the loss will be trifling. Will you +run the risk and take her out for me, Mike?" + +"Yes, sir. What for?" + +"As a decoy." + +"I don't understand." + +"We'll put a hand-picked crew aboard her, Mike; we'll arm her fore and +aft with six-inch guns, which we can readily get from the navy now +that it's the fashion to arm merchantmen; and then go cruising in the +submarine zone. You can pick up a few old navy men for a gun crew and +train some of the Costa Rica's crew, can't you?" + +"If we can get somebody to give me the range and manage to get the gun +loaded somehow, I'll do the gun pointing; with half a chance I'll +guarantee results." + +"And that is exactly what I plan to give you--half a chance," Cappy +declared enthusiastically. "The Costa Rica isn't worth two hoots in a +hollow, but she still looks enough like a steamer to attract +submarines; and during this fine summer weather we can chance a final +voyage with the old wreck." + +"Where do you get this 'we' stuff, Mr. Ricks?" Mike Murphy queried +bluntly. "You're not figuring on going to sea in that coffin, are +you?" + +"I most certainly am so figuring. I take my fun where I find it, Mike, +and if I'm to plan and pay for this experiment--then, by gravy, I'm +going to be on deck to watch it work out if it's the last act of my +sinful career." + +"But if they fire on us you may be killed." + +"We'll be firm' back at 'em, won't we? And if I'm killed in action, +won't that be a fitting finish for a Ricks?" + +"We may be afloat in an open boat for a week. I don't want you to die +of exposure, sir." + +"Forget it, Mike! I've been charged off to profit and loss for so +many years it makes me ill to think of them. And you remember, my +dear Mike, + + _"'To every man upon this earth + Death cometh soon or late; + And how can man die better + Than facing fearful odds + For the ashes of his fathers + And the temples of his gods?'_ + +Don't argue with me, Mike. My mind is quite made up. I'm going +into action in this war, for, as I said before, I'll try anything +once--particularly when it isn't very expensive and I can afford the +luxury. We're going to buy the _Costa Rica_, take her into the +submarine zone and lose her, but, by the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet, we'll +take a submarine with us!" + +"Not if the German sees us first." + +Cappy leaned forward and laid his index finger impressively on +Michael J. Murphy's knee. "That's the only way we can hope to win," he +declared. "We must make certain the submarine sees us first. Mike, a +German is a rabid disciple of law and order; anything out of the usual +run of things upsets him terribly; he never makes allowance for the +unexpected or for the other fellow's point of view. To be more exact, +Mike, I figure that German psychology is the only kind of psychology a +German can understand. And to tell you the truth, Mike," he added +musingly, "there are blamed few people who can understand mine." + +Michael J. Murphy nodded a vigorous indorsement to this last remark, +and Cappy went on: "Do you think any proud and arrogant skipper of a +German submarine would ever suspect an American citizen of such a +harebrained scheme as the sending out of a rusty, creaking old +rattletrap of a steamer that can't get out of her own way, for the +avowed purpose of destroying him and his sub? No sir! His microphones +will tell him, while he is still totally submerged, that his +approaching prey is a slow poke and cannot possibly outrun him; then +he'll come up, take a look and clinch his conclusions--after which he +will attack." + +"True for you sir. He'll launch his torpedo and dive before I can get +a shot at him or correct my range to hit him; then the torpedo will +hit us and we'll go up like a shower of mush--probably with half a +dozen men killed and nothing accomplished in the way of a return +swat." + +"That was the program a few months ago," Cappy retorted triumphantly. +"Have you noticed, however, that since merchantmen have been armed the +submarines are more and more prone, when attacking in daylight, to +pursue a steamer at a reasonable distance and rake her with shell +fire? If a vessel is fired on and her skipper, looking back, notes the +position of the submarine and realizes that he cannot possibly outrun +her and that she outranges him, what does he do, Mike?" + +"He does the sensible thing. Heaves to to avoid loss of life, gets his +men into the boats and abandons his ship to the Hun." + +"Precisely! And if the Hun thinks he is not likely to be disturbed for +a couple of hours, what does he do?" + +"Why," said Murphy, "he comes aboard, removes all the stores he +can--particularly engine oil--and strips the vessel of all her brass, +copper and bronze fittings. These metals are very scarce in Germany +and they need all they can get in the manufacture of munitions." + +"Correct! And we must bear in mind, Mike, the fact that a German is +naturally thrifty; if he can sink a ship with shell fire or bombs set +in her bilges he will not waste on her a torpedo that costs from ten +to twenty thousand dollars. Now, will he?" + +"Well, I wouldn't, Mr. Ricks." + +"Then my plan is absurdly simple. We merely provide a gorgeous +opportunity for the enemy; we inculcate in him the idea that he is +about to pick a soft one--then: Alas, poor Yorick!" + +Michael J. Murphy rose and put on his hat. "Where are you going, +Mike?" Cappy demanded. + +"I'm going up to the navy yard at Mare Island," the port captain +declared, "to see if I cannot pick up a couple of six-inch rifles of +the model they used when I was in the navy. They're obsolete now, but +I understand them--and while I'm getting the guns I'll pick up four or +five old navy men. Leave it to me, Mr. Ricks." + +"We'll give 'em hell!" shouted Cappy. + +"We will!" quoth Michael J. Murphy with conviction. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LX + + + + + +Two weeks later the old _Costa Rica,_ looking somewhat youthful in a +new coat of black paint and with a huge American flag painted on each +topside, slipped quietly out of San Francisco in ballast and for the +last time turned her nose toward Panama. In the brief period given him +in which to overhaul her interior, Terence P. Reardon had accomplished +wonders, and an hour after Mike Murphy had taken his bearings from +Point San Pedro and laid out his course the chief came into the chart +room to announce that the old girl was doing eight knots and, barring +unexpected bad weather, would continue to do it without falling to +pieces. "If I could have spint two thousand dollars more on her," +Terence declared, "I believe I could get another knot out av her. Time +was whin she could do sixteen." + +Cappy Ricks, enjoying his afternoon cigar in the snug chart room, +snorted vigorously. "I don't very often take a notion to throw my +money into the sea, Terence," he reminded his port engineer, "but when +I do get that reckless I limit myself to twenty thousand dollars, and +that, in round figures, is what this old ruin will stand me about the +time the torpedo blows you up on top of the fiddle. However, that is a +trifling investment if we succeed in destroying a late-type German +submarine with a couple of hundred thousand dollars' worth of +torpedoes aboard. As a sporting proposition it's somewhat more +expensive than golf, but the excitement makes up for the added cost." + +"The old box is alive with rats and bedbugs," Murphy complained. + +"If they annoy you, Mike, my boy, comfort yourself with the thought +that they're all going to be drowned," Cappy replied gayly. + +Slowly the old packet wallowed down the coast, the while her crew, +under Mike Murphy's supervision, built gun platforms fore and aft. +Following their completion, the two six-inch guns Cappy had succeeded +in getting from the navy were lifted out of the hold with the aid of +the cargo winch and placed in position, one forward and the other aft. +Thereupon the mate took charge of the _Costa Rica,_ while Mike Murphy +drilled his crew in range finding and celerity in loading the piece. +Pointing the gun was entirely up to Murphy and, needless to state, the +task was in capable hands, as was frequently demonstrated during +target practice as they loafed down the coast. + +Upon arrival at Panama the _Costa Rica's_ bunkers were replenished and +an extra supply of sacked coal was piled on deck, for with her +patched-up boilers the old steamer was a hog on fuel. Then the +mechanics and carpenters and all men not vitally needed aboard for the +remainder of the voyage were put ashore and furnished with +transportation back to San Francisco by the regular Pacific Mail +liner. Next, the name on the bows of the _Costa Rica_ was painted out, +the name boards at each end of her bridge removed and the +raised-letter record of her identity and home port chipped off her +stern; following which Cappy Ricks, Terence P. Reardon and Michael J. +Murphy commended their souls to their Creator, and the _Costa Rica_ +slipped leisurely through the ditch and out into the Caribbean Sea. + +Fourteen days later Mike Murphy dropped round to Cappy Ricks' cabin. +"We're in the danger zone, sir," he announced. "And from now on we're +liable to meet one of the larger type of U-boats that operate a couple +of thousand miles from the base at Zeebrugge." + +"Very well," Cappy replied calmly. "Whether torpedoed or shelled, your +instructions are the same. Forbid the wireless operator to send out a +call for help, heave to immediately and get the men into the boats and +away from the ship. Terry Reardon will remain on duty in the engine +room, provided it isn't wrecked by a torpedo and the engine room crew +killed; you and your gun crew will remain aboard and hide in the +forecastle if it's action front, and in the auxiliary steering-gear +house if it's action rear. I will relieve the quartermaster, take +charge of the wheel and direct the action. If I see that there isn't +going to be any action we'll put on life preservers, jump overboard +and be picked up by our men in the boats. However, something tells me, +Mike, that we're going to have a crack at--" + +At that very instant something rapped the _Costa Rica_ terrifically on +the starboard side amidships and tore through her with a grinding, +wrenching noise, followed by an explosion. + +"There's the crack you were speaking of, sir," Murphy yelled and +started for the door. Cappy Ricks grasped him frantically by the arm. +"Was that a shell or a torpedo?" he cried. His voice, thin and shrill +with age, quavered now with excitement. + +"It was a shell," Murphy answered. "Went through the second cabin." + +"Then that German belongs to Alden P. Ricks," Cappy declared, and +scurried for the pilot house. "Out and into life-boats!" he ordered +the quartermaster, and shoved him away from the wheel. "Set her over +to slow speed ahead," he called to the mate, who was standing +stupidly, gazing at the white puffs of smoke that marked the position +of the submarine two miles off the starboard bow. The mate came to +life, jammed over the handle of the marine telegraph and, obeying an +order bellowed to him by Mike Murphy from the main deck, abandoned the +bridge for the boat deck, there to superintend the task of getting the +men away from the ship. + +His first thrill of excitement having subsided, Cappy carefully drew +the little half curtains on the pilot-house window, leaving a small +slit through which he could observe the submarine without being +observed himself, for it was no part of his plan to disclose to the +enemy the fact that the ship was not entirely deserted--and that the +submarine commander should jump to the conclusion that she was +deserted by all hands was precisely the condition that Cappy desired +to bring about. + +Down in the engine room the indomitable Terence Reardon, with one hand +on the throttle and one eye on the steam gauge, put the _Costa Rica_ +under a dead-slow bell; she seemed scarcely to move, yet she had +sufficient steerage way to enable Cappy to keep her pointed in the +general direction of the submarine, the commander of which, seeing the +crew of the Costa Rica scurrying for the boats, contented himself with +sending over half a dozen shells for the purpose of hurrying them +along; then he ceased firing, and when the boats pulled out from the +ship in tow of a motor lifeboat and his powerful glasses showed +neither guns nor sign of life upon the _Costa Rica's_ decks, he did +exactly what Cappy Ricks figured he would do. + +He circled warily round his prize, but the absence of frantic wireless +calls for help lulled his suspicions, and presently he bore down upon +her, hove to two cable lengths abreast the wallowing hulk and watched +her fully five minutes for a possible trap, for the absence of any +name puzzled him. His suspicions subsided at length, however, the +hatch in her turtle deck slid back and men appeared, dragging up a +small collapsible boat. + +Slowly, slowly--so gradually that it seemed the old vessel was merely +drifting, Cappy brought the _Costa Rica_ round until her bow pointed +toward the submarine. Mike Murphy, standing just inside the forecastle +door, kept his glance on the slit in the curtains on the pilot-house +window-and presently Cappy motioned violently to him. + +"To the gun!" ordered the captain. Followed by his gun crew he dashed +out of the forecastle and up the companion ladder to the forecastle +head. A jerk at a lever connecting a cunningly constructed set of +controls, and the false topsides on the forecastle head flopped to the +deck, revealing Mike Murphy's six-inch gun. Cappy saw him deflect the +gun while another man traversed it; for five seconds his eyes pressed +the sight, and when the gun remained motionless Cappy knew that the +hull of the submarine was looming fairly on the intersection of the +cross wires in the sight. The range was point-blank! + +Quick as were Murphy and his crew, however, the gun crew of the +submarine was quicker. Before the _Costa Rica's_ gun was properly +laid, a shell from the submarine flew a foot over the heads of the +Murphyites and burst fifty yards beyond the ship. "Ah, missed!" +breathed Michael J. and raised his hand. The gunner released the +firing pin and the six-inch projectile with which the gun had been +loaded for two days crashed into the submarine at her water line. + +A terrific explosion followed the shot. Cappy Ricks, gazing popeyed +with horror, saw the submarine disintegrate and disappear in a huge +water-spout; when the water settled only a vast and widening smear of +heavy fuel oil showed where she had been. + +From the forecastle head Michael Murphy yelled to Cappy Ricks. "Well, +are you satisfied, sir?" On his part, Cappy, jubilant, even in the +instant when he knew thirty new faces were already whining round the +devil, dashed out on the bridge, seized the whistle cord and swung on +it. A sad, nautical sob from the _Costa Rica's_ siren answered him, +and ten seconds later Terence Reardon whistled up the bridge. Cappy +let go the whistle cord and took up the speaking tube. "Hello," he +piped. + +"What the divil do ye mean be blowin' that whistle?" roared Terence, +thinking he was addressing the mate. "Wit' me alone in the engine room +how d'ye expect me to keep shteam up on this ould hooker wit' you +blowin' it off in the whistle! Take shame to yourself!" + +"Mike sunk the submarine! Mike sunk the submarine!" Cappy shrilled +over and over again. "Come up, Terence, and see the oil. See the oil, +Terence, see the oil! Mike sunk the submarine, Mike sunk it. Bully for +Mike! Oh, bully! Bully! Bully! Mike sunk it, but I schemed it. Come +up, Terence, I'm going to faint." + +And then, with shrill yips of delirious delight he slid down the +companion to the main deck, to be gathered in Michael J. Murphy's arms +and hugged and passed to the gun crew, who hoisted him to their +shoulders and paraded joyously and blasphemously round the deck. + +"I told you he wouldn't use a torpedo if he could do the trick with +shells," Gappy shouted. "I told you he'd board us if we didn't +wireless for help. Ha, ha, ha! Te-hee!" And he burst into shrill +cachinnations. "I out-thought the scoundrel--goin' to get a patent on +my idea--turn it over to the Government--oh, Mike! Oh, Terence! Get +the steward back aboard. We must have some liquor. They used to serve +grog in the old navy after a victory, didn't they? Yi-yi-yi!" + +Terence P. Reardon came up and proffered his greasy paw, the while his +quizzical glance swept the oily sea. "Well, sor," he remarked +philosophically, "what wit' bein' a Christian I'm a little bit sorry +the Dutchman lost, but back av that again I'm a little bit glad we +won. Michael, do you get those blackguards o' mine down below as quick +as ye can, or we'll be all day gettin' shteam up agin in this ould +brute av a ship." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXI + + + + + +Two days passed uneventfully; then shortly before sunset on the third +day the look-out reported a periscope about a thousand yards distant +and three points off the port bow. Cappy Ricks' old knees promptly +commenced to knock together with excitement. + +"Here's where Terence gets that torpedo if he doesn't come up out of +the engine room," Mike Murphy remarked laconically, and promptly +whistled Terence on the engine room speaking tube. "Come up or be +blown up," he yelled. + +"Divil a fear! We're comin'," Terence replied. + +The chief and his crew had just reached the deck when the black +shining turtleback of the submarine broke water. + +"They have to come to the surface to discharge a torpedo," Murphy +explained to Cappy Ricks. + +"Great Godfrey! Here it comes!" shrilled Cappy, and watched, +fascinated, the wake of the torpedo as it raced toward them. Just as +Terence Reardon and his engine crew came panting up on the bridge, the +old _Costa Rica_ walked into it. "Me ingine room! I knew it!" cried +Terence. Then the explosion came. + +From where he lay on his back, half stunned, Cappy Ricks saw water and +wreckage fly high in the air. The _Costa Rica_ shivered. So did Cappy. +Then the debris descended, and Cappy, choked with salt water, dimly +realized that Terence Reardon had him in his arms and was carrying him +down to the boat deck, where the motor lifeboat swung wide in the +davits. + +"Here, take the boss from me," Terence commanded, and passed Cappy to +a negro fireman, who carried the old man forward and laid him on a +pile of blankets, previously placed there for just such an emergency. + +Then the lifeboat commenced to drop away from the towering black +topside and Cappy was aware of Michael J. Murphy's face--white, +anxious, terrified--gazing down at him from the ship's rail. + +"I'm just suffering from the shock," Cappy called. "Mike, you 'tend +to business. Remember what I told you and tell the crew to keep their +mouths shut. He'll do the natural thing and walk into your hand." + +Murphy, reassured, waved his hand, and with his gun crew fled aft to +the little house that protected the auxiliary steering gear from the +weather, where they concealed themselves. In the meantime the other +lifeboats had been lowered away; the painter from the third boat was +passed to the second, which in turn passed its painter to the motor +boat, and the ship's company hauled clear of the shattered, sinking +ship. The _Costa Rica_ was going down by the head, and Cappy, curious +as any human being, sat up to watch his decoy disappear. + +The submarine steamed up to them. "What vessel is that?" her commander +shouted from the conning tower in excellent English. + +"The American steamer _Soak-it-to-'em_, of Rotten Row," Cappy Ricks +replied, "carrying a cargo of post holes. She has three decks and no +bottom." + +"How do you spell the name?" the German bawled. + +"Can't hear you," Cappy fibbed. Then, _sotto voce_, to Mr. Reardon: +"Kick her ahead, Terry." + +"How do you spell the name?" the submarine captain repeated. + +Cappy jibbered something unintelligible, and Mr. Reardon added to the +puzzle by bellowing the information that the _p_ was silent, as in +pneumonia. All this time the motor boat was putting distance between +itself and the submarine, and the disgusted German, as a last resort, +steamed away and circled round the rapidly lifting stern of the doomed +_Costa Rica_, confident that there he would find the record of her +identity and home port--information which, in his methodical German +way, he desired to include in his official report to the Admiralty. +And while he ratched slowly past, striving to find with his binoculars +that which was not, Michael J. Murphy and his bully boys came aft with +a rush, tore aside the tarpaulin that screened the stern gun and +expeditiously opened fire. To Cappy Ricks' horror Murphy's first shot +was a clean miss, and instantly the big sub started to submerge with a +hoarse sucking sound that brought despair to Cappy Ricks' heart. She +was halfway under before Murphy's gun was reloaded, but quite calmly +the gun was traversed and deflected until the black stern flashed +across the intersection of the wires in the sight; then Murphy's hand +dropped and the gun roared. + +"That'll do nicely, lads," he told his crew. "Tore the stern off her +that time; and from this dive she'll not come up. Cappy Ricks was +right. He banked on human nature, and if curiosity isn't a human trait +then I'm a Chinaman. Overboard with you, and away before the old girl +goes under or we'll be sucked down in the vortex." + +And overboard they went, to be picked up five minutes later by Terence +and Cappy in the motor lifeboat. "You were right, Mr. Ricks," cried +Murphy as he scrambled into the boat. "Curiosity killed the cat!" + +"Yes, and it's blamed near killed me," Cappy declared feebly. "Some of +that debris came down and hit me a slap on the dome--Jerusalem! There +goes my decoy--peace to her bones!" + +The _Costa Rica_ dove to the Port of Missing Ships. Michael J. +Murphy, however, did not turn to see her disappear; he was gazing, +instead, at a thin red trickle that came from under Cappy's cap band +and was running down his wizened neck. "Mr. Ricks," he said anxiously, +"you're wounded." + +Cappy rubbed the sore spot, and when he withdrew his fingers they were +bloody. + +"By the Holy Pink-Toed Prophet!" he gasped wonderingly. "You're right, +Mike. I've been wounded in action with the enemies of my country! So +help me, Mike. I've actually lived to shed my blood for the Stars and +Stripes, like any other Ricks." + +He gazed wonderingly at Mike Murphy. "Now I can die happy," he +murmured. "I've done my bit." + +"Yes, begorra," rumbled Terence P. Reardon, "an' if I have my way +about it ye're honorably discharged from the service this minute, +Misther Ricks. I'll gallivant no more wit' you in ye're ould +breadbaskets av shteamers. 'Tis highly dangerous an' no business for a +man of family." + +Mike Murphy grinned at his colleague. "For all that, Terence," he +declared, "you must admit that Mr. Ricks' scheme for destroying +submarines is the only practical one yet devised." + +"Thrue for ye, Michael. But shtill, like all fine invintions, the +idjea has its dhrawbacks. Now if we could only be sure av a continyous +supply av ould ships for use as decoys--" + +"I see a smudge of smoke," cried Gappy Ricks. + +Mike Murphy followed the old man's pointing finger. "There's only one +kind of boat makes a smudge like that," he declared; "and it's a +destroyer. Safe and well out of a glorious adventure. Faith, we're the +lucky devils; and by this and by that, I'll enlist aboard that +destroyer, now that I'm here on the job." + +"Do--an' good luck to you!" murmured Terence. + +"Amen," said Cappy Ricks, and fingered his trifling but honorable +wound. "Gosh!" he murmured. "If Skinner could only know a thrill +like this!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cappy Ricks Retires, by Peter B. Kyne + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPPY RICKS RETIRES *** + +This file should be named cpyrr10.txt or cpyrr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cpyrr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cpyrr10a.txt + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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