AT AUCTION
Jimmy went back to the ranch beside the Fraser once, but Jordan went
without him several times, for Forster apparently found his company
congenial. It happened that he contrived to see a good deal of Eleanor
Wheelock during his visits, but neither of them mentioned this to Jimmy,
who, indeed, would probably have concerned himself little about it had
he heard of it, since he had other things to think about just then.
Merril had sent his father a formal notice that unless the money due
should be paid by a certain time, the schooner would be sold as
stipulated in the bond, and, though Tom Wheelock had expected nothing
else, he apparently collapsed altogether under the final blow.
Jordan, who had just come back from Forster's ranch, arrived on board
the _Tyee_ while the doctor was talking to Jimmy, and, strolling
forward, he sat down on the windlass and commenced a conversation with
Prescott, with whom he had promptly made friends. In the meanwhile,
Jimmy looked at the doctor a trifle wearily as he leaned on the rail.
"Perhaps my mind's not as clear as usual to-day, but these scientific
terms don't convey very much to me," he said.
"In plain English, then," said the doctor, "it is general break-down
your father is suffering from, though it is intensified by a partial
loss of control over the muscles on one side of him. The latter trouble
is, perhaps, the result of what one might call constitutional causes,
but, as you seem to fancy, worry and nervous strain, or a shock of any
kind, may have accelerated it or brought about the climax."
"Well," said Jimmy hoarsely, "the cure?"
The doctor's tone was sympathetic. "To be quite frank, there is none. It
is possible, even probable, that he may recover sufficiently to hobble
about a little, but he will never be fit for any active occupation
again."
"Ah!" said Jimmy, with a little indrawing of his breath. "Still, it is
only what I expected, and I suppose I must face it. You are quite sure
about that shock?"
The doctor looked at him curiously. "I want you to understand that it
probably brought about the climax, though such things don't often happen
in the case of a vigorous man. Your father has, I should fancy, in
ordinary language, been losing his grip for several years. In his case
the natural decline of physical strength has, perhaps, been accelerated
by undue anxiety, and----"
He hesitated, and Jimmy made a quick sign of comprehension. "Oh, yes,"
he said, "I know. Still, I'm not sure that anybody could blame him,
under the circumstances. Well, I think the thing that brought about the
climax has been steadily preparing him to break down under it; but,
after all, that does not concern you."
The doctor, who admitted this, gave him certain directions before he
went away, and Jimmy descended to the little cabin where Tom Wheelock
lay. He looked up and nodded when his son came in.
"Well," he said, with a faint smile, "I guess by the names that doctor
calls it, I've got enough to kill any man. Wouldn't talk quite straight,
but I know as well as he does that I'm not going to worry you very long,
and that's just as it should be. Merril takes the schooner, and you'll
go back to the blue water. I was never good for very much, anyway, after
your mother had gone. She stood behind me and kept things going."
Jimmy sat down, and, much as he desired it, could think of nothing
apposite to say. He felt that there are occasions on which one should
speak clearly, but, as not infrequently happens, it was just then that
he was usually dumb. Perhaps Tom Wheelock understood this, for once more
he smiled as he looked at him.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Jimmy," he said.
Jimmy was still tongue-tied, but one result of his father's observations
was that fierce anger commenced to mingle with his distress, and he felt
his nature stir in protest. Merril would take the _Tyee_--that could not
be helped--but it seemed an insufferable thing that for the paltry value
of the schooner he should have crushed this frail and broken man. Jimmy
clenched a firm brown hand, and felt his fingers itch for a grip on the
bondholder's throat.
There was silence for a while, intensified by the soft splash of ripples
against the _Tyee_'s planking, and Jimmy afterward remembered how his
father's worn face showed up in the stream of light that shone down
through the skylights into the shadowy cabin. He lay wrapped in old and
dirty blankets, a worn-out and broken man who stood in the way of one
who was stronger. He held an unlighted pipe in his limp and nerveless
hand, and the cabin reeked with unsavory odors. It was unclean and
wholly comfortless, and it seemed to Jimmy, who was fresh from the
luxury of the mail-boats, almost horrible that the man to whom he owed
his being should lie there in sordid misery. At last he straightened
himself resolutely.
"There are several points to consider," he said. "The schooner will be
sold--that's certain--and I must find a room for you ashore. It's
fortunate that one difficulty can be got over. Men who can work seem to
be in demand here just now, and when Merril sells the _Tyee_ there ought
to be a few dollars over."
"There might be if we had anybody to bid against him and run the figure
up, but we haven't. Anyway, Bob and I have been talking things over this
morning. He has had 'most enough of the sea, and one of the C.P.R. men
will put him on a soft thing on the wharf. Well, we're going to take one
of the little frame-houses just back of the town between us. Not quite a
mansion, Jimmy, but there are four rooms in it."
Jimmy felt inclined to groan, for he had seen the very primitive and
unattractive dwellings in question, but he knew that rents are high in
that city and money somewhat hard to earn anywhere. Still, it was in one
way a relief to turn the conversation in this direction, and by and by
he remembered that Jordan was awaiting him and went up on deck. The
latter sat down and pulled out his cigar-case.
"Take one, and then tell me what's troubling you," he said. "I'll own up
that I got some notion out of Prescott."
Jimmy found it a relief to comply, and talked for several minutes while
Jordan listened attentively.
"You have got to stay here," said the latter. "That's a sure thing; but
there's not much sense in your notion of track-grading for the railroad
or wharf-laboring. You wait a week or two, and I fancy I can suggest
something by then that will suit you."
"I don't know why you should trouble about it," said Jimmy.
"We'll let that go;" and Jordan looked at him with a smile in his keen
dark eyes. "Your sister and I have been talking about you. She feels
that you ought to stay with the old man, too."
It did not occur to Jimmy that there was anything significant in this,
for he was too anxious to concern himself about anything then except the
question as to how he was to secure his father's comfort.
"I've been thinking about the auction," he said.
"So have I," said Jordan. "Now, I'm going to talk straight to you. I've
invented one or two sawmill fixings; and they've brought me in some
money, as you know; but I want considerably more, and I've always had a
notion that it was business and not sawing redwood logs I was meant for.
Well, Merril wants me out of that mill, and it seems to me there's room
for a big extension of the coast-carrying trade of this country. That's
Merril's notion too. I once thought of buying this schooner--that is,
wiping out your father's loan--and putting you in command of her. Now,
don't get hold of it the wrong way--it was the money there might be in
it I was after."
He smiled as he saw the faint flush on Jimmy's face. "Then I fancied
there might be more in steam, and that since Merril wants the _Tyee_,
I'd let him have her--at a figure. Anything she brings over and above
the bond goes to your father. Well, I'll put on a broker to bid for her
who knows his business. If I have to take her I guess I could get my
money back by sailing her, and, anyway, the broker will run Merril up.
You couldn't do it, because you'd be asked for security that you could
put up the money. Now, that's about all, except that I want you not to
take hold of anything that may be offered you until the auction's over
and you have had a talk with me. I've got to go back to the mill
to-morrow for a week or two."
"I don't want to be ungracious, but there is no reason why you should
burden yourself with my affairs."
"No," said Jordan dryly, "I guess there isn't. I'm out for money, and
that's why I figure that a man who knows as much about the sea as you do
might be of some use to me. You'll promise, anyway?"
Jimmy did so, and felt that he had done wisely when his comrade went
away. There was, after all, no reason why Jordan should not befriend him
if he wished to, and he had a curious confidence in the man. It was,
however, two or three weeks later, and only a few minutes before the
auction which was to be held in a room ashore, when he saw him again. He
did not know that Jordan, who had arrived in the city two days ago, had
spent most of one of them at Forster's ranch. Jimmy, who had promised
Tom Wheelock to attend the sale, was walking up and down the street
waiting for the time announced, when Jordan strolled up to him with a
cigar in his hand.
"Had to come down to see our people here," he said, which was, as it
happened, correct enough. "Went round this morning and saw that broker
man. He's coming along, and if it will be any relief to you I'll hand
you on his bill. Of course, I could have made my own bid, but these
fellows know the tricks of the game, and I'm not ready yet for a clean
break with Merril. Now, we might as well walk in."
They passed through part of a big stone building into a large room where
a group of city men were talking together, for there were timber lands
and ranching properties to be sold that afternoon as well as the
schooner. It was very hot, and Jimmy found the waiting difficult to bear
as he listened to the hum of voices and glanced at his watch, until at
last the auctioneer sat down at a raised table. He hastily read out
particulars of the vessel as well as his authority to sell her, and then
smiled at the assembly.
"Now," he said, "we'll get right down to business. Most of you have seen
the vessel, the rest of you have heard about her, and all you have to do
is to make me a reasonable bid. There is no reserve on her."
Jimmy felt his face grow a trifle hot with anger. The _Tyee_ had made
his father's living, and, since anything she might bring in excess of
the loan on her would belong to him, it did not seem fitting that she
should be flung in this casual fashion on the hands of palpably
indifferent purchasers. The result of that sale was of vital interest to
him and Thomas Wheelock, and he glanced inquiringly at Jordan.
"My man has not come," said the latter tranquilly. "It's a game he's
accustomed to, and when he's wanted he'll be here. That's one of the new
cannery men starting the bidding. Their inlet's a difficult place to
make, and the steamboat men don't care about calling there except for
big loads. It's significant that he should think of buying her."
Jimmy did not understand why it should be so, but his face grew hard at
the laughter when the man made a nominal bid. There was silence for
almost a minute, and he felt a little thrill of dismay run through him,
for if the _Tyee_ went at that figure it would leave his father still
heavily in debt.
"The anchors and cables are worth more," said the auctioneer. "Is there
nobody willing to raise him fifty dollars?"
One of the men nodded. "I'll go that far," he said. "Still, I don't know
where I could get it back for her."
Somebody offered ten dollars more, another man twenty, and there was
languid bidding until the price had almost doubled; but then it stopped
for a few moments, and Jimmy saw his companion glance somewhat uneasily
toward the door.
"I'm beginning to wonder what's keeping my man," he said.
"If he doesn't come soon he might as well stay away altogether," said
Jimmy, who turned in tense suspense and watched the hot faces of the men
about him.
The price then offered would just clear the debt, but there were many
things his father needed, and Jimmy had then only a few dollars in his
pocket, which he had earned by stacking dressed lumber at a sawmill.
"Gentlemen," said the auctioneer, "I don't feel warranted in letting her
go at the figure. She'd bring you half as much again to-morrow if you
sailed her over to Victoria."
"I'll raise it ten dollars," said somebody, and the bidding commenced
again more indifferently than ever. Five, ten, twenty dollars were
offered, and then five again.
Jordan touched Jimmy's arm. "That's Merril's man--I've been trying to
spot him--and I guess the cannery man would go up a hundred or two
still, by the way he's watching him. Nobody else seems to want her, and
it's quite likely they'll crawl up by tens. Sit still, while I run
around and find out what's the matter with my broker."
He slipped out, but he was back within a few minutes, flushed in face,
and thrust a strip of paper into Jimmy's hand.
"I think that makes the thing quite plain," he said.
Jimmy glanced at the paper. "Got a wire last minute, and sent over to
your hotel, but didn't find you in," he read. "Had to go out
unexpectedly on the Sound steamer."
"He stopped your putting another man on?" he said.
"Yes," said Jordan, with a snap in his dark eyes. "Knew he was going all
the while. Played me for a sucker. Well, I guess I was one, or I
wouldn't have given him an option of selling me to Merril."
"Selling you?"
"Exactly. I might have known it's quite hard for an outsider to kick
against the people who boss these things. Still, since Merril knows,
there's no reason why I should keep my knife in the sheath. Raise them a
hundred dollars. I'll stand sponsor."
Jimmy did not stop to consider. He knew that every dollar the schooner
brought now would go into the pockets of his father, and that was enough
for him.
"I'll make the figure one hundred dollars more," he said.
The man Jordan had pointed out as Merril's agent leaned forward and
whispered something to the auctioneer, whereupon the latter turned to
Jimmy with a deprecatory air.
"The terms are strictly cash," he said. "I presume you are in a position
to put down the bills or a bank draft if you got her? I have, of course,
the pleasure of these other gentlemen's acquaintance."
Jimmy felt Jordan, whom he had seen take out a wallet and a
fountain-pen, thrust something into his hand. He glanced at it before he
faced the auctioneer.
"I don't know how far that was admissible or inspired," he said.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. This draft should, I think, speak for
itself."
The auctioneer apparently waited for him to take it across, but Jimmy
quietly sat down.
"If you will send your clerk," he said.
The clerk came forward, and a trace of amusement and awakening interest
crept into the faces of the rest.
"That's satisfactory," said the auctioneer. "The signature in question
is quite sufficient. I'll record your bid. Will anybody raise it?"
Then the men became intent, and two of them went up by forties. Jimmy
glanced at his companion, who nodded.
"Go right ahead. Merril and the other man want her," he said.
A few minutes later, to Jimmy's astonishment, Forster came in and stood
beside them.
"What's the figure?" he asked, and, when Jordan told him, "Is she worth
it?"
"Yes," said Jimmy; "you could go up at least five hundred dollars
further."
"Ten advance," said Forster to the auctioneer, and then turned to
Jordan. "I suppose you're not set on getting her?"
Jordan smiled, and Forster made a little whimsical gesture. "I
understand. Doing much the same thing myself. Miss Wheelock and my wife
are outside. I've been hanging round in the vestibule until it seemed
convenient for me to take a hand in."
Jimmy said nothing, but when he looked around a few moments later he was
somewhat astonished to see that Jordan's place was empty. His comrade
was, in fact, hastening down the street to where Forster's light wagon
stood outside a big dry-goods store. He went in and came upon Eleanor
Wheelock, standing very straight and slim in her long white dress. She
turned and looked at him with a curious little smile.
"Have you come to tell me that Forster is taking unnecessary trouble in
this affair?" she said.
Jordan was not readily disconcerted, but he showed a momentary trace of
embarrassment.
"No," he replied, "I haven't. I'm open to admit that I'm not quite as
smart as I thought I was. My man didn't turn up. In fact, he sold me to
Merril."
Eleanor still looked at him, and his tone became deprecatory. "You're
not pleased?"
"No," said the girl, with a faint flush in her cheeks. "I like my
friends to be successful."
Jordan winced perceptibly. "I won't fail next time."
"Are you warranted in thinking there will be another time?"
"I guess so. I don't know that I deserve it, but you won't be too hard
on me?"
Eleanor saw the gleam in his eyes. "It will depend. Where is Jimmy?"
"Bidding against Forster and the rest for the _Tyee_."
"Ah!" said. Eleanor, and for a moment her face softened. "I don't know
why you didn't tell me that earlier. Hadn't you better go back and see
that he doesn't get her?"
"I don't care if he does," said Jordan; "that is, as long as he gives me
half an hour of your company."
Eleanor laughed. "Leaving out the compliment, what would you do if Jimmy
bought her for you?"
"Run her against the first vessel Merril put on a trip she was good for,
if I had to carry freight for nothing."
The girl turned and glanced at him again, and a hard glint crept into
her eyes. She looked imperious, forceful, and vindictive then, but the
man felt a thrill run through him, for he knew his answer had pleased
her.
"Ah!" she said; "for that I could forgive you many a failure. Still, you
must go back and look after Jimmy. We shall not go away until we hear
what you have done."
Jordan reluctantly turned away, and, as it happened, met Jimmy coming
out of the auction-room with perfect satisfaction in his face.
"I feel that I owe you a good deal. In fact, I'm afraid I can't express
my gratitude as I ought," he said. "Merril's man has got her, but I have
a clear thousand dollars to hand over to my father. Still, there's
something that puzzles me. What brought Forster here?"
Jordan laughed. "Your sister."
"Eleanor?"
"Of course!" said Jordan dryly. "No doubt, because she is your sister,
you don't credit her with any useful capacity."
"Eleanor is clever," said Jimmy reflectively. "Still, there are subjects
girls know nothing about--and, anyway, there was Mrs. Forster's attitude
to consider. It's hardly in human nature that she should be pleased to
see her husband staking his money to please her children's teacher."
"Exactly! That is what made the thing cleverer. She has Mrs. Forster's
good-will too."
"Then," said Jimmy decisively, "she must be a very kindly lady."
"Or your sister a very capable young woman. You seem to find it a little
difficult to recognize that."
Jimmy dismissed the subject with a little gesture. "Well," he said, "I'm
almost bewildered. The thing was so simple. Why didn't Merril think of
it?"
"I have no doubt he did. Still, you saw what the little man has to
expect if he makes a bid. On thinking it over, it seems to me that
Merril trusted to my broker. He figured I'd back down once I realized
that he knew my game and was a match for me. There are big men like him
who live by bluff, and everybody makes way for them, but they're apt to
show themselves very much the same as other people when you face them
resolutely. It's just like putting a pin in a bubble."
Then Forster joined them while his wife and Eleanor came out of the
store, and a few minutes later the girl and Jordan walked behind the
other three as they turned toward the hotel where the wagon had been
sent. Eleanor smiled at her companion.
"We are indebted to you, after all," she said, and there was a faint but
suggestive something in her voice which satisfied Jordan.