THE UNSEEN SHADOW.
He left them there shivering in the launch with a sudden chill that came
not wholly from the cool breath that crept in over the dark surface of
the harbor. They watched his dark bulk as he mounted the steps from the
float, nor did they speak until the sound of his feet died out upon the
pier.
Lynch was the first to break the silence. He forced a laugh as he turned
to Ditson.
“We’ve got something interesting to look for,” he observed, with an air
of bravado. “Mr. Buckhart was very theatrical in his threats.”
“If I’d ever thought it would end this way——”
Mike checked his companion by suddenly gripping Dunc’s arm and hissing:
“Shut up! Don’t talk like that now! Of course we didn’t mean to drown
either one of them.”
Berger stepped forward.
“There’s something coming to me, gents,” he said. “Don’t forget it. You
made me a proposition to run down that boat.”
“And you want to forget all about that, my man!” remarked Mike. “You’ll
get the money, all right, but you don’t want to tell any one that there
was any understanding between us. The whole thing was an accident.
Nobody saw the rowboat until just as we struck it. Say so and stick to
it—unless you want to do a turn in the stone jug.”
“The money——”
Lynch stepped close to Du Boise, to whom he spoke in a low tone.
“Got to have some more money, Hal,” he said.
“We’ve got to put a plaster over that man’s mouth. Cough up.”
“Now, hold on,” protested Hal, after reaching into his pocket. “Seems to
me you’re inclined to push this thing too far. I’ve coughed up enough
already. I’ve been paying your bills for the last three days.”
“Ever since I caught you skinning a bunch of easy marks with marked
cards,” said Mike. “I saved you from exposure by getting away with those
cards and substituting another pack when I found two of the fellows were
planning to make an investigation. You ought to be grateful, Du Boise.
You’re not as clever as you were once. There was a time when you didn’t
have to use ordinary markers to win at poker. The pace you’ve been
hitting has proved too much for you. But you made a fine haul off those
suckers, and when they insisted on examining the cards not a thing could
be proved against you, thanks to me. It was lucky I had a pack in my
pocket with backs almost exactly like those markers. The resemblance was
sufficient to fool the most of those chaps. Why, you thought you were
cornered yourself until you picked up one of the cards and examined it
closely.”
“That’s right,” nodded Du Boise. “Even then I wondered if I wasn’t
dreaming. I didn’t know how it happened until you got me alone and
explained. I think I’ve shown my appreciation. It’s cost me over a
hundred dollars already.”
“I tell you I’ll square with you when I’m flush again. I went broke on
that Providence game, and I had to raise money by hook or crook. You
came like a delivering angel, Hal. I’ve got to pay Berger twenty-five
dollars before we leave him this evening. Hand it over, old chap.”
With a sigh, Du Boise drew forth his money, and, holding it close to his
eyes, separated four bills from the roll, three fives and a ten.
Lynch took this money and gave it to Berger.
“There it is,” he said, in a low tone. “Now let that keep your tongue
still. If you don’t, you’re liable to find yourself in a nasty scrape.
You were doing the steering, and, therefore, you were the one most
responsible.”
“That’s right,” agreed Ditson quickly. “If you think to get out of this
business by turning State’s evidence, we’ll swear we were not in earnest
when we suggested you should run that boat down. We’ll say we were only
joking. We’ll deny we ever gave you a cent of money for that piece of
work.”
“Now you’d better hold up right where you are,” growled the man, with an
intonation of disgust. “I’m no fool.”
“I don’t know about that,” muttered Lynch. “If I’d been in your place,
twenty-five dollars never would have tempted me to run down a rowboat
containing two persons.”
“You heard the threat of the chap who escaped,” said Ditson. “He’s the
kind of a fellow to make good. He talks a whole lot, but he means what
he says. You want to stand on your guard all the while. Don’t let any
one pump you. Of course you’ll be questioned about the affair.”
“I don’t have to have no advice from youngsters like you,” growled
Berger, as he thrust the money deep into a safe pocket. “You take care
of yourselves, and I’ll take care of myself. You want to look out that
you don’t get tripped up. I reckon you’d better report this business to
the authorities. I’m going to see the harbor master myself. Good night.”
Silently they mounted the steps from the float and paused, a shivering
group, on the unlighted pier. The little launch, with lights set, swung
out from the float and puffed away. Ditson stood gazing out over the
inky harbor, a feeling of horror threatening to take possession of him
and turn his blood to ice water.
“Bad! bad!” he muttered. “If I’d only thought what might happen! But I
knew Merriwell could swim like a fish.”
“Oh, cut that out!” growled Mike. “It’s no use getting sloppy now. What
I want is a drink, and I want it right away.”
Du Boise buttoned his light overcoat and shrugged his shoulders.
“I need a bracer myself,” he said. “Let’s get one quick.”
They patronized the first saloon they came to, which proved to be a
rather disreputable-appearing sailors’ resort. Lynch and Ditson ordered
whisky, but Hal called for absinthe.
“We don’t have none of dat here,” said the barkeeper. “Dem fancy drinks
don’t go wit’ our customers.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to take the same as my friends,” murmured Du
Boise.
The whisky was of the vilest sort, and he shuddered and gasped after it
had passed down his throat.
“A man who can drink that can stand anything,” he said, as he paid the
bill.
In spite of the fiery drink they had swallowed, their blood remained
chill and sluggish, and a terrible load seemed weighting down their
hearts. Ditson could not help thinking of Dick Merriwell lying beneath
the dark waters of the harbor. The gruesome vision haunted him, and
finally he fiercely exclaimed:
“Let’s go where we can get some decent whisky. Confound it all, I’m
frozen clean to my marrow.”
“Where’ll we go?” inquired Du Boise.
“Let’s go to Fred’s.”
“And let’s get off this dark street,” said Lynch, who had been casting
occasional glances over his shoulders. “I can’t shake off the feeling
that some one is following us.”
“Perhaps some one is following us,” said Du Boise.
“Eh?” exclaimed Duncan, also glancing round. “I don’t see anybody.
There’s no one behind us.”
“Perhaps there is,” said Hal. “Maybe you can’t see him even though he is
there.”
“What do you mean? Who do you think is following us?”
“A ghost,” was the whispered answer. “I don’t dare to look round,
fellows, but I can feel it. It’s right at our heels.”
“Oh, rats!” sneered Lynch, forcing a hoarse laugh. “If you believe in
ghosts, you’re a big fool, Du Boise. There are no such things. I’m not
the least bit superstitious myself.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Not a bit?”
“Not a bit.”
“Then what makes you look round? You know there’s no living thing behind
you, yet you keep turning your head to peer over your shoulder. You
don’t see anything, but you can feel it just the same as I can. Ditson
feels it, too. We all know it’s there, fellows. I’m afraid the thing
will follow us the rest of our lives. I’m afraid we’ll never be able to
get away from it.”
“For Heaven’s sake, cut that out!” entreated Ditson. “Like Lynch, I’m
not superstitious, but I swear you’ve got my teeth chattering by your
silly talk. I agree with you, Mike. This street is too dark.”
Hasten their footsteps as they might, they could not escape from the
uncanny conviction that something silent and ghostly and terrible was
hovering at their very heels. Even the better-lighted streets did not
banish that feeling, and by the time they reached Fred’s the three were
in a terrible state of funk.