MARLOWE OVERTAKES HIS VICTIM.
On emerging into the street the two boys parted company. It was time
for Paul to go back to his business. Julius was more indifferent to
employment. He had five dollars in his pocket, and forty-five dollars
deposited with Paul. Accustomed to live from hand to mouth, this made
him feel very rich. It was a bright, pleasant day, and it occurred to
him that it would be very pleasant to make an excursion somewhere, it
made little difference to him where. The first place that occurred to
him was Staten Island. It is six miles from the city or half an hour
by water. The boats start from a pier near the Battery.
"Where's he going, I wonder?" thought Marlowe, following at a little
distance.
As no conversation had passed between the boys about the excursion, he
was quite in the dark; but he was determined to follow where-ever it
might be. He soon ascertained. Julius met a street acquaintance--Tom
Barker, a newsboy--and accosted him.
"Tom, come with me."
"Where you goin'?"
"To Staten Island."
"What's up?"
"Nothin'. I'm goin' for the benefit of my health. Come along."
"I can't come."
"Haven't you got the stamps? I'll pay."
"I've got to go to Twenty-seventh street on an errand. I'll go with
you to-morrow."
"Can't wait," said Julius. "I must go alone."
"Goin' to Staten Island," thought Marlowe, in exultation. "I'll get a
chance at him there."
Marlowe had not much money with him, but he had enough to pay the fare
to Staten Island--ten cents. So he kept on the track of Julius, and
passed the wicket just behind him. The boat was approaching the pier,
and they had not long to wait. Julius went to the forward part of the
boat, and took a seat just in front of the boiler. Marlowe took a
position near, but not too near. He had considerable confidence in his
disguise, but did not want to run any unnecessary risk of recognition.
It so happened that a few steps from him was a genuine specimen of the
profession he was counterfeiting. With the sociability characteristic
of a sailor, he undertook to open a conversation with Marlowe.
"Hollo, shipmate!" he said.
"Hollo, yourself!" said the counterfeit, not over pleased with the
salutation.
"I thought I'd hail you, seein' we both foller the sea. Have you been
long ashore?"
"Not long," answered Marlowe.
"Where was your last v'y'ge?"
"To Californy," answered Marlowe, hesitating.
"What craft?"
Here was an embarrassing question. Marlowe wished his questioner at
the North Pole, but felt compelled to answer.
"The--Sally Ann," he answered.
"You don't say!" said the other, with animation. "I was aboard the
Sally Ann myself, one v'y'ge."
"Confound you, I'm sorry to hear it!" thought the impostor.
"There's more than one Sally Ann, it's likely," he said. "Who was your
captain?"
"Captain Rice."
"Mine was Captain Talbot."
"How long was your v'y'ge, shipmate?"
Now Marlowe had no knowledge of the number of days such a voyage ought
to take. He knew that the California steamers came in in three or four
weeks, and the difference of speed did not occur to him, not to speak
of the vastly greater distance round Cape Horn.
"Thirty days," he answered, at random.
"Thirty days!" exclaimed the sailor, in amazement. "Did you go round
the Horn in thirty days?"
"Yes, we had favorable winds," explained Marlowe.
"He must be crazy, or he's no sailor," thought the true son of
Neptune.
He was about to ask another question, when Marlowe, who suspected that
he had made a blunder, turned abruptly, and walked away.
"He ain't no sailor," said the questioner to himself. "He never lived
in the forecastle, I know by his walk."
Marlowe had not the rolling gait of a seaman, and the other detected
it at once.
"Went round the Horn in thirty days!" soliloquized the sailor. "That
yarn's too tough for me to swallow. What's he got on that rig for?"
Meanwhile, Julius looked around him with enjoyment. Cheap as the
excursion was, he had but once made it before. It had been seldom that
he had even twenty cents to spare, and when he had money, he had
preferred to go to the Old Bowery or Tony Pastor's for an evening's
entertainment. Now he felt the refreshing influence of the sea breeze.
He was safe from Marlowe, so he thought. He had left danger behind him
in the great, dusty city. Before him was a vision of green fields, and
the delight of an afternoon without work and without care. He was sure
of a good supper and a comfortable bed; for had he not five dollars in
his pocket? Julius felt as rich as Stewart or Vanderbilt, and so he
was for the time being. But he would have felt anxious, could he have
seen the baleful glance of the disguised sailor; for Marlowe, though
he had changed his seat, still managed to keep Julius in sight. But
there was another who in turn watched him, and that was the genuine
sailor. The latter was bent on finding out the meaning of the
disguise, for disguise he knew it to be. He was not long in
discovering that Marlowe was watching Julius with a malignant glance.
"He hates the lad," thought the sailor. "Does he mean him harm?"
He was making an excursion of pleasure, but he had another object in
view. He had a cousin living on Staten Island, and he was intending to
make him a call; but this business was not imperative, and he resolved
to follow out the present adventure.
"If he tries to harm the lad," said the kindhearted sailor, "he'll
have to take me too."
So while Marlowe watched Julius, he was watched in turn.
The boat reached the first landing, and some of the passengers got
off. But Julius made no motion to disembark, and of course Marlowe did
not. Shortly afterward the second landing was reached; but it was not
until the boat touched the third that Julius rose from his seat and
descended the stairs to the lower deck. The two sailors followed.
Julius walked up the road that leads to the pier. He had no particular
destination. He cared little where he went, his main object being to
get back into the country. The sailor soon perceived that Marlowe had
no object except to follow Julius. All his movements depended upon the
boy's. When Julius turned, he turned also.
"What has he got ag'in the boy?" thought the sailor. "He shan't harm
him if Jack Halyard can prevent it."
Marlowe was tall and strong, and a formidable opponent. The sailor was
three inches shorter, but he was broad-shouldered, and had an immense
chest. It was clear that he was very powerful. He was thoroughly brave
also. Fear was a stranger to him, and he did not hesitate for a moment
to encounter Marlowe in the boy's defense.
Julius kept on. At one place he stopped to watch two boys who were
pitching ball to each other. He asked them if he might join in the
game; but the boys looked contemptuously at his shabby clothes, and
one of them said, rudely:
"We don't play with ragamuffins."
"I ain't a ragamuffin!" said Julius.
"Perhaps you're a gentleman in disguise," said one, with a sneer.
"I'm as much of a gentleman as you are," retorted Julius, angrily.
"Clear out, you beggar! We don't want you here," said the second boy,
arrogantly.
Julius walked on indignantly.
"They insult me because I am poor," he said to himself. "I'll be rich
some time, perhaps."
The possibility of becoming rich had never occurred to him before
to-day; but Mr. O'Connor's words, and the fifty dollars which had been
given him, made him hopeful and ambitious. He had heard that some of
the rich men who owned warehouses in the great city had once been poor
boys like himself. Might he not rise like them? For the first time in
his life he seemed to be having a chance.
Marlowe saw him leave the boys with satisfaction. Had Julius stopped
to play with them his scheme of vengeance would have been delayed,
perhaps frustrated. It would not do for him to attack the boy in the
presence of others. But Julius w r as walking away from the village
into the interior. If he only went far enough he would be at his
mercy.
What should he do to him? He might kill him, but killing is rather a
dangerous game to play at in a civilized community.
"I'll take his money," thought Marlowe, "and beat him within an inch
of his life. I'll teach him to betray me!"
At length Julius wandered to a spot solitary enough to suit his
purpose. Strange to say, the boy had not turned, or noticed his
pursuer. Marlowe was quite out of his thoughts. Who would think of
finding him in this quiet scene? But he was destined to be rudely
awakened from his dream of security. All at once he felt a hand upon
his shoulder. Turning quickly, he saw one whom he supposed to be a
sailor.
"What's wanted?" he asked.
"You're wanted."
"What for?" asked Julius, not yet recognizing his enemy.
"Don't you know me?" asked Marlowe.
"No."
"But I know you, you young villain!" exclaimed Marlowe, unable longer
to repress his fury. "I'm the man you sold along with Jack Morgan.
I've got a reckoning with you, my lad, and it's goin' to be a heavy
one. I haven't followed you all the way from New York for nothing."