IN THE SALOON
I think it was from that hour that I began to get on badly with
Barraclough. It was in his power as acting captain, no doubt, to remit
certain precautions, but the remission of those precautions was not to
the credit of his head. He had been beguiled by the Siren, and she,
doubtless, by her vanity or her freakishness. When she had gone he
turned on me.
"What the devil do you want interfering, Phillimore?" he demanded. "I'm
in charge here."
There never was a man so insensate. I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, it
was not my interference that was successful," I said curtly.
He walked abruptly to the window and opened it wider I could not be
mistaken as to the bulky form that blocked it.
"Nice music, captain," said Holgate's wheezing voice.
"I'll give you just three seconds to quit, or I'll put a hole through
you, you infernal rascal," said Barraclough savagely, raising his
revolver.
"Oh, we're in no hurry," said the mutineer cheerfully, and moved away.
I suppose that some gleam of reason prevented Barraclough from firing.
He barred the windows afresh, and came back to me.
"Why the mischief doesn't he attack?" he exclaimed peevishly.
I did not know, but I was near guessing just then. In point of fact, I
did guess that afternoon. I paid my usual visit to the forecastle and
the hold. Legrand played the same farce with remarkable persistence,
and I was no longer puzzled by him. He was biding his time, like
Holgate, and his reasons were obvious. Holgate's dawned on me just
then--but some of them only, as you shall see during the progress of
this narrative.
He maintained his friendliness, inquired civilly after our health, and
how the ladies bore the seclusion.
"I wish I could make it easier for them, but I can't, doctor," he said
amiably.
He was an abominable liar, but I had a certain admiration for his
effrontery. I was glad I could meet him on his own ground, so I
answered deliberately:
"Of course, it would spoil your plans to get the job over."
He eyed me smiling. "As how, my friend," he asked.
"You would rather have us in charge of the treasure than yourself," I
replied.
He laughed. "Doctor, there's imagination in you, as I've always said.
It's a pity I made that blunder about you. Not that it matters now.
Well, you've nicked it. What's the odds? You are welcome to the
truth--now."
There was a perceptible emphasis on his last word.
"You're not afraid of the attack?" I said.
He shook his head. "Not much. While we have a common object we're all
right. I'm afraid of success. Doctor, you've a penetrating eye. Why,
the treasure might break us up. If you had sent it down to me I believe
I'd have sent it back. That would have been your best chance. I wonder
you didn't think of it. But you've got your flaws. If you'd sent that
treasure down I'd have had to take it; and you might have sat down and
waited on events. But it's too late now. I know where I am."
"And where's that?" I asked bluntly.
He smiled craftily. "We enter the Straits of Magellan this extra
special night," he said. "Let's put it at that."
"And what's to come?" I asked in the same voice.
"Lord, one would suppose you in the counsels," he said equably. "And in
a way you are. Well, you can hand over that treasure which you have
been good enough to guard for me better than I could myself as soon as
you will. I've no objection now. Good-evening, doctor."
He wheeled about and went off humming a tune. But I was staggered. That
meant, if he were not lying again, that we were near the end of our
tether, that the truce was up, and that....
My mind shuddered in its train of thought. There was only one possible
end for us if Holgate was to secure himself; and he was capable of any
infamy. As I looked at his broad back and bull neck I felt rage and
hatred gather in me and surge together. But I was impotent then and
there. I went back to our quarters sick at heart.
It was falling dark when I reached the state-rooms, and all was as
usual. The same vacant face of quietude was presented to me in the
corridor. Leaving the two men, of whom one was Grant, on guard, I went
below to my cabin; and, as I did so, thought to look in upon Pye. Faint
shafts of light streamed in by the open port, but I could see no one.
"Pye!" I called, and received no answer.
Well, it was of small consequence to us if Pye recovered or not, for he
was negligible as a unit of our defence. But I was glad that the little
man had sufficiently resumed what what might be called his manhood to
be up and about again. Maybe, I thought with some amusement, I should
find him airing himself in the corridor or disporting in the
music-room. Coming out of my cabin, I groped my way along the passage
in the direction of the stairs. When I reached the foot of them it was
quite dark, and I stopped, arrested suddenly by a murmur of voices from
the saloon beyond. I knew that some one must be on guard there, but I
did not quite understand the murmur. I hesitated, making some inquiries
in my mind. From the hour, I came to the conclusion that Barraclough
was on duty, and I turned and entered the saloon, the door of which was
ajar.
"Is that you, Barraclough?" I called.
My voice penetrated the darkness, which was here alleviated by the dull
gleam from the port-holes. I heard a rustling, and I was sure it was of
a woman's skirts.
"What do you want?" asked Barraclough in a leaden voice.
"Oh, nothing," said I as coldly; "I only thought I heard voices."
"Now what the----" He pulled himself up sharply, for with all his
faults (and heaven knows I had yet to find how many they were) he was a
gentleman.
"It is the doctor," came in Mademoiselle's pretty accents. "Oh, it is
so cold upstairs, doctor. You must make us some machinery to warm us."
"We shall be colder yet, Mademoiselle," I replied indifferently; "we
shall have the ices of Magellan refrigerating us to-morrow."
"Magellan," said Barraclough. "What the mischief does that mean?"
"Ask Mr. Holgate," I answered. "It's his affair, or he thinks it is. He
has taken it on himself." I made my way to the electric-light knobs.
"As it seems to be getting dark," I said, not without irony, "I will
take the liberty of illuminating."
"Oh, it's none so dark," growled Barraclough. "We ought to be used to
darkness by this time. We're not all children at nurse," he sneered
palpably.
I turned the catch, but no light came. "It's gone wrong," I exclaimed.
"Yes, I did try it a little time ago," said Mademoiselle sweetly, "when
Sir John and I were in so deep argument."
Of course it was a lie, but what did that matter. If I could have seen
Barraclough's face at that moment I felt sure it would have advertised
a sense of shame, despite his passivity. But Mademoiselle.... Well, I
could see in the dusk the shadow of her face, and it was a handsome
shadow. Almost I could see her smile. They were seated in the recesses
of the saloon. I moved towards them.
"I suppose you understand the hang of this, Sir John," I said drily.
"I'm not a patent detective," he answered with his arrogant sneer, but
I paid no heed, for I felt sure of settling him then and there.
"I suppose it has occurred to you to reflect on whose grace we have
depended for our electric supply," I said mildly.
"I know that it comes from the engine-room, if that's what you mean,"
he replied bluntly.
"And now it's cut off," I said.
There was a pause, and it was the lady who broke it.
"What is it that you mean, doctor?"
I addressed her. "The mutineers cut off the light preparatory to an
attack."
"You are the most wonderful sleuth-hound, Dr. Phillimore," said
Barraclough with a hard laugh; "your talents are quite thrown away."
"I regret to say they are here," I answered sharply. "And where would
he be if he had paid some attention to the patent detective? I tell you
again, Sir John Barraclough, that we've got to expect an attack
to-night, and that's why the light is gone."
A man may endure hostility and defeat; he may suffer shame and
injustice; he may undergo pangs of jealousy and remorse. All these
things are dispiriting or humiliating, but I declare that I would
willingly experience them all if I might save myself from the supreme
dishonour of appearing in a ridiculous _role_. I had spoken strongly
because I felt warmly, and there was a note of dictatorial assurance in
my voice which might have convinced, or at least silenced, Barraclough.
But I had left the keys down, and to my shocking discomfiture as I
finished my declamation the saloon was at a stroke flooded with light.
The radiance discovered to me Mademoiselle's piquante face, her eyes
smiling, her lips full and pouting, and close beside her Barraclough's
fair Saxon jowl. He grinned at me, but said nothing, for which perhaps
I should have been grateful. But I was not.
"But this is in our honour, then?" suggested Mademoiselle Yvonne
prettily.
I had no fancy for her, but I did not mind her little sarcasm.
I bowed. "No doubt to celebrate my oratory," I said, recovering myself.
"But as we do not know how long Mr. Holgate will condescend to continue
his compliment we may as well make the most of it."
"You're a cool hand, Phillimore," said Barraclough, now with the good
temper of one who has triumphed.
"But none so cool as Holgate," I returned him in the same spirit, "for
he has just warned me that his reasons for not attacking us are at an
end." He regarded me interrogatively. "Holgate is not only a cool hand,
but a cunning hand, a far-reasoning hand. He has let us take care of
his treasure until he was ready for it."
"What do you mean?" asked Barraclough in astonishment.
"His men might have become demoralised if he had seized the safe. He
has, therefore, feigned to them that it was not practicable. That has
been his reason for our security--not tender mercy for us, you may
guess. So we have kept his treasure safe, and now--he wants it."
"Why now?" queried Barraclough, who frowned.
"That's Holgate's secret. I suppose he knows what he is going to do and
what destination he wants. We don't. Anyway, we're turning through
Magellan to-night, and he has no further use for us."
"I wish I'd shot that fiend to-day," said Barraclough savagely.
Mademoiselle looked from one to the other, a curious expression on her
face.
"He is a remarkable man, this 'Olgate?" she asked.
"He is--pardon, Mademoiselle--the devil," said Barraclough.
She laughed her fluting laughter. "Oh, but the devil may be perhaps
converted," she said. "He may be tamed. You say music have powers to
tame the savage breast." She tapped her bosom dramatically, and smiled.
"There is many men that may be tamed."
She cast a soft glance at Barraclough and then at me.
But I only got the edge of it, for at that moment I caught sight of a
gray face, with little tufts of whisker under the ears, and glancing
glasses that hung over the railings of the music balcony above. It was
Pye. Had he been there long in the darkness or had he only just
arrived, attracted by the light and the voices? The latter seemed the
more probable assumption, for as I looked up he made an awkward
movement as if he was embarrassed at being discovered. Yet if he had
been eavesdropping, where was the harm? But somehow I felt annoyed. The
others followed my glance, but the clerk had gone.
Mademoiselle Trebizond sighed and put her small hand over her mouth to
hide a yawn.
"It is so what you call dull, Sir John," she protested in her
coquettish way. "Nothing but sea, sea, and not even the chance to go on
deck. I would sooner have the mutineers. Oh, but it was insensate to
leave Europe and France. No, it is a country the most diabolic this
side of the ocean. What is there under the sea, Sir John?"
"Why, the fishes, Mademoiselle," said he, grinning.
"No, no; understand me, Monsieur. I mean under the ground. What is
there?" She waved her hands. "Sea, sea, sea, nothing else, and
savages," she added thoughtfully.
"They would be interesting," I suggested drily.
She looked at me. "My good friend, doctor, you are right," she said
charmingly. "More interesting than this company. Monsieur 'Olgate, he
is interesting, is it not?"
"We may have an opportunity of judging presently," said I lightly.
Mademoiselle got up and peered out of the port-holes. The glow of the
electric light in the luxurious saloon threw into blueness the stark
darkness of the evening. Nothing was visible, but through the ports
streamed the cadences of the water rising and falling about the hull.
It had its picturesque side, that scene, and looked at with sympathetic
eyes the setting was romantic, whatever tragedy might follow. That it
was to be tragedy I was assured, but this pretty, emotional butterfly
had no such thoughts. Why should she have? She was safeguarded by the
prince of a regnant line; she was to be the mistress of millions; and
she could coquette at will in dark corners with handsome officers. She
was bored, no doubt, and when dominoes with her maid failed her, she
had Barraclough to fall back on, and there was her art behind all if
she had only an audience. I began to see the explanation of that
astonishing scene earlier in the day. She was vain to her finger-tips;
she loved sensations; and it was trying even to be the betrothed of a
royal prince if divorced from excitements to her vanity. After all,
Prince Frederic, apart from his lineage, was an ordinary mortal, and
his conversation was not stimulating. In Germany or in Paris
Mademoiselle would have footed it happily as the consort even of a
dethroned prince; but what was to be got out of the eternal wash and
silence of the ocean, out of the sea, sea, sea, as she herself phrased
it?
She came back from the port-hole. "It is so dull," she said, and yawned
politely. Well, it was dull, but perhaps dulness was more pleasant than
the excitements which we were promised. With a flirt of her eyes she
left us.
When she was gone Barraclough eyed me coldly and steadily.
"You didn't say all you had to say," he remarked.
"No, I didn't. Lights or no lights, Holgate will attack presently--I
will not pin myself to to-night. He is where he wants to be, or will be
soon. Then he has no use for us"--I paused--"women or men."
"Good God, do you think him that sort of scoundrel?" he inquired
sharply.
"What has he done? Played with us as a cat with mice. Oh, he's the most
unholy ruffian I've ever struck. And you know it. Look at his face. No,
Barraclough, it's death, it's death to every man jack."
"And the women?" he said hesitatingly.
I too hesitated. "No, I don't credit him with that. He threatened, but
I don't quite believe. Yet I don't know. No; I think it's a question of
a terminus for all of us, man and woman"--I paused--"including your
pretty friend there."
He turned sharply on me, but made no remark. His eyelids were drawn and
heavy and his eyes surcharged. He appeared to be under the stress of
some severe thought. I moved away, leaving it at that, for it was
obvious that he was moved. As I reached the door I happened to glance
back. Barraclough stood where I had left him, his brows knitted; but my
eyes passed from him to the gallery, and there lighted on Mademoiselle,
who stood with one hand on the railing gazing down at Barraclough. She
had her hand to her heart, and her face was white like death, but that
may have been the effect of the electric light. I wondered, as I had
wondered about Pye, how long she had been there, and if she had heard.
Had she spied on us of a set purpose? If so (God help her!) she had
taken no good of her eavesdropping. A pity for her seized me. She was
still and silent in the course of my gaze, but, as I looked, the ship
heeled, her bosom struck the railing heavily, and she uttered a tiny
cry. Barraclough glanced up and saw her. As I went out a cold blast
streamed off the sea and entered the open ports; the waters rocked and
roared. I guessed that we were entering the channel.
I had made my report to Barraclough, but I had to report to the Prince.
When I reached his cabin I found him seated before his table, engaged
in sorting a number of documents. He wore glasses, which I had never
seen on him before, and he proffered me a severe frown as I entered. I
have never to this day rightly assessed the character of Prince
Frederic of Hochburg, so many odd ingredients entered into it. He was
dictatorial, he was even domineering, he was hard-working, and he was
conscientious. About these qualities I had already made up my mind. But
his acts had been wholly in disregard of the rhythmical and regular
conventions which he should thus have associated with himself. He had
broken with his fatherland, he had thrown over dynastic laws, he had
gone by his will alone, and no red tape. Perhaps there was the
solution. He had gone by his conscience. I have said I was convinced of
his conscientiousness, and possibly in these strange departures from
the code of his fathers he was following a new and internal guide, to
the detriment of his own material interests. He had abandoned the
essence while retaining the forms of his birth and breeding. At least,
this is but my assumption; his actions must explain him for himself. I
have set down faithfully how he behaved from the first moment I met
him. Let him be judged by that.
The Prince, then, who had violated the traditions of his house by his
proposed alliance, was occupied in his accounts. That, at any rate, is
what I gathered from the hasty glance I got at the sheets of figures
before him.
"Well, sir?" said he brusquely.
"I report, sir, that we have entered the Straits of Magellan, and that
we have every reason to look for an attack at any moment," I said
formally.
He dropped his pen. "So!" he said, nodding quite pleasantly.
"It is just as well that it comes, doctor. We have been too long on the
rack. It has done us no good."
"I think you are right, sir," I answered; "and, on the other hand, it
has been of service to the mutineers."
He looked perplexed. "We have taken charge of the safes for them," I
explained.
He sat silent awhile, and then mechanically curled his moustache
upwards.
"Yes--yes--yes," he said. "You are right. That, then, is the reason.
This man is clever."
It seemed the echo of what his lady-love had said a quarter of an hour
before. I made no reply, as none seemed necessary. He went to the
barred window, in which a gap was open, letting in the night, and the
act recalled again to me Mademoiselle. Was this scion of royalty
perishing for an idea? He looked very strong, very capable, and rather
wonderful just then. I had never been drawn to him, but I had at the
moment some understanding of what it might be to be the subject of so
masterful and unreasonable a man. Yet now he was not at all
unreasonable, or even masterful. He turned back to me.
"Doctor," he said gently, "we must see that the ladies are not
incommoded."
"We will all do our best," I answered, wondering if he knew how
inadequate a word he had used. Incommoded! Good heavens! Was my
knowledge of Holgate to go for nothing? What would be the end? Was the
man an idealist? He seemed sunk in a dream, and I saw his face soften
as he stared out at the sea. Compassion gushed in my heart. I turned
away.