THE captain strode gloomily to the evil-smelling den he called the
cabin, and Stranleigh went down the steps with him, seating himself at
the table.
“Now, captain,” he began, “can we be overheard?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, I come here as your friend. I want to save you, if possible.”
“Save me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need any saving.”
“Yes, you do, and a good deal of it. I thought at first that
Frowningshield was the sole culprit, and that you were merely an
innocent victim. I learned to-day that such was not the case; in fact,
I surmised it before, because when you assisted in planting those mines
across the Paramakaboo River you must have known you were committing a
capital offense.”
“Then it wasn’t an accident; you _did_ send down the logs?”
“Of course I did.”
“You watched us ever since we arrived there?”
“Yes, I came from England for that purpose. I left a week after you did,
and was there a week before you, more or less. My man, Mackeller, whom
you kidnapped on board this steamer at Southampton----”
“I didn’t kidnap him, sir. It was Frowning-shield.”
“Oh, I know all about it. Mackeller is on my boat now, within three
hundred yards of where you are sitting. He was up on the hilltop with a
telescope, scrutinizing every action of yours since you landed.”
“But I’m compelled to obey orders.”
“Oh, no, you aren’t. If you are ordered to do a criminal action, you
must not only refuse, but you are in honor bound to give information to
the authorities.”
“I had nothing to do with putting Mackeller into the hold.
Frowningshield put him in, and I didn’t know he was there till we were
more than a day out. It was me insisted he should be sent ashore with
the pilot. Frowningshield wanted to take him with us.”
“That’s neither here nor there, captain. Of course, whenever you knew
a man had been kidnapped in that way aboard your ship, you should have
turned, made straight back to Southampton, giving information to the
authorities. But even if such an unlawful action did not arouse your
suspicions you must have known perfectly well when you planted those
mines that it wasn’t toy balloons you were putting in the water. It’s
too late to pretend innocence. You’ve been bribed to commit a crime.”
“The floating mines weren’t set in English waters.”
“My dear sir, your offense is against international law. No man is
allowed to place floating mines in a river up which a British steamer
may ascend, and so far as that is concerned, you deliberately put them
there to wreck a British steamer. You are at this moment commanding a
pirate ship filled with stolen ore.”
“I know nothing about that, sir. This ship was chartered, and I was told
by my owners to obey the orders of them that chartered her, and that’s
old Schwartzbrod and his gang.”
“We’re merely losing time, captain. You talk about charters and owners.
Well, I am the owner of the _Rajah_. I bought her from Sparling &
Bilge.”
“So _you_ say. That’s nothing to do with me. Even if you bought the
ship, you are bound by law to carry out the charter. Till a charter runs
out and isn’t renewed, owners are helpless. I obey the charter while it
holds, and as long as I do that I’m doing nothing wrong.”
“You are perfectly well aware of what you are doing. I am convinced
of that. You were not born yesterday. Now, you are not sailing toward
Portugal, you are sailing toward a policeman, and it is from that
policeman I wish to save you.”
“Oh, yes, you’d like to get possession of the ship and cargo for
yourself, wouldn’t you?” sneered the captain.
“Yes, exactly.”
“Well, you won’t get it!” cried the master angrily, bringing his huge
fist down on the table. “Talk to me of thieving! What are you? Why,
you’re a pirate, that’s what you are. I said so to Frowningshield, and
he wouldn’t believe me. He thought you wouldn’t dare come aboard of me
on the high seas; that you knew better. You and your policeman! Why,
damn it all, I’d be justified in hanging you from the yardarm!”
“You couldn’t do that, captain,” protested Stranleigh, with great
mildness.
“Why couldn’t I?”
“Because those two masts of yours are not provided with yardarms. You
might possibly hang me from the funnel, or allow me to dangle in chains
from one of the arms of your steam crane, but that’s all.”
“Why don’t you and your gang of ruffians climb aboard here like real
pirates, and make me walk the plank?”
“I have climbed aboard like a real pirate, and I am going to make you
walk the plank.”
“The devil you are!” cried the captain, rising, his two clenched hands
resting on the table, his naturally florid face still further flushed
with wrath. “I’ll show you--I’ll show you what we do to men of your kind
that dare to come aboard a ship on the high seas.”
“Sit down, my dear man, sit down,” pleaded Stranleigh soothingly.
“Don’t bluster. What’s the use of making a fuss? Let’s discuss the thing
amicably.”
“Make me walk the plank, will you?” roared the captain, a-quiver with
resentment.
“Oh, well, well, if you object, of course that puts a different
complexion on the matter. I thought that walking the plank was a
customary nautical amusement. I seem to have been misled by friend Clark
Russell. If it isn’t etiquette, let’s say no more about it. Do sit down,
captain.”
But the captain wouldn’t sit down. His eyes glared, his face grew
redder, and his lips quivered with animosity.
“You come alongside with your toy yacht!”
“It’s a toy, captain, that spins along a little faster than this old
tub.”
“You and your jackanapes dressed up like naval officers, dare to come
aboard o’ me.”
“That’s splendid, captain. I like that phrase, ‘aboard o’ me.’ I’m
delighted to have Clark Russell corroborated from your mouth. Yes, I
come aboard o’ you. What then?”
“What then? Why, then you try to browbeat me in my own cabin, on my own
ship. Who the devil do you think you are, I’d like to know?”
“I am Earl Stranleigh of Wychwood.”
The captain now, without being told, slowly relapsed into his chair,
and gazed across the table at the young man. That latent respect for the
aristocracy which permeates even the most democratic of his Britannic
Majesty’s subjects caused an instant collapse of the truculence which
had threatened an abrupt conclusion to the conference. Curiously enough,
the honest captain never thought of questioning the statement, which had
been made in a quiet, but very convincing tone.
“Earl Stranleigh!” he gasped.
“Yes; of Wychwood. We always insist on the Wychwood, though I’m sure I
don’t know why, for there isn’t another Lord Stranleigh, and Wychwood is
far from being the most important of my estates. Still, there you have
it, captain. English life is full of incongruities.”
“The _rich_ Lord Stranleigh?” questioned the captain, with an accent on
the adjective.
“I’ve just told you there’s only one.”
“Then why in the name of Neptune are you pirating on the high seas? Is
_that_ the way you made your money?”
“No, my money was more or less honestly accumulated by my ancestors, but
I think their method was highway robbery rather than piracy. The looting
of land that didn’t belong to them seemed to occupy their spare time,
and so, what with the rise of manufacturing cities in the midlands, on
portions of our property, the discovery of coal mines, and what not,
my family prospered better than it deserved, and here am I the
twentieth-century representative of it.”
“If that is so, why the deuce are you meddling in this affair?”
“Because I like to see a man minding his own business. The ship which
you so worthily sail is mine. I bought her a few days after you left
Southampton. Here is the deed of transfer, and here is the letter I
spoke of, written to you by Messrs. Sparling & Bilge, informing you that
I am the new owner, that I shall be responsible for your pay hereafter,
and as a consequence they will be much obliged, as, indeed, so shall I,
if you do what I tell you.”
The captain read the documents with slow care, then looked up.
“It’s Sparling & Bilge’s signature all right, and nobody knows it better
than I do, but what about the cargo? Do you intend to unship at Lisbon?”
“No, I intend to run it to Plymouth.”
“But even if the ship’s yours, the cargo isn’t.”
“Surely you knew they were stealing the ore, captain?”
“They told me they had a right to it for three months. Mr. Schwartzbrod
showed me papers to that effect. That’s why they were in such a hurry.
Wanted to get as much out in the time as they could, and offered me a
bonus of five thousand pounds over and above my wages if I ran three
voyages to Lisbon, and two thousand for each extra voyage within the
time.”
“Then, captain, why didn’t they concentrate their energies on the mining
of the ore, and not bother with the mining of the river?”
“Why, Frowningshield told me that they were on the lookout for some
pirates that was going to interfere with them. We didn’t intend to blow
up any vessels unless they were determined to come up the river in spite
of us. That’s why we didn’t put the mines at the mouth of the river. On
the high ground west of the camp, Frowning-shield had two men on watch
all the time. If they saw any ship approach, they were to go down the
river in a boat that was kept below the mines, and order the steamer
to go back. If the captain wouldn’t go back, then he came on at his own
risk.”
“I see. And did Frowningshield tell his men to inform captain and crew
that the river was mined?”
“I don’t know.”
“Now, captain, talking as one seafaring man to another, didn’t all this,
in conjunction with the large sums of money promised you, strike you as
rather fishy? Did this appear to you an honest trading?”
“Well, earl, I’ve sailed to all parts of distant seas, and I’ve known
things done that would have looked mighty queer in Southampton Harbor,
and yet they were all right as far as ever I knew. Things happen in the
South Seas that would seem rather odd in Bristol Channel, you know.”
“You didn’t think you were running any risk, then?”
“Oh, risk! A seafaring man runs risks every time lie leaves port. If
this was a risk, there was good money at the end of it, and that isn’t
always the case when a man ships on a tramp steamer nowadays, what with
everything cut to pieces by foreign competition. You see, earl, men born
to money don’t always appreciate what people will do who’re trying to
pile up a little cash against their old age. I’ve got a wife and family
in a hired house in Southampton--three girls I’ve got at home, earl, and
girls is helpless left poor--not to mention my old woman.”
The captain’s eyes took on a dreamy, far-away look that seemed to
penetrate and question the future. He had, for the moment, forgotten the
young man sitting opposite him, and went on as if talking to himself.
“There’s a piece of land running down to Southampton water--five acres
and a bit more. Somebody built a cottage there and put up a flagpole
on the lawn in front. Then they got tired of it, and it’s for sale. A
thousand pounds they want for the place, everything included. There’s a
few trees, and there’s outhouses; splendid spot to raise chickens. Then
there’s a veranda in front, and an oldish man might sit in an easy-chair
smoking his pipe, and see the American liners come sailing past. And my
family’s living in a rented house on a back street. I’ve always wanted
that bit of land, earl, but never had the money to spare, and when
I come to settle down, like as not somebody else will own it, and we
couldn’t afford it, anyhow. Risks? Of course there’s risks, but when I
think of that little cottage--well, I took the risk, earl.”
“My dear captain,” said the earl softly, “your bit of land makes me
ashamed of myself, and of my moral lectures. I have so much land, and
others have so little. Here’s a hard-working man like you, landless, and
here’s a loafer like me with thousands of acres! Hang me if I wouldn’t
turn Radical were it not for the awful example of William Thomas Stead.
Well, captain, that plot of land is yours from this moment. If somebody
else has bought it in your absence, we’ll evict them. I’ll go bail
that old Schwartzbrod will pay you all he promised whether you make
the voyages or not. Indeed, you are not going to make the voyages, as a
matter of fact. I don’t believe Schwartzbrod ever intended to keep
his promise, and I very much doubt if you could collect. Now, I’m an
excellent collector, and I think I can persuade Schwartzbrod to plead
for the privilege of paying you. You see these city men are much too
sharp for simple, honest chaps like you and me. After you had done
their work, they would have left you in the lurch if you were caught, or
cheated you out of your compensation if you escaped. You may depend upon
it, Schwartzbrod and his crowd have done everything in the most legal
manner. Indeed, as a matter of fact, the last time I saw him he wheedled
a document from me which I have reason to believe covers the villainy
of this expedition. I do not in the least doubt that if I took the case
into the law courts I’d get beaten. That’s why I preferred to fight the
case on the high seas, where an injunction can’t be served till it’s too
late. You and I, captain, are not shrewd enough to be a match for these
rascals.”
There was almost a smirk of self-satisfaction on the captain’s face as
he found himself thus linked with a man of Lord Stranleigh’s rank.
“Well, earl,” he said, “what do you want me to do?”
They were interrupted by the heavy steps of the mate coming down the
stairs.
“What do you want?” roared the captain. “Get out of here.”
“Beg pardon, sir,” explained the mate, “but they’re getting uneasy on
the yacht, and want to know what’s become of the boss.”
“Just excuse me for a moment, captain,” said Stranleigh, “and I’ll speak
to them. You know you did rather tyrannize over us when we first hailed
you, and they probably think you’ve Mac-kellered me. I rather flatter
myself I’ve made a pun there, for ‘keller’ is the German for cellar.”
The young man sprang lightly up the steps, and went over to the
bulwarks.
“Is it all right, sir?” shouted Mackeller.
“All right, thank you.”
“It’s getting dark, you know. Hadn’t I better heave a revolver up to
you, and if they try any tricks you can fire it off, and we’ll be aboard
before you can say ‘Schwartzbrod.’”
“Ah, Mackeller, Mackeller, you’re always thinking of deadly weapons
and acts of piracy! No wonder I get a bad name in marine circles.
Everything’s going smoothly, and I expect to be with you within ten
minutes.”
Stranleigh returned to the cabin, where he found the captain sitting,
staring into vacancy. Some one had lit an odorous oil lamp.
“Well, captain, before answering your question, I wish to say that I am
interested in mercantile traffic aside from my ownership of the _Rajah_.
Before I left England I reserved for you the berth of captain on a new
steamer called the _Wychwood_, twice the size of this boat, that is
intended for the South American trade. I think she will be ready for you
by the time we reach Plymouth, and the moment we are in Plymouth I shall
hand you a check for a thousand pounds to secure that bit of land by
Southampton water. What sort of a crew have you aboard here? A mutinous
lot, or easy going?”
“Oh, the crew’s all right, earl. They’re Devon men, most of them. It was
a rough lot of passengers we took out under charge of Frowning-shield,
but they herded most by themselves, and held no truck with the crew. The
crew’s all right, sir.”
“Do you think any of the crew knew what was going on?”
“No, I don’t suppose anybody knew what was going on but me and
Frowningshield.”
“Would you like to have your present crew with you on the new steamer?”
“Yes, sir, I would.”
“Officers, too?”
“Yes, I would. Officers, too.”
“Very well, I want you to come aboard my yacht, and be captain of her
from here to Plymouth. Take the mate with you, if you like, or any of
the other officers, and take such of the crew as are not Devon men. I’ll
put some of my own fellows aboard in their place.”
“You mean me to leave the ship, my lord?”
“Yes. The yacht’s captain and mate will take the place of you and your
mate.”
The captain’s face was a study of indecision and doubt.
“It doesn’t seem quite right, my lord.”
“Your late owners have told you to obey me, and I am your new owner. It
is quite right. I have merely transferred you to the yacht as if I were
transferring you to a ferry boat, in order to take you the more quickly
to your new command. We’ll reach Plymouth in a fortnight, or three weeks
before the _Rajah_ does. I’d rather you didn’t go to Southampton, but
if you think you can keep out of sight, I don’t mind your running across
there, seeing your family, and securing that property. Indeed, if the
property is still in the market, and the house empty, there’s no reason
why you shouldn’t move your people into it. You’ll have time enough,
then you can return to Plymouth, see to your new ship, and engage what
men you need to supplement the _Rajah’s_ crew when she arrives.”
The captain made no reply: bowed head and wrinkled brow showed that a
mental conflict was going on.
“I suppose you are very well known in Southampton?”
“No,” he said; “not so well known as you might think. I’m there for a
little while, then off on a long voyage. Not as well known as might be.”
“You see, captain, I’m determined to get out of old Schwartzbrod the
money wherewith to pay not only you, but Frowningshield and his men. I
don’t intend to leave them marooned there while Schwartzbrod sits safe
in London, so I wish no rumor of what has taken place to reach the ears
of Schwartzbrod and his syndicate, therefore I don’t want you to be seen
and recognized by anybody, if possible, and if you are recognized I am
anxious that you should not talk about what has occurred.”
“I see. You want to get all the witnesses shipped off to South America.
Well, you know, my lord, meaning no disrespect, your way of doing things
seems a little fishy, too, as you said a while ago.”
“Of course it looks fishy, but you must fight a whale with a shark
if you haven’t got a harpoon. I must either go to law, which is the
harpoon, with old Schwartzbrod, who is the whale, or else adopt his own
methods, and play the shark. You’ve got to choose which course of fish
you’re going to take, and you’ve got to give your order to the waiter
now.”
“Suppose I refuse, what will you do? Attempt to capture us?”
“Bless you, no. I’ll merely follow you, just as a shark follows a doomed
vessel. The moment you approach a port that contains a British consul,
I’ll dash on ahead, show my papers, and set the law in motion, which,
as I have informed you, I am reluctant to do. The moment that happens
I can’t save you, captain. I don’t know what the penalty is, or whether
there is a penalty. Perhaps your obedience to orders may allow you to
slip through the meshes of the net, and then again perhaps it won’t.
If it doesn’t, then that little cottage on Southampton water, which was
yours a moment ago, will never be occupied by your family. Oh, hang it
all, I’m either coercing or bribing you now, whichever it is. You must
make a free choice. Whatever happens, I’ll buy that piece of land, and
present it to your wife, if you will tell me where it is, and give me
her address. Now, captain, make your choice: the whale or the shark.”
The captain heaved a deep, almost a heartrending sigh, that seemed to
come from the very bottom of his hoots. He rose slowly and ponderously,
and stretched forth his hand.
“Lord Stranleigh,” he said solemnly, as one about to cross the Rubicon,
“Lord Stranleigh, I am ready to walk the plank.”
When Lord Stranleigh emerged from the captain’s cabin of the _Rajah_,
and drew a long, satisfying breath of the sweet evening air outside, he
saw that the moon had risen, while the glow from the sunset still tinted
the western sky. The slight breeze from Africa had completely died away,
and the sea lay around the two ships smooth as a polished mirror. At
a word from Stranleigh the captain of the yacht drew her alongside
the Rajah, and the engines of both steamers stopped. Captain Wilkie,
forewarned, had all his belongings packed, and they were speedily swung
aboard the black steamer. The captain of the Rajah, and his mate, flung
their possessions into boxes, and thus the transfer was made without
loss of time.
“Mackeller,” said Stranleigh, “I fear that luxury is thrown away on you,
and besides, experience on the yacht has shown you that there is
little chance of anything exciting happening. It must discourage you to
remember that none of your repeating rifles have even been unpacked, so
I will cause the cases to be swung aboard the _Rajah_, with sufficient
ammunition to massacre our entire naval force, and I’ll give you six of
my gamekeepers. You can either use the gamekeepers to shoot the crew, or
arm the crew and eliminate the gamekeepers. I had intended to take the
crew of the _Rajah_ upon the yacht, and put the crew of the yacht on the
_Rajah_, but I am so selfish that I cannot bring myself to trust
those clumsy seafarers from a tramp steamer with the somewhat delicate
organization of my yacht. Will you accept the commission, and sail for
home on the comfortless _Rajah?_”
“I shall be delighted, sir,” said Mackeller. “You see, I feel just a
little uncertain about the wisdom of leaving Captain Wilkie unprotected
with what is, after all, a strange crew. Their captain gives them a good
character, but Captain Wilkie, who is a martinet in his way, may get at
loggerheads with them, so it is well that he should have a bloodthirsty
commander and irresistible force at his beck and call. But remember,
Peter, that for every sailor you shoot, one of your gamekeepers must
take to the sailoring trade, which might turn out inconvenient in a
storm, so repress your war spirit until the captain orders it to belch
forth. I imagine your frowning appearance as, resembling the German
Emperor, you walk the deck, will quell any incipient mutiny in the bud,
if buds are quelled. Nevertheless, it is safer to hold the rifles in
the background in case of an emergency. So call for six volunteers from
among my men, and then fling your trunk aboard the lugger, after which
it will be good-by till I meet you again at Plymouth.” When the exchange
was completed the white yacht drew away from the tramp and speedily
disappeared to the north like a ghost. Captain Wilkie watched her
departure with regret, and was unhappy at his promotion to the
unkempt and dirty tramp steamer, with her slouching crew, dressed like
scarecrows. The new commander of the yacht felt equally out of place in
this trim, scrupulously clean, nickel-plated, bride’s-cake of a ship,
while the sailors, in their spick-and-span natty uniforms, gave him the
impression of being in a nightmare where an uncouth private had been
placed in charge of a company of officers. As he was about the same size
as Wilkie, the useful Ponderby, at Stranleigh’s orders, fitted him out
next morning in a gorgeous uniform which added to the beauty of his
outward appearance without materially augmenting his inward comfort.
However, the bluff captain understood his business, no matter what
costume he wore, and Stranleigh, studying him very unobtrusively as the
voyage went on, came to place a great confidence in him, and felt rather
ashamed of the distrust that had caused him to transfer the captain from
the _Rajah_ to the yacht. Before a week was past, he was certain that
this gruff sea dog would have taken the _Rajah_ direct to Plymouth once
he had given his word, quite as faithfully as Captain Wilkie was doing.
Although Stranleigh said nothing of this trust, and even doubted if
the simple old man had seen the reason of the change, he nevertheless
resolved to make amends, though not in words. The weather throughout
had been almost obtrusively gentle, and Stranleigh complained that the
voyage was falsifying all of Clark Russell’s novels. He grumbled to
the doctor that his faith in Clark Russell was undergoing a tremendous
strain.
“When we reach a dead calm in one of Clark Russell’s novels,” he said
to the doctor, “we always know what to expect. Suddenly out of the west
comes a ripping cyclone which lays us over on our beam ends. Then
wild, blinding rain and utter darkness, lit up only by vivid flashes of
lightning. Every one has to cling to whatever is nearest him: overboard
go the chicken coops, and there is such a general pandemonium that the
voice of command cannot be heard. Crash go the masts, funnels, and what
not: we right ourselves, staggering under the mountainous waves, and
find ourselves a dismantled hulk next morning, with the cook missing,
and no hot rolls for breakfast. Now, in reality we have had evenings
without a zephyr afloat, then follows a peaceful night, and morning
comes with a maidenly blush, like that on a new-born rose. I imagine the
ocean has improved since Clark Russell’s time, or perhaps the Government
weather bureau has regulated tilings. We are a wonderful people, doctor,
and at last Britannia really does rule the waves.”
Fast as his yacht was, the young man had become tired of the voyage. He
yearned for his morning paper and a stroll down Piccadilly. When well
across the placid Bay of Biscay, he called up one of his wireless
telegraphers, and said to him:
“I say, my son, cannot you tune up your heavenly harp, and pull us
some news down out of the sky? Aren’t we within the Marconi range of
civilization yet?”
“Yes, sir. Several private messages have come through, and some scraps
of news, but nothing important. The chancellor of the exchequer is
speaking in the House of Commons on some bill, so far as I understand
it, to regulate the Bank of England.”
“I fear that wouldn’t be very exciting reading, my boy, and besides,
I don’t understand finance, and never did. Still, I’d welcome even
the words of a politician this evening, so if the chancellor is still
talking, write out what he says. And, by the way, if you get a chance
to talk back, you might ask the horizon what races were on to-day,
and which horses won. After all, it is encouraging to know that the
chancellor of the exchequer is on his feet. That shows that old England
is still a going concern. It seems a year since I was there.”
The operator departed for the telegraphic cabin, and Stranleigh went on
with his cigar and after-dinner coffee. Presently the young man returned
with a grin on his face.
“He’s at it again, sir,” he said, and handed Stranleigh a sheet of paper
headed:
“CHANCELLOR EXCHEQUER.
“During the past decade our bank rate has been in a state of constant
fluctuation, changing many times, and ranging from two-and-a-half
to seven per cent., a variation which has exercised anything but a
beneficial effect upon business. The gold in the issue department of
the Bank of England usually amounts to about thirty millions of pounds,
which are shown to be inadequate to the needs of our time. On the other
hand, the Bank of France rarely allows its reserve to fall below a
hundred millions of pounds, with a consequence that the French bank rate
remains steady at from two-and-a-half to three per cent., and has not
risen to four per cent for thirty years. In the twelve months preceding
the report of 1904 the bank rate of France had not been changed once,
while our own bank rate had jumped from----”
Here Stranleigh crumpled the paper into a ball in his hand, and flung it
into the ocean.
“Great heavens!” he cried. “I wonder what kind of a brain revels in that
sort of rot! And not a word about the races! What do these telegraphers
imagine news is, anyhow?”
The ignorant young man little dreamed that the message he was reading
would exercise an astounding influence on his own career on that day
when the Bank of England was compelled by the new Act of Parliament to
raise its reserve of gold from thirty millions of pounds to one hundred
millions. A world-wide financial disturbance lay ahead which Stranleigh
did not suspect any more than did the wise lawmakers who passed the bill
by a large majority. Most of them, including his lordship, thought the
races more important and interesting.
The captain strolled aft. More and more as the days went on the
frivolous young man’s liking for this veteran of the sea had increased,
in spite of the fact that the captain had endeavored to carry away his
gold mine.
“Sit down, captain,” he cried. “What will you drink?”
“A cup of coffee, to keep me awake. I expect to be up all night, or at
least till we pass the Ushant.”
“Right you are, and coffee it is. Oh, by the way, I have changed my
mind, and you must change your course. Instead of striking straight
across from Ushant to Plymouth, steer your course up the Channel for
Southampton.”
“Very good, earl.”
“And I’ve also changed my mind regarding that bit of land of yours.”
“Oh, have you, earl?” said the captain, with a catch in his voice, and
disappointment visible on his countenance.
“Yes, that’s the reason we’re going to Southampton. You will lay this
yacht up--I think that is the nautical term--alongside your bit of land.
As you know, I am anxious that you shouldn’t be seen, and also that
nobody aboard should have a chance to talk.”
“I’ll see to that, earl.”
“My dear man, don’t call me earl. I told you I was an earl in strict
confidence. Haven’t you noticed that everyone addresses me as ‘sir,’ and
I don’t even insist on that. We are all free and equal at sea, except
the captain, who rules over us. When we reach Southampton water I’ll go
ashore in the motor boat, will call on the land agent, secure the estate
of five acres, give the deeds to your wife, and invite her and the
family to come up and view the cottage.”
“She knows where it is, sir. We’ve often been there together.”
“Then you’ll grant no shore leave, not even to yourself. You’ll keep
the lads busy while I’m ashore. Take the yacht to the nearest coaling
station, wherever it is, and fill her up with black diamonds. We may
want to go to New York, for all I know. What time do you expect to pass
Ushant?”
“About one bell, sir; half an hour after midnight.”
“How long is the run from Ushant to Southampton?”
“We should do it easy in eleven hours.”
“Then we’ll reach there at noon to-morrow? Very good. You had better,
perhaps, run me right up to Southampton, attend to the port formalities,
see to the coaling, and be lying off your bit of property by six o’clock
next evening. I’ll stop the night at a hotel, so you needn’t trouble
about me. How large is your family, captain?”
“The three eldest are at sea, and the three girls at home with the
missus.”
“Three girls? Oh, that’s jolly! Very well, I think we’ve everything
arranged. You will see that the motor boat is ready for me at the
landing both to-morrow afternoon and all next day. I shall probably
want to run up the bay to the bit of land, or down, whichever it is. I
suppose you can point it out to me as we pass?”
“Oh, yes, sir. I never enter or leave Southampton without looking at
that bit of ground.”
“Very well. At about five o’clock p.m. day after to-morrow I shall
invite the missus and the three girls to take a trip with me in the
motor boat. Arriving there I shall hand the keys and the deeds to the
lady of the house, and if you come ashore I’ll introduce you to the
family. You may stop all night ashore. Next morning take the yacht,
and navigate her slowly round to Plymouth. There you may give everybody
shore leave, but don’t overdo it. You understand what I want, which is
that no man shall talk about the mine in West Africa or the transfer in
midocean, so I expect you to keep your section of the crew in hand. I
can answer for my fellows. Oh, yes, by the way, I’ll take my woodmen off
at noon to-morrow, together with all that are left of my gamekeepers,
and send them home, including the excellent Ponderby, so you will have
none to deal with except those belonging to the yacht.”
_The Woman in White_ did even better than the captain anticipated,
and landed her owner in Southampton at ten minutes to eleven. He bade
farewell to his men, and dispatched them to their homes, none the poorer
for their long voyage. He visited the land agent’s office, transacted
his business within ten minutes, drew his check, and told the manager
to have the papers ready by twelve o’clock next day. Then he went to the
back street, and knocked at the number the captain had given him.
The door was opened by a buxom young woman, in whose flashing eyes he
recognized her father.
“Well, my dear,” he said, chucking her under the chin, “are you
the gallant captain’s daughter, as we say in the revised version of
‘Pinafore’?”
The girl drew back in righteous anger, and if a dagger glance of the
eyes could have slain, he would have been in danger, but the callous
young man merely laughed.
“Mother at home?” he asked.
“Who are you?” demanded the offended girl.
“That’s the same question your father asked me. It’s a secret, and I’ll
tell it only to your mother.”
At this moment the mother, hearing the high tones of her daughter, and
fancying something was wrong, appeared in the hall; a stout, elderly
woman, who frowned at the tall, nattily dressed stranger.
“My name is Stranleigh, madam, and I am by way of being a shipowner.
Your husband is one of my captains.”
“He is nothing of the sort. He is captain of the _Rajah._’”
“Quite right, and I am the owner of the _Rajah_. Your husband has just
bought that little bit of property down the bay; the one with a cottage
and a flag pole, you know.”
“What are you talking about, sir? My husband is hundreds and hundreds of
miles away at sea.”
“Oh, no, madam, it’s you who are at sea. Of course, he didn’t buy the
property personally. I have acted as his agent, and I come merely to
tell you of the transaction. The deeds are promised by noon to-morrow,
when I am promising myself the pleasure of handing them to you.”
“Then his venture has turned out a success? I had my doubts of it.”
“So had I, madam, but we who predict disaster are often confounded.
Everything is all right, as you remark.” Then, turning to the one who
had let him in, he said reproachfully: “Please don’t scowl at me like
that, but close the door and invite me into the parlor. Don’t you see
I’m a visitor?”
The girl said nothing, but looked at her mother.
“Come this way, sir,” said the woman, opening the door at the left,
whereupon the girl, with visible reluctance, closed the front door.
“Where are the other two girls’?” demanded Stranleigh.
“They are in the kitchen, sir.”
“Please send for them. I wish to see the whole family, being so well
acquainted with the captain.”
The still unmollified door opener, at a nod from her mother,
disappeared, returning shortly with the two younger children shrinking
bashfully behind their elder sister, who quite evidently ruled the
household.
“Ah,” said Stranleigh, “what a fine family! It is evident that these
girls did not depend for their beauty solely on their father.”
“I think,” said the elder girl haughtily, “that my father is the finest
looking man in the world.”
“You’ll change your mind some of these days, miss, or I’m greatly
mistaken. I admit the worth of your father, but you’ll never see his
picture on a beauty post card. And now, if you’re prepared for a bit of
news, and if every one promises not to faint, I’ll tell you what it is.”
“Oh, he isn’t arrested?” cried the wife in alarm.
“Arrested? Of course not. Why should he be? He is coaling my yacht at
this moment somewhere in Southampton harbor, within half a mile of where
you are sitting.”
There were some shrieks of surprise at this intelligence, but Stranleigh
went on unheeding.
“Now, as I have told you, the cottage is yours, and I wish you to do
something very enterprising; to hustle, as they say in America. My motor
boat is down at the landing, and can take you to and from the cottage as
often as you like, and it will be speedier than tram or cab or railway
carriage. Missus, you will be chief of the finest burst of shopping
Southampton has ever seen. Your husband will land at the cottage at six
o’clock tomorrow night. The chances are that the empty house will not be
any the worse for a little cleaning, so your eldest daughter here should
take with her a host of charwomen, and scrub the edifice from top room
to basement. Then, madam, you are to go to whatever furniture shop you
choose, ignore all that you now possess, and furnish every room in that
house before four o’clock tomorrow.”
“But, sir, that will cost a mint of money, and we----”
“Yes, I didn’t expect it done for nothing, and I haven’t the remotest
idea what the total will be. But here are three hundred pounds to go
on with. I got this purposely to-day in crisp Bank of England notes.
Whatever more is needed I will pay you to-morrow.”
“But how are we ever to pay you, sir?” asked the astonished woman.
“No need of that, madam. Your husband did me a very great service, and
I am merely arranging this as a pleasant surprise for him, and also
because of the intense admiration your eldest daughter exhibits for me.”
The girl tossed her head.
“He’s a humbug, mother; don’t believe him. There’s something bogus in
all this. I’ll warrant you those notes are counterfeit. He wants to get
us out of the house, and then steal the furniture. I read about a person
like him in the papers. He got seven years.”
Lord Stranleigh laughed.
“Why, how sharp you are, unbelieving creature. You’ve guessed it the
first time. Is the furniture in this villa worth three hundred pounds?”
“No, it isn’t,” said the girl promptly.
“Very well. Take those notes to the bank, and get golden sovereigns for
them, leaving your mother on guard till you return. They’ll probably ask
you where you got them, and you will answer thus: ‘They are the proceeds
of a draft for three hundred pounds which Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood
cashed at the London and County to-day, at half-past eleven.’ If they
still wish to know how you came by them, say that Lord Stranleigh is
the owner of several steamships, and that your father is captain of the
largest of them. Say nothing of the _Rajah_, because he is now chief
of a steamer twice her size. I took notes because they were lighter to
carry, but when you get the gold I hope you will do what I ask of you,
and leave this house promptly, so that I can steal its furniture without
molestation.”
“Are you Lord Stranleigh?” gasped the mother.
“Yes, madam, and there’s one other favor I beg of you, and of these
three charming girls. Mention to nobody that your father has returned.
Neither he nor I wish this known for a while yet, and I am quite sure
four women can keep the secret, even if one man can’t.”
“There’s nothing wrong, is there?” asked the anxious woman.
“Nothing wrong at all. It’s merely a matter concerning his new ship,
which lies at Plymouth, where he must go on the morning of day after
tomorrow.”
Energetic as the captain’s family was, they never put in such a day
and a half of nervous, capable speed in their lives before, and this
included the intervening night, during which none of them slept.
By five o’clock in the afternoon everything was ship-shape, although
not quite to the satisfaction of the eldest daughter, and at six
Lord Stranleigh had the felicity of introducing the captain to his
possessions, human and material, old and new. Then he rushed back in his
motor boat, and took the train to London.