IV

I awoke between clean sheets in a narrow, natty berth. I had been

stripped to the singlet, and yet handled with evident kindness. My

clothes hung tidily from a peg; they were swaying very gently to and

fro, like the candle-stick in its socket, and the curtains of my bunk.

I was aboard the _Mollyhawk_, and the _Mollyhawk_ was out at sea. I

bounded to the floor, to the port; it was open, and I looked out into

the alleyway. They had imprisoned me, then, in a deck-house stateroom.

I made no doubt the door was locked, tried it, found it unlocked; had

a vision of white napery and bright silver in the saloon; and closed

the door more calmly than I had opened it. I realised that I was in

the hands of a deliberate, cool, resourceful rascal; my only weapons,

therefore, were coolness, deliberation, and resource.

So I dressed myself with care, and ere I was ready, could smile at the

simple wiles which had ensnared me: the two farewell letters, of which

one, alas! was evidently genuine; the well-acted depression and the

air of resigned defeat at the close of a long day in loathly hiding.

These pretences, so transparent now, struck no shame to my heart as

I recalled them; for I knew that, were it all to come over again,

I should be again deceived. What was must be endured; it was of no

use thinking about it; one must think of what might yet be done. But

where were we--through the Heads? By the gentle, joyful motion it was

impossible to tell. Had we shown our heels? And for what port in all

the world were we bound? As if in answer, the tramp of feet and the

sound of rough voices in unison came to me at that moment through the

open port:

"O where are you going to, my pretty maid?

Wa-ay, Rio!

O where are you going to, my pretty maid?

We're bound for Rio Grande!"

I had learnt and liked the chanty on my voyage out in the Glasgow

clipper; and half involuntarily, half out of bravado, I was joining in

the chorus when I appeared on deck. I even lent a hand at the capstan,

as Deedes had done himself, and I had the satisfaction of silencing his

voice with the first note of my own:

"An' it's he-ey, Rio!

Wa-ay, Rio!

Sing fare you well,

You bonny young gell,

We're bound for----"

"Belay!" cried the jolly rich voice of that great villain, my

churchyard acquaintance of Western Beach. As our eyes met, he honoured

me with a jovial nod; then my white duck suit came between us, a little

creased, but spotless as on the night before; and Deedes was looking me

up and down.

"You're a cool hand, too," said he. "Well, I'm blowed!"

"I am studying in a cool school," said I. "Deedes, I admire you; more

than ever; there!"

"That's very nice of you, Beetle."

"Not a bit; it won't prevent me from getting even with you the first

chance I see."

"You'll find that difficult."

"I shall stick at nothing."

His face darkened. He had shaved himself clean since the night, and as

he showed me his teeth I thought I had never seen so vile a mouth. It

had degenerated dreadfully since his boyhood.

"Take care," he snarled; "you're being done pretty well so far. You've

the second best stateroom aboard, and the cuddy tucker's all right.

Don't you forget we've got a hold and irons, and rats and rancid pork

as well!"

He turned on his heel, and I walked to the binnacle. Next moment he

joined me there, dropping a hand upon my shoulder.

"East-by-south-a-quarter-east," said he; "we cleared the Heads last

night--bound for Rio Grande, or something like it--and that chunk on

the port bow is Wilson Promontory. So now you know. And look here,

Beetle, old chap, you've been good to me; I don't want to be rough on

you. Did you really think I was going to do as we said? My good fellow,

how could you? See here, Beetle: the yacht's a well-known yacht,

Watson's a well-known yachtsman, and he was in Melbourne to divert

suspicion the day I did the trick. He stands in for his share. Why not

stand in yourself? You've earned your little bit, if anybody has!"

"I thought you didn't want to be rough on me," said I wearily. "Have

you got it all aboard?"

"Have I not! Every penny-piece!"

"And who's Watson?"

I was at once introduced to the marine monster in blue, with the

superfluous comment, "I believe you've met before. Captain Watson owns

and skips this ship, and I skip and own the money; I'm purser, so to

speak, but there'll be fair do's at the end of the voyage. You'd much

better stand in, Beetle. The captain and I are both quite clear on the

point."

"Oh, so am I," cried I ironically. "When one of you two has knifed the

other for his share, I intend sticking the one who's left!"

"I consider that remark," said the captain, colouring, "in the worst of

taste; and if you weren't a friend of Mr. Deedes, I should kick you off

my quarter-deck."

Mr. Deedes looked thunderous, but said nothing.

"Oh, come," said I, "if we can't have our joke what can we have?

I admit, if there'd been any truth in what I said--any chance or

possibility of truth--I should have merited a visitation from the

captain's boots; but as I was talking arrant nonsense, what did it

matter?"

I expected a blow for that, and tried to look as though I did not,

being extremely anxious to return it with effect. I was, in fact,

the slave all this time of emotional cross-currents, which made

my revulsion from these villains the stronger because it was not

continuous. I had more than tolerated them at first, but all at

once I found myself desiring hold and rats and irons, rather than a

continuance of their society. At this moment, however, the old and

evil-looking steward was to be seen carrying smoking dishes to the

house; the sight appealed to me in another place; and I will own

to having changed my manner with some abruptness, and to adding an

apologetic word on top of that.

"All right," said Deedes savagely. "You've said about enough, and in

the cuddy I'll trouble you to hold your tongue altogether. The mate's

asleep in the other stateroom--take care you don't lose yours! Take

jolly good care this isn't your first and last meal up here!"

After breakfast I smoked a pipe in the cross-trees, and looked in vain

for a passing funnel: only a few insignificant sails were in sight,

and those to leeward. The sea lay under me like a great blue plate,

the schooner a white ant crawling in its centre. But for the swell, we

might have been in Corio Bay. Should I ever see it again, I wondered,

with the straight streets sloping to its brink? And I wondered if

Deedes had the same thought, as he leant over the taffrail studying the

wake; or had he more pangs and fears than he pretended, and were we

less safe?

The captain joined him, whereupon Deedes retreated to the house,

with black looks that were blacker still a few minutes later when

he returned. Instead of rejoining the captain, he now came aloft to

my cross-trees, and I made up my mind that we were to have it out

in mid-air. Deedes passed me, however, without a word, and I saw a

telescope sticking out of his pocket as he climbed higher. I thought it

as well to let him have the mast to himself, and left him sweeping the

horizon from near the truck.

Yet my own eyes were pretty good, and they had descried no sign of

sail or smoke to windward. Why then this change in Deedes? Thoroughly

puzzled, I reached the deck and strolled idly to the house; and the

puzzle solved itself even as I entered and saw who was seated at the

table.

"Miss I'Anson!" I fairly shouted.

"Yes--it is I. He said I should not see you. Do go--do go before he

comes!"

"Go!" I cried. "Not see you! I shall see you and stay with you until

I'm dragged out by force. That is"--I added suddenly--"unless you are

here of your own free will. In that case----"

"No, no!" cried the girl. "By trickery! By wicked, heartless,

abominable lies! Nothing else--oh, nothing else would have brought me

to this!"

"Then we're in the same boat with a vengeance," said I, seating myself

on the opposite side of the table. "Tell me how it happened--and

quickly. He has talked already of putting me in irons; he'll do it

after this."

"Oh, where am I to begin? There is so much to tell--but he shall not

do it!" vowed Miss I'Anson. "He shall not separate the only two honest

people in the ship! Oh, yes, it was lies, but lies so clever and so

fiendish! Let me tell you everything. I'll try to be quick. He has been

in the bank about a year. You know him perhaps better than I do. They

say you were at school together. You must know his good points, Mr.

Bower. I mean the points that would attract a girl. They attracted me.

I made a fool of myself. You must have heard about it in Geelong. Well,

it's quite true; but it wasn't yesterday, or the day before, or last

week. It was in the very beginning. I got over it long ago. But he has

always fascinated me. You know him--you can understand? Well, when the

bank was robbed I knew he had done it; I can't tell you how I knew,

but know I did. His voice was not real. I have been made love to in

that voice--there! Well, I went to his rooms. He lunched there every

day. I saw his landlady. He had come in to lunch as usual, and said

he would ring when he wanted his pudding. He did ring, but was longer

than usual in ringing; that was all. His room was the back-room of the

house on the ground-floor; the landlady lives in front. Quite a short

time ago it was the other way about, and he suggested the alteration.

He also made her promise to keep the blinds down in the kitchen, and

the windows shut, to keep out the flies and the sun in the heat of the

day; he could make her do what he liked. Now listen. The bank garden

adjoins his landlady's garden. I found soil on his window-sill, soil

on the woodwork. This was in the afternoon when the excitement was at

its height; he was in the bank. I came away, making the woman promise

not to say a word; but she broke her promise that night, and that was

what started the hue and cry. Meanwhile I wrote him a note telling

him I knew all, refusing to see him, but solemnly undertaking that

if he would put a note where he had once put other notes (because my

mother couldn't endure him), and say in it where the money was, nobody

should ever know from me that he had touched it. Remember, Mr. Bower,

I was once fond of him; nay, you did much as I did yourself; you will

understand. He has told me all that has passed between you; how he

gave you the note to put in the tennis pavilion. And what do you think

he said in it? That if I would come to the beach at ten last night he

would tell me where the money was. He did tell me. He told me it was

sunk among the rocks at Queenscliff. He told me he was escaping in the

_Mollyhawk_--this vessel--but he would land me at Queenscliff, and show

me where the place was; because he meant to take the gold, but the

notes he dare not. It was the notes that mattered to my father and the

bank. They were nine-tenths of the stolen sum. Oh, I know I was a fool

to believe or listen to a word he said! I should have had him put in

prison at the first. But I am punished as I deserve; they will never

forgive me at home; it will break their hearts; they will never get

over it. And here I am--and here I am!"

She broke down, breathless, and I glanced towards the door. Deedes

stood there in my ducks, his face the blacker by contrast; he glared at

me, and his evil mouth worked spasmodically; but now more than ever I

seemed to discern some foreign trouble in his blazing eyes; and instead

of ordering me out of the deck-house, he slammed the door upon us both.

Enid I'Anson whipped her face from her hands.

"That's all right," said I. "He's seen us, and he doesn't care.

There's something else upon his nerves; when thieves fall out, you

know--perhaps they've done so already. I feel hopeful; it's bound to

come. There's just one thing I don't size down. I know why I am here:

he wouldn't kill me, and alive on land I'd never have let him clear the

Heads. That's why I'm here; but why are you? You didn't know about the

schooner?"

"No, but--how can I tell you!"

"Don't," said I, for she was clearly in a new distress.

"I must! He wants to marry me--so he says. He never wanted before. But

I did not betray him. I have saved him--he will have it so--so I am to

be his wife! Oh, Mr. Bower, it is the worst insult of all! I told him

so, just before you came in."

"Then that was the trouble," said I. "It rather disappoints me; I am

counting on a row between those two. But it will come. Cheer up, Miss

I'Anson; let him leave me out of irons twenty-four hours longer, and

I'll play a hand myself--for you and the bank!"

And so I talked, trying with all my might to comfort the poor child

in her extremity. She was little more; nineteen, she told me. There

were elder sisters married, and a brother gone home to Cambridge. He

would have to leave there now; and who would pay his passage back to

Melbourne? The robbery seemed to spell certain ruin to the I'Ansons, at

all events in their own belief; but now at least we knew who had drawn

the cartridges from the bank revolver; and I fancy they all exaggerated

the element of personal responsibility.

I did my best to reassure Miss Enid on the point; nor did I leave a

comfortable word unsaid that I could hit upon. So noon, and afternoon,

found us talking still across the cuddy table. Luncheon in this

pirate's craft was evidently a movable feast, to-day indefinitely

postponed. Enid looked at her watch and found it after three o'clock;

we had thought it one; but about half-past three the house door was

flung open and in strode Deedes. He did not look at us, but snatched a

repeating-rifle out of a locker, and would have gone without a word but

for Enid I'Anson.

The girl was terrified. "What are you going to do with it?" she cried;

and he paused in the doorway, filling it with his broad shoulders, so

that I could see nothing but blue sky without.

"There's a big bird in our wake--another mollyhawk!" said Deedes, as I

thought with a lighter look. "I'm going to have pots at it. That's all."

"Cruel always," said the girl, as we heard shot after shot in quick

succession. But I went to the door, and then turned back as if with an

altered mind. I had found it locked.

Ere I could regain my seat, a new thing happened. A bullet came clean

through the deck-house, passed over Enid's head, and must have abode in

my brain had I sat a minute longer where I had been sitting for hours.

"Coward!" gasped the girl; but only with her word came the report.

"A chase!" I shouted. "Down on the floor with you--flat down--that was

a Government bullet!" And on the cabin floor we crouched.

Voices hailing us were now plainly audible. But Deedes vouchsafed no

answer, save with his Winchester, and from the spitting of a revolver

(doubtless handled by the captain) I gathered we were at pretty close

quarters. So the chase had been going on for hours; that was why we two

in the house had been left undisturbed and dinnerless; but what amazed

me most was the evident good discipline on deck. We must stand some

chance; my soul sickened at the thought. It must be canvas that was

after us, not steam; but I could not look out to see; my brave comrade

would only remain where she was on condition I did the same. Lastly,

every man aboard the schooner, myself excepted, must centre his hopes,

perhaps his designs, upon the nineteen thousand and odd pounds that lay

snug somewhere between her keelson and her trucks.

I have done livelier things than lie there listening to the shots;

many more had struck the house, and even where we lay there was no

superfluous safety; but my comrade bore herself throughout with

incredible spirit, and made besides a sweet, strange picture, there on

that matted floor. The sun streamed in through the skylight, and the

schooner's motion was such that the girl's face was now bathed in the

rays and anon lighted only by its own radiance. I did not know how I

liked it best; nor do I to this day, though I see her always as I saw

her then. Her blue eyes bent on mine the kind of look which would give

one courage in one's last hour. Her very hand was cool.

The firing on both sides continued intermittently; but once we heard a

heavy thud upon our own deck, and the revolver spat no more.

"That's not Deedes," said I, shaking my head; "I only wish it was!"

"Don't say that," my comrade answered; "it would be too dreadful! He is

not fit to die; he has fine qualities--you know it yourself--he could

play a man's part yet in the world."

Even as she spoke the door was unlocked, flung open, and Deedes himself

stood looking down upon us across his folded arms. I daresay we cut an

ignominious figure enough, crouching there upon the cabin floor. Deedes

looked very sick and pale, but the sight of us elicited a sardonic

smile.

"Get up," said he. "There will be no more fighting. Watson's knocked

out. I've struck my flag. Your father will be aboard in a minute, Enid."

"My father!"

"Yes," said Deedes, leaning back against a bulkhead, with his arms

still folded. "It's a pilot's cutter--the first thing handy, I

suppose--with the police and your father aboard her. One word before

he comes. Once you'd have come fast enough to my arms. Enid--I'm done

for--come to them now!"

He unfolded and flung them wide as he spoke; a great look lit his

face, half mocking, half sublime, and down my duck jacket, where his

arms had been, a dark stream trickled to the deck. Before I could get

to him he fell in a white heap under our eyes.

* * * * *

Deedes was dead. Watson was dying. Two constables in the cutter were

badly hit; and with their ghastly burden the little ships tacked home

in consort to Port Philip Heads.

It was midnight when we saw the lights. The bank-manager and I stood

together on the cutter's deck, he with a brace of heavy bags between

his heels. His daughter was down below, but the thought of her troubled

him still. As he said, the money was the bank's, and it was safe; but

his daughter was his own, and this scandal would attach forever to her

name. I denied it hotly, but the old man would have it so.

"Don't tell me," he grumbled. "I know the world, and Enid will go

ashore with something unpleasantly like a slur upon her name."

"Then it won't be for long," I at last retorted. "We meant it to keep

until we got there; but with your permission, sir, your daughter and I

shall go ashore engaged."