AUSTIN IS MISSING
It was a fine morning, and the signal, "Steamer approaching from the
South," was flying from the staff high up on the Isleta hill, when
Pancho Brown's boat lay heaving on the smooth swell at the entrance to
Las Palmas harbour. Mrs. Hatherly, Jacinta, and Muriel sat in the
stern-sheets, and beyond them two barefooted Canarios were resting on
their oars, while two or three miles away a smear of smoke that half hid
a streak of dusky hull moved towards them across the shining sea. Brown
was watching it attentively with a pair of marine glasses in his hand.
"You have brought me off several times for nothing, but I almost think
our friends have turned up at last," he said. "Of course, from
Lieutenant Onslow's cable she should have been here several days ago,
but it's very likely the engines would give them trouble. Any way, we'll
know in ten minutes or so. There's the _Sanidad_ going off."
A launch crept out from the mole, and behind her in the harbour boats
were being got afloat. Coaling clerks, tobacco and wine merchants, and a
miscellaneous crowd of petty dealers, were waiting to step on board, but
two, at least, of Pancho Brown's party had no eyes for them. They were
watching the incoming steamer rise higher out of the shining sea, and
wondering if she was the one they had for the last few days looked for
with tense anxiety. They had Onslow's cable from Sierra Leone, and the
skipper of a big tramp which had come in for coals reported that a small
British steamer had asked him for the latitude and longitude a week
before. Nothing, however, had since been heard of her, and Jacinta had
found the last three or four days as trying as Muriel did. The latter
had, however, borne the suspense bravely, and displayed a sublime
confidence in her lover which Jacinta, for no very obvious reason, found
almost exasperating at times.
"Can't we go out a little?" she said at last.
Brown made a sign to the Canarios, who dipped the oars, and as they slid
past the _Carsegarry_, which lay with steam blowing off, and a water
barge alongside, Captain Farquhar leaned over her rails. He had come in
for coal on his way to Liverpool the previous day, and had spent part of
the night with Brown.
"I really think that is the _Cumbria_," he said. "Any way, she's much
the kind of boat Jefferson described to me, and so far as I can make out
they have a big boiler on deck. I suppose you are going off to her?"
Brown said they were, and Farquhar glanced at the boat hesitatingly.
"I'd very much like to come with you, but I can't leave just now," he
said. "Still, we won't have filled our tanks up for an hour or two, and
you might tell Mr. Austin that I certainly expect him to pull across and
see me. In fact, although we have steam up, I'll wait until he does."
Brown made a sign of comprehension, and the boat slid away, while when
she stopped again outside the harbour the eyes of all on board her were
fixed upon the steamer. She had also stopped, and lay rolling wildly,
with the yellow flag at her foremast-head and the _Sanidad_ launch
alongside her; but in another minute or two the flag came fluttering
down, and she moved on again towards the harbour. Brown signed to the
oarsmen to turn the boat's head.
"There's no doubt that she's the _Cumbria_, and they can't have had
anything very bad on board," he said.
In another five minutes the _Cumbria_ crept up with them, rolling
wickedly, with the big pump thudding on her deck, and a stream of water
spouting from her side. Rags of awnings fluttered about her, her funnel
was white with salt crust, for the trade-wind blows strong at that
season, and the blistered paint had peeled from her corroded sides. Her
story was written upon her so that even the girls could read, and both
felt that no plainer testimony was needed to the courage of the men who
had brought her home. Then they saw them, Jefferson leaning out, gaunt
and blanched in face, from the bridge rails, and Austin standing amidst
a group of haggard men on the forecastle. Jacinta's heart was beating a
good deal faster than usual, and she saw the sudden tears rise to her
companion's eyes; but as the long, rusty hull forged past them Austin
made no sign. He stood looking straight in front of him, until he turned
to the men about him who were busy with the anchor.
"He can't have seen us," said Muriel, with astonishment in her tone, and
then touched Brown's arm. "Tell them to row their hardest, please."
The Canarios bent their backs and the boat swept forward, for the
steamer had already passed ahead of them. Jacinta sat unusually still,
watching her, sensible at once of a vague dismay and a thrill of pride.
She had understanding as well as imagination, and the sight of that
rusty vessel and the worn faces of the men upon her deck had stirred her
curiously. It was, she felt, a notable thing they had done, and she was,
she knew, responsible for the part one of them had played in it. He had
come home with credit, a man who had done something worth while, and
had doubtless learned his strength. She could not fancy him frittering
his life away after that; but still she was perplexed, and a trifle
anxious, for it seemed that he must have seen them, and he had made no
sign. She had, on her part, twice passed him without recognition in the
Plaza at Santa Cruz, and her heart smote her as she remembered it; but
he was not a vindictive man, and must by that time have realised the
misapprehension she had been under concerning him. For that, at least,
she would ask his forgiveness in another few minutes, and her face
burned as she wondered what he would say to her.
Then she saw the white wash of the _Cumbria_'s propeller as it whirled
astern, and there was a roar of running chain, while two or three
minutes later they were making their way up the lowered ladder amidst a
crowd of petty dealers when Jefferson came across the deck, driving the
latter aside. Jacinta saw that it cost Muriel an effort to hide her
consternation at his appearance, but in another moment she was smiling
at him with shining eyes, and the haggard man's arms were about her.
That the deck was crowded with Spaniards did not seem in the least to
matter to either of them. Jacinta, who would not have done as much, felt
a little thrill of sympathy, and, it was significant, looked round for
Austin. There was, however, no sign of him.
Then Jefferson, still holding Muriel's arm, drew them out of the press,
and there was a general offering of congratulations and grasping of
hands.
"I am," he said, "uncommonly glad to be back again, though I'm not sure
we'd have ever got here except for Austin. I have only been on my feet
the last day or two, and he did everything."
"Where is he?" said Muriel, seeing that Jacinta would not ask.
"Across at the _Carsegarry_. At least, he told me he was going when he
recognised her."
"Without coming to shake hands with us?" said Muriel, who flashed a
covert glance at Jacinta.
"I understand from one of these fellows that Farquhar is just going to
sea, and it's very probable that Austin heard it, too. I have no doubt
he'll be back again in five minutes."
"You will come ashore with us, and we will expect you and Mr. Austin to
make my house your home in the meanwhile," said Brown.
"I shall be very glad," said Jefferson. "You will, however, have to
excuse me for an hour or two. I have our Consul to see, and a good many
things to do before I can call my time my own. I wonder if you could get
me a tartana?"
"Mine is waiting at the Mole," said Brown.
It was an hour later when they took their places in the vehicle, but
though Brown bade the driver wait a minute or two, there was no
appearance of Austin. Just then the _Carsegarry_ crept down the harbour,
and with a sonorous blast of her whistle steamed out to sea.
"There is no boat coming. He must have landed on the other mole, and,
perhaps, met somebody he couldn't get away from," said Brown. "I'll
leave word that we are expecting him, and no doubt he'll turn up soon
after we get home."
They drove away, and that afternoon sat together in Brown's cool patio.
The noise of the bustling city was deadened by the tall white walls,
over which there shone a square of cloudless blue, and the scent of
flowers was heavy in the shadowy space below. Jefferson lay, attired
becomingly once more, in a big cane chair, with a little smile of
content in his hollow face, and a pile of fruit, and a flask of wine,
on the table in front of him. The others sat about him, and a fountain
splashed behind them in the shadow.
"A very little of this will make me well," he said. "In fact, it is
already a trifle difficult to believe that I could scarcely lift myself
in my berth a few days ago. I think it was the sight of Gomera that
cured me. You see, I was a little doubtful about Austin finding the
Canaries, and when they came to tell me they could see the Peak,
Wall-eye, who was watching me, ran out."
"What was he watching you for?" asked Muriel.
"To see I didn't get up. I had my chance then, and I crawled out of my
berth. I believe I fell over several things before I got out on deck,
and then I knew we were all right at last. There was the Peak--high up
in the sky in front of us, with Gomera a blue smudge low down at its
feet. We ran in under the lee, and, because they were played out, and
Tom had trouble with his engines, stayed there three days."
He stopped a moment, with a little laugh. "I think Austin was 'most
astonished as I was to find he'd brought her home. He'd been running
four or five days on dead reckoning, and wasn't much more than a hundred
miles out."
"I wonder where he is," said Brown.
Jefferson looked a trifle perplexed, and it was evident that others of
the party had asked themselves the same question, for there was a
moment's silence until Muriel spoke.
"If he doesn't come soon I shall feel very vexed with him; but we want
to hear how you got the steamer off," she said.
Jefferson commenced his tale diffidently, but, because Austin had worked
in the sombre background--more effectively than he could do
already--the rest listened with full comprehension. His unvarnished
narrative was, however, striking enough, and, save for the splashing of
the fountain, and his low voice, there was a suggestive silence in the
patio, until he stopped abruptly when he came to the scene in which
Austin pleaded for the negro.
"The man wasn't fit to look at," he said.
"But why did Mr. Austin go near him?" asked Muriel, with a little
shiver.
"To save his life," said Jefferson, awkwardly. "You see, we couldn't
have him there--and he really wasn't a man then. The thing he had we
believed contagious, and somebody had to put him into his canoe."
Muriel gazed at him with an expression of perplexity, and it was clear
that she did not quite understand what had taken place on the night in
question, which was, however, not astonishing. Brown appeared a trifle
uncomfortable, and Jefferson was sincerely thankful when Jacinta broke
in.
"Of course," she said. "He couldn't have stayed there. Mr. Austin put
him into his canoe?" She stopped for a moment, and her voice seemed to
change a trifle. "Did he find it necessary to touch him?"
"He did. In fact, the nigger got hold of him. One of them slipped on the
bridge deck ladder and they rolled down it together."
Again there was silence, and all of them looked at Jefferson, who saw
the question in Jacinta's eyes.
"No," he said. "Nothing came of it, though for a week or so I was
horribly afraid. It isn't men like Austin who take that kind of thing,
and it's possible it mayn't have been infectious, after all."
Muriel heard Jacinta softly draw in her breath, as though she had been
under a strain which had suddenly relaxed. Then a little colour crept
into her face and a sparkle into her eyes.
"Yes," said Jefferson, though nobody had spoken, "it was a daring thing.
More, in fact, than I would have done. My partner has the cleanest kind
of real hard sand in him."
He turned to Muriel with a little deprecatory gesture. "I had more at
stake than he had--and I was afraid that night."
Jacinta sat still a while, a trifle flushed in face, for the scene
Jefferson had very vaguely pictured had stirred her to the depths. The
man whom she had sent forth had done more than she would ever have asked
of him, and the gallantry of the action brought a dimness to her eyes.
Then she remembered that it was not done recklessly, for he had, it
seemed, decided calmly, which must have made it inexpressibly harder.
There were, she could imagine, circumstances in which a man might more
or less willingly risk his life, but the risk Austin had taken was
horrible, and he stood to gain nothing when he quietly recognised the
responsibility he had taken upon himself. It was with an overwhelming
sense of confusion she remembered the jibes she had flung at him
concerning his discretion, and yet under it there was still the sense of
pride. After all, it was to please her he had gone to Africa.
"Well," said Jefferson quietly, "you are pleased with him?"
Jacinta met his gaze unwaveringly, and her voice had a little thrill in
it.
"Does it matter in the least whether I am pleased or not?" she said.
"Still, since you ask, I scarcely think I have heard of anything that
would surpass what he did that night."
Jefferson made her a little inclination. "I am," he said gravely, "not
sure that I have, either."
He went on with his story, but Jacinta scarcely listened to it, for she
was wondering why Austin had not come, and waiting expectantly for the
time when she could, in self-abasement, endeavour to wipe what she had
said from his memory. Still, he did not come, and it was half an hour
later when a barefooted boatman was shown into the patio. He had an
envelope in his hand, and turned to Brown.
"The Englishman who was in the _Estremedura_ gave me this on board the
_Carsegarry_," he said. "I am sorry I could not bring it before, but
several steamers I had to go to came in, and then it was some time
before I found out that the SeA+-or Jefferson had gone home with you."
When he went away Brown handed Jefferson the note, while the latter, who
opened it, straightened himself suddenly and seemed to be struggling
with some emotion. Then he passed it to Jacinta.
"You have good nerves, Miss Brown," he said. "If I had known it would
come to this, I think I would have left the _Cumbria_ there."
Jacinta took the letter in a steady hand, but her face grew a trifle
blanched as she read.
"I am going home with Farquhar," the message ran. "I could hardly go in
a passenger boat, and he is fixing me up a room by myself. I didn't care
to tell you when you were just shaking off the fever, but one of my arms
feels very much as that engineer said his did. I am going to see if one
of the big specialists or the Tropical Disease men can do anything for
me."
Jacinta sat quite still a minute, and then slowly rose.
"It is horrible, but I suppose even a purpose of the kind he had does
not exempt one from the consequences," she said. "There are things to
attend to. You will excuse me just now."
They looked at one another when she left them, and then Brown turned to
Jefferson.
"I wonder if you have any objections to showing me that note?" he said.
"It doesn't seem to be here," said Muriel. "What can she have done with
it?"
"Don't worry about looking," said Jefferson sharply. "I can remember it.
It has, in fact, shaken a good deal of the stiffness out of me."
Muriel gasped with consternation when he told them, and by and by the
group broke up, while it was a somewhat silent party that assembled for
comida an hour later. Jacinta, it was evident, had very little appetite,
though she contrived to join in the somewhat pointless conversation, and
it was not until late that night Brown came upon her alone on the flat
roof. She was leaning on the parapet, and looking out across the sea,
but her eyes were turned northwards now, and she did not hear him until
he gently laid a hand upon her shoulder. Then she turned and looked at
him with despair in her face. She had not expected him, or he would not
have seen it, though there was clear moonlight above them.
Brown sat down on the parapet, and, taking off his gold-rimmed glasses,
held them in his hand.
"I think I understand, my dear, and I have something to say," he said.
Jacinta made no disclaimer. For one thing, she saw it would have been
useless, and she had no strength left in her then.
"Is it worth while?" she asked. "Would anything that you could say
change what has happened?"
"No," said Brown, reflectively, "I scarcely think it would. Still, I
would like to mention that we really don't know the thing is incurable.
In fact, it may be a malady which is readily susceptible to the proper
treatment, and he has done wisely in going to England."
A little gleam of hope crept into Jacinta's eyes. "I had hardly dared to
think of that," she said.
"Well," said Brown, "I really fancy the thing may not be as serious as
you and Mr. Jefferson, perhaps naturally, seem to fear. Now, as you
know, I was going to England about the new fruit contracts in a week or
two, and there is no particular reason why I shouldn't go the day after
to-morrow. I should make it my business to see Mr. Austin has the best
advice which can be got from the specialists in that country. Only, my
dear, I want to ask a very plain question. Supposing he is cured--what
then?"
"I'm afraid you must shape the question differently," and a trace of
colour crept into the whiteness of Jacinta's face.
"Then I will tell you what I know. You sent that man to Africa, and he
went because he was in love with you. He is also a man I have a
considerable liking for--and you are my only child. I am getting old,
and would like to see you safely settled before I go. There are," and he
made a little gesture, "occasions on which one must speak plainly."
Jacinta's face was crimson at last, but she in no way attempted to
question the correctness of the announcement he had made.
"Mr. Austin, at least, never told me what you seem to be so sure
about--and it is scarcely likely that he will ever do so now," she said.
Brown smiled a little, and tapped the palm of his hand with his glasses.
"My dear," he said, "I think you know better. Of course, you would
never have admitted so much as you have done if I had not had you at a
disadvantage to-night. Well, the first thing is to see what can be done
to cure him. Only, if he comes back, you will, I suppose, know your
mind?"
He looked at her steadily, and, when Jacinta lowered her eyes, laid his
hand gently on her arm again.
"I sail by the yellow-funnel boat the day after to-morrow," he said.