A HOT NIGHT IN YOKOHAMA.
Ned Nestor stood on the deck of the steamship, and the steamship was
entering the harbor of Yokohama, which opens from Tokyo bay, the bay
from the Sagani Sea, the sea from the Pacific ocean. In the cabin of the
steamship were Frank Shaw, Jack Bosworth and Jimmie McGraw. While Ned
looked over the city they were approaching the three boys came to his
side.
None of them had ever looked upon a Japanese city before. The scene
before them was one well calculated to excite their interest and appeal
to their imagination. The fishing junks sailing over the glassy waters
of the bay did not seem at all like any fishing boats they had ever seen
before.
The colored wooden roofs of the town seemed to have been cut out from a
picture book of fairy tales. The narrow streets in sight from the deck
seemed steep and not too straight. The buildings seemed to lap over on
each other. To the west, standing straight up in the sky, as it seemed,
loomed the pile of Oyama mountain. To the north showed the roofs of
Kanagawa.
Night fell while they gazed at the unfamiliar scene, and the lanterns on
the sampans, bound for the customs _hatoba_, glistened over the bay like
fireflies. The shampooer's whistles drifted out on the offshore breeze.
"Doesn't look much like coming into little old New York!" Frank
exclaimed.
"Queer lookin' country!" Jimmie added.
"I'd rather be back in the _Manhattan_, among the islands north of
Luzon," Jack observed. "I don't like this smell of the Orient they talk
so much about."
"Not much Orient about this!" Ned said.
"I hope we'll get out of it before long," Jack went on. "I'm hungry for
the wash of the China Sea."
"We'll have a little China Sea made for you, an' tuck it away in Central
Park," Jimmie laughed.
"All right!" replied Jack. "I wonder why some one didn't think of that
before! Fine scheme!"
On leaving the bay where such an eventful night had been passed, the
boys had driven the _Manhattan_ at full speed directly to Manila. The
boat was rather small for such a trip, but it had behaved nobly, and the
lads had enjoyed the trip immensely.
They had for a time been pursued by the launches which had anchored on
the opposite side of the little island, but the chase had soon been
abandoned, as the _Manhattan_ was the fastest boat of the three.
On the way to Manila, Ned had held several long conversations with
French, but had gained little information from him. He corroborated what
little was known regarding the conspiracy for the establishing of a
native government on the Philippines, but would not reveal what he knew
of the interests interested or of the men at the head of the movement.
At Manila, French had been released on parole at the urgent request of
Frank and Jack, who had formed a liking for the courteous gentleman who
had treated them so kindly during the few hours he had been their
jailer. French, however, had promised to remain at Manila and to report
daily at military headquarters.
"I don't understand what his share in the plot is, or has been," Ned had
explained, "but it is evident that he will be needed only as a witness."
At Manila Ned had held a long conference with Major John Ross, and that
gentleman had seemed overjoyed at the report the boy had presented,
especially as it made his return to the group of islands to the north
unnecessary. After remaining in Manila one day and a night, Ned had been
directed to continue his investigation of the case in his own way.
To tell the truth, Major John Ross and the military men with whom Ned
conferred at Manila treated the employment of the boy by the authorities
at Washington as a good deal of a joke, as a whim. They were not
discourteous to Ned, but they took no interest in his suggestions. For
some hours after his departure, his employment on the case was the
subject of many sarcastic remarks.
However, those in charge had consented to hold the _Manhattan_ subject
to his orders, and had promised to give any communications received from
him due attention. And this was the situation when the boy, following
clues secured at the nipa hut and hints obtained from Pat, who had kept
his ears open during his captivity, and from French, had sailed away for
Japan with his chums on a steamer which was leaving Manila for Yokohama.
Pat Mack, released from service by the effort of Major Ross, at his own
request, had been left at Manila in charge of the _Manhattan_.
The boys landed shortly after dark and proceeded to a hotel where the
English language or something like it was spoken. Everything was new and
strange, the place being as unlike a Broadway hotel as it is possible to
imagine. However, the meals were served in half-American fashion, and
the rooms were tolerably comfortable.
"Now," Ned said, after their first meal in Yokohama was over, "we did
not come here to visit the palaces of the wealthy, or to inspect the
United States consulate. We've got to get down into the slums a bit if
we find what I want. The man who led the party that captured Lieutenant
Rowe was sent away as soon as he got to his masters. You doubtless
understand why. They did not want him implicated in the plot."
"How do you know?" asked Jimmie. "You didn't see him go, did you?"
"Then he must be up some," Jack said.
"And he left Manila on a boat bound for Yokohama," Frank added. "I know
about that, for French gave me a valuable tip. And he was accompanied by
an American sailor with a thirst for strong drink."
"I guess you've got the idea, all right," Ned said, with a smile. "But I
did not state the case exactly as it is. I said that the man who led the
party against Lieutenant Rowe was sent away. I should have said that the
man suspected of having been at the head of that expedition had
mysteriously disappeared from Manila on the very day of his return there
after an absence unaccounted for, and that it was believed he had taken
a steamer for Yokohama. I stated my conclusions as facts."
"And there was an American sailor with him," insisted Frank.
"Yes, an, American sailor who evidently knew too much. At least, that is
the way I figure it out. Now, we are not looking for this high-brow at
this time, but for the American sailor."
"That makes it all the pleasanter!" Jack said. "We'll have a chance to
see life in Japan as it is. I'd feel better about this little outing,
though, if I knew just what has become of Lieutenant Rowe."
"I often wish we had tried to release him," Ned replied, "but we were
lucky to get off with whole hides. Anyway, Pat says they were to release
him in a short time, after the plot is perfected. All they wanted was
his dispatches, and they will hold him captive only because his release
might lead to the premature discovery of the meeting of chiefs on the
island."
"Well, let us get busy with the underworld of Japan," Jack said. "I'll
bet we find plenty of American sailors with thirsts."
On a dark night in Yokohama the houses in the section visited by the
boys look very much alike. They are drygoods box affairs, two stories
high, with peaked roofs, paper walls and narrow piazzas. All the shops
are looking for the American sailor.
Ned secured an interpreter, and the boys strolled through a dozen or
more cheap joints before they came to a halt and sat down. The places
were all alike. There was split matting on the floors, always, and
sailors drinking at little tables. There was always a fair grade of tea,
always _sake_, always a wheezy graphophone.
One might also buy whiskey, ale and other intoxicating drinks. And there
were also the _geisha_ dances and the _nesans_ running up stairs and
down with their little white socks and flowery skirts, carrying
refreshments. There were also men in _kimonos_ and cowboy hats, the
former to give the Japanese color and the latter to inform customers
that the American trade was catered to!
"How you goin' to know this American sailor when you find him?" asked
Jimmie, as the boys sat with steaming cups of tea before them.
"I have his photograph," laughed Ned.
"Let's see it!" cried Jack.
"I'll bet it's a mental photograph!" Jimmie went on. "That is the only
kind Ned carries."
"What does he look like?" asked Frank.
"Yes; tell us. We may see him first!" urged Jimmie.
"He's short, and very broad across the shoulders, with one shoulder
lower than the other. He is quite bald, and there is a cicatrice on his
left cheek where a Malay cut him. There is a squint in one of his eyes,
and there is a scar along the ball of his right thumb."
"Quit your kiddin'!" said Jimmie. "You never saw him."
"Pat saw him," was the reply, "and French and some of the military
people at Manila saw him. He left with the man whose acquaintance I want
to make, or just before him."
"Seems like looking for a needle in a haymow," Frank said, "but I'll
wager my hat against a swipe in the jaw that we find him."
"'We!'" repeated Jimmie, with due scorn.
"For instance," Frank said, "what do you think of the fellow over there
talking with the man in the _kimono_ and the derby hat of the vintage of
1880?"
"He's short and broad, and one of his shoulders is higher than the
other," Jimmie replied.
"Don't attract his attention," Ned warned. "He sat there when we came
in, and does not seem to notice us."
"You goin' to geezle him?" asked Jimmie.
"If he were in Manila I certainly should," was the answer, "but it would
never answer here. Look!" the lad added. "He seems to be having trouble
with one of the waiters."
"He's gone broke, I guess," Jimmie said, "an' there's a kick on his
bill."
"An American friend would look pretty good to him now," Ned said
thoughtfully.
There was in the mind of the boy a thought that circumstances were
favoring him. If he could only befriend the man!
"You don't suppose the fellow he came here with left him in the lurch,
do you?" asked Jimmie, something like Ned's thought coming to him. "If
he did, why--"
"That's what I've been thinking," Ned replied, "Anyway, I'm going over
there and have a talk with him."
"Before you blow yourself on him," laughed Jimmie, "look at the ball of
his right thumb an' see if there's a scar there!"
"If he's a sailorman from New York," Jack put in, "he'll eat corn out of
your hand, like a billy goat! Go on and talk with him, Ned."
Ned arose to his feet and moved toward the table where the sailor sat.
Then he turned back to the boys again.
"If I go away with him," he said, "don't attempt to follow us. Go back
to the hotel and wait for me. You understand, now, Jimmie? No chasing
out after me! This is not New York!"
"I'll be good!" replied the boy, with a wink at Jack.
"You bet you will!" replied Jack, seizing him by the sleeve. "You don't
get away from me to-night. Too much trouble looking you up!"
"What are we to do with that blooming interpreter?" asked Frank,
motioning to the Jap, who sat a short distance away, where he could not
overhear the talk.
"Take him back to the hotel with you," was the reply, "and hold him
there until I come."
There was no little excitement around the table where the sailor sat
when Ned approached it. The sailor was talking in English, the waiter
was talking in his native tongue, and the bystanders were trying to tell
each one what the other was saying.
Ned made out from the pigeon English brought forth by the bystanders
that the sailor had run up a large bill and was unable to pay it.
"P'lice come!" one of the officious ones said.
The sailor heard the words and stirred uneasily in his seat. After
wiggling about for a moment he removed his cap and scratched a bald head
thoughtfully. Ned advanced to his side and laid a hand on his arm,
whereat the sailor squirmed as if he anticipated immediate arrest.
"What's the trouble, pard?" the boy asked.
The sailor sat back in his chair and regarded Ned with evident suspicion
for a moment, then, observing that his interrogator was only a boy, he
extended his hand, his bleary eyes showing the pleasure he felt at the
meeting.
"You look mighty good to me!" he said, in the tone and manner of a man
who had had educational advantages.
"What's the difficulty?" repeated Ned, taking the hard hand of the
other. "I saw the commotion here and thought you might be in trouble.
You're an American, I take it?"
"Proud to say yes to that!" replied the other.
"Well, what are they trying to do to you?" asked Ned, taking a chair by
his side. "Americans must stand back to back when they meet in a place
like this!"
"They don't all do that," was the reply. "My pardner got me here and
shook me. I'm broke, and that's all there is to it. Kept buying after I
had spent all my money. I guess it is the coop for mine!"
"Perhaps we can fix it up in some way," Ned said. "I'm not a
millionaire, but I may be able to help you out. How much do you owe?"
"About two dollars in American money," was the reply. "It is a small
sum, but I'm your slave for life if you get me out of this. Ever spend a
day in a Japanese jail, waiting for the American consul to get you out?"
"Never did," was the reply. "How are you fixed for lodgings?"
"Got a room up over a tea house," was the reply. "I'm looking for a ship
that will take me back to New York."
"Well," Ned said, "I'll pay this bill and go home with you for the
night. I'll need free lodgings somewhere after I settle!"
"You'll be as welcome as the flowers of May!" the sailor said, and the
boys, still sitting where Ned had left them, saw him hand the waiter
some money and leave the place with the sailor.
A moment later, however, they saw a keen-eyed Jap come rushing through
the door and up to the table where the sailor had been seated. He talked
with the waiter a moment, speaking angrily at last, and darted out of
the door again.
"That fellow came after the sailor," Frank said, "and will follow him.
When he finds Ned working him for his story he won't do a thing to Ned!"
"An' we'll go back to the hotel, like good little boys, an' sit there
knittin' while they pinch Ned an' chuck him into the bay! Not for your
uncle!"
"We'd make a hit wandering about Yokohama in the night!" Jack said. "I
reckon Ned can take care of himself. Anyway, he's had to go and find you
every time you've gone out without him."
But before Jack had finished Jimmie had jerked away and was out in the
street.