THE ALARM IN THE NIGHT.
It was about eleven o'clock of the forenoon when Captain Rudstone
departed. I smoked a quiet pipe, and then sought out Baptiste; he had a
little box of a room over the hotel kitchen. I found the rascal but
half-sobered, so heavily had he liquored on the previous night, and I
angrily bade him stay in bed for the rest of the day. Miss Hatherton did
not come down to dinner, and I had for company in the coffee room Mr.
Christopher Burley; there were no other guests in the house at the time.
Neither of us was in a talkative mood, and very brief speech passed
between us. But shortly after the meal I met him again at the bar, where
he was paying his account. He looked ready for a journey, having his hat
on and a portmanteau in his hand.
"You are leaving, sir?" I asked politely.
"I return to Montreal to-day," he replied, "and later I go West. You, I
believe, are bound shortly for the North?"
I nodded assent.
"We may meet in the future," he went on; "and meanwhile I trust you will
remember that name--Osmund Maiden."
"I will bear it in mind," I promised, "and I wish you every success in
your errand."
With that we parted, the law clerk thanking me warmly and giving me his
hand. That I should ever see him again, or run across the man of whom he
was in search, were things so utterly improbable that I gave them no
second thought. But I was to learn in later days how small a place the
world really was.
I spent the afternoon in the hotel, for I was satisfied that Captain
Rudstone's caution against venturing in the streets was not to be
despised. He had gone up several degrees in my estimation since the
little cloud of mutual suspicion had cleared away. I did not doubt that
he was as zealous for the interests of the company as myself, and,
moreover, I felt that he would prove a trusty friend should Mr. Cuthbert
Mackenzie try to give me any trouble. That the captain was to sail on
the same ship to the Bay was a matter less to my liking, though I hardly
knew why. He was of a type that a youngster like myself usually looks up
to, and he had flattered me by giving me his full confidence: but he
never seemed quite at ease in my presence, or inclined to stare me
straight in the eyes, which I could not account for.
The time passed listlessly. I chatted for awhile with Monsieur Ragoul,
and watched the customers who came in to drink. I could not put Miss
Hatherton out of my mind. As often as I remembered that she was to share
the long sea voyage with me, the joy of it was marred by the picture of
old Griffith Hawke waiting at Fort York for his bride. I was angry at
myself for taking the thing so much to heart--uneasy because a woman
could thus interest me.
I had hoped to see her that afternoon, but she did not make her
appearance until the late supper-time. We sat down to table together,
and it gave me a strange thrill to see her sitting opposite. She looked
more lovely than ever without her bonnet, and in a black gown relieved
by some touches of creamy lace. I fear I stared at her stupidly, and was
dull of conversation; but she chatted freely of the wonderful things to
be seen in London, and I was sorry when the meal was over. Miss
Hatherton then offered me a dainty hand and bade me good-night, saying
that she had not been able to sleep all day, and intended to retire
early.
I finished my bottle of wine, and went upstairs to my room on the third
and top floor of the hotel--a meager little hole where I, used to a
blanket and fir boughs, had always felt cramped and stifled. But now I
wished to be alone, and for some hours I sat there without a light,
smoking and thinking. A distant clock had just pealed eleven when I
heard the unbolting of a door downstairs--the house had been closed for
the night. A little later, after the stir and sound of voices had died
away, light footsteps fell on my ear, and there was a rap at the door. I
hurriedly lit a candle.
"Come in!" I cried, thinking I knew what it meant.
Captain Rudstone entered, closing the door softly behind him. With a nod
he threw himself into a chair, helped himself to a pipeful of my
tobacco, and looked inscrutably at me through a cloud of smoke.
"So you are still up?" he began. "I expected to find you in bed. Have
you been away from the hotel?"
"Not outside of the door," I replied.
"I have left my old lodging," he went on, "and Monsieur Ragoul has given
me a room next to yours."
"I rejoice to hear it," I said politely. "And have you learned anything
to-day?"
"Mr. Mackenzie will demand satisfaction for that blow," the captain
answered coolly.
"He shall have it," said I.
"He is a skilled swordsman and a deadly shot, Mr. Carew."
"I will meet him with either weapon," I declared hotly.
"There must be no fighting, if it can be avoided," replied the captain.
"That is a matter which rests with me," said I. "But how do you know all
this?"
"I put a man on the track," was the reply. "He overheard Mackenzie
talking with two boon companions who are as deep in the plotting of the
Northwest Company as himself. Unfortunately, he learned no more than I
have told you, and he lost the trail at an early hour this evening in
the upper town."
"I shall depend on you to see me through the affair," said I.
"I fear there is mischief brewing in another quarter," the captain
replied. "To be frank, Mr. Carew, you and I, and Miss Hatherton are in a
decidedly unpleasant situation. Or, to leave the girl out of it, you and
I must decide a very delicate question. Shall we stand by our honor, or
shall we choose the best interests of the company we serve?"
"Make your meaning plainer," said I. "As yet I am in the dark."
"The point is this," the captain answered gravely. "If we wait for the
company's ship, which sails in a week, serious things may happen--not to
speak of the duel. I happen to know that a trading-vessel leaves the
river to-morrow morning for the Bay. The captain is a friend of mine,
and he will give the three of us a passage."
"This is the last proposition I should have looked for from you, Captain
Rudstone," I replied indignantly. "Would you have me slink away like a
thief in the night, giving Cuthbert Mackenzie the pleasure of branding
me far and wide as a coward? It is not to be thought of, sir."
The captain shrugged his shoulders, and meditatively blew a cloud of
smoke ceilingward.
"I admire your spirit," he said, "but not your discretion. Am I to
understand, then, Mr. Carew, that you choose honor before duty?"
I looked at him speechlessly. He had a cutting way of putting things,
and it dawned on me that there was indeed two sides to the question. But
before I could find words to reply, the silence of the June night was
broken by a shrill scream directly below us. It was followed by a cry
for help, and I was sure I recognized Miss Hatherton's voice.
With one impulse Captain Rudstone and I drew our pistols and sprang to
our feet. In a trice we were out in the hall, and plunging recklessly
down the stairs. We heard distant calls of alarm from the lower part of
the house, and a woman's voice, ringing loudly and close at hand, guided
us to Miss Hatherton's room. Captain Rudstone burst the door from its
fastenings by a single effort, and I followed him over the threshold.
The moon was shining through an open window, and by its pale light the
girl darted toward us, her snowy night dress trailing behind her, and
her disheveled hair flowing about her shoulders.
"Save me!" she cried hysterically. "Save me from Cuthbert Mackenzie!"