"You've never been there--of course?"
"No," I said, "and I'm not likely to go again."
I would have told him why I was going if I had not already begun to
feel ashamed of my idiotic errand.
"I guess you're going to look at those birds of his," continued Lee,
placidly.
"I guess I am," I said, sulkily, glancing askance to see whether he
was smiling.
But he only asked me, quite seriously, whether a great auk was really
a very rare bird; and I told him that the last one ever seen had been
found dead off Labrador in January, 1870. Then I asked him whether
these birds of Halyard's were really great auks, and he replied,
somewhat indifferently, that he supposed they were--at least, nobody
had ever before seen such birds near Port-of-Waves.
"There's something else," he said, running, a pine-sliver through his
pipe-stem--"something that interests us all here more than auks, big
or little. I suppose I might as well speak of it, as you are bound to
hear about it sooner or later."
He hesitated, and I could see that he was embarrassed, searching for
the exact words to convey his meaning.
"If," said I, "you have anything in this region more important to
science than the great auk, I should be very glad to know about it."
Perhaps there was the faintest tinge of sarcasm in my voice, for he
shot a sharp glance at me and then turned slightly. After a moment,
however, he put his pipe into his pocket, laid hold of the brake with
both hands, vaulted to his perch aloft, and glanced down at me.
"Did you ever hear of the harbor-master?" he asked, maliciously.
"Which harbor-master?" I inquired.
"You'll know before long," he observed, with a satisfied glance into
perspective.
This rather extraordinary observation puzzled me. I waited for him to
resume, and, as he did not, I asked him what he meant.
"If I knew," he said, "I'd tell you. But, come to think of it, I'd be
a fool to go into details with a scientific man. You'll hear about the
harbor-master--perhaps you will see the harbor-master. In that event I
should be glad to converse with you on the subject."
I could not help laughing at his prim and precise manner, and, after a
moment, he also laughed, saying:
"It hurts a man's vanity to know he knows a thing that somebody else
knows he doesn't know. I'm damned if I say another word about the
harbor-master until you've been to Halyard's!"
"A harbor-master," I persisted, "is an official who superintends the
mooring of ships--isn't he?"
But he refused to be tempted into conversation, and we lounged
silently on the lumber until a long, thin whistle from the locomotive
and a rush of stinging salt-wind brought us to our feet. Through the
trees I could see the bluish-black ocean, stretching out beyond black
headlands to meet the clouds; a great wind was roaring among the trees
as the train slowly came to a stand-still on the edge of the primeval
forest.
Lee jumped to the ground and aided me with my rifle and pack, and then
the train began to back away along a curved side-track which, Lee
said, led to the mica-pit and company stores.
"Now what will you do?" he asked, pleasantly. "I can give you a good
dinner and a decent bed to-night if you like--and I'm sure Mrs. Lee
would be very glad to have you stop with us as long as you choose."
I thanked him, but said that I was anxious to reach Halyard's before
dark, and he very kindly led me along the cliffs and pointed out the
path.
"This man Halyard," he said, "is an invalid. He lives at a cove called
Black Harbor, and all his truck goes through to him over the company's
road. We receive it here, and send a pack-mule through once a month.
I've met him; he's a bad-tempered hypochondriac, a cynic at heart, and
a man whose word is never doubted. If he says he has a great auk, you
may be satisfied he has."
My heart was beating with excitement at the prospect; I looked out
across the wooded headlands and tangled stretches of dune and hollow,
trying to realize what it might mean to me, to Professor Farrago, to
the world, if I should lead back to New York a live auk.
"He's a crank," said Lee; "frankly, I don't like him. If you find it
unpleasant there, come back to us."
"Does Halyard live alone?" I asked.
"Yes--except for a professional trained nurse--poor thing!"
"A man?"
"No," said Lee, disgustedly.
Presently he gave me a peculiar glance; hesitated, and finally said:
"Ask Halyard to tell you about his nurse and--the harbor-master.
Good-bye--I'm due at the quarry. Come and stay with us whenever you
care to; you will find a welcome at Port-of-Waves."
We shook hands and parted on the cliff, he turning back into the
forest along the railway, I starting northward, pack slung, rifle over
my shoulder. Once I met a group of quarrymen, faces burned brick-red,
scarred hands swinging as they walked. And, as I passed them with a
nod, turning, I saw that they also had turned to look after me, and I
caught a word or two of their conversation, whirled back to me on the
sea-wind.
They were speaking of the harbor-master.