I
AS the prisoner and Officer Jackson, handcuffed together, came up the
gang-plank, Renfrew, the attorney, standing on the promenade deck
above, turned from his contemplation of the city of San Juan as it lay
green and white in the afternoon sun, and bent forward.
“By George,” he cried, exultingly, “that’s Frank Howard! He’s caught!
Caught here, of all places in the world!”
With hands tight gripped on the rail he watched the two men until they
disappeared below; then, eager to share his discovery of the ending of
a quest that had extended over two continents, he turned and hurried
along the deck to where two ladies stood leaning against the taffrail.
“Yes, my dear,” the elder was saying, “Porto Rico is pretty enough for
any one. It looked pretty when I came, and it looks prettier as I go.
But when you say it’s pretty, you exhaust its excellences. I, for one,
shall be glad to see the last of it. And, considering the errand that
takes you home, I imagine that you don’t regret leaving, either.”
“The errand! I don’t understand, Mrs. Renfrew.”
“Why! Your--but here comes Philip, evidently with something on his
mind. Do listen to him patiently, if you can, my dear. He hasn’t had
a jury at his mercy for a month. Unless somebody lets him talk, I’m
afraid his bottled-up eloquence will strike in and prove fatal. Well,
Philip!”
Mr. Renfrew was close at hand.
“Miss Fairfax! Maria!” he cried. “Who do you think is on board, a
prisoner? Frank Howard! I just saw him brought over the gang-plank. He
escaped two months ago, and the police have been looking for him ever
since. They must have just caught him, or I should have heard of it.
Who in the world can I ask?”
He gazed around questioningly.
“Now, Philip, wait a moment. Who is Frank Howard? and what has the poor
man done?”
Mr. Renfrew snorted.
“The poor man, Maria,” he retorted, “is one of the biggest scoundrels
unhung. As state’s attorney it was my duty to prosecute him, and I may
say that I have seldom taken more pleasure in any task. I have spoken
to you of the case often enough, Maria, for you to know something about
it. I should really be glad if you would take some interest in your
husband’s affairs.”
Mrs. Renfrew clapped her hands.
“Of course! I remember now,” she said, soothingly. “It was only his
name I forgot. Mr. Howard is that swindler who robbed so many poor
people, isn’t he, Philip?”
“Nothing of the sort, madam,” thundered the lawyer. “Frank Howard was
an officer of the United States Navy. While stationed at this very
island of Porto Rico he secretly married an ignorant but very beautiful
girl, and then deserted her. She followed him to New York, and wrote
him a letter telling him where she was. He went to her address
and murdered her--strangled her with his own hands. He was caught
red-handed, convicted, and would have been put to death before now if
he hadn’t escaped.
“I am telling this for your benefit, Miss Fairfax. There is no use in
talking to Mrs. Renfrew; details of my affairs go in one of her ears
and out the other.”
“That may not be as uncommon as you think, Mr. Renfrew,” consoled the
girl, laughing. “But, as it happens, I am especially interested in the
Howard case. I am very well acquainted with one of the officers who was
on his ship when he met the girl.”
Mrs. Renfrew clapped her hands.
“Oh! of course,” she bubbled. “Of course! I remember all about it now.
It was Mr. Loving, of course! I had forgotten that he was on the same
ship. Philip, you didn’t know that Miss Fairfax was going to marry
Lieutenant Loving, did you?”
Mr. Renfrew turned his eye-glasses on the girl, who flushed with
mingled anger and amusement.
“Are you a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Mrs. Renfrew,” she
inquired, “that you can read the future? I assure you that I have had
no advance information on the matter. Mr. Loving hasn’t even asked me
yet. But, of course, if you know----”
“Good gracious! Isn’t it true? Why, I got a paper from New York to-day
that spoke of it as all settled. The paper is in my state-room now. If
you’d like to see it, we’ll go down. Philip, find out all you can about
Mr. Howard, and tell us just as soon as you can.”
Mr. Renfrew nodded.
“I’ll go and ask the captain,” he promised, as the two ladies turned
away.
The captain, however, proved not to be communicative. Not only was
he too busy with the preparations for departure, but he was nettled
because the presence of the convict on board had become known. Convicts
are not welcome passengers on ships, like the Queen, whose chief office
is to carry presumably timid pleasure passengers, and their presence is
always carefully concealed.
“I know nothing at all about it, Mr. Renfrew,” he asserted, gruffly.
“You had better ask the purser.”
The purser was no more pleased at the inquiry than his chief had been,
but he hid his vexation better.
“Yes,” he admitted, with apparent readiness, “Mr. Howard is on
board. He was caught here last week. He was up at a village called
Lagonitas----”
“That’s where his wife lived--the one he murdered.”
“Is it? I didn’t know. Well, they caught him. He surrendered
quietly--didn’t try to fight or run. He hadn’t anywhere to run to, you
know.”
“And where is he confined?”
“Amidships--in one of the second-class cabins. We have plenty vacant
this trip. Officer Jackson is with him, where he can keep close watch.
You tell your ladies not to be uneasy. He can’t possibly get out.
Jackson has got a hundred weight of iron, more or less, on him.”
“Jackson, is it? I thought I recognized him. One of those bulldog
fellows that never lets go. I’m interested in Howard because it was I
who conducted the prosecution at his trial.”
“Gee! Is that so? It must have been exciting. He confessed, didn’t he?”
“Confessed? Not he! Took the stand as brazen as you please, and
swore he had never seen the woman before he went to her room that
day in response to a letter and found her dead. It was nothing less
than barefaced impudence, you know. The proof against him was simply
overwhelming.”
“He denied having married her, then?”
“He denied everything. Swore it was a case of mistaken identity. I
demolished that quickly enough. Dozens of people had seen him up at
Lagonitas with the girl. We even sent for the minister who performed
the marriage ceremony, but he never arrived--lost at sea on the way to
New York. But there was plenty of proof, anyway. The jury found him
guilty without leaving their seats.”