KENWARDINE TAKES A RISK
Shortly after the launch entered the lagoon, the Danish boat hove her
anchor and steamed out to sea. Dick, who had engaged a half-breed pilot
to take the launch home, lounged in a canvas chair under the poop awning.
His eyes were half closed, for the white boats and deckhouses flashed
dazzlingly in the strong light as the steamer lurched across the vivid
swell of the Caribbean. The cigarette he languidly held had gone out, and
his pose was slack.
He was physically tired and his brain was dull, but he was conscious of
lethargic satisfaction. For a long time he had been torn between his love
for Clare and his duty to his country. His difficulties were further
complicated by doubts of Kenwardine's guilt, but recent events had
cleared these up. It was, on the whole, a relief to feel that he must now
go forward and there need be no more hesitation and balancing of
probabilities. The time for that had gone and his course was plain. He
must confront Kenwardine with a concise statement of his share in the
plot and force from him an undertaking that he would abandon his
traitorous work.
This might be difficult, but Dick did not think he would fail. Don
Sebastian, who perhaps knew more than he did, was to meet him at a Cuban
port, and the Spaniard could be trusted to handle the matter with skill.
There was no direct communication between Santa Brigida and Kingston, but
steamers touched at the latter place when making a round of other ports,
which would enable Dick and his ally to join Kenwardine's boat at her
last call. If either of them had gone on board at Santa Brigida,
Kenwardine would have left the ship at the next port.
Since he had sailed on an English steamer, bound for British territory,
he would be subject to British law when they met, and they could, if
needful, have him arrested. Dick admitted that this ought to be done to
begin with, but had not decided about it yet. He would wait and be guided
by events. The British officials might doubt his story and decline to
interfere, but Kenwardine could not count on that, because Don Sebastian
was armed with credentials from the President of a friendly state.
Dick, however, dismissed the matter. He was tired in mind and body, and
did not mean to think of anything important until he met Kenwardine. By
and by his head grew heavy, and resting it on the back of his chair, he
closed his eyes. When Jake came up, followed by a steward carrying two
tall glasses of frothing liquor, he saw that his comrade was fast asleep.
"You can put them down," he told the steward. "I'm thirsty enough to
empty both, but you can bring some more along when my partner wakes."
After this he took a black seaman, who was making some noise as he swept
the poop, by the arm and firmly led him to the other side of the deck.
Then he drained the glasses with a sigh of satisfaction, and lighting a
cigarette, sat down near Dick's feet. He did not mean to sleep, but when
he got up with a jerk as the lunch bell rang he saw Dick smiling.
"Have I been sitting there all this time?" he asked.
"No," said Dick. "You were lying flat on deck when I woke up an hour
ago." Then he indicated the two glasses, which had rolled into the
scupper channel. "I shouldn't be surprised if those accounted for it."
"Perhaps they did," Jake owned, grinning. "Anyhow, we'll have some more,
with a lump of ice in it, before we go down to lunch."
The Danish boat met fine weather as she leisurely made her way across the
Caribbean, and after an uneventful voyage, Dick and Jake landed at a port
in Cuba. The British steamer from Santa Brigida had not arrived, but the
agent expected her in the evening, and they found Don Sebastian waiting
them at a hotel he had named. When it was getting dark they walked to the
end of the harbor mole and sat down to watch for the vessel.
Rows of the lights began to twinkle, one behind the other, at the head of
the bay, and music drifted across the water. A bright glow marked the
plaza, where a band was playing, but the harbor was dark except for the
glimmer of anchor-lights on the oily swell. The occasional rattle of a
winch, jarring harshly on the music, told that the Danish boat was
working cargo. A faint, warm breeze blew off the land, and there was a
flicker of green and blue phosphorescence as the sea washed about the end
of the mole.
"I wonder how you'll feel if Kenwardine doesn't come," Jake said
presently, looking at Dick, who did not answer.
"He will come," Don Sebastian rejoined with quiet confidence.
"Well, I guess he must know he's doing a dangerous thing."
"Señor Kenwardine does know, but he plays for high stakes and takes the
risks of the game. If it had not been necessary, he would not have
ventured on British soil, but since he was forced to go, he thought the
boldest plan the safest. This is what one would expect, because the man
is brave. He could not tell how far my suspicions went and how much
Señor Brandon knew, but saw that he was watched and if he tried to hide
his movements he would betray himself. It was wiser to act as if he had
nothing to fear."
"As he was forced to go, his business must be important," Dick said
thoughtfully. "This means he must be dealt with before he lands at
Kingston. If we allowed him to meet his confederates there, the mischief
would be done, and it might be too late afterwards to stop them carrying
out their plans."
Don Sebastian gave him a quiet smile. "One might learn who his
confederates are if he met them. It looks as if you would sooner deal
with our friend on board."
"I would," Dick said steadily. "His plotting must be stopped, but I'm
inclined to think I'd be content with that."
"And you?" the Spaniard asked, turning to Jake.
"I don't know that Kenwardine is in the worst of the plot. He was a
friend of mine and it's your business to prove him guilty. I mean to
reserve my opinion until you make your charges good."
"Very well," said Don Sebastian. "We'll be guided by what happens when we
see him."
They let the matter drop, and half an hour later a white light and a
green light crept out of the dark to seawards, and a faint throbbing grew
into the measured beat of a steamer's screw. Then a low, shadowy hull,
outlined by a glimmer of phosphorescence, came on towards the harbor
mouth, and a rocket swept up in a fiery curve and burst, dropping colored
lights. A harsh rattle of running chain broke out, the screw splashed
noisily for a few moments and stopped, and a launch came swiftly down the
harbor.
"The port doctor!" said Dick. "There's some cargo ready, and she won't
sail for three or four hours. We had better wait until near the last
moment before we go on board. If our man saw us, he'd take alarm and
land."
Don Sebastian agreed, and they went back to the hotel, and stayed there
until word was sent that the last boat was ready to leave the mole. They
took their places with one or two more passengers, and as they drew near
the steamer Dick looked carefully about. Several shore boats were hanging
on to the warp alongside and a cargo barge lay beside her quarter. It was
obvious that she would not sail immediately, and if Kenwardine saw them
come on board, he would have no trouble in leaving the vessel. If he
landed, he would be in neutral territory, and their hold on him would be
gone. To make things worse, a big electric lamp had been hung over the
gangway so as to light the ladder.
Dick could not see Kenwardine among the passengers on deck, and getting
on board as quietly as possible, they went down the nearest companion
stairs and along an alleyway to the purser's office. A number of rooms
opened on to the passage, and Dick had an uncomfortable feeling that
chance might bring him face to face with Kenwardine. Nobody met them,
however, and they found the purser disengaged.
"If you have a passenger list handy, you might let me see it," Dick said
as he took the tickets.
The purser gave him a list, and he noted Kenwardine's name near the
bottom.
"We may as well be comfortable, although we're not going far," he
resumed. "What berths have you left?"
"You can pick your place," said the purser. "We haven't many passengers
this trip, and there's nobody on the starboard alleyway. However, if you
want a hot bath in the morning, you had better sleep to port. They've
broken a pipe on the other side."
A bath is a luxury in the Caribbean, but white men who have lived any
time in the tropics prefer it warm, and Dick saw why the passengers had
chosen the port alleyway. He decided to take the other, since Kenwardine
would then be on the opposite side of the ship.
"We'll have the starboard rooms," he said. "One can go without a bath for
once, and you'll no doubt reach Kingston to-morrow night."
"I expect so," agreed the purser. "Still, we mayn't be allowed to steam
in until the next morning. They're taking rather troublesome precautions
in the British ports since the commerce-raider got to work."
Dick signed to the others and crossed the after well towards the poop in
a curiously grim mood. He hated the subterfuge he had practised, and
there was something very repugnant in this stealthy tracking down of his
man, but the chase was nearly over and he meant to finish it. Defenseless
merchant seamen could not be allowed to suffer for his squeamishness.
"Don Sebastian and I will wait in the second-class smoking-room until she
starts," he said to Jake. "I want you to lounge about the poop deck and
watch the gangway. Let us know at once if you see Kenwardine and it looks
as if he means to go ashore."
He disappeared with his companion, and Jake went up a ladder and sat down
on the poop, where he was some distance from the saloon passengers.
Kenwardine was less likely to be alarmed at seeing him, but he did not
like his part. The man had welcomed him to his house, and although he had
lost some money there, Jake did not believe his host had meant to plunder
him. After all, Dick and Don Sebastian might be mistaken, and he felt
mean as he watched the gangway. A hint from him would enable Kenwardine
to escape, and it was galling to feel that it must not be given. Indeed,
as time went on, Jake began to wish that Kenwardine would learn that they
were on board and take alarm. He was not sure he would warn Dick if the
fellow tried to steal away.
In the meanwhile, the pumps on board a water-boat had stopped clanking
and she was towed towards the harbor. The steamer's winches rattled as
they hove up cargo from the barge, but Jake had seen that there was not
much left and she would sail as soon as the last load was hoisted in.
Lighting a cigarette, he ran his eye along the saloon-deck. A few
passengers in white clothes walked up and down, and he studied their
faces as they passed the lights, but Kenwardine was not among them. A
group leaned upon the rails in the shadow of a boat, and Jake felt angry
because he could not see them well. The suspense was getting keen, and he
wished Kenwardine would steal down the ladder and jump into a boat before
he could give the alarm.
There was, however, no suspicious movement on the saloon-deck, and Jake,
walking to the rail, saw the peons putting the last of the barge's cargo
into the sling. It came up with a rattle of chain, and the barge sheered
off. Somebody gave an order, and there was a bustle on deck. In another
few minutes Kenwardine's last chance of escape would be gone, because a
British ship is British territory, and her captain can enforce his
country's laws.
Jake threw away his cigarette and took out another when the whistle blew
and the windlass began to clank. Although the anchor was coming up, two
boats hung on to the foot of the ladder, and he could not be expected to
see what was going on while he lighted his cigarette. Kenwardine was
clever, and might have waited until the last moment before making his
escape, with the object of leaving his pursuers on board, but if he did
not go now it would be too late. The clank of the windlass stopped, and
Jake, dropping the match when the flame touched his fingers, looked up. A
group of dark figures were busy on the forecastle, and he saw the captain
on the bridge.
"All clear forward, sir!" a hoarse voice cried, and somebody shouted:
"Cast off the boats!"
Then there was a rattle of blocks as the ladder was hoisted in, and the
deck quivered as the engines began to throb. Jake heard the screw slowly
flounder round and the wash beneath the poop as the steamer moved out to
sea, but there was nobody except their colored crews on board the boats
that dropped astern. Kenwardine had had his chance and lost it. He had
been too bold and now must confront his enemies.
Jake went down the ladder and found Dick waiting at the door of the
second-class saloon.
"He's on board," he said. "I'm sorry he is. In fact, I'm not sure I'd
have told you if he'd tried to light out at the last moment."
Dick gave him a dry smile. "I suspect that Don Sebastian didn't trust you
altogether. He left me, and I shouldn't be surprised to learn that he had
found a place where he could watch the gangway without being seen."
A few minutes later, the Spaniard crossed the after well. "Now," he said,
"we must decide when we ought to have our interview with Señor
Kenwardine, and I think we should put it off until just before we land."
"Why?" Jake asked. "It would be much pleasanter to get it over and have
done with it."
"I think not," Don Sebastian answered quietly. "We do not know how Señor
Kenwardine will meet the situation. He is a bold man, and it is possible
that he will defy us."
"How can he defy you when he knows you can hand him over to the British
authorities?"
"That might be necessary; but I am not sure it is the British authorities
he fears the most."
"Then who is he afraid of?"
"His employers, I imagine," Don Sebastian answered with a curious smile.
"It is understood that they trust nobody and are not very gentle to those
who do not serve them well. Señor Kenwardine knows enough about their
plans to be dangerous, and it looks as if he might fail to carry their
orders out. If we give him too long a warning, he may escape us after
all."
"I don't see how he could escape. You have him corralled when he's under
the British flag."
Don Sebastian shrugged as he indicated the steamer's low iron rail and
the glimmer of foam in the dark below.
"There is one way! If he takes it, we shall learn no more than we know
now."
He left them, and Jake looked at Dick. "It's unthinkable! I can't stand
for it!"
"No," said Dick very quietly; "he mustn't be pushed too far. For all
that, his friends can't be allowed to go on sinking British ships."