THE EPISODE OF THE LAUNCH
The clue discovered by Billy Walker was accepted without hesitation.
No secret was made of the information thus obtained as the first
progress in the search for the gold, and an air of excitement
prevailed in and about the cottage. Jake, especially, was all agog
with interest in the new development, and took an active part in
the subsequent operations, since the four friends now spent much of
their time on the water, hoping by some fortunate chance to come on
a suggestion for further guidance. They went cruising out of sheer
desperation, having no precise idea to follow until more should be
learned from the manuscript. All pinned their faith to the music
left by the miser. Each spent hours in study of the scrawled notes
in the quest of added discovery, but all efforts were futile. Even
the redoubtable Billy himself admitted humiliating defeat. Yet, he
was in no wise cast down by the failure of the moment. He was sure
of ultimate victory for the orderly processes of reason. Roy, on
the other hand, retained his confidence in the final revelation that
had been foretold by his industrious sixth sense, and David shared
this optimistic trust in the occult. As for Saxe, when day after day
passed without a hint of new knowledge concerning the gold, he might
easily have become hopeless, had it not been for the diversion of
interest offered by his love-affair. For now the manner of Margaret
West toward him was such that sometimes he dared believe it possible
to win her.
May Thurston was assured by the continued absence of Masters that
he had abandoned further vicious effort. In this view, the girl did
the indefatigable scoundrel less than justice. As a matter of fact,
the engineer was very busy indeed. He had kept away from the cottage
because he feared that May might have guessed his agency in the
attack directed against Saxe, although he had taken the precaution
to remove the rifle and its accessories from the sapling on the
day after the shooting. He suspected, too, that May would learn
from Margaret the truth concerning his treachery in love--in which
suspicion he was quite wrong--and he deemed himself safer out of the
injured girl’s sight. So, he kept himself hidden from the household
of the cottage, while still devoting himself to malevolent schemes.
Hope developed in him that he might yet win Margaret West--if only
Saxe were out of the path. In addition, the removal of this rival
would allow him another chance, even if brief, to search for the
treasure. He was determined that Saxe should die, straightway. To
that consummation, he set himself with cold-blooded ingenuity.
It was on a splendid morning a week later that the four friends
were taking another trip in the motor-boat, to examine the extreme
northern end of the lake. Jake was at the steering-wheel, as always,
for the abundant sunken rocks and shoals forbade a stranger as pilot
in these waters. Roy sat beside the boatman, as his custom was, while
Saxe and David were in chairs behind, and Billy, puffing his black
cigar, lounged contentedly in the stern.
Saxe shook his head impatiently, as the smell of gasoline, instead
of the balsamic fragrance of the shore, afflicted his nostrils.
He spoke of the annoyance to David, who agreed that the scent was
unusually strong in the boat that day.
“Must be a bit of a leak somewhere,” David vouchsafed. He called a
question to Roy, who merely shook his head by way of answer. “They
wouldn’t get the smell up there, anyhow,” David continued, to Saxe.
“You see, it’s floating round in the bilge right under us, so that we
get the worst of it.”
Saxe had just time to wonder, without much real concern, whether or
not it were quite prudent of Billy to be smoking where so large a
quantity of gasoline was loose--then, the catastrophe came--came with
lightning swiftness--a huge burst of flame enveloped them.
In that first second of horror, common instinct driving, the five
men plunged into the lake. The motor-boat sped on, the engines
still throbbing. Saxe, as he rose from the leap, and tossed his
head to clear the water from his eyes, chanced to be facing in its
direction, and could see only a swirling mass of flames, darting
onward toward the shore. Then, a cry startled him to concern over his
companions. He turned quickly, and, to his relief, saw four heads
appearing above the water. In the same instant, relief yielded to
fear, for one of them vanished below the surface. It was David.
Saxe, who was a practised swimmer, shot forward to the rescue in a
powerful racing stroke. As he raised his head from the water a moment
later, horror gripped him anew--now, only two heads were showing.
Billy had disappeared. But his emotion changed to delight as he
covered the short distance between him and the place where David
had sunk, for suddenly two heads rose above the water. He saw David
supported in the arms of Billy, who was treading water in a lazy
fashion all his own.
That was the end of the actual peril. Saxe aided David on the side
opposite Billy, and the two had no difficulty, since David, though
unable to swim, retained his coolness, leaving himself limp to the
control of his rescuers. The land was less than a hundred yards
away, and thither the five wrecked men went, and clambered out upon
the shore, bedraggled, dripping, scorched, half-angry, half-dazed by
the suddenness of it all, but wholly thankful for their escape from
the dual dangers of fire and flood. The chief mourner was Jake, who
lamented with tears over the loss of the boat he had learned to love.
Presently, the others began to rally Billy Walker on his unsuspected
skill in the water.
“When in the world did you ever learn to swim?” Roy demanded. “You
didn’t know how when you were in the university.”
“No such thing!” Billy retorted, huffily. “I could swim before I was
seven years old.”
“But you never did swim during all the time I’ve known you,” Saxe
exclaimed, astounded by the revelation.
“Certainly not!” was the crisp reply. “Why should I? Each person
has just so much energy to draw on for his use, for all purposes
whatever. I don’t fritter my energy away on trifles, like swimming
for mere amusement. I prefer to employ my vital forces in
intellectual pursuits.” He paused to grin maliciously at the others.
“That’s where I differ from you chaps--yes! But, when the occasion
arises, why, then I swim.”
Roy and Jake made a trip to the ruins of the motor-boat, which had
beached itself on the north shore, a quarter of a mile to the east of
the point reached by the men. Meantime, the three others started at
a leisurely pace to the west, skirting the shore until they rounded
the lake, and turned to the south on their way to the cottage. Their
rate of progress was so slow that within a half-hour Roy and Jake
rejoined them, and with this completion of their number the speed
was quickened. It was a full five miles to the cottage, but the sun
and the breeze soon dried their clothing; the paths by which Jake
led them wound through charming forest stretches; they were happy
anew over the gracious gift of life. So, they swung forward with free
footsteps through the miles. Even Billy Walker, who ordinarily would
groan if required to stroll the distance from the cottage to the
boat-house, seemed for once to have put off lethargy, for he marched
at the head of the procession with Jake, and set the pace smartly.
The full significance of the disaster was not revealed until
the afternoon of the next day, when Jake returned from a second
inspection of the wreck. His round, wizened face displayed evidences
of excitement, and his tiny eyes were snapping, as he rushed into
the presence of the four friends, who were taking their ease on the
landing-stage of the boat-house.
“I found out somethin’!” he announced. There was a note of savageness
in his voice that puzzled the hearers. “I been up to see the
_Shirtso_, and I found out somethin’!” He stared with gloomy eyes at
Roy. “I found out what caused that-thar leak o’ gas. The feed pipe
was cut!”
“You mean--” Roy questioned, tensely.
“The feed pipe was cut,” Jake repeated, There was rage in his voice
now. “And somebody done it a-purpose--cuss ’m!”