CRAFT AGAINST CRAFT
In the boathouse where Stepan had left him, Dick knew almost as soon as
he saw Mike Hallo's narrow eyes appear around the closet door, that Mike
had not seen him as yet. But he was too frightened to take any advantage
of that consciously. Dick had proved that he was not a coward, and yet
he was afraid of Hallo. He knew that the man hated him, and, for some
reason, feared him. And here, where he would be so completely in his
power, there would be nothing to restrain Hallo. He would not even have
to call in the police to help him; he could get rid of a boy who
threatened him without a witness. And Dick knew enough of Mike Hallo to
feel that he would not be deterred by any scruples.
In another moment Mike's little eyes, peering around the dimly lighted
room, but not yet well enough accustomed to even that much light after
the utter darkness of the closet, would have fallen on Dick. But fear
loosened Dick's hold on the electric flashlight that, by pure chance,
happened to be in his hand. He started with dismay and tried to catch
it, succeeding partly, so that it made only the faintest of noises as it
struck a button of his coat. But that was enough. Hallo heard it, and
started.
Yet it was that trifling accident that saved Dick. For Hallo, startled,
and nervous himself, as of course he had good cause to be, better cause
than Dick could guess, darted back into his closet at once. For a moment
as Dick stared at it with fixed eyes, the closet door remained ajar.
Then very slowly, very quietly, it was drawn to, until it clicked, and
was firmly closed. On the instant, then, Dick moved.
He took the chance of being heard, and made a swift dash for the boat.
His reason was a twofold one. For one thing, it offered the only
possible place of concealment, aside from the closet that Mike Hallo had
already preempted for himself, and it contained the weapons of which
Steve had told him. Dick knew how to use a pistol, and he felt that with
a gun of some sort in his possession he would have a chance at least
with Hallo, even if he were armed. He would not hesitate to shoot, he
told himself, if he had to. He had reason enough to believe that Hallo
would not spare him, and in self-defence he would be justified in taking
any means to save himself.
But he did not think it was particularly likely that it would come to
anything so desperate now as a hand-to-hand struggle. He was recovering
his nerve, and the panic that had possessed him when he had first seen
Hallo's face had passed. Once he was in the boat, well concealed by the
steel hood, he felt that the odds were in his favor, rather than against
him, and he could stop to think and reason, which he had certainly not
been able to do in the first moment of shocked surprise.
He felt the main thing that favored him was that Hallo was at least as
badly frightened as he was himself. And that, after all, stood to
reason. The very fact that the man was here at all seemed to Dick proof
that he knew the character of this place, and that he was here as a spy.
Then he would naturally be startled by a sudden sound, for he would
think that it betokened the return of one of the Servian spies who used
this as a hiding place and refuge.
"He would know, of course," Dick thought, "that they wouldn't hesitate
any more over shooting him than if he were a mad dog. They couldn't,
because he isn't threatening only their safety by being here, but their
whole plan. And men who are brave enough to be spies in time of war
aren't thinking of themselves at all, but of their country."
This was comforting reasoning for Dick, because it made it vastly
improbable that Hallo would come out to look for him. He would be
concerned with the problem of escaping himself; he would not think of
looking for anyone else, but of preventing someone who was looking for
him from finding him. So it seemed likely to Dick that he would escape
any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He
had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of
course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to
come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to
the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance
for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to
Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo.
From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could
see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve
racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a
pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he
would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by
this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its
execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next.
For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of
starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to
surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not
without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed--as it
was practically certain that he was--he might be able to put up a good
struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt
that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away
if he followed his impulse.
So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally
stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He
leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be
sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening
with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but
for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make.
It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing,
or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him.
But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and
heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess
that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!"
Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking
about for half a minute, looked toward the boat.
"If only I knew how to run that!" he said, still aloud.
But, fortunately for Dick, and for Servia, as it was to turn out, he
knew nothing of the intricate mechanism of the boat, and so he did not
even come over to the water's edge for a closer inspection. Instead, he
made for the door, flung it open, and strode out as it banged to behind
him.
Dick was after him like a flash, but with his hand on the knob some
instinct made him let go and shrink back against the wall. His instinct
served him well indeed, for as he did so the door was flung open
violently, and Hallo stood in it, looking all about the boathouse a
second time.
"Not a soul!" he said aloud. "I must have been dreaming when I heard
that noise!"
And all the time Dick was within a foot of him, his pistol gripped
tight, ready for anything that might happen!
This time he did not close the door, but turned and walked away. That
very action proved that he was no longer afraid that anyone was behind
him, for he would not have turned his back had there been any lingering
doubt.
And now Dick, giving him a good start, stole after him. He had hesitated
as to whether or not he should do so. He had promised to wait for
Stepan's return, and he did not like to go without some explanation. But
it seemed to him that it was of the utmost importance for him to follow
Hallo.
"He's not supposed to be here or to know anything about this place," he
said to himself. "And now he may do anything, or go anywhere. He may
betray all sorts of secrets. I don't know how long he was in that
closet before we came, nor how much he heard--nor what the things he
heard meant to him. I didn't understand, but that's no reason for
thinking that he didn't. Yes, I'll have to take the chance of worrying
Steve and upsetting his plans. I'm going after Mike Hallo. He's my
quarry to-night!"
Dick knew that he was taking chances, and perhaps big chances, when he
set out to follow Hallo. But he did not stop to think very much about
them. He did not have time to think of anything but the work in hand,
for Hallo, not content with walking fast, had broken into a run.
Dick understood the reason for that when, in his turn, he heard
footsteps; that was what had frightened his man into beginning to run.
And Dick ran too, not knowing that the steps were those of Vanya, the
soldier, who was on his way to the boathouse with the message from
Stepan.
Hallo had all the advantage. He knew the country and Dick did not.
Moreover, he could set the pace, and Dick had to follow. To lose sight
of Hallo even for a moment meant to risk losing him altogether. And
Dick, moreover, dared not follow too closely. He had to be far enough
behind to make it impossible for Hallo to learn of his pursuit by
stopping suddenly, or making a quick turn.
It was a wild chase that Dick had. Hallo, for a man of his size and
years--he was well over forty--made surprisingly good time, and gave
Dick, as a matter of fact, all he could do to keep him in sight. And the
way was long. Dick was greatly relieved when they came at last from open
country into a section where houses were closer together and streets
began to take form. In a measure his own risk was greater as they
approached the town, but it was also possible for him to get much closer
to the man he was trailing, since shelter was so much more frequent. The
danger here was of running into the police, but Dick did not greatly
fear that.
"I needn't worry about the ordinary policemen," he told himself. "I
don't believe they know me at all. I could probably go up to any of
them and ask the time, or the way to the railway station, and get away
with it all right. It's only the ones who were on my track after I'd
been to Hallo's office that I've got to look out for, and I'm not sure
that even they would know me."
And now Hallo himself unwittingly made it safer and easier for his
dogged pursuer, for instead of going toward the central part of Semlin,
where policemen would be more numerous, and where the men who had gone
to make the arrest at Dick's lodgings were almost sure to be posted, he
circled through the poorer quarter toward the commercial district by the
river.
"Oh, this is fine!" thought Dick. "I'll bet he's going to his office
before he makes any report. I wonder if Stepan will think of him when
I'm missing?"
Dick had to move up very close here, for the streets were crowded with
people, and it would have been easy for him to lose his man in the
jumble of figures. Several times now Hallo, as he neared his office,
was stopped by passersby. He shook them off impatiently when they tried
to detain him, however, and once Dick was near enough to hear him say,
in an impatient tone: "Let me go! I have an appointment to keep at my
warehouse."
And now Dick had a new inspiration. He determined to take a chance. And
instead of following Hallo, he seized the opportunity when someone had
stopped the Hungarian for a moment, and darted well ahead. He got a good
start, and turned the corner of the block leading to the warehouse well
ahead of Hallo. In a moment he was inside. Luck was with him, and he hid
himself behind a big packing case in Hallo's room.