A KNIFE FROM THE DARK
It was after nine o'clock that evening before I again saw young Holman,
and by that time Levuka was far behind. We had taken advantage of a
stiff breeze that had sprung up about sunset, and _The Waif_ was
plunging through a moon-washed ocean, sending furrows of foam from her
forefoot while the wind snored through her canvas. I forgot the
happenings of the day as I felt the quivering vessel that seemed to
thrill with the ecstasy of life as she flung herself at the watery
wastes ahead. The tremor in her boards seemed to crawl into my body and
warm me like wine, and I felt inclined to bless Holman instead of
punching his head as I had thought of doing during the baiting I
received from Miss Barbara Herndon. The youngster had saved me from days
and nights of weary monotony in sleepy Levuka, and I welcomed him gladly
as he joined me on the poop.
"Say, you made a hit with the ladies!" he cried. "Your fame as a
story-teller is set upon a solid foundation. And I don't suppose you are
inclined to thank me for giving you the opportunity to tell of the
wonderful things that happened while you slumbered on the wharf?"
"Drop it," I growled; "I've had enough of the joke. By the way, what
position do you hold in the expedition?"
The boy laughed. "I hold none," he cried, "but I'm trying to make myself
useful to the Professor so that he'll invite me to come ashore with him.
The Professor and his daughters, with Leith and half a dozen natives,
comprise the full strength of the expedition, and I'm trying hard for an
invitation to the field of wonders."
"But what are you doing aboard?" I asked.
"My uncle owns _The Waif_," answered the young fellow, "and he thought
this trip would be a nice cheap holiday for me. I wanted to take a run
to the States, but that would have cost him money, so I allowed myself
to be forced aboard the yacht. But, Gee! I'm mighty glad I came now."
I glanced at his face as we turned in our walk, but he moved his head
away quickly.
"So it has been pleasant?" I said.
"Pleasant?" he cried. "Why it has been a little foretaste of heaven.
Say, I like you, and I know you like her by the manner in which you
explained everything to her. Don't you think she's a jolly nice girl?"
"Who?"
"Why, Miss Barbara Herndon," he cried.
"Oh!" I gurgled. "You took me by surprise, and I hardly knew--well, I
didn't know what had made the trip so pleasant."
He put out his hand, and I gripped it warmly. There was something clean
and good about the youngster. When he glanced up at me as I took his
hand, I looked into a face that was as open as the day--a face that
possessed all the passionate purity of youth, and my grip was sincere.
One didn't ask for credentials in dealing with Will Holman.
"I liked you from the start," he said, "but I wanted the opinion of the
girls. That's why I put Miss Barbara up to the game of firing questions
at you about that silly business on the wharf."
"And did I pass muster?" I queried.
"Sure you did!" he cried enthusiastically. "Miss Barbara Herndon says
that you are true blue, and Miss Edith--"
He stopped and looked at a patch of shadow near the galley. "Some one is
hiding there," he whispered. "I saw him sneak into it."
"Nonsense!" I growled. "The moon and something else are affecting your
brain."
"But I'm sure of it," he gasped.
He sprang for the spot as he finished speaking, but he found nothing. He
returned to my side shaking his head as if only half convinced about the
matter.
"Some one was listening to us talking, but whoever it was he managed to
slip away while we were arguing the question."
"Well, he didn't learn much," I said. "It was probably one of the
islanders, and you've scared the life out of him now."
Holman gripped my arm as I turned away, and he put a question in a tense
whisper.
"What do you think of Leith?" he asked.
Somehow the question did not surprise me, but I was not in a hurry to
give my opinion of the, Professor's partner.
"I have only spoken a few words to him," I countered cautiously.
"But your impression?" stammered the youngster. "Don't you think--well,
of course you haven't got the lay of things yet."
I smiled at the guilelessness of the boy who was making a confidant of
a stranger. "What's wrong with Leith?" I asked. "What are you hinting
at?"
Holman glanced at the Tongan at the wheel, then at the shadow patch that
had disturbed his nerves a few moments before.
"He's the devil!" he whispered.
I felt inclined to laugh. Leith was certainly not a person that one
would take to the moment an introduction was given, but the manner in
which the young fellow had imparted his opinion was amusing. But it was
evident that I had not guessed wrong when I divined trouble the moment I
came over the side of the yacht.
Holman caught my coat with his left hand as we turned, and he spoke
excitedly.
"Do you know what we're after?" he queried hoarsely.
"It's a scientific expedition," I replied. "That's what you and Captain
Newmarch told me, and I have not questioned any one else."
"But do you know the particular line we are after?"
"No," I replied.
"Well, we're after skulls. Leith has told the Professor about some
ancient boneyard that he knows of, and he's dragging old Herndon down
there."
"I cannot see the crime now," I said. "I've gone after skulls before
to-day. I brought a hundred of them up to Vavau for a German scientist
last year. He was taking them home to European museums to prove that the
Polynesians of ten centuries back had bigger brains than the niggers of
to-day."
"Yes, I know that," gurgled Holman; "but Leith--oh, damn it! I can't get
you to understand! He pulled the Professor into this deal, and the old
man is as green as grass. Herndon supplied the money and all that, and
he's that much of a silly old doodlebug that this fellow is buncoing him
out of his good gold."
"Yes," I muttered; "and what do his daughters say?"
"Say?" cried the youngster. "They can say nothing that will do any good
when they are talking to a madman. He sees Fame coming down the pike,
and he's blind to all the tricks of that devil. It's a fact, Verslun!
Leith is after the old man's cash--and after Edith Herndon as well."
I stood and looked at the youngster. His boyish face was aflame with
indignation, and any suspicions I had regarding his good intentions were
swept away immediately.
"After Edith Herndon?" I repeated slowly.
"Yes!" he gasped. "Oh, I knew you didn't like the big, sallow brute.
Miss Barbara told me how you turned him down cold when he wanted you to
repeat that yarn to satisfy his curiosity. He's a bad egg, do you hear?
He's out for trouble, and we're going to run into it head on before we
finish the trip. Only for the girls I would have stayed ashore at
Levuka."
"And the captain?" I questioned.
"We don't know about him," he snapped. "He's Leith's captain. I mean
Leith put him in his job when the Professor chartered the yacht. Anyhow,
he doesn't say enough to let any one know which side of the fence he is
on. He has only learned to say yes and no, and he is mighty particular
about the number of times he will use those words."
I laughed at the bitterness the youngster threw into his speech. It is
good to be young. One can love and hate with some intensity, and it
appeared to me that Holman had found marks for both adoration and hatred
on the yacht that was slipping into the mysterious islands of the South
Sea.
"You mustn't look at the black side of things," I said. "Leith's face is
not a likable one, I will admit, but a lot of good fellows have ugly
dials. It seems that the Professor wants skulls, and it appears that
Leith knows of a spot where he can gather up the oldest specimens in
Polynesia. There's nothing wrong about that. As to Miss Herndon, she
struck me as being a young lady who was well able to look after
herself."
"That's all right," stammered the youngster. "Perhaps I said too much,
but I had to speak to you."
"And I'm mighty glad you did!" I cried.
He gripped my hand and turned away, leaving me to my own reflections. It
was a wonderful night. The silvery sea through which _The Waif_ drove
a path with plunging forefoot awoke strange dreams and fancies within my
brain. All the mystery of the tropic night welled up around me, and my
soul seemed to have suddenly awakened to the beauty of life. The veil of
morbid pessimism that came before my eyes during the weary days I had
spent upon the beach at Levuka was torn aside, and a wave of gladness
entered my being. I felt that the voyage would be an eventful one to me,
and I tramped the poop with a light step. Occasionally the sallow
features of Leith persisted in rising before my mental vision to blot
out the dream face that was continually before me, but I resolutely put
the Professor's partner from my mind and fed myself upon the visions
bred by the splendour of the night.
Holman had left me about an hour when I happened to glance at the patch
of shadow that had attracted his attention while he was talking to me.
I stopped and watched it intently. Some one had crawled into the
velvety strip and was lying perfectly still.
"Who is there?" I asked.
There was no answer. The strip of shadow broadened and narrowed as _The
Waif_ plunged, but I could discern nothing. Outside the captain and
myself, the crew of _The Waif_, together with the six men that were with
the Professor's party, were all natives, and I wondered as I watched the
shadow why one should be crawling around as if afraid of being seen. It
was possible that he was attempting to thieve something from the galley,
and it was also possible that he was spying, as Holman had suggested.
I picked up a small iron pin and tossed it at the spot where I felt sure
the islander was hiding. I didn't throw the pin with any force, although
the yell that came out of the shadow would convince an onlooker that I
had thrown it with murderous intent.
I sprang forward while the shriek of pain was still vibrating in the
air, but the native was determined to have revenge for the rap from the
iron pin. A knife flashed in the moonlight, and I staggered as the blade
touched my forehead like a tongue of flame. A dark figure dashed along
the deck toward the forecastle, and brushing the blood from my eyes I
started in pursuit.
At the head of the companion-stairs I collided heavily with Newmarch,
who had just rushed up from the cabin, and the force of the shock nearly
threw him off his feet.
"Confound it!" he cried. "What's the matter with you?"
"One of the Kanakas nearly cut my eye out!" I roared. "He flung a knife
at me and ducked for the f'c'stle."
I left him standing in angry astonishment and rushed forward. I stood at
the top of the ladder and listened. The only noises that came up were
the shrill snores of the islanders, but the blood that streamed down my
face made me forget prudence, and I scrambled down into the stuffy
quarters, where the odour of natives was overwhelming.
A swinging lamp dimly illuminated the place, and I snatched it from its
hook and swung it over the face of the naked occupant of the first bunk.
A glance convinced me that his sleep was genuine. His mouth was wide
open as he snored, and the native who feigns sleep hasn't enough sense
to make his imitation more real by opening his mouth.
The man in the next bunk, a muscular Kanaka, had his face turned away
from me, and in spite of his prolonged snore my suspicions were aroused.
I thrust my hand beneath the single blanket that covered him, and was
immediately convinced that I had discovered the culprit. The blanket was
cold.
"Here, you scoundrel!" I yelled, dropping the lamp and poking him
roughly in the ribs. "What the devil do you mean by trying to knife me?"
He opened his big eyes and stared at me stupidly, while the occupants of
the other bunks, who were aroused by my shout, sat up and rubbed their
eyes.
"Why did you throw that knife?" I screamed.
"I no throw knife," he muttered. "Me sleep, very tired."
The pain of my wound maddened me, and I seized him roughly and dragged
him toward the ladder with the intention of bringing him before the
bilious captain.
I had grasped a rung to haul myself up when a heavy boot came down on my
fingers and the voice of the captain screamed an objection.
"Stop that business!" he shrieked.
"But this devil tried to knife me!" I protested.
"Let him go!" yelled Newmarch. "Do you hear me? Let him go this
instant!"
I let go my grip of the Kanaka, who immediately dived for his bunk and
curled himself up as if he had no further interest in the proceedings.
The captain was beside me then, and his quick breathing betrayed his
excitement. As I lifted the lamp back to its place the light fell upon
his thin features; their pallor surprised me as much as his words.
"Too many wonderful things happen to you!" he stammered.
"Why--what do you mean?" I queried.
"Never mind!" he snapped. "If you start a rough house on board this boat
I'll stop you before you get well under way."
I was too astounded to reply. The blood upon my face and hands was plain
evidence of the wound I had received, and the captain's indifference
left me breathless. Without another word he turned and scrambled up on
deck, and I followed.
Once out of earshot of the listening crew I determined to make another
effort to show him that my conduct was justified.
"That devil was sneaking in the shadow of the galley all the evening," I
cried. "I attempted to stir him out and he jerked the knife at me."
He stopped in front of me, made one of his conversational feints by
opening his mouth and shutting it again, then dived hastily for the
companion, leaving me to search for sympathy in the moonlit night. I
remembered as I endeavoured to staunch the wound, the question which I
had put to Holman concerning the captain only an hour before, and I
smiled grimly as I bound my handkerchief about my forehead. Captain
Newmarch of _The Waif_ hadn't risen in my estimation since the moment I
made the inquiry.
[Illustration]