BLIND MAN'S BUFF
With difficulty Phil Kendrick restrained a desire to laugh outright.
The totally unexpected situation in which he found himself paralyzed
his speech and by the time he had recovered from the first shock of it
a further development held him silent. With senses sharpened he
listened in the dark to approaching footsteps and a murmur of voices,
his wonder growing as he recognized the unmistakable accents of
Stinson, his uncle's personal servant--Stinson who, by all the rules of
valet service, should be up at Sparrow Lake at that very moment with
the Honorable Milton Waring.
A key was being fitted into the padlock of the Waring boathouse. The
planking creaked as the strangers tip-toed inside. There appeared to
be several of them. A sloshing of water as they boarded the big
launch, then the first fitful rustlings of the engine as it was turned
over. Soon its loud staccatto rose above the wail of the foghorn.
Had the house been robbed? Phil dismissed this idea at once. No
valuables likely to invite burglary were kept at the Island residence,
even had Stinson's long and faithful service not placed him beyond
suspicion. Probably the valet had slipped away on a little holiday and
had been entertaining a few of his friends. With paddle shoved into
the mud to hold the canoe steady against the embankment so that it
would not capsize in the wash of the launch, Kendrick decided to sit
still and await developments.
The launch passed presently, so close to them that he held his breath.
One of the occupants was talking in low tones. Somebody laughed and
said: "That's a good one, Nickleby." A third voice spoke in gruff
admonition: "Shut up, you fellows! No names, please." After
that--silence, except for the slow chug of the engine and the purl of
water, diminishing. They were gone.
A breath of evident relief came from the unknown passenger in the canoe.
"Pretty close, that," she whispered. "I guess we can go now, but it
would be better not to talk till we get out on the bay."
Without a word Kendrick shoved off with his paddle and turned the nose
of the canoe for the Yacht Club channel. The launch had gone straight
down the main canal to the ferry pier before heading out into the bay
and all sound of it presently was lost. He strained his eyes to catch
a glimpse of his mysterious companion, forgetting for the moment that
even had it been broad daylight the fog would have concealed her.
He tried to decide what was the best thing to do. What sort of a game
was this that he had stumbled upon? What was this woman doing over at
the Island at 2.30 a.m. in weather like this? Who was she? Why was
she spying upon Stinson's little party, if that was what she had been
up to? It was a situation with which any young man of zest and
imagination might find interest in dallying. How should he begin?
"Pass me a paddle, Joe. It's all right to talk now." She gave a
little laugh of satisfaction and he noted that her voice was contralto
and well modulated. "This has been the best night's work yet. Did you
think I was never coming?"
Kendrick cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, madam, but there appears to be some mistake." He could
hear her startled gasp. "It is evident that you have got into the
wrong canoe in the dark. I am neither Joseph nor any of his brethren;
so he must be waiting for you still. Do you want me to turn back?"
"Wh-why,--who are you?" she managed to gasp in an alarmed voice.
"The same to you, madam, and many of them," laughed Kendrick easily.
"There's no occasion to feel frightened as I have just had a meal.
Anyone is liable to lose the way in a fog like this and I will count it
a privilege to help you locate Joe. He must be somewhere about if he
was waiting for you."
"Who are you?" she repeated more evenly.
"The owner of this canoe which you have commandeered so successfully.
Please pardon me for pointing out that it is your lead, madam. I would
be glad to have you begin by telling me who was in that launch? Why
all the excitement? Where do you want to go now?"
"You are inquisitive enough to be a detective. Are you?"
"In that case would I need to ask where we were going?" countered
Kendrick. "I believe you said this had been the best haul yet. Whose
house was it this time?"
She remained silent. When she spoke again Kendrick fancied a nervous
note in her voice.
"Will you please explain how you happened to be waiting for me at that
particular spot?"
"Bless your heart, madam, I wasn't waiting for you! I happen to live
nearby and was getting ready to step ashore when you grabbed my canoe
and ordered me to keep quiet. I did so. Here we are."
"Your discretion was commendable," she approved. "It certainly is most
extraordinary. I don't see where on earth--I guess my escort has taken
French leave." She tried to laugh carelessly, but she could not hide
the fact that she was greatly disturbed. "Will you paddle me across to
the city?"
"And leave poor Joe out in the cold gray fog? Don't you think it would
be better to turn back and give a holler or two?"
"Never mind him. He has gone home already very likely. I will pay you
one dollar to paddle me over. Is that satisfactory?"
"It all depends. Supposing I refuse?"
"Then I would have to ask you to step into the water and swim to shore
while I do my own paddling and keep down expenses."
"Presupposing, of course, that you own the canoe."
"It is too bad it is so dark," she retorted impatiently, "or you would
know that a revolver is pointed straight at you this very moment."
Kendrick laughed in pure enjoyment of the situation.
"My dear young lady,"--he had decided that she was young and he
wondered if she were pretty--"you force me to the conclusion that
either you are bluffing outrageously or you are a desperate character!
Please don't be frightened. I'm neither Steve Brodie, the Bridge
Jumper, nor the famous Jack Dalton, and in this age of safety razors
Bluebeards are _extra muros_. This isn't the opening spasm of some
blood-and-thunder novel, you know. We're right here on Toronto Bay
where one can get into trouble for not showing a light after dark.
Will you oblige me by unhooking the lamp at the bow there and passing
it back to me so that I can light up. I promise then to start earning
that dollar without further delay."
He heard her fumbling with it. There was a splash in the water, a
little cry of well feigned dismay.
"Oh, how careless of me! It--slipped out of my hand."
Phil grinned cheerfully as he began to dip his paddle, interest
quickened. It was a neat sidestepping of his inconsiderate attempt to
scrutinize her. She had taken the first trick.
"You do yourself an injustice, madam. Are you usually so careful when
you are careless?"
"You have not told me your name yet," she reminded him, apparently more
at ease now that she knew he intended to paddle her across the bay.
"My name? It's an Indian name--Watha--Hy. A. Watha, at your service,
and I am very fond of canoeing. What's yours?"
"You need hardly ask that, Mr. Hiawatha, when you knew my sister,
Minnie, so well," she laughed. "I am _Mary_ Ha-ha!"
"You don't say!" chuckled Kendrick in appreciation. "The original
little Merry Ha-Ha, eh?--Little Laughing-Gas!"
"If you are Hiawatha, why are you using a paddle?" she pursued. "I
always understood from the Poet that all you had to do was to guide
your canoe with your thoughts."
"Not when they're travelling in a circle. But this looks more like
'Blind Man's Buff' than 'Ring-Around-A-Rosy,' don't you think? Or are
you trying to play 'Tag' with me? Well, you're 'It' anyway," he said,
dropping all hint of banter in his tone. "I'd advise you to meet a few
straight questions with straight answers. First, who is this Joe
person you were expecting to do the canoeing for you?"
"My husband."
"And the people in the launch?"
"How should I know who they were? By what right do you ask me that?"
she demanded.
"The circumstances are somewhat unusual, madam, you must admit,"
Kendrick reminded her sharply. "Do you wish me to play safe by handing
you over to the police?"
"Police? My Good Gracious me! What crime have I committed?"
"That would be a matter for official enquiry. It may be that you and
your husband are in the habit of wandering about the Island in a thick
fog at two o'clock in the morning--picking daisies for the sick kiddies
over at the Children's Home, I presume--but, to be perfectly frank with
you, I doubt it. Besides, there is the little matter of the launch."
"Why are you so interested in that launch?"
"Because I happen to be the nephew of my uncle who happens to own it
and to have left it in my charge during his absence," said Kendrick
deliberately. "I'm laying the cards face up, madam. The launch is the
property of Honorable Milton Waring, of whom you may have heard.
Undoubtedly it has been stolen."
He was not prepared for the laughter with which his unknown passenger
greeted this bold announcement. He knew she was trying to smother her
mirth, but it finally broke all bounds. A very musical laugh it was,
very pleasant to hear.
"Oh, please forgive me," she gasped finally. "It is very rude of me, I
know; but--you said you were the Honorable Milt's nephew--" Again she
laughed in spite of herself.
"You know my uncle?" he asked eagerly.
"I read the papers," she said evasively. "Everybody knows a public
man."
"I'm laying the cards face up, madam," repeated Kendrick solemnly. "My
name is Kendrick--Philip Kendrick. I was on my way home when
you--well, shanghaied me. Won't you meet me half way by equal
frankness, so that we may avoid--well, any unpleasantness?"
"You mean--?" She had stopped laughing.
"That unless you answer legitimate questions I shall be forced to hand
you over to the police."
"I warn you that you would regret it," she said quietly.
"Very much," agreed Kendrick readily. "I would be sorry to cause you
any inconvenience; but surely you see how impossible it is for me to
avoid being inquisitive under the circumstances. Are you going to be
frank with me or not?"
She did not answer him immediately and he smiled to himself as he
paddled in silence. For, if the truth must be told, Mr. Philip
Kendrick was enjoying himself immensely. He had only the sound of her
voice from which to draw deductions; but the cultured tones of it and
the lilt of her low laughter bespoke an education and refinement with
which he failed to reconcile the idea that she was a lady burglar.
Yet----
He stopped paddling to listen intently. Several times now he had
thought he heard a sound off in the darkness behind him. It came
again--a slight hollow sound, as of a paddle scraping against a canoe.
They were being followed. Had the girl heard it, too? He waited for
the wail of the fog-horn to die away--and found her speaking.
"--frank with you, Mr. Kendrick," she was saying. "The circumstances
are less extraordinary than they appear to you. My--husband and I were
at a party at a friend's house on the Island. We paddled over in a
canoe and Joe went ahead of me to locate it. In the dark I must have
missed the spot where he was waiting for me and when you came along so
silently and so close to the bank I naturally thought it was Joe.
Ridiculously simple, you see."
"You have forgotten the launch," prompted Kendrick severely.
"I know nothing about the launch," she denied with resentment. "When I
heard those people coming I thought it was some of the guests from the
party who had said they would race us home. Will you please paddle on,
Mr. Kendrick. It is damp and chilly in this fog and I am naturally in
a hurry to get home."
He laughed with skepticism, but plied his paddle again. He was not as
concerned about the launch as he pretended, of course; at the worst it
probably meant that Stinson had been entertaining some of his friends
on the sly. He had no intention of handing his mysterious passenger to
the police. But was he to let her laugh at him and disappear
unchallenged into the fog out of which she had come?
Phil Kendrick's experience with the opposite sex was very limited, he
had to confess. He had been too completely absorbed in athletics to
afford girls more than passing attention. Those of his social
set--those he had met--had failed to impress him. One or two of them
were attractive enough in a general way, he realized; some were amusing
to him and some very very tedious. It was a new experience to find
himself actually interested in a girl--or rather, her voice! He wished
he could get a look at her till he remembered the poor showing he would
make with his blackened eye. Then he was thankful for the darkness.
Phil planned to land her at the Queen City Yacht Club at the foot of
York St., or at the Canoe Club; either would provide an easy landing.
They must be well across the bay now; but it was hard to say just where
they would come in. Ordinarily he could have steered by the
illuminated dial of the City Hall clock and the spire of St. James';
but the fog obliterated all landmarks.
They were both very damp from exposure to the mist, but it is doubtful
if either of them was aware of it. He made several further attempts to
discover her identity without avail; at every turn she evaded him
skillfully and it was beginning to look as if she would step ashore and
vanish into the fog without leaving behind her a single clue for him to
follow. This illusiveness was an added spur to his desire to know this
girl. He did not believe that she was a married woman at all. It was
a conclusion which seemed to be justified by her elaborate precautions
to make him think otherwise. Because of some foolish notion of the
conventions she intended to go as she had come, taking advantage of the
fog to write down the night's adventure in a book which must be closed
to him for all time and forgotten.
Deliberately Phil held back the canoe. They were within a few strokes
of the landing now.
"Listen to me very carefully," he began. "I am going to ask you for
the last time to tell me your name or the name of some friend whom I
can get to introduce me to you properly. Isn't that fair? I have told
you the truth about myself and will hand you my card to prove it. You
must play equally fair with me or----"
"Or what?" she demanded haughtily as he hesitated.
"Or--well, take the consequences," he finished lamely.
"Which are--? Be explicit, Mr. Kendrick."
"Well, I might turn around and paddle you back to the Island and leave
you there, for one thing. The circumstances are not such as entitle
you to the consideration I have shown you. For all I know, you may be
an ordinary crook. Think it over, madam. Is there any reason why I
should not call you 'kiddo' and help myself to a kiss? Is there?"
"Yes--the fact that Philip Kendrick is a gentleman. I dare you to
prove it otherwise!"
"It is kind of you. If you are so sure of it, why won't you give me a
chance? Come on, be a sport. I will promise anything you wish to meet
you legitimately, and I really would regret it very much if I
thought----"
"I have told you already that it is impossible," she interrupted
coldly. "I always understood it was a woman's prerogative to choose
her acquaintances. I am grateful for your services tonight, of course;
but beyond that---- The fact is, I do not care to know you, Mr.
Kendrick. Please put me ashore and say good-bye."
A cold fire of resentment burned in Kendrick's eyes as he drove the
canoe to the landing with a few skillful strokes. Why had he been so
foolish as to tell her his real name? Why didn't she want to know him?
Without a word he caught the canoe in one hand and stepped out. He
felt along the gunwale to the bow and fastened the painter to an iron
ring in the planking, then handed her out safely. He retained his
grasp of her hand.
"A moment ago you dared me to kiss you," he said gravely. "I am not in
the habit of taking dares from anybody."
"Let go my hand at once, sir. You know very well you cannot so far
forget yourself as to take such a liberty. I dare you to prove
yourself no gentleman."
"I warn you----!"
"I dare you!"
"Very well! On your own head be it, then! The boatman is worthy of
his hire," he paraphrased and laughingly he seized her in his arms and
kissed her.
The next instant he received a resounding slap in the face. It had
young muscles and indignation behind it and it found him unprepared.
He started back automatically, tripped, lost his balance and fell into
the water.
"Oh, you--you miserable--_fresh Aleck_!" came her mortified cry.
She lingered only long enough to make sure that he could swim. As he
drew himself out of the water the sound of her running feet died out on
the pier.
With chattering teeth Kendrick cast loose, seized his paddle and drove
it deep into the water. Ye gods, what a fool! Very angry at himself,
he set out across the bay once more, guided by the derisive bawling of
the fog-horn at the Eastern Gap.