DICK LYNCH MEETS MR. DARLING
In Chance Along the wintry days and weeks crawled by, with cold and
thaw, wind, snow and fog. Flora Lockhart waited in vain for a reply to
her letter. At last her suspicions were awakened by a word from Mother
Nolan; so she wrote another letter and gave it to the old woman. The old
woman gave it to Mary Kavanagh, and Mary in turn put it into the hands
of one of the young men of the harbor, with instructions to take it to
Witless Bay and from there send it out by mail. The young man promised
to do all this, of course.
"An' mind ye," cautioned Mary, "don't ye go an' let the skipper know
what ye bes up to."
Now this young man was one of the dozen who wanted Mary Kavanagh for a
wife. He was not brave, he was not honest; but he was as cunning as a
fox. So he thought the matter over, and soon came to the conclusion that
the game was not worth the candle. He was afraid of the skipper; and he
was content that the girl from up-along should remain in the harbor and
continue to blind the skipper's heart to the charms of Mary Kavanagh. So
he went quietly to the master, put the letter in his hands and told him
what he knew of it. Dennis Nolan destroyed the letter, and told the
young man to keep himself out of sight for the next three days. The
infatuated skipper had not yet given up hope of winning the heart of the
wonderful creature from up-along.
Late in March a French brig, bound for St. Pierre, went ashore on the
Squid Rocks to the north of Chance Along. Only two of her crew reached
the land-wash alive. They were powerful fellows, swarthy as Arabs, with
gold rings in their ears, the devil in their hearts, and a smattering of
many languages on their tongues. The gale that had driven the brig on
the Squid Rocks had interrupted them in the hatching of a mutiny against
their captain, mate and boatswain; for the brig's cargo consisted of
silks and wines for the smugglers of St. Pierre, and two chests of gold
containing the half-year's pay of the Governor, officials, and soldiers
of the little island.
Black Dennis Nolan and his men found them on the land-wash, more dead
than alive, dragged them back out of reach of the spray, and laid them
on blankets beside a fire. The brig was well in among the rocks, going
to pieces fast. After two hours of daring effort the skipper and four of
his men reached her, and found the chests of French gold in the lazaret
beneath the captain's cabin. They remained aboard the wreck for nearly
an hour before venturing shoreward with the treasure. They salvaged the
chests at last, however, placed a guard over them, and made one more
trip to the brig and back, bringing a bale or two of silk and a cask of
red wine the second time. Then the brig melted and fell to pieces before
their eyes. It was not until then that any one noticed that the two
swarthy sailors had recovered and departed, taking with them the
blankets and bottle of rum which had been employed in reviving them. The
skipper swore mightily at this discovery, knocked a few of his men
about, then had the chests of gold stowed on two hand-sleds and set out
for home in full force and at top speed. On reaching Chance Along he
learned that the two swarthy strangers had already been there, and
departed with two sealing-guns and a bag of food. The skipper sent Bill
Brennen and six men on their tracks, for he did not want the strangers
to carry out to the world the news of the wreck of the brig and the
salving of the treasure-chests. He did not follow them himself because
the chests had to be opened, and their contents divided and hidden away
immediately, and the chests themselves destroyed.
The gold was divided into forty equal parts. One part was given, or laid
aside, for every man who had been to the Squid Rocks; two parts went to
each of the men who had accompanied the skipper to the brig itself, and
four were kept by the skipper. There was no grumbling this time. The
harvest was rich beyond the wildest dream and had been fairly shared.
The money belonging to the men who had gone after the two strangers was
placed in the hands of sons, wives or fathers.
"Hide it away, men," said the skipper, "for if them two pirates gets
clear away, they'll sure be back some day wid a crew o' blackguards like
themselves, to try to t'ief all our property away from us."
Bill Brennen and his party returned before sun-down, carrying a wounded
comrade and a dead Frenchman along with them. There had been an ambush
and a fight, and one of the sailors had escaped clean away. The skipper
was in a rage; but, as the faithful Bill Brennen had commanded the party
and Nick Leary had been a member of it, he kept his hands and feet still
and let nothing fly but curses.
Now we must look around for Dick Lynch, who did not go out of this
history when he departed so boldly from Chance Along with his
sealing-gun on his shoulder. Far from it. Dick was intended for greater
things than he knew.
A week after the wreck of the French brig on the Squid Rocks, Dick Lynch
entered a public-house situated near the eastern end of Water Street,
St. John's, sat down at a table near the fire and called for rum. Though
Dick consumed much rum, he did not often buy it at this establishment;
for he roomed in Mother McKay's cottage on the hill, back of the city,
and Mother McKay kept a shebeen. To-day, however, Dick had felt that he
could stand no more of Mother McKay's liquor nor of the honest dame's
society, either. The rum was weak and harsh and the society was
distracting to his thoughts. What he wanted was matured liquor and
quiet, so that he might nail down his somewhat vague plans of returning
to Chance Along and overthrowing the skipper thereof. The hour was that
of the evening dusk. He was alone in this particular room of the _Ship
Ahoy Hotel_, but he could hear the voices of other imbibers barking and
rolling from an adjoining apartment. He gulped down half of his rum and
lit his pipe. The proprietor entered then, threw a lump of coal on the
fire and lit a ship's lantern that hung from the middle rafter. Next
moment, the outer door opened, and a man entered from the muddy street,
his sou'easter, oilskin coat and ruddy young face all agleam with
moisture.
"Good evenin' to ye, Mister Darlin'," said the proprietor. "Foul
weather, bain't it, sir?"
"Aye, Jake, foul weather it is," returned the young man, throwing aside
his dripping hat. "Bring me whiskey,--hot, with a slice of lemon in it
and a lump of sugar."
Jake departed, and Mr. Darling sat down beside the fire and pulled a
short wooden pipe from an inner pocket. In repose, his young,
clean-shaven face wore an expression of gravity that verged upon the
dismal. He filled his pipe with cut tobacco from a leather bag, lit it
and then glanced at Dick Lynch through a puff of twisting blue smoke.
He caught Dick's eyes full upon him, for that worthy had been staring at
him ever since he had removed his dripping sou'easter. He removed his
pipe from his mouth and leaned forward.
"Hullo!" he said. "I'll swear this isn't the first time I've seen that
black mug of yours, my man! But it wasn't in St. John's--an' it wasn't
aboard any ship."
Dick Lynch was of the same way of thinking, for he recognized this young
man as the officer from the _Durham Castle_, who had commanded the party
that had been left behind by Captain McTavish to guard the wreck of that
good ship. He took another swig at his glass and shifted his eyes to the
fire.
"Sure, sir, ye may be right," he said. "Was it in Harbor Grace ye seed
me?"
"No. I have never set foot in Harbor Grace," returned Mr. Darling.
"That bes my home, sir--Harbor Grace," lied Dick, cheerfully.
Just then Jake entered with Mr. Darling's toddy. He set it at the young
sailor's elbow, hoped it was entirely to his taste, and retired. Darling
sipped the toddy, puffed twice at his pipe, then fixed his keen glance
upon Lynch's face.
"Don't lie to me," he said. "Your mug is too ugly to forget easy! You
are the big, cussing pirate the savages gave the name of skipper to,
along on that devilish coast to the south where we lost the _Durham
Castle_. You are a sly fellow, and a daring one; but it will not help
you a mite to sit there and talk about your happy home in Harbor Grace
to me."
"The skipper!" exclaimed Dick Lynch, in genuine anger and dismay.
"Saints presarve ye, I'd as soon be took for the divil himself as for
Black Dennis Nolan o' Chance Along. No, sir, I bain't that tyrant,
though some folks do say as how I bes about his size and color."
"Is that so?" enquired Mr. Darling, quietly. "You are not the skipper of
Chance Along, but you look like him. Is that the way of it?"
"Aye, that bes the way of it, sir."
"You know this skipper fellow, then?"
"Aye, sir, to me cost--may the divil fly away wid him! Hasn't he bullied
me an' cheated me all me life long, the divil-possessed tyrant! Bain't
he the livin' curse o' Chance Along?"
"Chance Along, is it?" murmured Mr. Darling. "Now where the devil is
Chance Along?"
Then, raising his voice, "You don't seem to love this skipper
fellow--this Black Dennis Nolan. What is the trouble between the pair of
you?"
Dick finished his rum, eyed the other suspiciously, then stared sullenly
at the fire.
Mr. Darling smiled grimly and shouted for Jake.
"My friend will have more of the same," he said, pointing to Lynch's
empty glass. "But make it hot, Jake. This is no kind of weather for cold
liquor. Better bring the bottle right along, and the kettle and sugar
too."
Twenty minutes later Dick Lynch began to talk again, his belated caution
entirely vaporized and blown out of his somewhat inferior brain by the
fumes of hot rum, lemon and sugar.
"I knows ye, sir," he said. "Sure, didn't I know ye the minute I clapped
me two eyes on ye. Cap'n o' that big ship that come ashore in Nolan's
Cove, t'ree miles to the south o' Chance Along, ye be. An' a smart
landin' ye made, too, boat by boat, wid every mother's son o' ye wid a
gun an' a sword in his two hands. Sure, sir, ye wasn't lookin' for to
meet wid no man-killin' wrakers on _that_ coast, was ye? Saints forgive
ye, sir, the babe unborn would be safe to come ashore in Chance Along!"
John Darling smiled. "You are a sharp lad," he said. "I saw it in your
eyes that you knew me the moment I entered the room. I don't see how I
ever came to mistake a smart, well-spoken lad like you for that fellow
you call the skipper. Well, I am sorry for it. But you have made one
mistake, my lad. I wasn't the captain of that ship. I was only one of
the mates."
"Well, sir," returned Lynch, cordially, "I bain't sharp enough for to
see much difference atween a cap'n an' a mate. Ye looks like a cap'n to
me, anyhow."
He paused, poured more rum and hot water, sampled the brew and
continued.
"Now I feels it a shame, sir, the way Black Dennis Nolan made a fool o'
the lot o' ye, wid his lies about Frenchman's Cove an' Nap Harbor. Sure,
I felt desperate bad about it at the time--an' now I feels worse. Aye,
sir, worse, seein' as how ye be sich a fine, grand ginerous young
gintleman as ye be. An' then the way he ups an' takes all yer gold an'
fine jewels away from ye, an' ye t'inkin' all the time 'twas the folk o'
Nap Harbor done it!"
"Yes, it was certainly an unmannerly trick," said Darling, quietly. "I
suppose he took it all to Chance Along--gold, jewels and everything--and
kept it for himself?"
"He kep' more nor his share o' the sovereigns, ye kin lay to that, sir;
an' as for the rings an' sich fancy trinkets--well, sir, he says as how
we'll all be gettin' our share come June an' he gets 'round to St.
John's here to sell 'em. But there bain't no share for me, sir. I fit
for me rights, I did--an' here I be!"
The interview continued for another hour, and during the glowing,
rum-inspired course of it, Dick Lynch told all that he knew of Chance
Along, its manners, its skipper and its exact location. He confessed
that he had never seen a great diamond and ruby necklace, but that he
had seen a whole casket full of jewels and was willing to swear by all
the saints aloft that the casket was still in Chance Along. He did not
notice that Mr. Darling was spending all his time over one small glass
of whiskey toddy. Finding the young officer a good listener and an
agreeable companion, he went on to tell of the wreck of the _Royal
William_, of the panic in the flooded cabin, and at last of the
beautiful young woman with the voice like fairy bells and eyes like a
mermaid's eyes.
Mr. Darling sat up at that and laid his pipe on the table.
"A full-rigged ship, you say? What was her name?" he asked, anxiously.
"The name o' the ship? Well, sir, far's I kin remember it was the _Rile
Willyum_. Aye, sir, that was it."
Mr. Darling got excited. His face went dead white, then flaming red, and
he leaned forward and gripped the fingers of his right hand in Lynch's
shoulder. But Dick was too mellow and happy to object or to feel
surprise.
"And what was the lady's name?" cried Mr. Darling. "Out with it, man!
Out with it! What was _her_ name?"
"Name o' the lady? Lady's name? Her name? Sure, sir, it bes Nora."
"Nora! Don't you mean Flora?"
"Aye, Flora. Sure, sir, Flora bes what I said."
"God!" exclaimed Mr. Darling, leaning back in his chair. Dick Lynch
smiled across at him. He recovered himself in a minute.
"With a beautiful voice, you say?" he queried faintly.
"Aye, sir. Sure, didn't she sing a song afore the Queen herself,"
returned Dick.
"It is Flora!" cried the other. "My God, it is Flora!" Then gripping
Lynch again, "Did you say--did you say she--she is--well?" he whispered.
"Sure, I telled ye she bes well," replied the befuddled fisherman.
"Well, d'ye say? Aye, she bes plump as a pa'tridge, a-livin' on the fat
o' the land--the fat o' all the wracks that comes up from the sea. An' a
beauty she bes, altogether. Saints presarve ye, sir, she bes the
beautifulest female woman ever come ashore on that coast. She was
desperate bad wid the fever, was Nora, when first the skipper took her
home wid him; but now she bes plump as a young swile, sir, an' too
beautiful entirely for the likes o' meself to look at."
Mr. Darling's face went white again.
"The skipper?" he asked, huskily. "For God's sake, man, what are you
saying? Why does she stay in Chance Along? What has she to do with that
damned big black beast you call the skipper?"
"Now you bes a-gettin' excited, sir, all along o' that Nora girl,"
protested Dick Lynch. "She bes a-livin' wid Mother Nolan, in the
skipper's own house. The skipper bes figgerin' on coaxin' of her 'round
to marry wid him; but I hears, sir, as how she telled him as how she'd
marry no poor, ignorant, dacent fisherman at all, but a king wid a
golden crown on his head. Aye, sir, that bes the trut'. The likes o' she
be well able to keep Black Denny Nolan in his place."
"Thank God!" exclaimed Mr. Darling, sitting back in his chair again.
Dick Lynch eyed him with drunken cunning.
"Ye knows that grand young woman, sir?" he queried.
"Yes," said Mr. Darling. "She crossed to London aboard my ship three
years ago. We--we were good friends."
"Aye, ye would be," returned Dick with a drunken leer. And then,
lurching forward, "Ye'll be makin' a trip 'round to Chance Along I bes
t'inkin', sir, to put the comather on to this Dennis Nolan? Sure, an'
why not? The dirty squid bes as full o' gold an' riches as any marchant.
I'll be goin' along wid ye, sir--if ye gives me two pistols an' takes
two yerself. I'll show ye where the harbor bes, an' his own house wid
Nora in it--an' all. If we gets to the harbor quiet, about the middle o'
the night, we'll shoot the skipper in his bed, the black divil, afore he
kin so much as lay a curse on to us. I bes wid ye, sir. Ye kin trust
Dick Lynch as ye would yer own mother."
Mr. Darling said that he had a great deal of business to attend to in
the city, but that he would meet Dick Lynch in this very room, at nine
o'clock in the morning, five days later. He did not mean a word of it,
for he would not have trusted that worthy any farther than he could have
thrown him over his shoulder. But he arranged the meeting and promised
to supply plenty of pistols for the expedition. Then he said good night
and went out of the warm room and fumes of rum to the mud and driving
sleet of the night, leaving Dick Lynch smiling to himself at thought of
what his enemy, the skipper, would say when he woke up in bed some fine
morning and found himself dead.