control was going. Besides, one could trust Lister and he knew ... She
signed agreement and he touched Shillito.
"Get off the veranda!"
Shillito did not move. His pose was tense and he looked malevolent.
"You won't help Miss Hyslop by butting in like a clumsy fool. The
thing's too delicate for you to meddle--"
"Get off the veranda!" Lister shouted, and threw Shillito back.
He was highly strung, and worn by want of sleep and exhausting labor,
but he had some notion of all Barbara had borne on Shillito's account.
Although perhaps caution and tact were indicated, he was going to use
force. When Shillito struck him he seized the fellow, and rocking in a
savage grapple, they fell with a crash against the rails. Lister felt
the other's hand at his throat, and straining back, jerked his head away
while he tried to lift his antagonist off the ground. He pulled him from
the rails and they reeled across the veranda and struck the wall.
A neighboring window rattled with the shock, the heavy tramp of their
feet shook the boards, and Barbara knew the noise would soon bring a
group of curious servants to the door; besides, all the guests had not
gone to the Metropole. Yet she could not meddle. The men's passions were
unloosed; they fought like savage animals, driven by an instinctive fury
that would not vanish until one was beaten. She looked on, trembling and
helpless, while they wrestled, with swaying bodies and hands that felt
for a firmer hold. Her face was very white and she got her breath in
painful gasps. There was something horribly primitive about the
struggle, but it fascinated.
In the meantime, Lister was conscious that he had been rash. Shillito
was muscular and fresh, but he was tired. It was plain he could not keep
it up for long. Moreover, unless the fight soon ended, people would come
to see what the disturbance was about. This would be awkward for
Barbara; he wanted to tell her to go away, but could not. He was
breathless and Shillito was trying to choke him.
Afterwards he knew he was lucky. They had got near the steps and he
threw Shillito against the post at the top. The jar shook the other, his
grasp got slack, and Lister saw that for a moment the advantage was his.
Using a desperate effort he pushed his antagonist back and struck him a
smashing blow. Shillito vanished and a crash in the gloom indicated that
he had fallen on an aloe in a tub by the path. Lister leaned against the
rail and laughed, because he knew aloe spikes are sharp.
Then he heard steps and voices in the hotel, and turned to Barbara. His
face was cut, his hat was gone, and his white jacket was torn. He looked
strangely savage and disheveled, but Barbara went to him and her eyes
shone. Lister stopped her.
"Don't know if I've helped much, but you must get off!" he gasped.
"People are coming. Go in by another door!"
He turned and plunged down the stairs, and Barbara, seeing that Shillito
had vanished, ran along the veranda. A few moments afterwards she stood
by the window of her room and saw a group of curious servants and one or
two tourists in the path at the bottom of the steps. It looked as if
they were puzzled, and the _mayordomo_ gravely examined Lister's
battered hat.
Barbara went from the window and sat down. She was horribly overstrained
and wanted to cry, but she began to laugh, and for some minutes could
not stop. She must get relief from the tension and, after all, in a
sense, the thing was humorous.
CHAPTER VII
BARBARA'S REFUSAL
In the morning Barbara went to the Catalina mole. The short lava pier
was not far off, and one got the breeze, although the hotel garden was
hot. Besides, she did not want to meet people and talk about the strange
disturbance on the veranda. On the whole, she thought nobody imagined
she could satisfy the general curiosity. Finding a block of lava in the
shade, she sat down and looked about.
A boat crossed the harbor mouth, swinging up on the smooth swell and
vanishing when the undulations rolled by. A tug towed a row of barges to
an anchored steamer, and the rattle of winches came down the wind. In
the background, clouds of dust blew about the coaling wharfs, and a
string of flags fluttered from the staff on the Isleta hill. Barbara
beckoned a port-guard and inquired what the signal meant.
The Spaniard said an African mail-boat from England was coming in, and
Barbara was conscious of some relief. Cartwright was on board and would
arrive sooner than she had thought; the boat had obviously not called at
Madeira, the time-bills stated. Cartwright would know how to deal with
Shillito if he bothered her again. In the meantime she mused about
Lister. She had thrilled when he ran up the steps at the hotel, but, in
a sense, his arrival just then was awkward.
She turned her head, for the sunshine on the water dazzled her eyes, and
the port was not attractive. The limekilns, coal-wharfs, and shabby lava
houses had for a background volcanic rocks, bare cinder slopes and
tossing dust. Besides, she wanted to think. She would see Lister soon;
she wanted to see him, but she shrank. For one thing, the line she ought
to take was hard.
By and by she heard a rattle of oars thrown on board a boat behind the
neighboring wall; somebody shouted, and Lister came up. His white
clothes were clean but crumpled, and Barbara smiled when she saw his hat
was new. Crossing the lava pavement, he stopped opposite her and she
noted a piece of sticking-plaster on his cheek.
"May I join you for a few minutes?" he asked.
"Of course," she said graciously.
Lister sat down. The sailors had gone off, and except for an officer of
the _Commandancia_, nobody was about.
"I was going to the hotel to look for you. For one thing, I reckoned I
ought to apologize. When I came into the veranda and saw Shillito--"
"I think you stopped for a moment at the bottom of the steps!" Barbara
remarked.
He colored, but gave her a steady look. "That is so. I admit the thing's
ridiculous; but at first I felt I'd better pull out. Then I noted
something about your pose; you looked angry."
"Ah," said Barbara. "It was a relief to see I was angry? You were
satisfied then?"
"I was really satisfied before. It was impossible you should engage a
brute like that in friendly talk. Anyhow, I took the wrong line and
might have made things awkward. In fact, the situation needed a lighter
touch than mine. All the same, when I saw the fellow was bullying you--"
"You butted in?" Barbara suggested, smiling, although her heart beat.
"Like a bull moose," said Lister with a frown. "I ought to have kept
cool, used caution, and frozen him off by a few short arguments. You can
picture Cartwright's putting across the job! After all, however, I don't
know the arguments I could have used, and I remembered how the fellow
had injured you--"
He saw Barbara's color rise, and stopped for a moment. It looked as if
he had not used much caution now.
"Since I thought you in Africa, I don't understand how you arrived," she
began.
"The thing's not very strange," said Lister. "I saw your name in a
visitors' list and meant to ask for you in the morning. Then I ran up
against Shillito, who didn't know me, and when he got on board the steam
tram, I hired a _tartana_. Thought he might mean trouble and I'd better
come along--"
"Well," he resumed, "I'm sorry I handled the job clumsily, since I might
have hurt you worse; but I hated the fellow on my own account and saw
red. Perhaps it was lucky I was able to throw him down the steps,
because I expect neither of us meant to quit until the other was knocked
out." He paused and added, with a laugh: "Now I'm cool, I think the
chances were I got knocked out. Last time we met he threw me off the
car; I reckon my luck has turned!"
Barbara studied him and was moved by pity and some other emotions. He
was very thin and his face was pinched. He looked as if he were
exhausted by the work she had sent him to do. Barbara admitted that she
had sent him. Before Cartwright planned the salvage undertaking she had
declared he would find Lister the man for an awkward job.
"You ran some risk for my sake, and I must acknowledge a fresh debt,"
she said. "I would sooner be your debtor than another's, but sometimes
I'm embarrassed. You see, I owe you so much."
"You have paid all by letting me know you," Lister declared.
She was quiet for a few moments, and then asked: "Are you making much
progress at the wreck?"
"Our progress is slow, but we are getting there," Lister replied, and
seeing her interest, narrated his and Brown's struggles, and his long
voyage with a short crew on board the tug.
The story was moving and Barbara's eyes sparkled. Lister had borne much
and done all that flesh and blood could do. He was the man she had
thought, and she knew it was for her sake that he had labored.
"It's a splendid fight!" she said.
"We haven't won yet," he replied, and was quiet for a few moments. Then
his look got very resolute and he went on: "All the same, if the thing
is anyhow possible, I'm going to win. You see, I've got to win! When
Cartwright engaged me I was engineer on board a cattle boat; a man of no
importance, without friends or money, and with no particular chance of
making good. Now I've got my chance. If we put across the job a big
salvage company turned down, I'll make my mark. Somebody will give me a
good post; I'll have got my foot on the ladder that leads to the top."
"I wish you luck," said Barbara. "I expect you will get near the top."
"If you are willing, you can help."
"Ah," said Barbara, with forced quietness, "I think not--"
He stopped her. "I didn't expect to find you willing. My business is to
persuade you, and I mean to try. Well, I wasn't boasting, and my
drawbacks are plain, but if I make good in Africa, some will be cut out
and you can help me remove the others. I've long wanted you, and now my
luck's turning. I was going to Catalina to tell you so. If Brown and I
float _Arcturus_, will you marry me?"
Barbara's color came and went, but she said quietly: "When you came to
the hotel in the evening you met Shillito!"
"I did," said Lister, with incautious passion. "If I had killed the
brute I'd have been justified! However, I threw him on to the aloe tub
and ran off. The thing was grotesquely humorous. A boy's fool trick!"
"You ran off for my sake," said Barbara. "I liked you for it. I like you
for many things, but I will not marry you."
He saw she was resolute. Her mouth was firm and her hand was tightly
closed. He thought he knew the grounds for her refusal, and his heart
sank. Barbara was stubborn and very proud. Moreover, the situation was
awkward, but the awkwardness must be fronted.
"Let's be frank; perhaps you owe me this," he urged. "Since you allow
you do like me, what's to stop our marrying?"
"For one thing, my adventure in Canada," she replied and turned her
head.
Lister put his hand on her arm and forced her to look up. "Now you're
clean ridiculous! Shillito cheated you; he's a plausible wastrel, but
you found him out. It doesn't count at all! Besides, nobody but your
relations know."
"You know," said Barbara, and, getting up started along the mole.
Lister tried to brace himself, for he saw she could not be moved. Yet
there was something to be said.
"You are the girl I mean to marry," he declared. "Some day, perhaps,
you'll see you're indulging a blamed extravagant illusion and I'm going
to wait. When you're logical I'll try again."
Barbara forced a smile. "Sometimes I am logical; I feel I'm logical now.
But I have left my mother alone rather long and you must let me go."
Lister went with her to the road and got on a tram going to the town. He
was hurt and angry, but not altogether daunted. Barbara's ridiculous
pride might break and she was worth waiting for. When he returned on
board, a small African liner had anchored not far off, and while he
watched the boats that swarmed about the ship, one left the others and
came towards the tug. The Spanish crew were pulling hard and a passenger
occupied the stern. Learmont, lounging near, turned his glasses on the
boat.
"I'm not sorry you are boss," he said. "The Old Man is coming!"
A few minutes afterwards Cartwright got over the tug's rail. His face
was red, and he looked very stern.
"Why have you left the wreck?" he asked Lister.
"I came for some castings I couldn't get at Sierra Leone. The pump and
engine needed mending."
"Then where's Brown?"
"He's busy at the lagoon, sir. There's enough to keep him occupied,
unless the pump plays out before I get back."
Cartwright looked relieved, but asked meaningly: "Did you know Mrs.
Cartwright and Miss Hyslop were at Las Palmas?"
"I did not know until yesterday evening, twenty-four hours after I
arrived; but we'll talk about this again. I expect you want to know how
we are getting on at the wreck?"
Cartwright nodded. "I think my curiosity is natural! Let's get out of
the sun, and if you have liquor on board, order me a drink. When the
mail-boat steamed round the mole and I saw _Terrier_, I got a nasty
jolt."
Lister took him to the captain's room and gave him some sour red Canary
wine. Cartwright drained his glass and looked up with an ironical smile.
"If you use stuff like this. Brown ought not to be tempted much!
However, you can tell me what you have done at the lagoon, and the
difficulties you have met. You needn't bother to smooth down Brown's
extravagances, I knew the captain before I knew you."
Lister told his story, and when he stopped Cartwright filled his glass,
raised it to his lips and put it back with a frown.
"Send somebody along the mole to Garcia's shop for two or three bottles
of his Amontillado and white Muscatel. Charge the stuff to ship's
victualing. When you got Brown out of the factory, did you think it
possible he had a private stock of liquor?"
"I'm satisfied he had not. Montgomery gave him the liquor, and I imagine
meant to give him too, much."
"It looks like that," Cartwright agreed. "If we take something I suspect
for granted, Montgomery's opposition would be logical. I imagine you
know part of the cargo was worth much? Expensive stuff in small bulk,
you see!"
"I have studied the cargo-lists and plans of the holds, sir."
Cartwright nodded. "We'll find out presently if my notion how the boat
was lost is accurate," The cargo's another thing. There may have been
conspiracy between merchant and ship-owner; I don't know yet, but if it
was conspiracy, this would account for much. Some of the gum shipped was
very costly, and African alluvial gold, washed by the negroes, has been
found mixed with brass filings."
"Montgomery frankly stated his father loaded the vessel."
"His frankness may have been calculated," Cartwright rejoined and
knitted his brows. "Yet I'll admit the young fellow's name is good at
Liverpool, and all he sells is up to sample. His father was another
sort, but he died, and the house is now well run. However, in the
meantime we'll let it go."
He looked up, for a fireman, carrying a basket, came in. Cartwright took
the basket and opened a bottle of white wine.
"Take some of this," he said. "I understand you have seen Mrs.
Cartwright?"
"Not yet, sir," said Lister, quietly. "I met Miss Hyslop soon before
your boat arrived. Perhaps I ought to tell you I asked her if she would
marry me if we floated the wreck."
"Ah!" said Cartwright. "But why did you add the stipulation?"
"It ought to be obvious. If we put the undertaking over, I expect to get
a post that will enable me to support a wife, although she might be
forced to go without things I'd like to give her."
"I see!" said Cartwright, with some dryness. "Well, I don't know if
Barbara is extravagant, but she has not used much economy. Was she
willing to take the plunge?"
"She was not, sir."
"Then I suppose she stated her grounds for refusing?"
"That is so," said Lister. "Perhaps Miss Hyslop will tell you what they
are. I will not."
Cartwright looked at him hard. "All the same, I imagine you did not
agree?"
"I did not agree. If I make good at the wreck, I will try again."
"Barbara is pretty obstinate," Cartwright remarked with a smile, and
then filled Lister's glass. "I must go; but come to the hotel in the
morning. We must talk about the salvage plans."
He went off, but when the boat crossed the harbor he looked back at the
tug with twinkling eyes. Lister was honest and had not asked Barbara to
marry him until he saw some chance of his supporting a wife. Since
Barbara was rich, the thing was amusing. All the same, it was possible
the young fellow must wait. Barbara exaggerated and indulged her
imagination, but she was firm.
CHAPTER VIII
CARTWRIGHT GETS TO WORK
The morning was hot and Barbara, sitting on the hotel veranda, struggled
against a flat reaction. The glitter of the sea hurt her eyes, and the
dust that blew in clouds from the road smeared her white dress. Her
mouth dropped and her pose was languid. To refuse Lister had cost her
much, and although she had done so because she felt she ought, the sense
of having carried out a duty was not remarkably soothing. It was a
relief to know she need not pretend to Cartwright, who occupied a
basket-chair opposite. One could not cheat her step-father by false
cheerfulness.
"When you disappointed Lister you took the prudent line," he said. "The
young fellow has some talent, but he has not yet made his mark. I
approve your caution, and expect your mother will agree."
"I wasn't cautious; I didn't argue at all like that," Barbara declared.
"Besides, I haven't told mother. She mustn't be disturbed."
Cartwright looked thoughtful. To some extent he was sympathetic, and to
some extent amused.
"Then I don't altogether understand why you did refuse!"
"Oh, well," said Barbara, and the blood came to her skin, "for one
thing, Mr. Lister waited for some time, and then asked me to marry him,
after Shillito arrived." She paused and her look got hard when she
resumed: "Perhaps he thought he ought; sometimes he's chivalrous."
Cartwright imagined Barbara was badly hurt, and this accounted for her
frankness.
"Your reasoning isn't very obvious, but I think I see a light," he said.
"It's possible, however, he asked you because he wanted you, and there
is an explanation for his waiting. I understand he hesitated because he
doubted if he could support a wife. It looks as if Mr. Lister didn't
know you were rich."
"He doesn't know; I think I didn't want him to know," Barbara admitted
with some embarrassment.
"Shillito knew, but one learns caution," Cartwright remarked. "Well,
Shillito became somewhat of a nuisance, and I don't imagine you want him
to look us up again. I rather think I must get to work."
"I hate him!" said Barbara, passionately. "Until your boat was signaled
I was horribly alarmed, but then the trouble went. I felt I needn't
bother after you arrived." Her voice softened as she added: "You are a
clever old dear! One feels safe while you're about!"
"Thank you," said Cartwright. "I am old, but I have some useful talents.
Well, is there something else about which you want to talk?"
Barbara hesitated. There was something for which she meant to ask,
although her object was not very plain. Perhaps Shillito's demand for
money had made her feel its power; moreover, she was independent and
liked to control her affairs.
"My birthday was not long since, and I'm entitled to use some of the
money that is mine."
"That is so," Cartwright agreed with a twinkle. "All the same, you're
not entitled to use much until you marry, and you have just sent off one
lover. Would you like me to send you out a sum?"
"I think I'd like a check book, and then I needn't bother people."
Cartwright nodded. Barbara was not extravagant. "Very well. I expect we
can trust you, and the money is yours. I can probably arrange for a
business house to meet your drafts. I'll see about it when I'm in the
town."
He started for Las Palmas presently, and after some inquiries stopped at
a Spanish hotel, where he found Shillito. The latter frowned when he saw
Cartwright, but went with him to the courtyard and they sat down in the
shade.
"Have you bought your ticket for Havana?" Cartwright asked.
"I have not," said Shillito. "So far I haven't decided to leave Las
Palmas."
"Then I imagine you had better decide _now_. If money is a difficulty, I
might lend you enough for a second-class passage, but that is all."
Shillito smiled. "If you want to get rid of me, you'll have to go
higher. I reckon it's worth while!"
"I think not," said Cartwright, dryly. "In fact, since I can get rid of
you for nothing, I doubt if it's worth the price of a cheap berth on
board the Lopez boat. However, I'll risk this, in order to save
bothering."
"Bluff! You can cut it out and get to business!"
"Very well. Your call at the Catalina didn't help you much, and if you
come again you will not be received by Miss Hyslop, but by me. I have
met and beaten fellows like you before. My offer's a second-class berth.
You had better take it!"
"Not at all," said Shillito. "Before long you'll want to raise your
bid."
Cartwright got up and crossed the flags; the other frowned and
hesitated, but let him go. When he reached the street Cartwright called
his _tartana_ and told the driver to take him to the British
Vice-Consul's. The Vice-Consul was a merchant who sometimes supplied the
Cartwright boats with stores, and he gave his visitor a cigar.
Cartwright told him as much about Shillito as he thought useful, and the
Vice-Consul weighed his remarks.
"The extradition of a criminal is a long and troublesome business," he
observed. "In the meantime the fellow must not be allowed to annoy you,
and I imagine my duty is to inform the Spanish _justicia_. Don Ramon is
tactful, and I think will handle the situation discreetly. Suppose we go
to see him?"
He took Cartwright to an old Spanish house, with the royal arms above
the door, and a very dignified gentleman received them politely. He
allowed the Vice-Consul to tell Cartwright's story in Castilian, and
then smiled.
"Señor Graham has our thanks for the warning he has brought," he said.
"In this island we are sportsmen. We have our cockpits and casinos, but
our aim is to develop our commerce and not make the town a Monte Carlo.
Then the play at the casinos must be honest. Our way with cardsharpers
is stern."
The Vice-Consul's eyes twinkled. He knew Don Ramon, who resumed: "Señor
Cartwright's duty is to inform the British police. No doubt he will do
so, but until they apply to our _justicia_ in the proper form, I cannot
put in prison a British subject for a robbery he did not commit on
Spanish soil. Perhaps, however, this is not necessary?"
"On the whole, I don't think it is necessary," Cartwright remarked. "The
fellow is a dangerous scoundrel, but I don't know that it is my duty to
give you the bother extradition formalities would imply. Still you may
find him a nuisance if he stays long."
Don Ramon smiled. "I imagine he will not stay long! My post gives me
power to deal with troublesome foreigners. Well, I thank you, and can
promise you will not be disturbed again."
He let them go, and when they went out the Vice-Consul laughed.
"You can trust Don Ramon. For one thing, he knows I have some claim; in
this country a merchant finds it pays to acknowledge fair treatment by
the men who rule. For all that, Don Ramon is just and uses prudently a
power we do not give British officials. The Spanish know the advantages
of firm control, and I admit their plan works well."
Shillito did not return to the Catalina. When he was playing cards for
high stakes one evening, two _guardias civiles_ entered the gambling
house and one touched Shillito's arm.
"You will come with us, señor," he said politely.
Shillito pushed back his chair and looked about. The man carried a
pistol, and the civil guards have power to shoot. His comrade watched
the door.
"What is your authority for bothering me?" he asked.
"It is possible Don Ramon will tell you. He is waiting," said the other.
He took Shillito to the house with the coat of arms, and Don Ramon,
sending off the guards, indicated a chair.
"We have heard something about you, and do not think you ought to remain
at Las Palmas," he remarked. "In fact, since we understand you meant to
go to Cuba, we expect you to start by the Lopez boat."
"I don't mean to go to Cuba," Shillito rejoined.
Don Ramon shrugged. "Well, we do not mind if you sail for another
country. Numerous steamers touch here and the choice is yours. So long
as you leave Las Palmas--"
Shillito looked at him hard. "I am a British subject and stay where I
like!"
"You are obstinate, señor, but I think your statement's rash," Don Ramon
observed. "A British subject is governed by British laws, but we will
not talk about this."
He paused and studied Shillito, who began to look disturbed. "One would
sooner be polite and take the easy line," Don Ramon resumed. "So far
this is possible, because you are not on the list sent our Government by
the British police, but we have power to examine foreigners about whom
we are not satisfied. Well, I doubt if you could satisfy us that you
ought to remain, and when we begin to investigate, a demand for your
extradition might arrive. If you forced us to inquire about you, a
cablegram would soon reach London."
Shillito saw he was beaten and got up.
"I'll buy my ticket for Havana in the morning," he replied.
The Lopez liner was some days late, and in the meantime Lister haunted
the office of the engineering company. At length the articles he needed
were ready, and one afternoon Cartwright hired a boat to take him and
Barbara across the harbor. _Terrier_ lay with full steam up at the end
of the long mole, and when her winch began to rattle, Cartwright told
the Spanish _peons_ to stop rowing. The tug's mooring ropes splashed,
her propeller throbbed, and she swung away from the wall.
She was rusty and dingy; the screens along her bridge were cracked and
burned by the sun. The boat at her rail was blackened by soot, and when
she rolled the weed streamed down from her water-line. She looked very
small and overloaded by the stack of coal on deck. The wash round her
stern got whiter, ripples ran back from her bows, and when she steamed
near Cartwright's boat, her whistle shrieked. Cartwright stood up and
waved; Learmont, on the bridge, touched his cap, but for a few moments
Barbara fixed her eyes on _Terrier's_ deckhouse. Then she blushed and
her heart beat, for she saw Lister at the door of the engine-room. He
saw her and smiled.
The tug's whistle was drowned by a deeper blast. A big liner, painted
black from water-line to funnel-top, was coming out, and Cartwright's
boat lay between her and the tug. Barbara gave the great ship a careless
glance and then started, for she read the name at the bow. This was the
Havana boat.
Studying the groups of passengers at the rails, she thought she saw a
face she knew. The face got distinct, and when the liner's lofty side
towered above the boat, Shillito, looking down, lifted his cap and bowed
with ironical politeness. Barbara turned her head and tried for calm
while she watched the tug.
Lister had not gone. Barbara knew he would not go so long as he could
see the boat, and standing up, with her hand on Cartwright's shoulder,
she waved her handkerchief. Lister's hand went to his cap, but he was
getting indistinct and _Terrier_ had begun to plunge on the long swell
outside the wall. She steered for open sea, the big black liner followed
the coast, and presently Cartwright signed the men to pull. Then he
looked at Barbara and smiled, for he knew she had seen Shillito.
"Things do sometimes happen like that!" he said. "I think the fellow has
gone for good, but the other will come back."
CHAPTER IX
LISTER MAKES GOOD
_Arcturus'_ holds were empty and a long row of oil puncheons occupied
the beach, but the men who had dragged the goods from the water were
exhausted by heavy toil in the scorching sun, and some were sick. The
divers had bolted on plates to cover the holes in the vessel's bilge
before one fell ill and his mate's nerve went. The heat and poisonous
vapors from the swamps had broken his health, and he got a bad jar one
day his air-pipe entangled and the pump-gang dragged him, unconscious,
to the top.
Afterwards, for the most part, Lister undertook the diving, but for long
his efforts to reach the floor of the engine-room were baffled. To crawl
across slanted gratings and down weedy ladders, while air-pipe and
signal-line trailed about the machinery, was horribly dangerous, but he
kept it up, although he got slacker and felt his pluck was breaking.
Then one afternoon he knew he could not go down again, and he stayed
under water long.
Brown, standing by the air-pumps, looked at his watch and waited
anxiously. The bubbles broke the surface above the wreck and the
signal-line was slack, but Lister had been down longer than he ought. He
wars not a diver, and the others who knew their job, had come up sooner.
Then Brown had other grounds for anxiety. If Lister were beaten, their
chance of floating the wreck was small.
At length, the bubbles began to move towards the hulk, the ladder shook,
and a dull, red reflection shone through the water. Then the copper
helmet broke the surface, rose a few inches, and stopped, and Brown ran
to the gangway. Lister was exhausted and his worn-out body could not
meet the change of pressure. They dragged him on board and took off his
helmet and canvas dress. For some minutes he lay like a log, and then
opened his eyes and looked at Brown.
"Cartwright was on the track!" he gasped. "We can go ahead--"
The sun was low, but the pitch in the seams was liquid and smeared the
hot planks, and Brown pulled Lister into the shade. For a time he was
quiet, but by and by he said, "When the tide falls we'll start the pump
and let her go all night. I must get up and tell Jones to clean the
fire."
"I'll tell him. You stay there until we get some food," Brown replied.
The cook served the meal on deck, but they had hardly begun when he
lighted a storm-lamp. As soon as the red sun dipped thick vapor floated
off from the swamps, the water got oily black, and dark clouds rolled
across the sky. Flickering lightning illumined the tumbling surf and
sandy beach, but there was no thunder and the night was calm. The hulk
and tug were moored at opposite sides of the wreck, forward of her
engine room, and thick wire ropes that ran between them had been dragged
back under the vessel for some distance from her bow. The ropes,
however, were not yet hauled tight. When the cook took away the plates
Brown made a rough calculation.
"We have caulked all hatches and gratings forward, and stopped the
ventilators," he said. "I reckon the water will leave the deck long
enough for the pump to give her fore-end some buoyancy. If she rises
with the flood tide, well heave the cables aft, until we can get a hold
that will lift her bow from the ground. Then you can pump out the fore
hold and we'll make a fresh start aft. We'll soon know if Cartwright's
notion is correct."
"We know _now_; I'll satisfy you in the morning," Lister rejoined and
his confidence was not exaggerated.
A steamer's hull below her load-line is pierced in places to admit water
for the condensers and ballast tanks. Lister had found some inlets open,
but now they were shut.
"I'll own old Cartwright's a great man," Brown said thoughtfully. "When
he takes on a job he studies things all round. The salvage folks, no
doubt, reckoned on the possibility that the valves were open, but they
couldn't get at the controls and didn't know all Cartwright knew--" He
paused and added with a laugh: "I wonder how much the other fellows got
for the job! But it's time we started."
Lister got up with an effort and went to the pump, which presently began
to throb. The mended engine ran well and the regular splash of water,
flung out from the big discharge pipe, drowned the languid rumble of the
surf. The hull shook; shadowy figures crossed the beam of light from the
furnace, and vanished in the dark. Twinkling lamps threw broken
reflections on the water that looked like black silk, lightning flashed
in the background, and when the swell broke with phosphorescent sparkles
about the wreck Lister marked the height the pale illumination crept up
her plates. She would not lift that tide, but the pump was clearing the
hold, and he hoped much water was not coming in. If the leakage was not
excessive, her bow ought to rise when the next tide flowed.
For some hours he kept his watch, dragging himself wearily about the
engine and pump. He had helpers, but control was his, and to an engineer
a machine is not a dead mass of metal. Lister, so to speak, felt the
pump had individuality and temperament, like a spirited horse. Sometimes
it must be humored and sometimes urged; it would run faster for a man
whose touch was firm but light than for another. Perhaps he was
fanciful, and he was certainly over-strung, but he imagined the big,
rattling machine knew his hand.
At length when he looked at the gauge glass he found he could not see
the line that marked the water-level. His head swam and his legs shook,
and calling a fireman to keep watch, he sat down in the coal. He wanted
to get to the awning, out of the dew, but could not, and leaning against
the rough blocks, he went to sleep.
In the morning, he knew the fever that bothered him now and then had
returned. For all that, he must hold out and he began his labor in the
burning sun. When the flood tide rippled about the wreck it was obvious
the pump was getting the water down. The bows lifted, and starting the
winches, they hauled aft the ropes. If they could keep it, before long
they might heave her from the sand.
It was a time of stubborn effort and crushing strain. Some of the men
were sick and all had lost their vigor. The fierce sun had not burned
but bleached their skin; their blood was poisoned by the miasma the land
breeze blew off at night. For all that, Cartwright's promise was they
should share his reward and somehow they held on.
At length, in the scorching heat one afternoon when the flood tide began
to run, they hauled the hulk and tug abaft the wreck's engine-room and
made the great ropes fast. If Lister's calculations were accurate, the
pump had thrown out enough water, and the buoyancy of the other craft
would lift the wreck's stern. If not--but he refused to think about
this.
The sea breeze had dropped and the smoke of the engine went straight up.
There was not a line on the glittering lagoon. The sea looked like
melted silver; one felt it give out light and heat. The men's eyes ached
and the intolerable sun pierced their double hats and dulled their
brains. When all was ready, they waited and watched the sandy water
creep up _Arcturus'_ plates until the ropes stretched and groaned and
the hulk began to list. On the wreck's other side, the tug's mast and
funnel slanted.
_Arcturus_ was not yet afloat, and the big wire-ropes, running beneath
her bilge, held down the helping craft. The ends were made fast by hemp
lashings and somebody had put an ax beside the post. For all that,
Lister did not think Brown would give the order to cut; he himself would
not. If they did not float Arcturus now, she must remain in the sand for
good. He would hold on until the rising tide flowed across the tug.
In the meantime, he watched the pump. The engine carried a dangerous
load and the spouting discharge pipe was swollen. Throbbing and
rattling, she fought the water that held _Arcturus_ down. A greaser
touched the crosshead-slides with a tallow swab, and a panting fireman
thrust a bar through the furnace door. Their skin was blackened by sweat
and coal dust; soaked singlets, tight like gloves, clung to their lean
bodies. Nobody else, however, was actively occupied. The negroes lay on
the deck and the white men lounged in the shade of the awning. They had
done all that flesh and blood could do, in a climate that breaks the
white man's strength, and now the tide ought to finish their labor. But
they did not know, and some doubted.
The ropes cracked and the hulk's list got sharp. On one side, her deck
was very near the water. She was broad, but if _Arcturus_ did not lift,
it was obvious she must soon capsize. Lister opened the engine throttle
until the valve-wheel would not turn. The cylinders shook, a gland blew
steam, and the pump clashed and rocked. All the same, he knew himself
ridiculous. The extra water the pump lifted would not help much now.
They had a few minutes, and then, if nobody cut the ropes, the hulk
would go down.
The massive oak mooring-post groaned and the deck-seams opened with the
strain; the wire-ropes were rigid; one could see no hint of curve. The
water touched the hulk's deck and began to creep up. Then it stopped,
the hulk shook, and the wreck's long side slowly got upright.
"She's off!" said Brown hoarsely. Somebody blew the tug's whistle, and
one or two shouted, but this was all. They had won a very stubborn
fight, but winning had cost them much, and Lister felt their triumph was
strangely flat. He smiled and owned he would be satisfied to lie down
and sleep.
Brown gave an order; _Terrier's_ propeller splashed noisily, and
_Arcturus_ began to move. Somehow it looked impossible, but she was
moving. They took her slowly and cautiously across the lagoon, and when
the tide was full put her on the sand. There was much to do yet and
Lister wondered whether he could hold out until all was done.
In the evening Montgomery came off on board a boat pulled by four sturdy
Kroos. He was very thin and haggard, but the fever had left him. When
his boat got near, Brown, frowning savagely, went to the rail.
"What d'you want?" he asked.
"Let me come on board. If we can't, agree, I'll go back in a few
minutes," Montgomery replied, and climbing the bulwarks, went to the
awning and lighted a cigarette.
"You have floated her, but the job's not finished," he said. "I expect
you mean to bring off the cargo you landed and you'll need a fresh gang
of native boys. Well, I can help."
"You imply you can bother us if we don't agree?" Brown remarked.
"Something like that! I can certainly make things awkward. However, all
I want is to go with you when you open the lazaret where the boxes of
gold were stored."
"Ah!" said Brown. "I expect you see what your wanting to go indicates?
Looks as if you knew something about the wreck."
"I imagine I do know something," Montgomery admitted quietly. "At the
beginning, I reckoned you would not float her, but in order to run no
risk, I meant to hinder you as much as possible. Now I'm beaten, I'm
going to be frank--"
He paused and resumed in a low voice: "When I was left control of a
respected business house I was young and ambitious. It was plain the
house had weathered a bad storm, but our fortunes were mending and I
thought they could be built up again. Well, I think I was honest, and
when one of _Arcturus'_ crew demanded money I got a jar. Since my father
loaded the ship, I expect you see where the fellow's threats led?"
"I see the line Cartwright might take," Brown remarked dryly. "If the
boxes don't hold gold, he could break you! We have found out enough
already to give him a strong pull on the boat's last owners. They're in
his power."
"He won't use his power. Cartwright is not that sort! Besides, the
company is bankrupt."
"You are not bankrupt. Do you know what sort Lister and I are?"
Montgomery smiled. "It's not important. If there is no gold in the
boxes, I don't want to carry on the house's business. You can do what
you like--"
He stopped for a few moments and Lister began to feel some sympathy. The
man was desperate and had obviously borne much.
"My staying at the factory was a strain," Montgomery continued. "I was
ill and when at length I saw you might succeed, the suspense was
horrible. You see, I risked the honor of the house, my marriage, my
fortune. All I had and cared about!"
"Were you to be married?" Lister asked.
Montgomery signed agreement. "The wedding was put off. While it looked
as if my mended fortune was built on fraud and I had known, and agreed
to, the trick, I could not marry a high-principled girl."
Brown knitted his brows and was quiet for some moments. Then he said,
"You are now willing to get us the boys we want and help us where you
can?"
"That is so," Montgomery agreed.
"Very well!" said Brown. "We expect to open the lazaret at daybreak and
you can come with us. You had better send off your boat and stop on
board."
CHAPTER X
BARBARA TAKES CONTROL
The sun was rising and the mist rolled back from the lagoon. The tide
was low and _Arcturus'_ rusty side rose high above the smooth green
water. Damp weed hung from the beams in her poop cabin and a dull light
came down through the broken glass. A sailor, kneeling on the slimy
planks, tried to force a corroded ring-bolt from its niche; another
trimmed a smoky lantern. Lister, Brown and Montgomery waited. In the
half-light, their faces looked gray and worn. The sun had given them a
dull pallor, and on the West African coast nobody sleeps much.
After a few minutes the sailor opened the swollen trap-door and then
went down, Brown carrying the lantern. As a rule a ship's lazaret is a
small, dark strong-room, used for stowing liquor and articles of value.
_Arcturus_ was wet and smelt of salt. A row of shelves crossed the
bulkhead and some water lay in the angle where the slanted floor met the
side sheathing. A thin jacket and an officer's peaked cap were in the
water. Brown indicated the objects.
"Looks as if somebody had stripped before he got to work, and then left
without bothering about his clothes," he said. "I don't know if I
expected this, but we'll examine the thing later." He lifted the lantern
and the flickering beam touched five or six small, thick boxes. "Well,
there's some of the gold!"
Lister seized a box and tried to lift it up, but stopped.
"It feels like gold," he said and signed to a sailor. "Help me get the
stuff on deck, Watson."
They carried the boxes up the ladder and Brown brought the cap and
jacket.
"Second-mate's clothes," he said, indicating the bands round the cuffs
and cap. The imitation gold-lace had gone green but clung to the rotten
material.
"Something in the pocket," he added and taking out a small wet book put
it in the sun. "We'll look at this again, and now for the first box! I
may want you to state you saw me break the seals."
Sitting in the shade of the poop, they opened the box, which was filled
with fine dull-yellow grains. Then Lister sent a man to the boat for
some things he had brought, and when the fellow came back hung a small
steel cup from a spring-balance.
"The scale's pretty accurate; I use it on board," he said. "Well, I got
the specific gravity of gold, zinc and copper from my pocket-tables, and
made a few experiments with some bearing metals. They're all brasses;
alloys of copper and zinc, with a little lead and tin in some. I weighed
and measured two or three small ingots and afterwards calculated what
they'd weigh, if their cubic size was the capacity of the cup. I'll give
you the figures."
He did so and then filled the cup with the yellow grains and held up the
balance. Montgomery, leaning forward, looked over his shoulder.
"Weighs more than your heaviest bearing metal! It's gold!" he exclaimed
hoarsely.
"Yes," said Lister, "it's obviously gold. Perhaps we needn't open the
other boxes. When we get on board well weigh them against this lot. So
far as I can reckon after heaving them up the ladder, well not find much
difference."
Montgomery sat down, as if he were too limp to stand. "But these are not
all the boxes that were shipped--"
Brown went for the pocket-book he had put to dry and took out some
papers. "This thing belonged to Gordon Herries, second officer."
"Mr. Herries?" exclaimed the sailor Watson. "The second-mate as was
drowned when the surf-boat capsized!"
"What do you know about it?" Brown asked.
"I know something, sir," said Watson, but Montgomery stopped him and
turned to the others.
"It seems the second mate tried to _save_ the stuff."
"Looks like that," Brown agreed and signed to the sailor. "Now tell us
all you do know."
"We was lying in Forcados river, shifting cargo to the Lagos boat
alongside. Barret, my townie, was on board her; he'd made a run in
_Arcturus_, and told me about the wreck. When she struck, Mr. Herries
swung out number two surf-boat and Barret was her bowman. He went to the
lazaret with Herries and they got up some bags of special gum and some
heavy boxes. Barret thought they were gold, but hadn't seen them put on
board. Then a big comber hit the poop, smashed the skylights, and
flooded the lazaret. They reckoned she was going over and had some
bother to get out. Well, they got the surf-boat off her side; she was
pretty full with a load of Kroo boys and three or four white men. In the
surf, the steering oar broke, she yawed across a sea, and turned out the
lot. Some held on to her, but she rolled over and Barret made for the
beach. They all landed but Mr. Herries; Barret thought the boat hit him.
Gum and boxes went down in the surf."
"Very good," said Brown. "Now get off and send somebody to help heave
the boxes on board."
Montgomery turned his head and leaned against the poop. Lister saw he
trembled as if the reaction from the strain was keen. After a few
moments he braced himself.
"It's done with! I think all the boxes held gold, but they're gone."
Brown indicated the cloud of spray that tossed above the advancing lines
of foam. The long rollers had crashed on the bar from the beginning and
would never stop.
"All the surf gets it keeps," he said. "If there is a secret, I reckon
the secret's safe! However, we have to talk about something else. You
can get us some native boys?"
"I'll send you a fresh gang. If my new agent arrives soon, I'll go with
you as far as Sierra Leone. Since you're short-handed, I might perhaps
help, and I've had enough of the factory."
The others agreed and soon afterwards got to work. When the negroes
Montgomery sent arrived all the cargo worth salving was re-stowed, and
he bought the hulk for a floating store. Then, one night when the moon
and tide were full, _Terrier_ steamed slowly across the lagoon. Two
massive ropes trailed across her stern and _Arcturus'_ high dark bow
towered above her phosphorescent wake. The land breeze blew behind her
and the surf had not the fury the sea breeze gives by day, but when
_Terrier_ plunged into the turmoil Brown watched the tow ropes with
anxious eyes.
_Arcturus_ rolled and sheered about, putting a horrible strain on the
hawsers, and sometimes for a minute or two it looked as if she went
astern. Flame blew from the tug's funnel, lighting the black trail of
smoke; steam roared at her escape-pipe, and the engines throbbed hard.
The ebb tide, however, was beginning to run and helped her across the
shoals. The leadsman got deeper water, the rollers got smooth, and
presently the swell was long and regular and the spray cloud melted
astern. In the morning, a faint dark line to starboard was all that
indicated the African coast. Next day Brown steered for the land and
called Montgomery to the bridge.
"I reckon to make an anchorage before dark," he said. "We'll give the
boys the rest they need and send _Terrier_ to _Sar_ Leone for coal.
Learmont will land you."
"Then you're not going to take _Arcturus_ into port?" Montgomery
remarked with some surprise.
"I am not. Cartwright expects me to save him as much as possible and
there are British officers and Board of Trade rules at _Sar_ Leone. You
don't imagine they'd let me start for Las Palmas? Surveys, reports,
repairs and sending for another tug, might cost two or three thousand
pounds. Then half my crew are sick and some are helpless, though I
reckon they'll pick up sooner at sea than in an African hospital."
"It's a big risk. After all, I owe you much and know something about
curing malarial fever. Besides, I'm a yachtsman and can steer and use
the lead. If you'll take me, I'll go all the way. However, you ought to
send Lister off. He can't hold out."
"He claims he can," Brown said dryly. "We have argued about his going to
Grand Canary by a mail-boat, but he's obstinate. Means to finish the
job; that's his sort! Anyhow, it's possible the Trade breeze will brace
him up, and if he did go, the chances of my taking _Arcturus_ to
Liverpool are not good."
Montgomery stayed on board and when the tug returned with coal they hove
anchor and began the long run to Las Palmas. For a time, Lister kept the
engines going and superintended the pump on board the wreck, but he
could not sleep and in the morning it was hard to drag himself from his
bunk and start another laborious day. The strain was horrible and he was
weakening fast, but it would be cooler soon and perhaps he might hold
out until they met the invigorating Northeast breeze.
In the meantime, Cartwright went back to Liverpool, Mrs. Cartwright got
better, and Barbara waited for news. She had refused Lister, but to
refuse had cost her more than she had thought. After a time Cartwright
wrote and stated that the tug and Arcturus had started home. No fresh
news arrived and Barbara tried to hide her suspense, until one morning a
small African liner steamed into port. Some passengers landed and when
they lunched at the hotel one talked about his going off with the first
officer to a ship that signaled for help.
"It was a moving picture," he said. "The rusty, weed-coated steamer
rolling on the blue combers, and the little, battered tug, holding her
head-to-sea. The breeze was strong and for some days they had not made
three knots an hour. Well, I know something about fever, but they were
_all sick;_ the engineer delirious and very weak--"
Barbara, sitting near the passenger, made an effort for calm. Her heart
beat and her breath came fast. Nobody remarked her abrupt movement and
the other went on:
"Coal, food and fresh water were running out; their medicine chest was
empty. Everything was foul with soot, coal-dust and salt. I expect it
was long since they were able to clean decks. The skipper was in a
hammock under the bridge-awning and could not get up. An African trader,
Montgomery of a Liverpool house, seemed to have control. His skin was
yellow, like a mulatto's."
A young American doctor to whom Barbara had been talking looked up.
"Jaundice after malaria!" he remarked. "I don't know West Africa, but I
was at Panama! Was malaria all the rest had got?"
"It was not," the passenger replied meaningly. "However, if you know
Panama--"
"Did you try to tow the ship?" Barbara interrupted.
"The mate thought it impossible. She was big and foul with weed, our
boat is small, and we could not delay much because of the mails. We sent
a surf-boat across with water and food, and then steamed on."
Barbara looked about the table. Mrs. Cartwright was at the other end and
Barbara thought she had not heard. She touched the young doctor.
"Will you help me on board the African steamer? I must see the captain."
"Why, certainly! We'll look for a boat," the other replied and they went
off.
Barbara saw the captain and when she stated that the owner of _Arcturus_
was her step-father he sent for the chief mate, who narrated his visit
to the wreck.
"You took the ship's doctor," said Barbara. "Is he now on board?"
The mate said he imagined the doctor had not landed and Barbara turned
to Wheeler.
"Go and find him! Find out all you can!"
For some time afterwards she talked to the ship's officers, and when
Wheeler returned went back to her boat. While the _peons_ rowed them to
the mole she asked Wheeler for his pocket-book and wrote an address.
"Don Luis Sarmiento is the best doctor in the town and had something to
do with a fever hospital in Cuba," she said. "If you tell him I sent
you, he will help. Take all the medicine he can give you and then go to
Leopard Trading Company and buy whatever you think sick men would need.
Bring me the bills."
"If I get all that would be useful, it will cost you high," said Wheeler
and helped her up the steps at the mole.
"That is not important. Get the things!"
"Very well. But the ship is six hundred miles off. How are you going to
put the truck on board?"
"I'm going to see about that next," Barbara replied and indicated a
cloud of dust rolling along the road. "There's the steam tram. Don't
talk; hustle!"
Wheeler lifted his cap and running along the mole jumped on board the
tram.
When he had gone Barbara went to the office of an important English
merchant house and asked for the junior partner. She was strangely calm,
although she knew that when the strain was over she would pay. In the
meantime, she needed help and admitted it was lucky young men liked her;
she had not hesitated to use her charm on the American. The junior
partner was keen to help, and going with her to a coaling office,
offered to charter a powerful Spanish tug the company had recently
bought. The manager agreed and Barbara made a calculation.
"If you can get the boat ready to sail in the morning, I'll send you a
check when she starts," she said.
They went out and the merchant gave Barbara an approving smile. "I
imagine they haven't at the moment much use for the tug, which accounts
for their being willing to take a moderate sum. All the same, you
handled the situation like a good business man. Had they known much
about your plans before we agreed, they would have sent the tug and
claimed a large reward for salvage. In fact, it looks as if you had
saved Mr. Cartwright--"
"It's possible," Barbara broke in impatiently. "Still they don't know
where _Arcturus_ is and that her crew are ill. Now, however, we must
engage fresh men to relieve the others. I don't mind if you pay them
something over the usual rate."
The merchant engaged the crew of a Spanish fishing schooner that was
being laid up, and Barbara returning to the hotel found Wheeler in the
garden.
"I've got all the medicine and truck I reckon would be useful," he said.
"If the steamboat man didn't exaggerate, you want a doctor next."
Barbara gave him a level glance and smiled. "If you like, you may go! A
fast tug sails in the morning."
"Why," he said, "I'd be delighted! You can call it fixed. I came along
for a holiday, but soon found that loafing made me tired--"
"Thank you," said Barbara and was gone.
The doctor laughed and joining an English friend in the hotel ordered a
drink.
"I reckon I've been rushed," he remarked. "You folks look slow, but I
allow when you do get started some of you can move. Since lunch I've
been helping an English girl fix some things and she hit a pace that
left me out of breath."
"Miss Hyslop?" said the other. "Perhaps if she'd had a job for me I
might have used an effort to get up speed. A charming girl, and I think
she's resolute."
"She's surely resolute!" Wheeler agreed. "Miss Hyslop sees where she
wants to go and gets there by the shortest road."
When dusk fell Barbara thought all was ready and sitting down by Mrs.
Cartwright narrated what she had done. After she stopped Mrs. Cartwright
put her hand gently on the girl's arm.
"It's lucky you came out with me," she said. "I would not have known
what to do, and I doubt if Mortimer--"
Barbara laughed. "Mortimer would have calculated, weighed one thing
against another, and studied his plans for a week. Mine are rude, but in
the morning they'll begin to work. After all, in a sense, I have not
done much. I have sent others, when I want to go myself."
"It's impossible, my dear," said Mrs. Cartwright, firmly.
"Well, I expect I must be resigned. One is forced to pay for breaking
rules! I have paid; but we'll talk about something else."
"The tug and supplies have, no doubt, cost much," Mrs. Cartwright
remarked. "You must let me give you a check."
"No," said Barbara in a resolute voice. "I will take no money until
mine's all gone. Father's a dear, I owe him much, and now I can help I'm
going to help. I have sent a cablegram he had better come out but in the
meantime he needn't be anxious because I have taken control."
Mrs. Cartwright let her go presently and Barbara went to her room. She
had borne a heavy strain, but the reaction had begun, and throwing
herself on a couch she covered her face with her hands and cried.
CHAPTER XI
LISTER'S REWARD
Signal flags fluttered in the breeze at the top of the Isleta and a
smoke cloud stained the blue horizon. For a few minutes the cloud
vanished, and then rolled up again, thicker than before. Cartwright
studied it carefully and gave the glasses to Barbara, who stood near him
on the Catalina mole.
"Is that _one_ trail of smoke?" he asked.
"I think I see two. Sometimes they melt, but they're getting distinct
now. There _are_ two!"
"Ah!" said Cartwright. "Then it's _Arcturus_. I expect your tug has
saved the situation."
"Lister saved _Arcturus_ before I meddled," Barbara declared with a
blush. "However, I'm glad I could help. You have often helped me."
Cartwright's eyes twinkled. "All I gave I have got back, but I'm not
persuaded you didn't mean to help another. Well, perhaps, the other
deserves your interest. Brown's a useful man, but he has some drawbacks
and I doubt if he could have carried through the undertaking."
"If you'll wait in the shade, I'll get a jacket," Barbara replied.
"There's a fresh breeze, the launch splashes, and I'm going with you to
meet _Arcturus_."
When the first flag blew out from the Isleta staff, she had called
Cartwright, and they had hurried to the neighboring mole. Cartwright had
arrived two days before and they had watched the signals until the
longed for message came: _Steamer in tow from the South._
"I think you'll wait," said Cartwright quietly. "You don't know much
about fever and the men I sent are not altogether making a triumphant
return."
The blood came to Barbara's skin. She had meant to go and hated to be
baffled, but Cartwright gave her a steady glance and she knew there was
no use in arguing when he looked like that.
"Did you or your mother tell me Mrs. Seaton arrived by a recent boat?"
he resumed.
Barbara was surprised, but said Mrs. Seaton was at the Metropole.
Cartwright looked at the tugs' smoke.
"Then, I ought to have time to see her before they tow _Arcturus_ in.
Some sea is running and they can't steam fast."
He started for the Catalina and when he stopped by Mrs. Cartwright's
chair his face was hot and he trembled. Hurry and muscular effort upset
him, but time was valuable.
"I have not yet asked you for money, Clara," he said.
"That is so," Mrs. Cartwright agreed. "Sometimes I was hurt because you
did not. You ought to know all that's mine is yours."
Cartwright smiled. "You are a good sort and I'm going to borrow now
because I can pay back. I want you to telegraph your bank to meet my
check."
"I'll write you a check."
"No," said Cartwright, "I think the other plan is better. Well, the sum
is rather large--"
He stated the sum and Mrs. Cartwright said, "I'm not very curious, but
why do you want the money?"
"I'm going to buy Mrs. Seaton's shares."
"Ah," said Mrs. Cartwright with a disturbed look, "she tried to force
you to buy before."
Cartwright knew his placid, good-humored wife hated Mrs. Seaton.
"You're puzzled?" he remarked. "Well, I'd have bought the shares long
since, but I wasn't rich enough and didn't think my borrowing was
justified. All the same, the block she holds gives her a dangerous
power, and if I can get them I'll baffle the opposition at the company's
meeting. But I must be quick."
"If you want to baffle Ellen Seaton, you can use all the money I have
got!" Mrs. Cartwright declared. "Tell me what I must telegraph the
bank."
Cartwright did so and made for the Metropole as fast as possible,
because the tugs' smoke was not far off. When he reached the big square
hotel he gave a page his card and frowned while he waited in the
glass-roofed patio. Time was valuable and he hoped Mrs. Seaton would not
be long. On the whole, he did not think he was going to be shabby, but
perhaps shabbiness was justified. Ellen had not forgotten she had
thought him her lover, and although it was long since she would not
forget. She hated his wife and had tried to injure him. Cartwright
imagined she would try again, and so long as she kept her shares her
antagonism was dangerous.
She entered the patio with two young tourists, whom she sent off, and
beckoned Cartwright to a bench behind a palm. The sun that pierced the
glass roof was strong and he reflected with dry amusement that Ellen
looked better by electric light in the evening. Although she smiled, her
glance was keen and not friendly.
"I arrived some days since and met Barbara in the street, but she has
not been to see me yet," she said. "However, now you have come I ought
to be satisfied! Since you were able to get away from the office, I
expect shipping is languid."
Cartwright thought she meant to be nasty. For one thing, Barbara had not
gone to see her and perhaps had not urged her calling at the hotel.
Ellen did not like the girl, but she wanted to know people and Mrs.
Cartwright had stopped at Las Palmas for some time. As a rule, Clara's
friends were good. This, however, was not important. He must buy Ellen's
shares before _Arcturus_ arrived and the news of her salvage got about.
"Oh, well," he said, "although I think I see signs of improvement,
things are not very promising yet."
"If you are not hopeful, the outlook must be black," Mrs. Seaton
remarked meaningly. "Perhaps I ought to sympathize, but the effort's too
much. My investments have all gone wrong and my luck at the Grand
National was remarkably bad. In fact, if nobody will buy my shares in
your line, I may be forced to agree with the people who want to wind up
the company."
Cartwright thought his luck was good. Ellen was extravagant and a
gambler. No doubt, she needed money, but he knew she was willing to hurt
him and could do so. All the same, if she could force him to buy the
shares she thought worth nothing, her greed would conquer her
spitefulness. Well, he was going to indulge her.
"If you did join my antagonists, I might pull through, but I'll admit it
would be awkward," he replied. "In order to avoid the fight, I'll buy
your shares for ten shillings."
Mrs. Seaton hesitated. She did not want to lose her power, but she
wanted money. Nominally, the shares were worth a much larger sum, but
she had found out that nobody else was willing to buy the block. For all
that, Cartwright was cunning and she wondered whether he knew something
she did not. She asked for a higher price, but Cartwright refused. He
was cool and humorous, although he knew _Arcturus_ was steadily nearing
the harbor. Perhaps in a few minutes the look-out on the Isleta would
read her flags. At length he pulled out his watch.
"I have an engagement, but I rather want the shares. My getting them
would help me at the meeting," he said. "Shall we say twelve-and-sixpence?
This is the limit."
"Very well," said Mrs. Seaton and smiled with a sense of triumph. "It
looks very greedy, but when can I have a check? You see, I'm nearly
bankrupt."
"Now," said Cartwright, and taking out his fountain pen, rang a bell.
"Send a page for some notepaper and write an undertaking to deliver me
the shares."
Mrs. Seaton did so and Cartwright wrote the check. Then she signed to
one of the young men she had sent off. "Since you are very
business-like, you had better have a witness! I'm relieved to get the
check, particularly since I expected you would be forced to ask Clara
for the money."
Cartwright had to smile. The sneer was Ellen's Parthian shot. She was
retiring from the field, but he owned that she might have beaten him by
a bold attack and he had been afraid.
He went to the bar and ordered a drink, and then going out saw fresh
signals blow from the Isleta staff. _Arcturus'_ hull was visible in the
tugs' thick smoke; the look-out on the hill with his big telescope had
read her flags and was signaling her name and number to the town.
Cartwright had won by a few minutes and was satisfied, although he had
given Mrs. Seaton twelve-and-sixpence for her shares, when perhaps he
need not. This was now about their just value, and, for old time's sake,
he had not meant to cheat her. In the meantime a launch was waiting to
take him on board _Arcturus_ and he hurried to the mole.
Barbara saw the launch start, with mixed emotions. She was something of
a rebel and had anybody but Cartwright ordered her to stop she would not
have obeyed. She waited in the shade, fixing her eyes on the laboring
tugs. Sometimes she felt a thrill of triumph because Lister had
conquered; sometimes she was tortured by suspense. She did not know if
he stood at the levers in the engine-room, or lay, unconscious, in his
bunk. Well, she would soon know and she shrank.
She rubbed the glasses and looked again. There were two towropes;
_Terrier_ plunged across the rollers on _Arcturus'_ starboard bow, the
Spanish tug to port. It looked as if the wreck's steering-gear did not
work. Spray blew about the boats and the crested seas broke in foaming
turmoil against the towed vessel's side until she drew in behind the
Isleta. A few minutes afterwards she swung round the mole and Barbara
thought the picture moving.
The tugs looked very small; the half-loaded hull they towed to an
anchorage floated high above her proper water-line. Rolling on the
languid swell at the harbor mouth, she looked huge. Her rusty side was
like a warehouse wall. When she lifted her plates from the water one saw
the wet weed shine; higher up it clung, parched and dry, to the red
iron, although there were clean belts where the stuff was scraped away.
Barbara pictured the exhausted men scraping feebly when the sea was calm
and the sun did not touch the vessel's side.
All the same, the men had won a triumph. It looked impossible that the
handful of bemused ruffians she had seen start at Liverpool could have
dragged the big vessel from the bottom of the lagoon, but the thing was
done. _Arcturus_, battered and rusty, with sagging masts and broken
funnel, was coming into harbor. A big pump throbbed on board, throwing
water down her side; she flew a small, bright red ensign aft and a new
house-flag at the masthead. Barbara thought the flag flaunted proudly
and the thing was significant. Cartwright had weathered the storm, but
she had helped.
The tugs' engines stopped and Barbara's heart beat, for a yellow flag
went up. She hated the ominous signal, and turning the glasses, followed
the doctor's launch. The boat ran alongside _Terrier_, a man went on
board, returned and climbed a ladder to _Arcturus'_ deck. He did not
come back for some time and Barbara looked for Lister, but could not see
him. Then the yellow flag was hauled down and _Arcturus_ moved slowly up
the harbor.
A fleet of shore-boats followed and when the anchor dropped crowded
about the ship. Barbara braced herself and waited. Half the voyage was
over and when the engines were cleaned and mended _Arcturus_ would steam
to England. The salvors had won, but sometimes victory cost much, and
Barbara knew she might have to pay.
A launch with an awning steamed to the mole and vanished behind the
wall. Barbara stopped in the shade; somehow she durst not go to the
steps. Cartwright came up, but seeing his grave look, she let him pass.
Then the American doctor reached the top and called to somebody below.
Three or four men awkwardly lifted a stretcher to the pavement, and
Cartwright signed to the driver of a carriage waiting in the road.
Wheeler stopped him.
"It's not far. Carrying will be smoother."
"Very well, I'll see all's ready," said Cartwright and got into the
carriage.
Then Barbara went to the stretcher, which was covered by green canvas.
She thought she knew who lay behind the screens, and her look was
strained.
"Is Mr. Lister very ill?" she asked.
Wheeler gave her a sympathetic glance. "He is pretty sick; he was nearly
all in when I boarded the ship. Now it's possible he'll get better."
Barbara turned her head, but after a few moments looked up. "Thank you
for going! Where are the others?"
"We have sent some to the Spanish hospital, landed them at the coaling
wharf. They're not very sick. The rest are on board."
"_All_ the rest?"
"Three short," said the doctor quietly. "They have made their last
voyage. But the boys are waiting to get off with the stretcher."
Barbara let him go and followed. He looked very tired and she did not
want to talk. She saw the stretcher carried up the hotel steps and along
a passage, and then went to her room. A Spanish doctor and nurse were
waiting and she knew she would be sent away. To feel she could not help
was hard, but she tried to be resigned and stopped in the quiet room,
listening for steps. Somebody might bring a message that Lister wanted
her.
The message did not come and she was conscious of some relief, although
she was tormented by regretful thoughts. Lister loved her and she had
refused him, because she was proud. Perhaps her refusal was justified,
but she was honest, and admitted that she had known he would not let her
go, and had afterwards wondered how she would reply when he asked her
again. Now she knew. The strain had broken her resolution. She had
indulged her ridiculous pride and saw it might cost her much. Her lover
was very ill; Wheeler doubted if he would get better.
In the evening Montgomery joined Cartwright in a corner of the
smoking-room.
"I expect Captain Brown told you about the bother I gave him," he
remarked.
"That is so," said Cartwright. "He, however, stated you gave him some
help."
"All the same, at the beginning, I held up the job. When Brown could not
work, your expenses ran on and I feel I ought to pay."
"It's just. Coming home, when my men were sick and Brown was in his
bunk, you undertook the duties of doctor and navigator, and Wheeler
admits your cures were good. Since you have a counter-claim, suppose we
say we're quits?"
Montgomery felt some relief. It looked as if Cartwright did not mean to
use his advantage; the old fellow was generous. Montgomery hesitated for
a moment and then resumed: "I understand you bought the wreck?"
"I used the shareholders' money; at all events, I used as much as I
durst. She's the company's ship."
"But the cargo?"
"The cargo's mine. That is, I get an allowance, agreed upon with the
underwriters for all I have salved. I rather think the sum will be
large."
"Then you're satisfied? Although you didn't get all the gold and lost
the valuable gum in the lazaret?"
Cartwright's eyes twinkled. "I've some grounds for satisfaction, and I
know when to stop! But perhaps I'd better be as frank as is needful.
Very well! I get salvage on some of the gold. The rest is under the surf
and nobody will open the boxes now. The thing's done with."
Montgomery was moved, but he saw there was no more to be said and asked
quietly: "Will you tell me what you think about the prospects of the
line?"
"On the whole, I imagine the prospects are good. We have got a useful
boat for a very small sum, and the last report was _Oreana_ could
probably be floated without much damage when the St. Lawrence ice
breaks. Well, I calculate next year's trading will earn us a small
dividend, and since business is improving, we ought to prosper before
very long."
"Thank you," said Montgomery. "I know something about the line and
imagine the directors may need support. Just now I have some money that
does not earn much. Would it help if I bought a number of your shares?"
"I think not," said Cartwright. "The plan has drawbacks. People are
sometimes uncharitable and I have antagonists who might hint at a bribe.
Besides, I don't need support. My luck has turned and I rather think I
can break the opposition." He smiled and getting up, put his hand on
Montgomery's arm. "All the same, when I send a boat to Africa you can
load her up. Now I'm going to find the nurse and ask about Lister."
Lister was delirious, and for two or three days the doctors doubted his
recovery. Then, one morning, they said his temperature had fallen and
there was hope. Next morning they admitted that he was slowly making
progress. Barbara did not leave the hotel, lest she miss the latest news
from the sick-room. She was not allowed to go in, and when evening came
she knew she could not sleep. She had not slept much since they carried
Lister up the steps.
When all was quiet and the guests had gone to bed she went to the
veranda and leaned against the rails. She was highly strung and
rebellious. Lister had sent her a message, but she was not allowed to
see him yet. She wanted to see him and was persuaded that for him to see
her would not hurt. She knew he wanted her.
The moon was bright, but the shadow of the hotel stretched across the
garden. Somebody was moving about in the gloom and Barbara started when
she saw it was the nurse. The tired woman had gone out to rest for a few
minutes in the cool night air and Barbara saw her opportunity.
Stealing across the veranda, she went along a passage and up some
stairs. The landing at the top was dark, but she knew Lister's door, and
turning the handle quietly, looked in. Bright moonlight shone through
the open window and a curtain moved in the gentle breeze. Mosquito gauze
wavered about the bed where a quiet figure lay. Barbara stole across the
floor and pulled back the guard. The rings rattled and Lister opened his
eyes. He smiled, and Barbara, kneeling by the bed, put her arm round his
neck.
"My dear! You know me?"
"Of course! I wanted you. Since I got my senses back, I've tried to call
you."
"You called not long since. I cheated the nurse and came; but if you
ought to be quiet, I mustn't talk. The doctors said--"
"They don't understand," said Lister. "Now I have seen you, I'm going to
get well."
Barbara lifted her head and studied him. His face was pinched, his skin
was very white and wet. Her eyes filled and she was moved by tender
pity.
"Oh, my dear!" she said. "It was for my sake you went!"
Lister took her hand, and she felt his was thin and hot. "I'm paid for
all! But, Barbara, I think you're _logical_ When I'm better--?"
She kissed him. "Of course. I'll marry you when you like. In the
meantime you're weak and tired and must go to sleep."
"I am tired," he admitted. "Besides, the nurse will come."
Barbara gently touched his wet hair and moved his pillow. "The nurse is
not important, but you mustn't talk."
She gave him her hand again and he went to sleep. Some time afterwards
the nurse returned and started when she saw the white figure kneeling by
the bed. Then she began to talk angrily in a low voice. Barbara was
getting cramped, but without moving her body, she looked at the nurse
and her eyes sparkled with rebellious fire.
"Be quiet; he mustn't wake!" she said. "There's no use in arguing. I
mean to stay!"