CAPTAIN DINSHAW PULLS A LONG BOW
Below the customs house in Manila, close to the embankment of the
Pasig River, on the Binondo side, opposite Fort Santiago and the
Walled City, there is an ancient adobe building thatched with
_nipa_. Its narrow door opens on the waterfront. High and narrow
windows, devoid of glass or shell, are mere slits cut through the
walls. Seen from the river, they have a striking resemblance to the
gun-ports of an ancient battleship.
This place is known to sailormen the world over as "The Cuartel"
and probably takes its name from the fact that it was a sort of
block house used by the Spanish, to hold the approaches to the
river. It stands at the head of a narrow little street which twists
back into the native quarter of Tondo, and affords a haven for the
mixed population which labours on the Mole--coolies, seamen,
Chinese mess "boys," Tagalog _cargadores_, Lascar _serangs_,
stalwart Sikh watchmen from the hemp and sugar _godowns_, squat
Germans in white suits with pencils stuck in their sun helmets and
wearing amber-coloured spectacles. British clerks with cargo lists,
customs brokers, barking mates with blasphemous vocabularies,
Scotch mechanics with parched throats, and all the underlings who
have to do with ships and their freights.
Here they all gather for their tipple and gossip, easy at
friendships and quick at quarrels. They babble of things which
their employers would have kept secret, their tongues limbered by
drams from square-shouldered greenish bottles, Dutch as dykes,
which line the shelves behind the bar.
The Cuartel is owned by a black man from Batavia who calls himself
Vanderzee. His mother was a Kling. He was berth-deck cook of a
gunboat, by his own report, and "Jack o' the Dust" in a river
monitor up "China way." That's all anybody seems to know about him,
and it is suspected that he has his own reasons for keeping a clove
hitch on his tongue about himself.
There are legends about fortunes which have been made out of bits
of news gleaned from conversations before the bar of the Cuartel.
The lampman of a Blackpool tramp remarked over his peg of rum that
his skipper liked smoked eels for breakfast and was taking on a
cargo of best steaming coal for Kamrangh Bay. This knowledge
enabled Togo to destroy the Baltic fleet in the Tushima Straits.
And a stevedore made something like a million dollars out of a
cargo of canned salmon by hearing some cockney give his theory
about how the blockade could be run to Port Arthur.
Vanderzee made some of his profits out of a little room at the far
end of his bar, where a man could sit hidden by tawny _tapa_
curtains rove on a bamboo pole, and have privacy while he heard
what was being said at the bar. The room had a marble-topped table
and two chairs.
Two men were inside of an afternoon, playing at cribbage. One was
short and heavily built, with powerful shoulders threatening to
break through the seams of his white drill jacket. His black hair
was clipped close to his skull, making his ears appear to stick
out amazingly. He had black moustaches which grew down over his
mouth, masking it. His face was brown and rough hewn. A straw hat,
curled up into a grotesque shape, lay at his feet like some
distorted bivalve. Its owner had an air of authority about him,
even a touch of dominance in the way he scanned his cards or moved
the pegs in the board. When his arm went out to the table, it moved
with a ponderous steadiness. His brown and hairy hand had the slow,
powerful sweep of a derrick-boom.
His companion was thin and angular, quick-eyed and nervous in his
movements, as though he moved on a gear of higher speed than his
opponent in the game. He crouched over the table when he shuffled
the cards or played them, without lifting his elbows from the
table, in the fashion of a jealous dog with a bone. He wore a blue
cap with a polished black visor, tilted back on his head, giving
him a rakish, devil-may-care aspect. His long and lean face, cut
with wrinkles, was twisted into a sly grin, as if he thought he had
the advantage of the other man.
The _tapa_ curtains were closed. The alcove was lighted from two of
the narrow windows, cut so high in the wall that they gave no view
of the Mole and the street outside unless a man were to climb on a
chair and get his shoulders on a level with the bamboo rafters,
where the tiny lizards prowled in the dust and hunted flies.
The roar of the docks surged through dull and confused, a medley of
clanking hatch-covers, complaining tackle, deep-throated protests
of donkey-engines, outlandish commands from stevedores, and the
yelps of high-strung little tugs bossing the lighters.
Vanderzee pottered at his books behind the bar, smoking a china
pipe. His watchful eye was on his Chinese boy polishing the
brasswork of the taps. The last of the noon idlers had gone, and
the door leading to the Mole was shut against the hot breeze
lifting from the sun's glare on the river.
Then a beam of light whipped across the floor with a shuffle of
feet on the stone steps outside. Captain Dinshaw tottered in,
gasping for breath and shaking with excitement.
"Van!" he cried, weakly, making for the bar. "I'm rich!"
The black man grunted, and put his pipe in his mouth, staring past
Dinshaw at the door as if he expected to see a pursuing party burst
in and attack the old man, who seemed spent from running.
"Who's der drouble?" he growled. "For v'y you roon?"
"I've hauled the wind!" cried Dinshaw, dropping his parcel on the
bar, and throwing up his hands in a gesture of wild delight.
"My luck's turned! I'm a rich man, I tell ye!"
"Vell," remarked Vanderzee with stolid calm. "If you puy a monkey
in some oder blaces, don'd pring him here to me. You vant me
droubles to haff der bolice mit, hey? A few trinks you get, der sun
your het in, und--dronk der Cuartel in und my license I loose
maype."
"I'll make ye rich!" persisted Dinshaw, in his high-pitched,
quivering voice, and giving no heed to the admonitions of the black
man and not in the least disconcerted by the lack of welcome. "I'm
goin' to my island!"
"Der more kvicker, der more petter," said Vanderzee, and humped his
shoulders up with a convulsive shrug. "Maype you prink it back und
anchor it off der lighthouse, hey?"
"Jarrow'll take me in the _Nuestra_," continued Dinshaw, now as if
talking to himself. "I'll be rich and have good soup for supper.
I've got the tide this time, an' no mistake. It's turned for me, as
I allus said it would, and Jarrow'll head out for my island. I tell
ye, man, it's all settled. Have ye seen Jarrow?"
"Charrow petter nod see you. Crassy you iss."
"He'll want to see me, an' don't forget," said Dinshaw, wagging his
head. "Jarrow's the man for me and----"
The _tapa_ curtains were thrust aside violently, and the short,
squat man with clipped hair stood between them, glowering, one hand
gripped into a fist, and the other holding the swaying fabric.
"What's this of me and the _Nuestra_?" he roared. His moustaches
puffed out at each word, and his jaw lifted to a pugnacious angle
as he threw back his head. He screwed up his eyes into a sort of
malevolent grin which did not extend below the bridge of his nose.
Dinshaw blinked at him for a minute, taken aback by the picture of
this man, who seemed about to charge into the room after him.
"You said you'd go," said Dinshaw.
"You lay off this blasted chin-chin about me and my schooner!"
raged Jarrow. "I've heard enough of it!"
"But I'm in soundin's, cap'n. We're bound out in the _Nuestra_ for
the island! We're goin----"
"Git out!" snapped Jarrow, and clumping out into the room, lifted a
hairy fist at the old man. But Dinshaw held his ground, and as
Vanderzee cried out to take care, the captain merely pushed the old
man back with a snort of rage.
"But it's all settled, I tell ye!" insisted Dinshaw. "Hard and
fast. We're to go----"
"Then go!" snarled Jarrow. "Go jump off the Mole, and give me some
rest and quiet. I got other things to 'tend to. How'm I to git a
charter for the _Nuestra_, with you and yer slack jaw runnin' wild
up and down the waterfront tellin' all hands and the ship's cook
I'm goin' to yer blasted island in my schooner? Hop in the river,
but keep clear o' me and mine! Won't have it from ye!"
"Der sun his het in," said Vanderzee, with a significant nod
toward Dinshaw. He wanted to avoid trouble. "He iss crassy."
The tall, thin man now parted the curtains and came out, his long
legs moving stiffly across the floor. He glanced at Dinshaw with a
sneering, wicked eye and sniffed contemptuously. He gave the
twisted straw hat to Jarrow, who pulled it open and clamped it over
his clipped skull. They both turned to the bar.
"Ye said ye'd go," piped Dinshaw. "Ye allus said ye'd take me, an'
now's the chance. I ain't goin' to stay with Prayerful Jones no
more. I'm goin to pack my dunnage an' take it aboard the
_Nuestra_."
"There ye go!" cried Jarrow, swinging toward him, and extending a
brawny arm wrathfully. "Ye make fast to me like a devilfish! That's
the tune ye've been singin' for years! '_Said ye'd go!_' Same old
story! Why, I----"
He paused, as if at a loss for words to express his disgust, and
pulled a cigar from his pocket. He bit the end from it with a
twisting motion of his head. The tall man sighed wearily.
"Ach!" said Vanderzee. "No harm. Who iss to giff mind to vat he
say? He iss crassy."
"There's a-plenty to give mind to it," snarled Jarrow. "Didn't I
lose a charter last dry season to bring wood from Mindoro? What
with this booby-bird goin' round Manila with word I'm to take the
_Nuestra_ to his fool island, who's to want my boat? Here I am now,
lookin' to sign up a gover'ment hay charter, and he'll put me high
and dry if this word is passed along again. I won't have it. I'll
see the police."
"Can't ye let me tell----?" began Dinshaw.
"Come along of me, Peth," said Jarrow. The angular man, who had
arranged the upper part of his body in such manner that the bar
afforded possibilities for rest, unfolded himself and moved toward
his companion.
"I'll make ye all rich," wailed Dinshaw.
"You'll cost me a pretty penny, that's what!" exploded Jarrow,
turning back from the door. "I never said I'd take ye, and ye can
git that out of yer fool head! Here I am, kickin' my heels around
port and my schooner feedin' barnacles off the breakwater, all
'cause ye've got somethin' chafin' yer top-hamper. I won't stand
for it no more."
"But I got a man to take us," pleaded Dinshaw, going after him. "A
man said he'd charter the _Nuestra_ and we'd all go. Two men and a
lady it was, up at the----"
"Oh, I've heard enough of yer cock-and-bull yarns," retorted
Jarrow, who was not averse to freeing his mind on Dinshaw. "What
the devil do ye want to make fast to me fer! I don't want ye
traversin' round charterin' my schooner and me. Makin' jokes for
the loafers up on the canal. Ye done that once before, and ye'll do
it again. I'll have the police on ye! It's about time Prayerful
Jones was shut of lettin' loose his bums and lunatics on us folks
with property."
"No harm," said Vanderzee, soothingly.
"I say it is harm! I'm hailed whurever I go about this business of
the old un's island, Van! Just 'cause I've got a schooner, it's
Jarrow, Jarrow, Jarrow! I'd look fine and smart cruisin' round for
a P. D. island, wouldn't I? Now tell me that?"
"It's a lie!" cried Dinshaw. "Them geodetic youngsters didn't look
for my island, an' what's more, they wouldn't know it if they found
it. That's why they come back with a 'Position Doubtful' report.
Think I'm goin' to let them young whippersnappers know about my
island so they can find it? Find it! I can find it with a bone
quadrant and----"
"Find Tophet!" yelled Jarrow, and turned to the door.
"Look here!" shouted Dinshaw, reaching into his pocket and fishing
out the bill he got from Locke for his picture. "I can prove it!
Here's money, planked down, and more where it comes from. I'm to
go, I tell ye, an' if ye don't want none of it, I'll see Hood about
a boat. I thought ye was a friend of mine, Jarrow, so I come to ye.
This man I got could buy your old schooner and a hundred like her,
an' never miss the money. He asked for a boat and I said Jarrow,
an' when the young lady asked who's to skipper it, I said Jarrow's
the man, an' Peth for mate, an' he sung out for me to bring ye up
to the tavern an' sign the charter. I'll say no more--I'll see
Hood."
"What's this?" demanded Jarrow, turning back to stare at the bill.
Vanderzee leaned over the bar, and Peth craned his neck forward,
maintaining his eternal grin. They had never seen Dinshaw with so
much wealth before.
"Money!" piped Dinshaw, triumphantly.
"Has he gone plumb _loco_?" asked Jarrow, looking at Vanderzee.
"Dot money ain'd crassy," said the black man.
"Where'd ye git it?" asked Jarrow, reluctantly gentle.
"A rich man at the Bay View--with a young lady and a young man in a
helmet. I told 'em about the _Wetherall_ and they give me this
money to buy clothes, and sent me on the run for you. They want to
go to the Golden Isle. I better see what Hood's got for charter."
"You better stay right here," said Jarrow, pushing Dinshaw back
toward the bar. "I'm goin' to look into this."
"I'll see Hood," persisted Dinshaw.
"Luff!" commanded Jarrow, holding out his arms to head Dinshaw off
from the door. "You'll see me! You've been usin' me and my schooner
long enough, and if there's anything in this yarn of yours, it's
mine. Who's this man?"
"He's a rich man, and he'll take us," said Dinshaw.
"I'd believe ye sooner if ye said ye saw pink elephants," said
Jarrow. "Git down to cases. What's his name?"
"Money talks," suggested Vanderzee.
"Moonshine!" declared Peth.
"His name's Locke," said Dinshaw. "Will ye go, Jarrow? I'll make ye
all rich."
"Now what did this Locke man say?" demanded Jarrow. "I don't want
any ravin's. I want facts, straight out, so you come up into the
wind. What'd he say?"
"He said to look sharp about it," said Dinshaw, blinking at Jarrow,
a trifle confused at being questioned. "Stores and crew--right
away, and be ready to sail in a day's time. We don't want no
soldierin' on the job. It's to be up hook and away and look lively.
You'll have to move navy style, Jarrow. You know me."
"Thinks I'm foremast in his brig," said Jarrow, with a leer at
Vanderzee.
"You better cut over across the river," said Dinshaw, "and tell him
you're ready and you'll have the _Nuestra_ alongside the Mole by
dark to take on stores, or he'll have another boat. He said
somethin' about knowin' a man out here who had a yacht, comin'
down from Japan."
"Smoke," said Peth.
"I wonder," remarked Jarrow, scratching his head. "Sure ye didn't
lift that ten-_peso_ bill from Prayerful Jones? I'll be bugs myself
if I listen to you."
"Hood'll listen," said Dinshaw, crisply, and made a new effort to
reach the door.
"Vhy don'd you to der Pay Few go?" suggested Vanderzee.
Jarrow looked at himself. "I'd have to shift my duds," he said,
"and I ain't for huntin' sharks' eggs on Looney's say. What ye
think, Peth? Shall we fill up that way?"
"I ain't no hand for them swells," said Peth. "You go, cap'n, an'
I'll stand by down here with Dinshaw."
"Vait!" said Vanderzee, holding up a black hand. "Vot's der name?
Locke!" He stepped into a tiny office behind the bar. They heard
him asking the clerk at the Bay View if there was a man named Locke
staying there. In an instant he was back again, grinning.
"Iss!" he exclaimed. "So soon I know, I hang opp."
"Well," said Jarrow, who was still in doubt as to what he should
do, "that's somethin' to know. Maybe some rich tourist did fall for
Looney's yarn."
Peth went back to the bar and leaned against it as if he had made
up his mind not to move until Jarrow reached some decision.
"By the Mighty Nelson, I've got a twist in my chains to take a run
over to the hotel!"
"Shoot," said Peth, displaying more interest than he had at any
time since Dinshaw had arrived.
"Come along, Peth," said Jarrow. "I'll git into some fresh duds,
and you brail yerself up to look smart, and we'll drift over in a
_carromata_. Will you wait here, Dinshaw?"
"I'll wait, Jarrow, I'll wait. Tell him I sent ye, and he'll know.
It's all settled right enough if you lay alongside and make fast,
and no time lost."
"See that he don't git away," Jarrow whispered to Vanderzee. "I
can't take no chances with this--and keep him quiet--in there."
Pointing to the alcove, Jarrow slipped out through the door,
followed by Peth, close at heel, like a well-trained dog behind his
master.
"It's this way," said Jarrow, as they made their way between the
bales and barrels among the workers on the Mole. "Maybe Looney give
'em hot shot about this island and they're keen to go, thinkin'
there's bunches of gold there, which I know ain't so. But it don't
matter if we git a charter at fifty a day or so, and drag it out
into a couple of weeks."
"We'll want our own crew," suggested Peth.
"Bevins," said Jarrow.
"Shope," said Peth.
"And Doc Bird for steward, and Shanghai Tom ships as cook."
"Right. Ye leave it to me, and if there's anything in it, I'll have
all hands come dark."
"I ain't hatchin' no chickens on what Looney said," cautioned Jarrow,
"but if there's a man who's lit up on Looney's island-o'-gold yarn,
it ain't my way to throw sand in his eyes. And if we do find gold that's
two tails to the cat. We'll take things as they lay."