TRASK HAS A TALK WITH DOC BIRD
Calling Doc Bird from the galley, Trask set about putting his
things in order in his room, and sent the steward inside to open
the biggest bag, which was secured with straps.
"I reckon we better take this out, sir," suggested Doc, as he made
an effort to get the straps loose. He found it hard to work in the
narrow little room.
"No," said Trask, "open it in here." He stood in the doorway, and
let the door rest against his back, holding it partly closed with
one hand. It was his purpose to keep Doc shut in, and so be able to
question him without being overheard.
"Mighty hard to open," said Doc, down on his knees, struggling with
the straps. It was hot in the room, and rather dark, as the
deadlight to the poop-deck was fogged by sea water.
"You're new to the schooner, aren't you?" asked Trask.
"Yassir. I jus' shipped fo' the roun' trip."
"How long have you known Mr. Peth?" Trask kept his voice low, and
bent down to Doc.
"Yassir. I know Mr. Peth. I know him fo' a long time."
"Have you sailed with him before?"
"Yassir. I been along with Cap'n Jarrow an' Mr. Peth off an' on six
years. Got a key fo' this hyar satchel?"
"It isn't locked. Just press the lock to the left."
"You mighty ca'less with yo' possessions," said Doc with a chuckle.
"What sort of a man is Mr. Peth?"
"Catch me with my stuff sailin' around loose. Some o' these hyar
native trash go'n walk off wid you, bag an' baggage, if you don'
watch out, man."
"Why do you suppose Mr. Peth wanted to move out of here?"
"Oh, he's just kind o' techy."
"How do you mean?"
"Kind o' uppish. He don' git along wid nobody, nohow, Mr. Peth
don't."
"He's been with Captain Jarrow a long time, hasn't he?"
Doc turned his head sidewise and looked at Trask, and then looked
out into the main cabin, as if to make sure no one was listening
before he went on.
"A lion an' a lamb," he said, in a scared whisper.
"And Peth's the lion?"
"Yassir, you got it. Peth, he'd fight with his own gran'mother,
that man. Argue en argue en argue. He ain't fixin' to hurt nobody
when he talks, but when he stops talkin'--excuse me!"
"What does he do when he stops talking?"
"If ol' Doc Bird's on the lan'scape, he hunts a hole an' he crawls
in when Mr. Peth he begins to act up."
"You mean you're afraid of him?"
"Not exac'ly what you'd go an' call 'fraid, but I don' take no
chances." He chuckled again, and wagged his head. He could not
manipulate the lock to get the bag open, and Trask reached down and
showed him how it was done.
"Then you consider Mr. Peth a dangerous man?"
"He sho' is."
"How is he dangerous?"
"Well, Mr. Trask, I don' lak' to go an' say nothin' agin a man,
'specially when he's matin' round a boat what I'm in."
"Oh, I suppose he's rough with a sailor if it suits his fancy,"
said Trask, convinced now that Doc was merely making talk, and
telling a yarn simply to impress him.
"He wouldn't look twice to hang somethin' on a man's haid, Mr. Peth
wouldn't. I done saw him stab a man once, not no sailorman,
neither, stab him right in the back o' the neck with one o' these
hyar Sweden knives with a ring on the handle. He was a planter down
Zamboanga way, an' a genelman like you, in white clothes. He come
sassin' round Mr. Peth on the pier. He won't sass 'round no mo',
mos' certain."
"Fol-de-rol," said Trask. "You're trying to make him out a bad man.
I want to know something about him."
"Ain't I tellin' of ye?" asked Doc. "Who all can tell ye, if I
don'? Reckon that Zamboanga planter's gwine come back to life jes'
fo' talkin' purposes, Mr. Trask?"
"But he and Captain Jarrow must get along if they've been together
for several years."
"Git along, man! Them two don' git along, not the way we-all say
it. Mr. Peth an' de cap'n? Huh! Them two git along smooth as a
houn' dawg in a brier patch."
"They quarrel a lot, eh?"
"Fight ain' no name fer it. Mr. Peth he owns part of this hyar
schooner, an' Cap'n Jarrow he wants fer to git him out. I look for
him to drap Mr. Peth over the side some fine night--if Mr. Peth
don' drap him fust."
"Then that's why Mr. Peth didn't want to sleep aft here?"
"Mos' doubtless. He pick up his traps an' go. Mr. Peth he done ship
de crew. Yo' don' reckon he picked out Cap'n Jarrow's Sunday
friends, does ye? No, suh. Mr. Peth, he knows what he's a-doin' of.
He looks to be with his own friends when he goes for'ard."
"Well, that's a nice arrangement, to have the mate in with the crew
and opposed to the captain."
"Won't do no harm thataway," said Doc with much assurance.
"Why not?"
"I reckon Cap'n Jarrow's got some friends along."
"I suppose you side with the captain, eh?"
"I mos' certain do. Old Doc Bird knows whar his bread is buttered,
an' he keeps right close alongside de skipper."
"Mr. Peth knows that?"
"Mr. Peth never gits no chance to fergit it. An' the cook, he ain'
got no use fo' Mr. Peth."
"I see."
"He better not go argufyin' with Shanghai Tom."
"Why not? What could the cook do?"
"Do?" Doc looked up and rolled his eyes, listened a second to make
sure the cook was busy in the galley, and then went on: "Do? He'd
let a meat axe in him. Yo' jes' want to stand clear if yo' see Mr.
Peth an' Tom lookin' crossways at each other. My goodness, Mr.
Trask, yo' sho' got a powerful lot of stuff in this grip-sack!"
"Yes, it's tightly packed. Take the stuff out and put it in the
upper bunk. I'll use the lower. So Peth and Jarrow fight. Do you
mean to tell me there's always fighting? That it amounts to
anything more than arguments?"
"Fight! Lord-amighty! Them two! They'd rather fight en a yaller
dawg likes fo' to worry a hambone. Not out an' out strakin', but
jes' kind o' pickin' en a pickin'; insultin' like. But Mr. Peth
he's makin' to do somebody hurt some time."
"Let 'em fight," said Trask, and he began to help Doc hand out the
clothing from the bag which the steward stowed above. When the bag
was partly empty Trask opened a leather pocket that was fitted to
one of the compartments. He gave an exclamation of surprise as he
found it empty. It was in this pocket that his automatic revolver
was ordinarily carried.
"What's the matter?" asked Doc.
"Oh, nothing. I've misplaced something, that's all."
"Yo' don' reckon Mr. Locke'll go an' git skeered 'count o' Mr.
Peth's carryin' on, does ye?"
"I don't believe anybody in this party is very scared of Mr. Peth."
"Now, Miss Locke, she's a powerful nice lady. I knows quality folks
the minute I comes across 'em. Now yo', Mr. Trask, is all off yo'
cou'se."
"What do you mean?"
"Yo' all ain' no business fo' mixin' in with a ship full o'
low-down rakin's an' scrapin's like we got aboard hyar."
"You mean Captain Jarrow and Mr. Peth?"
"Crew," said Doc.
"What about the crew?"
"Bad lot."
"You mean the crew can't be trusted?"
"Honest enough, sho'ly, but they ain't in yo' all's set. Now I know
quality folks, an' when I sot eyes on yo' all, I like fo' to
throwed a fit. Huh! 'Ristocrats ain' no business hoppin' along in a
boat like this. I go fo' to know 'ristocrats when I sees 'em. I was
a pantry man in a Suezer."
"But this isn't any tea-party to which the crew are invited."
"Huh! Don' yo' go fo' to fool yo' self."
"Oh, fiddlesticks!" said Trask. "What are you trying to do? Make me
afraid of everybody in the schooner?"
Doc scratched his woolly head and rolled his eyes.
"I ain't got nothin' mo' fo' to say," he declared, with an air of
mystery.
Doc was getting a trifle too chummy to suit Trask, and he thought
it high time to bring the discussion to a close. While he felt Doc
might be valuable as a friend and an ally, the garrulous steward
might prove to be dangerous as a gossip. Trask feared that he had
made a mistake by discussing the ship's affairs with him, so he
gave the black man a generous tip and dismissed him with a caution
against repeating anything that had been said.
"If yo' go to need any advice, Mr. Trask, jes' yo' call on me," he
whispered as he went out. "I don't let nothin' what might come in
handy slip by me."
"Thanks," said Trask, who realized that this was a direct offer to
turn spy against Captain Jarrow and Peth. He did not care to enter
into any sort of an arrangement yet felt that it would be wise to
retain friendly relations with the steward.
"If I pick up anything, Mr. Trask, I'll put a bug in yo' ear."
"All right," said Trask. "But I don't favour your spying on anybody
for my sake. You're merely to let me know in case anything goes on
that I should know, which relates to the safety of all hands."
"Oh, I ain' go'n to do no snoopin'," said Doc, with one of his
peculiar chuckles. "But I looks fer carryin's on."
"I don't want you gossiping," said Trask. Doc was promising to
become something of a nuisance.
"Yassir," said the steward, and went away to the galley.
Trask now gave his complete attention to emptying the bag which
should have contained the pistol. He made a careful search. But the
pistol was gone and he was sure he had packed it that morning at
the hotel, together with two boxes of ammunition.
So he ransacked every possible place where the pistol could be
misplaced among his effects. But after going through two smaller
bags, and shaking out every bit of clothing, even to folding up the
sheets and blankets on both bunks, he was sure the pistol was gone.
So far as Trask knew, the only person besides Doc Bird to cross the
threshold of his room was Peth. But the mate had been there only a
few minutes. Whoever the thief was, he apparently had gone through
the bag looking for arms, for nothing else had been disturbed. And
it must have taken some time to open the straps and put them back
in place, for the leather was stiff and the buckles difficult to
manage. Trask had found the ends of the straps tucked in under the
leather bands, just as he had fixed them himself at the hotel.
Besides, to get the pistol and ammunition the leather pocket had to
be opened, and Trask had found the flap back in place and buckled
down. Likewise, the bag had been opened before his own eyes by Doc
Bird, and he had stood over the steward while it was unpacked.
Doc couldn't have known the pistol was there, for immediately the
bag was opened he stood up and let Trask pass out the contents.
Peth had been in the room probably fifteen minutes, and part of
that time two of the crew were with him.
Trask knew it would be unfair to charge Peth with the theft of the
pistol, or to question the mate about it, and to report his loss to
Jarrow might precipitate more trouble on top of the ill-feeling
which had already cropped out aboard the schooner.
So he decided to wait and take the matter up at a time more
convenient for an investigation.
Trask left his room and went out on deck as if nothing had happened
to arouse his suspicions against anybody in the vessel. But he had
an idea that Peth might know what had become of the automatic
pistol.