Kitabı oku: «The Red Rat's Daughter», sayfa 16

CHAPTER XXIX

It would be idle to say that Browne will never forget his feelings, when the hail reached him from the deck, announcing the fact that a boat from the Russian man-o'-war was coming alongside. It was the most desperate moment of his life; and there are times, even now, when only to dream of it is sufficient to bring him wide awake with a cold sweat upon his forehead. As he heard it, he turned to Jimmy, who was leaning over the bunk in which Maas lay, and said anxiously: —

"I suppose I may leave him to you, Jimmy? You will take care that they don't get any information out of him?"

"You may trust me for that," Jimmy replied, and there was a look of determination in his face as he said it, that boded ill for any attempt Maas might make to communicate with the enemy. "I hope for his own sake that he won't wake while they are here. Jack, my son, this is going to be a big deal for all of us. Keep your head while they're aboard, or you'll be in Queer Street."

Thereupon they shook hands solemnly.

"Thank Heaven, I've got you with me, old chap," continued Browne fervently. "You don't know what a relief it is to me to know that. Now I must go and warn Miss Petrovitch and Madame Bernstein."

"Good-bye, old fellow," said Foote. "Good luck go with you."

Browne glanced again at Maas, then he went out, closing the door behind him, and made his way through the saloon in the direction of Katherine's cabin. He had scarcely knocked at the door before she opened it. From the pallor of her face he guessed that she knew something of what was happening. This proved to be so; for Browne afterwards discovered that the cruiser had all the time been plainly visible from her port-hole.

"I have just seen a boat pass," she said. "Have they come to search the yacht?"

"Yes," answered Browne. "You need not be afraid, however; they will not find him. He is hidden in a place where they would never think of looking; and, to make assurance doubly sure, MacAndrew is with him."

"But what was that noise I heard just now? It sounded as if you were struggling with some one, and trying to drag him down into the saloon."

Browne informed her in a few brief words of what had occurred, and bade her, in case she should be questioned, keep up the fiction that Maas was seriously ill. Then, bidding her inform Madame Bernstein of what was going on, he left her and returned to the deck. Simultaneously with his arrival the Russian officer made his appearance at the gangway. He was a tall, handsome man of about thirty years of age. Having reached the deck, he looked about him as if he scarcely knew whom to address; then, seeing that the captain looked to Browne as if for instructions, he saluted him, and said in French: —

"Your pardon, monsieur, but this is the yacht Lotus Blossom, is it not?"

"It is," replied Browne, "and I am the owner. What can I have the pleasure of doing for you? You find us in rather a fix. We have had a break-down in the engine-room, and, as you can see for yourself, it has left us in a by no means pleasant position."

"I have to present the compliments of my captain to you, and to request that you will permit me to overhaul your vessel."

"To overhaul my vessel!" cried Browne. "Surely that is a very curious request For what reason do you wish to inspect her?"

"I regret to say that we have heard that an attempt is being made to rescue an escaped convict from the island yonder. From information received, it is believed he is on board your vessel."

"A runaway convict on board my yacht?" exclaimed Browne in a tone that suggested complete surprise. "You must excuse me if I do not understand you. You surely do not suppose that I make it my business to go about the world, assisting convicts to escape from captivity?"

"That is no business of mine," answered the officer. "All I have to do is to obey my instructions. I should, therefore, be glad if you would permit me to inspect your vessel."

"You may do so with pleasure," said Browne. "But let it be understood, before you commence, that I resent the intrusion, and shall, immediately on my return to civilization, place the matter before my Government to act as they think best. You have, of course, considered what the consequences of your action will be?"

"It is not my business to think of the consequences," responded the other. "All I have to do is to obey the orders I receive. May I therefore trouble you to permit me to carry them out? I should be loath to have to signal to my ship for assistance."

"Such a course will not be necessary," rejoined Browne, with all the dignity of which he was master. "If you persist in your absurd demand, I shall raise no further objection. Only, I should be glad if you could do so with as little delay as possible. I have a friend below who is seriously ill, and I am anxious to return to him."

"In that case, it would be as well for us to proceed without further loss of time," continued the officer.

Turning to Captain Mason, who was standing beside him, Browne gave the necessary orders. The Russian officer immediately called up a couple of hands from his boat alongside, and then, escorted by Browne, set off on his tour of inspection. Commencing with the men's quarters forward, he searched every nook and cranny, but without success. Then, little by little, they worked their way aft, exploring the officers' and engineers' quarters as they proceeded. The engine-room and stoke-hole followed next, and it was then that Browne's anxiety commenced. The convict, as he had good reason to know, was the possessor of a hacking cough, and should he give proof of its existence now they were ruined indeed.

"I presume you do not wish to look into the furnaces," ironically remarked the chief-engineer, who had accompanied them during their visit to his own particular portion of the vessel. "Should you desire to do so, I shall be pleased to have them opened for you."

"I have no desire to look into them," answered the officer, who by this time was beginning to feel that he had been sent on a wild-goose chase.

"In that case let us finish our inspection, and be done with it," said Browne. "It is not pleasant for me, and I am sure it cannot be for you." As he spoke he turned to the officer, and signed him to make his way up the steel ladder to the deck above. Just as he himself was about to set foot on it, the sound of a smothered cough came from the spot where the men lay hidden, and at the same instant the officer stopped and looked round. Browne felt his whole body grow cold with terror. Fortunately, however, even if he had heard it, the other failed to place the proper construction upon it, and they left the engine-room without further comment. Then, having explored the smoking-room and deck-house, they made their way aft to the drawing-room by way of the main companion-ladder.

"I have two ladies on board, monsieur," said Browne as they reached the drawing-room and stood for a moment looking about them, "also the sick friend of whom I spoke to you just now. Perhaps you would not mind waiving your right to inspect their cabins."

"Monsieur," returned the officer, "I must see every cabin. There must be no exceptions."

"In that case," replied Browne, "there is no more to be said. Will you be kind enough to accompany me?"

So saying, he led him forward a few paces, and, having shown him the pantry and stewards' quarters, the storerooms, bathrooms, and other domestic offices, took him to the cabin in which Maas was undergoing his involuntary confinement. Browne knocked softly upon the door, and a moment later Jimmy Foote opened it, with his finger on his lips as if to warn them to be silent.

"Hush!" he whispered. "Don't wake him; he has been asleep for nearly half an hour, and it will do him a world of good."

Browne translated this speech to the officer, and, when he had done so, they entered and approached the bedside. The representative of Imperial Russia looked down upon Maas, who was sleeping as placidly as a little child; at the same time his eyes took in the rows of medicine bottles on the table and all the usual paraphernalia of a sick-room. It was plain not only, that he imagined Jimmy Foote to be the doctor in charge, but also that he knew nothing of the identity of the man before him.

"What is the matter with him?" he asked a little suspiciously of Browne.

"Pneumonia, following a severe chill," the other replied. "We want to get him down to Yokohama as quickly as possible in order that we may place him in the hospital there. I presume you are satisfied that he is not the man you want?"

The officer nodded his head. "Quite satisfied," he answered emphatically. "The man I want is a little, old fellow with red hair. He is thirty years this gentleman's senior."

Thereupon they passed out of the cabin again, and made their way along the alley-way towards the drawing-room once more.

When they reached it they found Katherine and Madame Bernstein awaiting them there. Browne, in a tone of apology, explained the reason of the officer's visit.

"However, I hope soon to be able to convince him that his suspicions are unfounded," he said in conclusion. "We have searched every portion of the yacht, and he has not so far discovered the man he wants."

"Do you say that the person you are looking for is a Russian convict?" continued Madame Bernstein, who felt that she must say something in order to cover the look of fear, that was spreading over Katherine's face.

"Yes, Madame," the officer replied. "He is a most dangerous person, who in his time has caused the police an infinity of trouble."

"A Nihilist, I suppose?" remarked Browne, as if he thought that that point might be taken for granted.

"Indeed, no," continued the officer. "His name is Kleinkopf, and he is, or rather was, the most noted diamond-thief in Europe."

"What?" cried Browne, startled out of himself by what the other said. "What do you mean? A diamond – "

What he was about to add must for ever remain a mystery, for at that moment Madame Bernstein uttered a little cry and fell forward against the table in a dead faint. With a face as ashen as a cere-cloth, Katherine ran to her assistance, and Browne followed her example. Together they raised her and carried her to a seat.

"You see, sir, what mischief you have done," said Browne, addressing the Russian officer, who stood looking from one to another of them, as if he scarcely knew what to say or how to act. "You have frightened her into a faint."

Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to her cabin, and laid her in her bunk. Then, resigning her to the care of Katharine and the stewardess, whom he had summoned to his assistance, he rejoined the officer outside.

"If you will come with me, sir," he began, "I will show you the remainder of the vessel, and then I think you will be able to return to your ship and inform your commander that, on this occasion, at least, he has committed an egregious blunder, of which he will hear more anon."

"I am at monsieur's disposal," replied the officer; and together they entered Katherine's cabin. Needless to say there was no sign of any fugitive there. Browne's own cabin followed next, with the same result. At last they reached the deck once more.

"You are satisfied, I presume, sir, that the man you want is not on board my yacht?" asked Browne, with considerable hauteur.

"Quite satisfied," replied the other. "And yet I can assure you, monsieur, that we had the best reasons for believing that you were conniving at his escape."

"I am very much obliged to you, I am sure," retorted Browne. "I fancy, however, that, even presuming I contemplated anything of the sort, I have convinced you that I have not carried it out yet. And now I have the honour to wish you a very good morning. My engineer informs me that the break-down in the engine-room has been repaired; and, if you have any suspicions left, you will have the satisfaction of seeing us get under way without further delay. I tell you this in case you should imagine, that I intend hanging about here, in the hope of picking up the man to whom you allude. By the way, did you say that his name is Kleinkopf, and that he was originally a diamond-thief?"

"He was the most expert diamond-thief in Europe, monsieur," the officer replied. "Now, permit me to offer my apologies for the trouble to which I have put you, and to bid you farewell. At the same time, if you will allow me to do so, I will give you a little advice. If I were in your place I should leave this coast as soon as possible."

"I shall do so within a quarter of an hour, at latest," Browne answered.

With that the officer saluted once more and disappeared down the companion-ladder. A few moments later his boat was to be seen making her way in the direction of the man-of-war. Browne stood and watched her, scarcely able to realize that all danger was now passed and clone with. Then he turned to go in search of his friends, and as he did so a thought came into his mind, and brought him to a standstill once more. What could the officer have meant when he had said that the escaped convict's name was Kleinkopf, and that he was not a Nihilist, as they had been informed, but a diamond-thief; not a man who plotted and risked his life for the welfare of his country, but a common felon, who lived by defrauding the general public? Was it possible that Katherine's father could have been such a man? No; a thousand times no! He would never believe such a thing. But if it were not so, what did it all mean? Madame Bernstein had recognised the fugitive as Katherine's father, and the man himself had rejoiced at being with his daughter again after so long a separation. There was a mystery somewhere, upon which he would have to be enlightened before very long.

As he arrived at this conclusion Captain Mason approached him.

"The chief-engineer reports that all is ready, sir," he said. "If you wish it we can get under way at once."

"The sooner the better, Mason," Browne replied. "I shall not be happy until we have put the horizon between ourselves and that gentleman over there."

He nodded in the direction of the cruiser, which the boat had just reached.

"I agree with you, sir," answered the captain. "I will get the anchor away at once."

"Before you do so, Mason," said Browne, "just get those two men out of the tunnel and send them aft. Don't let them come on deck whatever you do. They're certain to have their glasses on us over yonder."

"Very good, sir," Mason returned, and went forward to execute his errand.

Anxious as he was to go below, Browne did not leave the deck until the screw had commenced to revolve. When he did, it was with a great fear in his heart – one that he would have found it extremely difficult either to describe or to account for. As he argued with himself, it was extremely unlikely that the Russian Authorities would make a mistake; and yet, if they did not, why had Madame Bernstein always been so anxious to assure Katherine that the man, he had saved, was her father? And, what was still more important, why had she fainted that morning when the officer had given his information concerning the fugitive? When he entered the drawing-room, to his surprise, he found Katherine alone there. Her face was still very white, and it struck Browne that she had been crying.

"What is the matter, dear?" he inquired, as he placed his arm round her and drew her towards him. "Why do you look so troubled?"

"I do not know," she answered, burying her face in his shoulder, "but I am very, very unhappy."

He did his best to soothe her, but without success. A weight was pressing upon her mind, and until it was removed relief would be impossible. For some reason Browne made no inquiry after Madame's condition. It seemed, for the moment, as if he had forgotten her very existence. At last he bade Katherine put on her hat and accompany him to the deck. The fresh air would revive her, he said. She accordingly departed to her cabin, and in five minutes rejoined him. In the meanwhile Browne had visited the cabin on the starboard side, and had informed Foote of all that had transpired. Maas was still sleeping quietly in his bunk.

"Thank goodness they've cleared out," said Jimmy. "Now our friend here can wake up as soon as he pleases."

"The sooner the better," Browne replied. "In the meantime, Jimmy, I've something awfully important to say to you."

In a few words Browne told him what he had discovered, and what he suspected. Foote listened with attention, and when he had finished, scratched his chin and regarded his own face in the mirror opposite, looking the very figure and picture of perplexity.

"What did I always tell you?" he remarked at last. "I was as certain then, as I am now, that the woman was playing some underhand game, though what it is I cannot say. However, I'll find out somehow or another. Upon my word, when we return to civilization, I think I shall embark upon the career of a private inquiry agent."

Feeling that there was nothing more to be said upon the subject just then, Browne left him, and returned to the drawing-room in search of Katherine. He found her ready to accompany him to the deck above.

"The fresh air will soon bring the roses back to your cheeks," he whispered, as they made their way along the drawing-room in the direction of the companion-ladder.

She was about to reply, when the sound of footsteps reached them from the port alley-way, and, before they had set foot upon the first step, MacAndrew and the fugitive stood before them. Browne noticed that Katherine instinctively shrank away from the latter. He accordingly slipped his arm round her, and, telling MacAndrew that he would like to speak to him in a few minutes, led her to the deck above.

CHAPTER XXX

Their first business when they reached the deck was to glance in the direction whence they had last seen the cruiser. Then she had been a living and very present reality to them; now she was only a tiny speck upon the horizon, and in a quarter of an hour, or even less, she would have vanished altogether. They made their way aft to the taffrail, and stood there leaning on the rail, looking at her. Both felt that it was a crisis in their lives, that had to be tided over, and knew that, if ever they desired to be happy together, they must fight the next ten minutes on their merits. For this reason, perhaps, they began by being unusually silent. It was Katherine who spoke first.

"Dearest," she commenced very slowly, "I want you to listen to me and not to speak until I have finished. I have something to say to you, and I don't quite know how to say it. I don't want you to think that I am capricious, or that I think only of myself. In this I am thinking of you, and of your happiness only."

"I can quite believe that," Browne replied, trying to force down the lump that was rising in his throat. "But I must hear you out before I can say more. What is it you have to say to me?"

"I want you" – here she paused as if she were fighting for breath – "I want you to give up any idea of marrying me, and to put me ashore at the first port at which you call. Will you do this?"

Nearly a minute elapsed before Browne answered. When he did his voice was curiously husky.

"Katherine," he said, "this is just like you. It is like your noble nature to try and make my path smoother, when your own is so difficult that you can scarcely climb it. But you don't, surely, suppose that I should do what you ask – that I should give you up and allow you to go out of my life altogether, just because you have been tricked as I have been?"

She glanced up at him with a face as white as the foam upon which they looked. What she would have replied I cannot say; but at that moment MacAndrew, accompanied by Jimmy Foote, appeared on deck. The latter approached them and asked Browne if he could spare him a few minutes. Not being averse to any proposal, that would tend to mitigate the severity of the ordeal he was then passing through, Browne consented.

"What is it you want with me?" he asked, as savagely as if he were being deliberately wronged. "For Heaven's sake, Jimmy, be easy with me! You can have no idea what the strain of the last few minutes has been."

"I know everything, my son," rejoined Jimmy quietly. "Do you think I haven't been watching you of late? That is exactly what I am here for. Poor old boy, you've been on the rack a shade too long lately; but I think I can put that right if you'll only let me. I've great news for you."

"I don't know what sort of news you can have that will be acceptable to me," replied Browne lugubriously. "I'm carrying about as much just now as I can possibly manage. What is it?"

"Do you think you're altogether fit to hear it?" he asked. "And what about Miss Petrovitch? Can you leave her for a few moments?"

"I will speak to her," Browne answered, and accordingly went back to Katherine. A moment later he rejoined Foote.

"Now then, what is it?" he cried almost fiercely. "What fresh treachery am I to discover?"

"Come to the smoking-room," Jimmy began. "I can't tell you here on deck, with all the world trying to overhear what I have to say."

When they reached the cabin in question Browne discovered MacAndrew there, sitting on one of the marble tables and smoking a cigarette.

"I don't know what you think about it, Mr. Browne," remarked the latter; "but it strikes me now, that we have come very well out of that little encounter with our Muscovite friend over yonder. The idea they've got in their heads is that the runaway and myself are not on board; and if I know anything of their tactics, they will patrol the coast for the next week or ten days in the expectation of your coming back to pick us up."

"I wish them joy of their stay," Browne replied. "By the time they're tired of it we shall be safely out of reach. But what is it you have to say to me, Jimmy? You didn't bring me here to talk about the cruiser, I suppose?"

"I did not," said Jimmy, with a great show of importance. "I brought you to talk about something far more interesting. Look here, old man, I don't, of course, know what your feelings may be; but I've got a sort of a notion that – well, to put it in plain words – that you're none too pleased with your prospective father-in-law. He doesn't quite come up to your idea of the man whom you had been told suffered martyrdom for his country's good – eh?"

"I have never said that I disapproved of him," Browne retorted. "I don't know why you should have got this notion into your head."

"You're very loyal, I must say, old man," continued Jimmy; "but that cat won't fight – not for an instant. Any one could see that. No, no; I know as well as if you had told me, that you're as miserable as a man can well be, and so is Miss Petrovitch. I don't wonder at it. I expect I should be as bad if I were likely to be blessed with such a papa. I should be inclined to wish him back again in the wilds of Saghalien."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, get on with what you've got to say!" cried Browne. "Why do you keep me on the rack like this?"

Jimmy, however, was not to be hurried. He had never had such a hand to play before, and he was determined to make the most of it.

"It was MacAndrew there who made the discovery," he replied. "I only came in at the end, like the Greek Chorus, to explain things. The fact of the matter is, Browne, when our friend here and the little red-haired gentleman were shut up together in the tunnel, the former elicited the information (how he managed it I am not prepared to say) that the name of the ex-convict is not Polowski or Petrovitch, but Kleinkopf; that he is not a Nihilist, as we have been led to believe, but a diamond-thief of the first water."

He paused to hear what Browne would say, and, if the truth must be confessed, he was mortified to find that the other betrayed no sort of surprise.

"I know all that," answered his friend. "Have you discovered nothing else?"

"A heap more," continued Jimmy; "but perhaps you know that, too. Are you aware that the convict is the famous Red Rat, who once defied the united police of Europe? Well, he is! He is also – and, mark you, this is the greatest point of all – he is no less a person than Madame Bernstein's husband!"

"Madame Bernstein's husband?" cried Browne, in stupefied surprise. "What on earth do you mean by that? I warn you not to joke with me. I'm not in the humour for it."

"I'm not joking," Jimmy returned, with all gravity. "I'm telling you this in deadly earnest. The Red Rat is Madame Bernstein's husband. He was sentenced to transportation for life in St. Petersburg, was sent to Siberia, and later on was drafted to Saghalien."

"Is this true, MacAndrew?" inquired Browne. "You should know."

"It is quite true," said MacAndrew. "For my part, I always thought he was the man you were trying to rescue. If you will look at it you will find that he tallies exactly with Madame's description of the man we wanted."

"Oh heavens! how we have been deceived!" groaned Browne. Then, as another thought struck him, he added, "But if this is so, then Miss Petrovitch's father is still in captivity."

"No," said MacAndrew; "he has escaped."

"What do you mean? When did he escape?"

"He is dead. He died early last year."

A silence that lasted upwards of five minutes fell upon the trio.

"The more I think of it the farther I am from understanding it," Browne said at last. "Why should I have been singled out for the task of rescuing this man, in whom I don't take the least bit of interest?"

"Because you are rich," muttered Jimmy. "Why, my dear fellow, it's all as plain as daylight, now that we've got the key to the puzzle. Madame was aware that Miss Petrovitch would do anything to rescue her father, and so would the man she loved. Therefore, when you, with your money, your influence, and, above all, your yacht, came upon the scene, she took advantage of the opportunity Providence had sent her, and laid her plans accordingly. You know the result."

"And while Miss Petrovitch has been wearing her heart out with anxiety to save her father, this heartless woman has been deceiving her – to whom she owes everything – and adapting our means to secure her own ends."

"It looks like it – does it not?" said Jimmy. "Now, what do you intend doing? Remember, you have two traitors to deal with – Madame Bernstein and Mr. Maas."

"I don't know what to do," replied poor Browne, "It is sufficiently vexatious. I shall have to tell Miss Petrovitch, and it will break her heart. As for Maas, we must consider what is best to be done with him. I'll have no mercy on the brute."

"Oh yes, you will," argued Jimmy. "Whatever you are, you are not vindictive, Jack. Don't try to make me believe you are."

Leaving the two men together, Browne went in search of his sweetheart. When he found her, he summoned up all the courage he possessed and told her everything from the beginning to the end. She was braver than he had expected, and heard him out without comment. Only when he had finished, she rose from her seat, and asked him to excuse her, saying that she would go to her cabin for a little while.

A little before sunset that afternoon a small brig was sighted, five miles or so away to the south-west. A course was immediately shaped to intercept her. Her attention having been attracted, she hove to and waited for the boat, that Mason warned her he was sending. When she put off the third officer was in charge, and MacAndrew was sitting beside him in the stern sheets. They returned in something under an hour, and immediately on his arrival on board MacAndrew made his way to the smoking-room, where he was closeted with Browne for upwards of an hour. After that he went below with Jimmy Foote.

The orb of day lay like a ball of fire upon the horizon when they reappeared. This time they escorted no less a person than Maas himself, who looked as if he were scarcely awake. Without inquiring for them or asking leave to bid his host and hostess farewell, he disappeared down the accommodation-ladder, and took his place in the boat alongside, and his traps were bundled in after him. Half an hour later the boat returned, but this time Maas was not in her. MacAndrew ascended to the deck, and once more made his way to the smoking-room. He found Browne and Jimmy there as before.

"They will land him at Tomari in the Kuriles in three months' time," he reported, with what appeared to be considerable satisfaction.

"Tomari is the capital of Kunashiri Island," said Jimmy, who had turned up a copy of the China Sea Directory during the short silence that followed. "It has a permanent population of about one thousand five hundred souls, which is largely increased in summer time by fishermen."

"You are sure he will be quite safe," asked Browne. "Scoundrel and traitor though he is, I shouldn't like to think that any harm would befall him."

"You need not be afraid," replied MacAndrew. "He is quite able to look after himself. Besides, the skipper is an old friend of mine, and a most respectable person. He will take every care of him, you may be sure. You have paid him well enough to make it worth his while."

After that, for the remainder of the voyage, the name of Maas was never mentioned by any of the party. Even to this day Browne scarcely likes to hear it spoken. Nor does he permit himself to dwell very often upon what happened a few days later, when, after a most uncomfortable interval, the yacht rounded Hakodate Headland and came to an anchor in the harbour.

"Leave everything to me," said MacAndrew, when he went into the smoking-room to bid Browne farewell. "I know how painful an interview would be for you all, and I think you can very well dispense with it. I believe they are ready to go ashore."

"In that case, let them go. I never wish to see their faces again."

"I can quite understand it; and now I must bid you farewell myself. I am sorry our adventure has not turned out more successfully; but at any rate you have had a run for your money, and you have seen something of life in the Far East."