CHAPTER XXIII
THE FATE OF A PRISONER
The _Seminole_ headed straight out into the lake, its course evidently alittle to the north of east. The steady throb of the engine exhibited nolack of power, the snowy wake behind telling of rapid progress. There wasa distinct swell to the water, increasing as they advanced, but notenough to seriously retard speed, the sharp bow of the yacht cuttingthrough the waves like the blade of a knife, the broken water churningalong the sides. West clung to his perch, peering out through the openport, watching the fast disappearing shore line in the giant curve fromthe Municipal Pier northward to Lincoln Park. In spite of the brightnessoverhead, there must have been fog in the air, for that distant viewquickly became obscure and then as suddenly vanished altogether. Thereremained no sign of land in sight; only the seemingly limitless expanseof blue water, not so much as a trail of smoke breaking the encirclingrim of the sky.
Except for the occasional tread of feet on the deck above, and the faintcall of a voice giving orders, the yacht seemed deserted, moving unguidedacross the waste of waters. No sound of movement or speech reached West'sears from the cabin, and he settled down into moody forgetfulness, stillstaring dully out through the open port. What was to be, would be, butthere was nothing for him to do but wait for those who held him prisoner,to act. He was still seated there, listless, incapable even of furtherthought, when the door was suddenly unlocked. He had barely time to ariseto his feet, when the man with the red moustache stepped within, facinghim, as he pushed tightly shut the door behind. The fellow's eyes saw thesevered rope on the floor, and he smiled, kicking the strands asidecontemptuously.
"Smart enough for that, were you?" he asked. "Well, I would have takenthem off myself, if I had thought about it. How did you manage? Oh, Isee; rather a bright trick, old man. Feeling pretty fit, are you?"
West did not answer at once; this fellow had come with an object in mind,and his only desire was to baffle him. It was to be a contest of wits,and helpless as the prisoner was physically, he had no intention ofplaying into the other's hands.
"I might be, if I knew what all this meant," he said at last. "Haven'tyou got hold of the wrong party?"
The man laughed, standing where he blocked all passage.
"I might have been convinced that I had an hour ago," he answered coldly."But since then I find I've made rather a good bet. I have the honour ofaddressing Captain West, I believe?"
"You have the name correct; there is no reason why I should deny that.Unfortunately, I do not know with whom I am conversing."
"Quite easily remedied. I am Joe Hogan, commonly called 'Red' Hogan. Themoniker means nothing to you."
"I never heard it before."
"I thought not, which merely proves you are not a 'fly-cop,' only ameasly busy-body sticking your nose into some one else's business. Well,we know how to take care of your kind, and this is likely to prove thelast case you'll dabble in for a while, my man."
"What does that mean--a threat?"
"Never mind what it means; it is a straight tip. Now listen,West--Captain West I believe is the proper term of address--and you willunderstand better. When I got you in here I had no real knowledge as towho you were. I merely took a chance on what Mary had to say, and shetwigged you at once. She's smart, that woman; never forgets a face. Shesure did a good job this time. But after you were locked in safe, andnobody knew what had happened, and you certainly handled easily enough, Islipped ashore into the restaurant and called up Jim Hobart on the wire.Did he give me your pedigree? He did. Jim was about the happiest guy inthe town when he learned we had you bottled. Raised hell last night,didn't you? All right, my friend, you are going to pay the piper today.What got you into this muss, anyhow? You are no relation to the Coolidgegirl, are you?"
"None whatever; merely a friend."
"Friend, hey! Well, she's a good looker; so this friendship stuff iseasily accounted for. Friend, hell!" he laughed. "You must have it bad toput on all these stunts for sweet friendship's sake. You wouldn't evenquit when she told you to."
"I believed she was compelled to say what she did to me," replied Westquietly. "That she was in Hobart's power, afraid of her life. There wasno other explanation of her strange action possible."
"Is that so?"
"I am willing to listen to such an explanation, Hogan, and if satisfiedshe really wishes me to keep out of the affair, I will."
"And if not?"
"Then I am going to fight in her cause to the very end of things. Youcannot frighten me; your only chance to influence my action is to makethings clear. I confess I have been fighting in the dark, not evencomprehending your purpose. I do know that the main stake your gang isafter is the Coolidge fortune; that, in order to get hold of it, you areobliged to keep control over Miss Natalie. But I can conceive no reasonwhy she should assist in the conspiracy. She certainly cannot bebenefited by having her own fortune stolen. This is what puzzles me, butit hasn't changed my loyalty to her. I still believe in her, and feelthat she is simply a victim of circumstances beyond her control. Am Ifrank enough?"
"Sure; it all means you intend to remain a blunder-headed fool defendinga girl who does not desire any defence--a Don Quixote tilting atwind-mills. That is your choice, is it?"
"Unless you care to explain clearly just how Miss Natalie's interests arebeing protected."
"Which I am not at liberty to do at present. She is satisfied, and haspractically told you so, according to Jim Hobart. If you will not accepther word, there is no use of my saying anything about the matter.Besides, West, frankly I don't give a damn what you think. We've got yousafe enough, where you can't do anything, even if you want to--so, whyworry? Twenty-four hours more will finish our little job, and, until thattime is up, you'll remain right here; after that we don't care where inhell you go, or what you do--the game will have been played."
The man's tone, and air of confidence was impressive; beyond doubthe felt that the cards were all in his hands. West drew in hisbreath sharply.
"Apparently you are right," he said quietly. "May I ask a question ortwo?"
"Fire away; I'll answer as I please."
"Who is the woman on board?"
"Mary, you mean? Hobart's wife."
"She came from the place on Wray Street last night in an auto?"
"Yes; I brought her along myself."
"Alone?"
"There were two of us, Mark and I--why? what are you driving at?"
"Just putting some broken threads together. Then Natalie Coolidge is noton this yacht?"
"I should say not. What would we be doing with her out here?"
"Where is she then?"
"Oh, I begin to see what brought you aboard so easily, West. You thoughtwe had the lady kidnapped, and was sailing off with her. Some stunt that.What put the idea in your head?"
West hesitated a moment, but decided a truthful answer would do no harm.
"I knew an automobile had driven out of the alley back of Mike's Place;and that a woman was in it. When I got away a little later, I picked up amessage--a note which had been dropped. It was written in a woman's handbut unsigned--"
"The little cat! She dropped it?"
"It seems so. You forgot yourself that time. So she was with you, wasshe?"
"I don't know what you mean. I told you who were with me. Go on; what didthe note say?"
"It was only a request for the police to search the _Seminole_ at once."
"Oh, that's the way the wind blows. But you preferred to tackle the jobyourself. I am certainly obliged to you, West."
"You have no reason to be. I took that note to the police, and they areon the case. They are combing the city right now for Hobart, and if theyget him, this bubble of yours is likely to be pricked."
"Hell, they won't get him. There isn't a fly-cop in Chicago who couldlocate Jim in a week, and as for Natalie, believe me she is quite able totake care of herself."
"But where is she?"
"At home, of course, if you mus
t know--'Fairlawn,' isn't that the name ofthe place? We left her there on our way to Jackson Park."
"Then the girl was with you?"
"Spilled the beans, didn't I? That comes from talking too much.However, there is no harm done. Sure she left with us, but we droppedher out at Fairlawn. It was her machine we were riding in. Say, you'vequestioned me about enough, so let up. Listen now--you will stay inthis stateroom until we get ready to let you out. Don't try any funnybusiness either, for if you do, you are going to get hurt. There is aguard outside in the cabin, and we are not afraid to shoot out here onthe lake. Nobody knows where you are, West; so if you want to live,keep quiet--that's my advice."
He started back, one hand on the knob of the door, but West stopped him.
"Do you mind telling me where we are bound?" he questioned.
Hogan smiled, but the smile was not altogether a pleasant one.
"You will have to wait, and find that out for yourself, Captain. Myorders are not to talk."
"From Hobart?"
"Sure; Jim is engineering this deal, and whatever he says goes, for he'sthe guy who has his hands on the dough--see?"
He slipped out, closing and locking the door behind him. West, morethoroughly confused than ever over the situation in which he foundhimself, paced the brief length of the narrow stateroom, and then pausedto stare moodily out of the port. His eyes rested on the same wideexpanse of water, no longer brightened by the glow of the sun. A mass ofclouds veiled the sky, while a floating bank of fog obscured the horizon,limiting the scope of his vision. Everything appeared grey and desolate,and the restless surge of waves were crested with foam. It was hard tojudge just where the sun was, yet he had an impression the vessel hadveered to the north, and was proceeding straight up the lake, alreadywell out of sight from either shore.
He had learned little of the slightest value; merely that Natalie hadbeen of the party leaving in the automobile the night before. She,undoubtedly, had been the one who had dropped the note. Then, in spite ofall they said about her, in spite of what she had told him, she wasactually a prisoner, desperately begging for assistance to escape. As tothe other things Hogan had told him, the probability was they were mostlylies. West did not believe the girl had returned to 'Fairlawn,' the storydid not sound natural. If she had written that note, these fellows wouldnever trust her alone, where she could communicate with friends. Theymight venture to send her in to talk with him, knowing her every word wasoverheard, but surely they would never be reckless enough to leave herfree to act as she pleased. That was unthinkable. Besides why should theyhave taken this yacht, and sailed it out secretly in the night unless shewas hidden away aboard? The only conceivable object would be to thus keepher safely beyond sight and hearing. And that would be a reason whyHobart's wife should also be on board--to look after the girl. The longerhe thought it all over, the more thoroughly was he convinced they wereboth prisoners on the same vessel. Yet what could he do? There was noanswer forthcoming; no possibility of breaking forth from that room wasapparent; he was unarmed, helpless. If he did succeed in breaking throughthe door, he would only encounter an armed guard, and pit himself againstfive or six men, criminals probably, who would count his death a smallmatter compared to their own safety. He sank down, with head in hishands, totally unnerved--it was his fate to attempt nothing; only to waiton fortune.
Mark brought in food, merely opening the door slightly, and sliding thetray in on the floor. No words were exchanged, nor was the tray removeduntil just at twilight, when the fellow appeared again on a similarmission. It became dark, but no light was furnished. Outside the cloudshad thickened, and a heavy swell was tossing the vessel about ratherroughly. Seemingly the engine was merely endeavouring to maintainhead-way, with no port in immediate prospect; they were steeringaimlessly into the promise of a stormy night. No sound reached him fromthe cabin, and finally, worn out mentally and physically, West flunghimself on the lower bunk, and lay there motionless, staring up into theintense darkness.
The Case and the Girl Page 23