by Don Marquis
CHAPTER IV
A BAD MAN TO CROSS
The isolated road house on the bay was a nondescript, jumbled,dilapidated-looking assemblage of structures, rather than one house.It was known simply as Morris's. It stood a few hundred yards west ofthe end of the canal which opened into the bay and was about a quarterof a mile from the Jasper B.
The canal itself was broad, straight, low-banked, and aboutthree-quarters of a mile in length. The town had thrown out a fewranks of cottages in the direction of the canal. But these were allsummer bungalows, occupied only from June until the middle ofSeptember. The solider and more permanent part of Fairport was wellwithdrawn from the sandy, sedgy stretches that bordered on tidewater.
At the north and inland terminus of the quiet strip of water in whichthe Jasper B. reposed was a collection of buildings includingbathhouses, a boathouse, and a sort of shed where "soft drinks" and seafood were served during the bathing season. This place was known asParker's Beach and was open only during the summer.
Morris's was of quite a different character from Parker's Beach. Onecould bathe at Morris's, but the beach near by was not particularlygood. One could hire boats there and buy bait for a fishing trip. Inone of its phases it made some pretensions to being a summer hotel. Ithad an extensive barroom. There was a dancing floor, none too smooth.There were long verandahs on three sides. That on the south side wasbuilt on piles, people ate and drank there in the summer; beneath itthe water swished and gurgled when the tide was in.
The townspeople of Fairport, or the more respectable ones, kept awayfrom Morris's, summer and winter. Summer transients, inhabitants ofthe bungalows during the bathing season, patronized the place. Butmost of the patronage at all seasons seemed to consist of automobileparties from the city; people apparently drawn from all classes, oreluding definite classification entirely. In the bleakest season therewas always a little stir of dubious activity about Morris's. In thesummer it impressed you with its look of cheapness. In the winter,squatted by the cold water amidst its huddle of unpainted outhouses, atthe end of a stretch of desolate beach, the fancy gave Morris's a touchof the sinister.
Cleggett was anxious to get the Jasper B. into seaworthy condition assoon as possible. It occurred to him that the employment of expertadvice should be his first step, and early the next morning he hiredCaptain Abernethy. That descendant of a seafaring family, though hefelt it incumbent upon him to offer objections that had to be overcomewith a great show of respect, was really overjoyed at the commission.He left his own cottage a mile or so away and took up his abode in theforecastle at once. By nine o'clock that morning Cleggett had a forceof workmen renovating both cabin and forecastle, putting the cook'sgalley into working order, and cleansing the decks of soil and sand.That night Cleggett spent on the vessel, with Captain Abernethy.
By Saturday of the same week--Cleggett had bought the vessel onWednesday--he was able to take up his abode in the cabin with his booksand arms about him. To his library he had added a treatise onnavigation. And, reflecting that his firearms were worthless,considered as modern weapons, he also purchased a score of .44 caliberColt's revolvers and automatic pistols of the latest pattern, and adozen magazine rifles.
He brought on board at the same time, for cook and cabin boy, aJapanese lad, who said he was a sailor, and who called himselfYoshahira Kuroki, and a Greek, George Stefanopolous.
The latter was a handsome, rather burly fellow of about thirty, a manwith a kindling eye and a habit of boasting of his ancestors.
Among them, he declared, was Leonidas, the hero of Thermopylae. Georgeadmitted he was not a sailor, but professed a willingness to learn, andlooked so capable, as he squared his bulky shoulders and twisted hisfine black mustache, that Cleggett engaged him, taking him immediatelyfrom the dairy lunch room in which he had been employed. George's ideawas to work his way back to Greece, he said, on the Jasper B. If shedid not sail for Greece for some time, George was willing to wait; hewas patient; sometime, no doubt, she would touch the shores of Greece.
The hold of the Jasper B. Cleggett and Captain Abernethy found to be ina chaotic state. Casks, barrels, empty bottles by the hundred, ruinsof benches, tables, chairs, old nondescript pieces of planking, brokencrates and boxes, were flung together there in moldering confusion. Itwas evident that after the scheme of using the Jasper B.'s hulk as oneof the attractions of a pleasure resort had failed, all the debris ofthe failure had simply been thrown pell-mell into the hold. Cleggettand Captain Abernethy decided that the vessel, which was stepped fortwo masts, should be rigged as a schooner. The Captain was soon busysecuring estimates on the amount of work that would have to be done,and the cost of it. The pile of rubbish in the hold, which filled itto such an extent that Cleggett gave up the attempt to examine it, wasto be removed by the same contractor who put in the sticks.
All the activity on board and about the Jasper B. had not gone onwithout attracting the attention of Morris's. Cleggett noticed thatthere was usually someone in the neighborhood of that dubious resortcocking an eye in the direction of the vessel. Indeed, the interestbecame so pronounced, and seemed of a quality so different fromordinary frank rustic curiosity, that it looked very like espionage.It had struck Cleggett that Morris's seemed at all times to have morethan its share of idlers and hangers-on; men who appeared to make theplace their headquarters and were not to be confused with theoccasional off-season parties from the city.
On Sunday morning Cleggett was awakened by Captain Abernethy, whoannounced:
"Strange craft lookin' us over mighty close, sir."
"A strange craft? Where is she?" Cleggett was instantly alert.
"She's a house boat, if you was to ask me," said the brown old man--ina new brown suit and with his whiskers newly trimmed he gave theimpression of having been overhauled and freshly painted.
"Where is she?" repeated Cleggett, beginning to get into his clothes.
"She must 'a' sneaked up an' anchored mighty early this mornin',"pursued Cap'n Abernethy, true to his conversational principles.
"Is she in the bay or in the canal?"
"She looks like a mighty toney kind o' vessel," said Cap'n Abernethy."If I was to make a guess I'd say she was one of them craft that sailsherself along when she wants to with one of these newfangled gasolineengines."
"She wasn't towed here then?" Cleggett gave up the attempt to learnfrom the Captain just where the house boat was.
"She lies in the canal," said the Cap'n. Having established the pointthat he could not be FORCED to tell where she lay, he volunteered theinformation as a personal favor from one gentleman to another. "Shelies ahead of us in the canal, a p'int or so off our port bow, I shouldsay. And if you was to ask me I'd say she wasn't layin' there for anygood purpose."
"What do you think she's up to? What makes you suspicious of her?"
"No, sir, she wasn't towed in," said Cap'n Abernethy, "or I'd 'a' hearda tug towin' her. Comin' of a seafarin' fambly I'm a light sleeper bynature."
Cleggett finished dressing and went on deck. Sure enough, towards thesouth end of the canal, three or four hundred yards south of the JasperB., and about the same distance east of Morris's, was anchored a houseboat. She was painted a slaty gray color. As Cleggett looked at her aman stepped up on the deck, and, putting a binocular glass to his eye,began to study the Jasper B. After a few minutes of steady scrutinythis person turned his attention to Morris's.
Looking towards Morris's himself Cleggett saw a man standing on theeast verandah of that resort intently scanning the house boat through aglass. Cleggett went into the cabin and got his own glass.
Presently the man on Morris's verandah and the man of the house boatceased to scrutinize each other and both turned their glasses upon theJasper B. But the moment they perceived that Cleggett was providedwith a glass each turned hastily and entered, the one Morris's place,and the other the cabin of the house boat. But Cleggett had alreadyrecognized the man at Morris's as the stoop-shouldered man o
f tallstature and fanciful dress who had tried to stare him down some daysbefore.
As for the man on the house boat (which, as Cleggett had made out, wasnamed the Annabel Lee), there was something vaguely familiar about hisgeneral appearance which puzzled and tantalized our hero.
As the morning wore on Cleggett became certain that the Jasper B. wasclosely watched by both the Annabel Lee and Morris's, although thewatchers avoided showing themselves plainly. A slightly agitated blindat a second story window over the verandah showed him where the tallman or one of his associates gazed out from Morris's; and from aporthole of the Annabel Lee he could see a glass thrust forth from timeto time. It was evident to him that the Annabel Lee and Morris's weresuspicious of each other, and that both suspected the Jasper B. But ofwhat did they suspect Cleggett? What intention did they impute to him?He could only wonder.
Through the entire morning he was conscious of the continuance of thiswatch. He thought it ceased about luncheon time; but at two in theafternoon he was certain that, if so, it had been resumed.
Cleggett, innocent and honorable, began to get impatient of thispersistent scrutiny. And in spite of his courage a vague uneasinessbegan to possess him. Towards the end of the afternoon he called hislittle company aft and spoke to them.
"My men," he said, "I do not like the attitude of our neighbors. To putit briefly, there may be squalls ahead of the Jasper B. This is a wildand desolate coast, comparatively speaking. Strange things havehappened to innocent people before this along the shores of LongIsland. It is well to be prepared. I intend to serve out to each ofyou two hundred cartridges and a .44 caliber Colt's. In case of anattempt to board, you may find these cutlasses handy.
"Cap'n Abernethy, in all nautical matters you will still be in commandof the ship, but in case of a military demonstration, all of you willlook to me for leadership. You may go now and rig up a jury mast andbend the American colors to the peak--and in case of blows, may Goddefend the right! I know I do not need to exhort you to do your duty!"
As Cleggett spoke the spirit which animated him seemed to communicateitself to his listeners. Their eyes kindled and the keen joy thatgallant men always feel in the anticipation of conflict flushed theirfaces.
"I am a son of Leonidas," said George Stefanopolous, proudly. And hesecreted not merely one, but two, of Cleggett's daggers about his body,in addition to the revolver given him. As George had already possesseda dagger or two and an automatic pistol, it was now almost impossiblefor him to lay his hand casually on any part of his person without itscoming into contact with a deadly weapon ready for instant use. Cap'nAbernethy picked up a cutlass, "hefted" it thoughtfully, rolled hissleeve back upon a lean and sinewy old arm that was tanned until itlooked like a piece of weathered oak, spat upon his hand and whirledthe weapon till it whistled in the air. "I come of a seafarin'fambly," said the Cap'n, sententiously.
As for Kuroki, he said nothing. He was not given to speech at anytime. But he picked up a Malay kris and ran his thumb along the edgeof it critically like a man to whom such a weapon is not altogetherunfamiliar. A pleased smile stole over his face; he handled the wickedknife almost affectionately; he put it down with a little loving pat.
"Brave boys," murmured Cleggett, as he watched them. He smiled, but atthe same time something like a tear blurred his eloquent and magneticeye for a moment. "Brave boys," he murmured, "we were made for eachother!"
The display of the American flag by the Jasper B. had an effect thatcould not have been foreseen.
Almost immediately the Annabel Lee herself flung an exactly similarAmerican flag to the breeze. But a strange thing happened at Morris's.An American flag was first hung from an upper window over the eastverandah. Then, after a moment, it was withdrawn. Then a red flag wasput out. But almost immediately Cleggett saw a man rip the red flagfrom its fastenings and fling it to the ground.
Cleggett, resorting to his glass, perceived that it was the tall manwith the stoop shoulders and incongruous clothing who had torn down thered flag. He was now in violent altercation with the man who had hungit out--the fellow whom he had called Heinrich some days before.
As Cleggett watched, the two men came to blows; then they clinched andstruggled, swaying back and forth within the open window, like a movingpicture in a frame. Suddenly the tall fellow seemed to get the upperhand; exerting all his strength, he bent the other backward over thewindow sill. The two contending figures writhed desperately a momentand then the tall man shifted one powerful, sinewy hand to Heinrich'sthroat.
The binoculars brought the thing so near to Cleggett that it seemed asif he could touch the contorted faces; he could see the tall man's neckmuscles work as if that person were panting; he could see the signs ofsuffocation in Heinrich's countenance. The fact that he saw so plainlyand yet could hear no sound of the struggle somehow added to its horror.
All at once the tall man put his knee upon the other's chest, and flunghis weight upon Heinrich with a vehement spring. Then he tumbledHeinrich out of the window onto the roof of the verandah.
He stepped out of the window himself, picked Heinrich up with an easethat testified to his immense strength, and flung him over the edge ofthe verandah onto the ground. A few moments later a couple of men ranout from Morris's, busied themselves about reviving the fellow, andhelped him into the house. If Heinrich was not badly injured,certainly all the fight had been taken out of him for one day.
With Heinrich thus disposed of, the tall man turned composedly to thetask of putting out the American flag again. Through the glassCleggett perceived that his face was twisted by a peculiar smile; asmile of joyous malevolence.
"A bad man to cross, that tall man," said Cleggett, musingly. Andindeed, his violence with Heinrich had seemed out of all proportion tothe apparent grounds of the quarrel; for it was evident to Cleggettthat Heinrich and the tall man had differed merely about the policy ofdisplaying the red flag. "A man determined to have his way," musedCleggett. "If he and I should meet------" Cleggett did not finish thesentence in words, but his hand closed over the butt of his revolver.
His musing was interrupted by the noise of an approaching automobile.Turning, he saw a vehicle, the rather long body of which was covered sothat it resembled a merchant's delivery wagon, coming along the roadfrom Fairport.
It stopped opposite the Jasper B., and from the seat beside the driverleaped lightly the most beautiful woman Cleggett had ever seen, andwalked hesitatingly but gracefully towards him.
She was agitated. She was, in fact, sobbing; and a Pomeranian dogwhich she carried in her arms was whimpering excitedly as if insympathy with its mistress. Cleggett, soul of chivalry that he was,born cavalier of beauty in distress, removed his hat and advanced tomeet her.