CHAPTER VI
A CHANCE LEAD
To follow the girl's suggestion and return at once to Chicago was Orme'sintention when he said good-night to her. The hour was close to midnight,and the evening had been crowded so full with bewildering adventure thathe was tired. Moreover, he looked forward to a morning that might welltest his endurance even more strenuously.
He had now committed himself definitely to continue in the field againstthe Japanese. Except for his desire to serve this wonderful girl who hadcome so suddenly into his life, he doubtless would have permitted themystery of the marked bill to remain unsolved. But since the recovery ofthe stolen papers was so important to her, he was prepared to run anyrisk in the struggle.
Who was she? But no, that was a question she did not wish him to ask. Shewas simply "Girl"--beautiful, tender, comprehending--his ideal incarnate.As he stood there, hesitant, before the house into which she haddisappeared, he pictured her again--even to the strand of rebellious hairwhich had blown across her cheek. He could discover no fault in herperfection.
A man came into view on the drive at the side of the house: a servant tocare for the car, of course; and Orme, with the uneasy feeling of one whohas been trespassing, moved away toward the corner of the block. Helooked back, however, and saw the newcomer clamber into the car and sendit slowly up the drive.
At the same time a light illumined one of the upper windows of the house.A shadow was thrown on the curtain. Perhaps it was the girl herself. Whatexplanation had she given her friends for appearing so late at theirdoor? Probably she had told them no more than that she was tired andbelated. She was not the kind of girl from whom an elaborate explanationwould be asked or expected.
Then a thought startled him. Was this, perhaps, her home? No, she hadspoken of the people who lived here as her friends, and she would nothave tried to keep the truth from him by subterfuge. If this were herhome and she had not wished him to know it, she would have requested himto leave her before they had come so far.
It dawned upon him that it would not be hard for him to learn who livedin this house, and possibly through that knowledge to get a clue to heridentity. His heart warmed as he realized how completely she had trustedhim. His assurance that he would not try to find out who she was hadsatisfied her. And Orme knew that, if she had been so readily assured, itwas because she had recognized the truth and devotion in him.
With a happy sigh, he turned his back once and for all and walked rapidlyaway. But he did not go toward the electric-car line, which he knew mustlie a few blocks to the west. Instead, he retraced the course they hadcome, for he had decided to visit the university campus once more and tryto discover what had become of Maku, and more especially of the otherJapanese, who had secured the papers. That he would be recognized andconnected with the attack on Maku, was unlikely.
When he came to the corner of Sheridan Road and Chicago Avenue, hehesitated for a moment. Should he go north through the campus and seek atrace of the Japanese who had escaped? Nearly half an hour had gone sincethe adventure among the trees, and the man must have got completely awayby this time. Having the papers, he surely would not linger to learn thefate of Maku.
Orme found himself wondering how the Japanese had got to Evanston.Granting that it had not taken them long to solve the abbreviateddirections on the five-dollar bill, they could hardly have come bymotor-car, for they had had a good half-hour start, and yet Orme haddiscovered them before their work was completed. Only on the assumptionthat their car had broken down on the way could Orme admit that they hadused a motor-car. Moreover, how were two Japanese, whose appearance didnot indicate the possession of much ready money--how were they likely tohave a car, or even to rent one? And had they believed that they might bepursued? Would they not have come to Evanston by an obvious route oftrain or trolley.
These considerations led Orme to think that the car which he and the girlhad heard in the distance could not have been occupied by the escapingJapanese.
The fellow, then, had probably made for the electric-car line, and inthat event he would be well on his way to Chicago by this time. The carhe had caught must have gone southward from Evanston about tenforty-five. The conductor would be likely to remember having had aJapanese on board; perhaps he would even remember where the Oriental hadgot off. The natural course for Orme, therefore, was to take a carhimself and, if he did not meet the other car returning, to get off atthe car-barns and make inquiries. The possibility that the Japanese hadchanged to the elevated road on the North Side was great, but theconductor might remember if the change had been made.
But Orme did not turn at once toward the car-line. Though his logicpointed in that direction, he was irresistibly influenced by a desire towalk eastward along the drive where it skirted the southern end of thecampus. A half-hour might go by, and still he would not be too late tomeet, on its return, the car which the Japanese would have taken. Hestarted, therefore, eastward, toward the lake, throwing frequent glancesthrough the iron fence at his left and into the dark shadows of the oaks.
He came to the lake without encountering anyone. The road here swept tothe southward, and on the beach near the turn squatted the low brickbuilding which the girl had told him was the life-saving station. A manwas standing on the little veranda. His suit of duck was dimly white inthe light from the near-by street-lamps.
"One of the crew," Orme surmised, and he sauntered slowly down the littlepath.
The beach sloped grayly to the edge of the lake, where a breakwaterthrust its blunt nose out like a stranded hulk. The water was calm,lapping the sand so gently that it was hard to believe that so gentle amurmur could ever swell into the roar of a northeaster. A launch that wasmoored at the outer end of the breakwater lay quiet on the tidelesssurface.
"Good-evening," said Orme, as the man turned his head. "Are you onwatch?"
The life-saver slowly stretched. "Till twelve," he answered.
"Not much longer, then?"
"No, thank heaven!"
Orme laughed. "I suppose you do get more than you want of it," he said."But on a fine night like this I should think it would be mightypleasant."
"Not if you have to put in several hours of study after you get through."
"Study?"
"Yes. You see, I have a special examination to-morrow."
"A service examination?"
"Oh, no--college."
"Are you a student?"
"All the crew are students. It helps a good deal, if you are working yourway through college."
"Oh, I see. But surely the university hasn't opened for the fall?"
"No, but there are preliminary exams, for those who have conditions towork off."
Orme nodded. "It's a fine campus you have--with the groves of oaks."
"Yes."
"Just the place for a quiet evening stroll. I thought I'd walk up theshore."
"There's a rule against going in there after dark."
"Is there? That's too bad."
"Something funny happened there just a little while ago."
"So? What was it?" Orme was getting close to the subject he most desiredto hear explained.
"Why, one of the cops was walking along the shore and he found aJapanese, stunned."
"A Japanese!"
"He evidently had wandered in there and somebody had hit him over thehead with a club."
"After money?"
"Probably. There've been a good many holdups lately. But the sluggerdidn't have a chance to get anything this time."
"How so?"
"He was bending over the Jap when the cop came up. He got away."
"Didn't the cop chase him?"
"No, the fellow had a good start, so the cop stayed by the Jap."
"And what became of the Jap?"
The life-saver jerked his head toward the door beside him. "He's inthere, getting over his headache."
"Is he?" This was a contingency which Orme had not foreseen. Nor had heany desire to come face to face with Maku. Bu
t if he betrayed hissurprise, the life-saver did not notice it.
"The cop is taking another look through the campus," he continued.
"What does the Jap say about it?" asked Orme.
"He doesn't say anything. It looks as though he couldn't speak English.The cop is going to get Asuki."
"Asuki?"
"A Jap student who lives in the dormitory."
"Oh," said Orme.
The fact that Maku would not talk was in a measure reassuring. Hisapparent inability to understand English was, of course, assumed, unless,indeed, he was still too completely dazed by the blow which Orme hadgiven him, to use a tongue which was more or less strange to him. Butwhat would he say if he saw Orme? Would he not accuse his assailant,hoping thus to delay the pursuit of his companion?
The danger was by no means slight. Orme decided quickly to get away fromthis neighborhood. But just as he was about to bid the life-saver acasual good-night, two men came around the corner of the building. Onewas a policeman, the other a young Japanese. Orme unobtrusively seatedhimself on the edge of the little veranda.
"How is he?" asked the policeman.
"All right, I guess," replied the life-saver. "I looked in a few minutesago, and he was sitting up. Hello, Asuki."
"Hello, there," responded the little Japanese.
"Come," said the policeman, after an unsuspicious glance at Orme, and,mounting the steps, he led his interpreter into the station.
Now, indeed, it was time for Orme to slip away. Maku might be brought outat any moment. But Orme lingered. He was nearer to the solution of thesecret if he kept close to Maku, and he realized, for that matter, thatby watching Maku closely and, perhaps, following him home, he might beled straight to the other man. If Maku accused him, it should not, afterall, be hard to laugh the charge away.
A murmur of voices came from within the station, the policeman's wordsalone being distinguishable.
"Ask him," the policeman said, "if he knows who hit him."
The undertones of a foreign jargon followed.
"Well, then," continued the policeman, "find out where he came from andwhat he was doing on the campus."
Again the undertones, and afterward an interval of silence. Then thepoliceman spoke in an undecided voice.
"If he don't know anything, I can't do anything. But we might as well geta few more facts. Something might turn up. Ask him whether he saw anybodyfollowing him when he went into the campus."
Orme had been straining his ears in a vain endeavor to catch the words ofAsuki. But suddenly his attention was diverted by a sound from the lake.It was the "puh-puh-puh-puh" of a motor-boat, apparently a littledistance to the northward. The explosions followed one another in rapidsuccession.
He turned to the life-saver.
"What boat is that?" he asked.
"I don't know. Some party from Chicago, probably. She came up an hour orso ago--at least, I suppose she's the same one."
The explosions were now so rapid as to make almost one continuous roar.
"She's a fast one, all right," commented the life-saver. "Hear her go!"
"Are there many fast boats on the lake?"
"Quite a number. They run out from Chicago harbor now and then."
Orme was meditating.
"Exactly how long ago did this boat pass?"
"Oh, an hour or more. Why?"
"She seems to have been beached up north here a little way."
"She may have been. Or they've been lying to out there."
In Orme's mind arose a surmise that in this motor-boat Maku and hiscompanion had come from Chicago. The surmise was so strong as to developquickly into a certainty. And if the Japanese had come by this boat, itstood to reason that the one who had the papers was escaping in it. Hemust have waited some time for Maku and, at last, had pushed off toreturn alone.
Were these Japanese acting for themselves? That did not seem possible.Then who was their employer?
Orme did not puzzle long over these questions, for he had determined on acourse of action. He spoke to the life-saver, who appeared to belistening to the droning conversation which continued within the station.
"The hold-up men may be in that boat," remarked Orme.
"Hardly." A laugh accompanied the answer.
"Well, why not? She came north an hour or so ago and either was beachedor lay to until just now."
"You may be right." Then, before Orme knew what was happening, the youngman opened the door and called into the station: "Hey, there! Your robberis escaping on that motor-boat out there."
"What's that?" The policeman strode to the door.
"Don't you hear that boat out there?" asked the life-saver.
"Sure, I hear it."
"Well, she came up from the south an hour or more ago and stopped alittle north of here. Now she's going back. Mr. Holmes, here"--he grinnedas he said it--"Mr. Holmes suggests that the hold-up man is aboard."
The reference to the famous detective of fiction was lost upon thepoliceman. "I guess that's about it, Mr. Holmes," he said excitedly; andOrme was much relieved to note that the life-saver's humorous referencehad passed for an introduction. The policeman would have no suspicion ofhim now--unless Maku----
There was an exclamation from within the room. "What's the matter?" askedthe policeman, turning in the doorway.
The voice of Asuki replied: "He say the robber came in a bicycle--not ina boat."
"But I thought he didn't see the fellow coming."
"He remember now."
The policeman started. "How did he know what we were talking about outhere?" he demanded.
"He understand English, but not speak it," replied Asuki readily.
To the policeman this explanation was satisfactory. Orme, of course,found in it a corroboration of his guess. Maku evidently did not wishsuspicion directed against the motor-boat.
The policeman re-entered the station, eager to avail himself of theinformation which Maku was now disposed to give him.
Orme turned to the life-saver. "The Jap is lying," he said.
"Think so?"
"Of course. If he understands English so well, he certainly knows how tomake himself understood in it. His story of the bicycle is preposterous."
"But what then?"
"Doesn't it occur to you that perhaps the Jap himself is the robber? Hisintended victim may have got the better of him."
"Yes," said the young man doubtfully, "but the fellow ran."
"That would be natural. Doubtless he didn't want any notoriety. It'spossible that he thought he had killed his assailant, and had anunpleasant vision of being detained in the local jail until the affaircould be cleared up."
The life-saver looked at Orme searchingly.
"That sounds pretty straight," he said at last. "I guess you know whatyou are talking about."
"Perhaps I do," said Orme quietly. "In any event I'd like to see who's inthat boat out there."
"There isn't a boat nearer than Chicago that could catch her. They haverun her several miles out into the lake before turning south, or shewould have been pretty close to Chicago already. She's going fast."
The roar of the motor was indeed becoming a far-off sound.
"Why not telephone the Chicago police to intercept her?"
"There's no evidence against her," replied Orme; "only surmises."
"I know, but----"
"And, as I suggested, whoever was attacked by that Jap in there may notwant notoriety."
Suddenly the distant explosions stopped--began again--stopped. Severaltimes they were renewed at short intervals--"puh-puh-puh"----"puh-puh"----"puh-puh-puh-puh"--then they ceased altogether.
"Hello!" exclaimed the life-saver. "They've broken down."
He picked up a pair of binoculars which had been lying on the verandanear him, and scanned the surface of the lake.
"Make her out?" queried Orme.
"No, she's too small, and too far off." He handed the night-glass toOrme, who in turn searched the water vain
ly.
"Whose boat is that moored to the breakwater?" asked Orme, lowering theglass.
"Belongs to a man here in town."
"Would he rent it?"
"No. But he lets us run it once in a while. We keep an eye on it forhim."
Orme took out his watch. "It's almost twelve," he said. "You'll berelieved in a few moments. Do you suppose I could persuade you to take meout to the other boat?"
The life-saver hesitated. "I'd like to," he said. "But my study----"
"There'll be some sport, if we get within reach of the man out there,"Orme put in.
"Well--I'll do it--though the chances are that they will make theirrepairs and be off again before we come within a mile."
"I'm much obliged to you," said Orme. "If you would let me make itright----"
"For taking you out in another man's boat? No, sir."
"I know. Well--my name is Orme, not Holmes."
"And mine," grinned the life-saver, "is Porter."
A man turned in from the drive, and sauntered toward them.
"There's my relief," said Porter. "Hello, Kelmsley."
"Hello," replied the newcomer.
"Just wait till I punch the clock," said Porter to Orme.
"Punch the clock? Oh, I see; the government times you."
"Yes."
Porter went into the station for a moment; then, returning, he exchangeda few words with the relief and led Orme down to the breakwater. Thelaunch which was moored there proved to be a sturdy boat, built forstrength rather than for speed.
Orme cast off while Porter removed the tarpaulin from the motor and madeready to turn the wheel over.
"Is the policeman still busy with the Jap?" Orme questioned suddenly.
"Yes."
"He won't get anything out of him," said Orme--"except fairy-stories."
Porter started the motor and stepped forward to the steering-wheel.Slowly the launch pushed out into the open lake, and the lights of theshore receded.
No sound had come from the disabled boat since its motor stopped.Doubtless it was too far off for the noise of repairs to be heard on theshore. Orme peered over the dark surface of the water, but he could seenothing except the lights of a distant steamer.
"I know why he went out so far," remarked Porter. "He is running withoutlights."
"That in itself is suspicious, isn't it?" Orme asked.
"Why, yes, I suppose so--though people aren't always as careful as theymight be. Our own lights aren't lighted, you see."
"Have you any clue at all as to where she is?"
"Only from the direction the sounds came from just before the explosionsstopped. She had headway enough to slide some distance after that, andI'm allowing for it--and for the currents. With the lake as it is, shewould be carried in a little."
For nearly half an hour they continued straight out toward mid-lake. Ormenoticed that there was a slight swell. The lights of Evanston were nowmere twinkling distant points, far away over the dark void of the waters.
Porter shut off the power. "We must be pretty near her," he said.
They listened intently.
"Perhaps I steered too far south," said Porter at last.
He threw on the power, and sent the boat northward in slow, wide circles.The distant steamship had made progress toward the northeast--bound,perhaps, for Muskegon, or some other port on the Michigan shore. She wasa passenger steamer, apparently, for lines of portholes and deck-windowswere marked by dots of light. There was no other sign of human presenceto be seen on the lake, and Orme's glance expectantly wandered to herlights now and then.
At last, while he was looking at it, after a fruitless search of thedarkness, he was startled by a strange phenomenon. The lights of thesteamer suddenly disappeared. An instant later they shone out again.
With an exclamation, Orme seized the steering-wheel and swung it over tothe right.
"There she is," he cried, and then: "Excuse me for taking the wheel thatway, but I was afraid I'd lose her."
"I don't see her," said Porter.
"No; but something dark cut off the lights of that steamer. Hold her so."He let go the wheel and peered ahead.
Presently they both saw a spot of blacker blackness in the night. Porterset the motor at half-speed.
"Have you got a bull's-eye lantern?" asked Orme in an undertone.
"Yes, in that locker."
Orme stooped and lighted the lantern in the shelter of the locker.
"Now run up alongside," he said, "and ask if they need help."
The outline of the disabled boat now grew more distinct. Porter swungaround toward it and called:
"Need help?"
After a moment's wait, a voice replied:
"Yes. You tow me to Chicago. I pay you."
It was a voice which Orme recognized as that of the Japanese who had beenwith Maku in the attack at the Pere Marquette.
"Can't do that," answered Porter. "I'll take you in to Evanston."
"No!" The tone was expostulatory. "I go to Chicago. I fix engine prettysoon."
At this moment Orme raised his lantern and directed its light into theother boat. It shone into the blinking eyes of the Japanese, standing bythe motor. It shone----
Great Heaven! Was he dreaming? Orme could not believe his eyes. The lightrevealed the face of the one person he least expected to see--for, seatedon a cushion at the forward end of the cockpit, was the girl!
The Girl and the Bill Page 6