CHAPTER VIII
MR. HARRIS HAS A FEW IDEAS
Clutching the iron hand-rail of the ladder leading to the fore-deck, Iwent down as quickly as I could. For half a minute I stood on the wetplates of the deck, drenched by the spray which swept the head of thevessel every time she lurched forward into the seas. Above me I couldmake out the dim shape of the bridge and superstructure, and I could hearthe wind slatting the storm-apron lashed along the bridge-rail and thesinging of the funnel-stays, but it was so black overhead that I couldnot distinguish any figure on the bridge.
The forecastle-head could barely be made out, and the winch-wheels andventilators on deck were inchoate masses which took shape only when theywere within reach. The green starboard-light threw a sickly glare overthe surges which rose to the rail. I had to feel my way along and notrelease my grip until I had found a hold on something else.
If it was dark on deck, the appalling gloom below was terrifying, andnothing seemed stable--there were times when I mistook the bulkhead forthe deck, when the vessel took a long roll and laboured to right herself.
I found myself in a maze of stanchions below, and after I had passedunder the hood of the companionway lost my bearings for a time, untilI discovered that I had to turn aft to make any progress. Everythingseemed to be making as much of a clatter as possible between decks, andI seemed to be directly over the engines. Fire-doors were clanging closeat hand, and the Chinese firemen were bawling behind a bulkhead; so mydifficulty was not so much to keep silent myself as to recognize soundswhich would give me a clue as to where Captain Riggs and the others hadgone.
For a time I was on the point of getting back to the deck above, for itwas a foolhardy business with nothing to gain that I could see, and noend of trouble if I should be caught stalking Captain Riggs on hismysterious expedition to the storeroom. My silk pajamas, now thoroughlywet, clung to me, and the salt water began to sting, and my wet stockingswere sticky and uncomfortable and formed bunches under my toes, but Ikept them on for the little protection they afforded my feet.
But I kept crawling aft until I came squarely against a solid wall, andknew it for the bulkhead of the forward part of the superstructure. As Iwas in some sort of a passage, it must lead to a door, and I fumbled tofind its outlines.
I found the knob, although it seemed to be on the wrong side, as thingswill in the dark, and I tried the door, but it was fast. Just as I wasabout to turn away I detected the sound of voices behind it, and knewthat Riggs and the mate were inside, and that I had found the room whichcontained the mysterious cargo.
Bound to know what they were talking about, I made another effort to openthe door a little. I did not succeed, but I found a big key protrudingbeneath the knob, and drew it out so I could hear better and even get aglimpse of the interior. All was dark inside, except for a small circleof light thrown against the bulkhead in such a way as to illumine a boxwhich was braced against the wall.
I knew this light came from the bull's-eye lantern, and that if I openedthe door an inch or so those inside could not detect it; but when I triedthe key I found that the door was unlocked but hooked inside, so I tookthe key out again and put it down on the deck, and took another survey ofthe limited portion of the room visible to me. I could hear Harristalking in a low tone, and Captain Riggs asking questions, and by puttingmy ear to the keyhole I heard enough to get the drift of theirconversation, although in this position I could not see what they weredoing.
"Tinned milk," said Harris, and he laughed.
"Let the boy hold the light," said the captain. "Pry it open a bit more,Harris, and let me have a good, square look at it. I don't believethere's more than one box, at that--which wouldn't be no great troublefor us."
"Make a devil of a racket to git it broke open," said Harris, using somesort of a tool on a box. "Thar's two chists here, to tell the truth aboutit. One is heavier than t'other and bound with iron strips, and thisoutside one is cleated with tin. I'll rip the whole works open, cap'n, ifye say the word."
"No, no, Mr. Harris! Sally Ann, not that! Just enough so I can see andhave no doubt about it--I don't want no guesswork."
"They made it fast right enough," growled Harris. "I never see notinned milk nursed so particular as this, blow me if I did! But when Istarted this side so's I could get my thumb in, I was Jerry Smith--here,cap'n--quick while I hold this side out--put your thumb in there andfeel the aidge."
"It feels like it. Take the light from the boy and hold it down so I canget a look at it--no, let him keep it, Mr. Harris--you hold the board outso I can see it in good shape--down, Rajah, down low, so."
I tried to see what they were doing, but all I could make out was CaptainRiggs as he bent low between me and the object on which the light wasturned. I put my ear back to the keyhole.
"Sally Ann! Sally Ann!" I heard Captain Riggs exclaim, and then hewhistled. "Blast me if ye ain't right, Mr. Harris!"
"I knew I was right," growled Harris. "Can't fool me with that--it feltlike it and looked like it, and that man Trego fits into the game to a T.I thought he was a mighty shady customer from the first look I got athim, when he come alongside and bossed things. When he got that knifethrowed in him I thought I'd come down here and have a look around on myown hook, and thar ye be, cap'n."
"But Sally Ann! What are we going to do with it? We can't leave it here,can we?"
"Maybe it would be better, at that," said Harris. "But I look at it thisway, cap'n--somebody knows it's here, that's what. Maybe the parson;maybe that Mr. Trenhum; maybe Petrak knowed about it; maybe Buckrow andLong Jim knows; but, anyhow, whoever had that knife hooked into Tregoknowed, and ye can put that in yer pipe and smoke it."
"But I don't believe anybody would broach cargo. We can keep the doorlocked, and bury this under a mess of stuff, say spare chain and a lot ofold heavy gear."
"Broach Tophet!" snorted Harris. "Ye call this cargo, Cap'n Riggs? Wal,if ye do, I don't! Broach cargo! Think a man that would kill Trego,or get him killed, would stop at broaching cargo to git his paws onthis?"
"That's true enough," said Riggs. "It's bad business to have it aboard,Mr. Harris. I hope nobody in the ship knows about it. If they find out itmay lead to trouble, and I'm too old to have trouble with my ships now.I've had trouble enough this night as it is--"
"That ain't the idea at all, cap'n," said Harris, entirely out ofpatience. "Ye've had trouble already, and all over this, and ye'll havemore of it, and ye can't avoid it. We got some pretty fancy passengersaboard, and I'll bet my shirt the parson and Mr. Trenhum knows; andwhat's more, that parson ain't no more a parson than I be--if he'sa parson I'm a bishop. Now, them two brought a bad lot aboard with'em--Petrak, thar in irons, and this Buckrow, and Long Jim."
"It does look queer," admitted Riggs.
"Trego had his suspicions all the time, cap'n. They got him before hecould tell ye what he guessed. Trego never liked the both of 'em. When yecome to look this thing over in yer mind, a little at a time, it gitsplain to me. Ye see, the parson brought Long Jim and Buckrow; and Tryhum,or whatever his name is, brung Petrak to do his part of the dirty work.
"Now, look what I'm sayin', cap'n. We got short-handed quick thar inManila, didn't we? I been turnin' that over in my mind, too. Somebodycut the boatswain, didn't they? The police got that Lascar quartermasterwho we had for lampman, didn't they? That's two men gone, ain't it?
"Look a here. The police come aboard lookin' for a little red-headedsailor they said done the killin', and I told 'em they was dreamin'; butthey said the lampman, who they took for the murder, blamed it on alittle red-headed sailor. I just told 'em I guessed the lampman was theirman, and they said a parson told 'em he done the killin', but they wantedto find this little red-headed sailor 'cause he had some hand in it, sosome witnesses said.
"See what I'm drivin' at? I didn't know about no red-headed man, and Ididn't want to. We had to get out of Manila, and I didn't want to bemonkeyin' around with no courts nor judges, and I let the police havetheir own say, and
agreed with 'em when I saw a chance to keep clear, anddisagreed when I saw it would delay us to get tangled up in the killin'of the bos'n."
"Well, I don't see what all that has got to do with this," said CaptainRiggs.
"Ye don't? Look a here! One of our men cut up; a red-headed little sailorhas a hand in it of some sort; a parson tells the police our lampman doneit, and thar goes another of our hands. Who do we git in their place? Aparson for a passenger and two men of his own he brings aboard. Lookslike he made room for 'em, cap'n."
"You've been reading books," said Captain Riggs. "What I need is a mate,not a detective. But go on, Mr. Harris--maybe ye're right--I'm gettingold and trustful."
"That ain't my main p'int, either," continued Harris. "What I mean isthis--come to think it over, the lampman didn't leave the ship's sideuntil after the Greek was cut up ashore. It was the parson who put thepolice on to the lampman."
"This same parson, Mr. Harris? Ye ain't sure about that?"
"Oh, shucks! Think thar's fourteen thousand parsons runnin' around Manilawith a red-headed sailor that's too handy by far with a knife? Ain't Igot brains in my head? He had to make room for his pals aboard here,didn't he? It's plain as Cape Cod Light to me, cap'n."
"Well, what does it all mean? You suppose this is what they want?"
"Ye don't guess they killed the bos'n and this Trego just for friendshipsake, do ye? If ye want to know what my personal, private feelings are,it looks like we've been boarded by the Devil's Admiral."
"Sally Ann's black cat!" said Riggs. "That story was started by somesea-lawyer full of gin, and the newspapers took it up for fun. Thereain't no more a Devil's Admiral than there is a _Flying Dutchman_."
"Wal, didn't I see the _Flying Dutchman_ off the cape with my own eyeswhen I was second in the brig _Peerless_? Ye can't tell me thar ain't no_Flying Dutchman_, and ye can't make me believe thar ain't no Devil'sAdmiral--I've been told some things about both of 'em, and dang me for ablue-nose fisherman if I don't believe in 'em both!"
"Who is your Devil's Admiral aboard here, then?"
"The parson."
"You're full of hashish! You been bothered lately with your head, Mr.Harris?"
"That's all right, cap'n. When a man looks overside and says ten knotsand better, and the log says ten knots and a shade, he ain't no landsman.He spits to looward like a commodore, that parson, and I've had mysuspicions right along."
"All buncombe. You been readin' too many Manila newspapers."
"Yes, and I see a few things on deck, too, that ain't got nothin' to dowith newspapers. Petrak, Buckrow, and the long lime-juicer was all prettythick when no one was lookin' at 'em. And they don't let on to know eachother, neither. Askin' one another their names when I was standin' by,and soon as my back was turned thick as flies at a molasses-barrel,sneakin' round and whisperin'.
"'Who's the red chap?' asks Long Jim from Buckrow, when he knows I canhear.
"'Says he's out of a collier,' says Buckrow, speakin' loud a purpose so Ican hear.
"The next I know, cap'n, Reddy was tellin' Long Jim that Buckrow neverpaid him that two bob for a round of drinks in the Flagship Bar beforethe cuttin'. Don't that sound funny? Then when Petrak takes the wheel Iasks him if he knows Long Jim, and he says not afore he come aboard, andBuckrow says the same.
"They all lied; and ye remember how Buckrow helped Petrak with a knifewhen he was in a tight jam thar at the door. I put two and two together,and I'm here, Ezra Harris, your mate, to tell ye that they make four, andye can't git away from it--and what's more, this Trenjum is in with theparson and the other three. Devil's Admiral or no, it don't look nice tome."
"Do you think Buckrow and the other two know about this, Mr. Harris?"
"It ain't clear to me, so far as that goes, but Trenjum and the parsondo. I looks at it this way--they knowed ye didn't know, and that Tregomight tell ye; so they ups and lets a knife into him before he can tell,and then we're up in the air. If I hadn't found it they'd keep usguessin' until they was ready to get in some more fancy work, the Lordknows what.
"That Trenjum is a slick customer--I don't believe he ever writ anythingfor a newspaper, anyway--he's too tall and strong-lookin' to make hislivin' with a pencil. This Trenjum and the parson is in together for allof their lettin' on they don't like one another. What business has awritin' chap with his breeches full of pistols like he had in the saloon?Ye can't tell me writin' chaps eats their meals with guns enough in theirclothes to arm a landin'-party, no, sir!"
"A pretty pickle! Sally Ann, but I've got a nice mess aboard me, and I'mhanged if I know what it's all going to come to! I've half a mind tothrow the whole lot in irons and work the ship with the chinks."
"Now ye're talkin' like somebody," said Harris. "But go slow and git 'emone at a time when it's convenient, so they won't suspect nothin'. If yego after the whole gang at once I'll bet ye have a fight on yer hands.Grab one and then the other so ye'll git 'em separate: and keep 'emseparate, so they can't talk it over, or ye'll have a peck of troubleon yer hands."
"It's no small matter to put passengers in irons, Mr. Harris. They wouldmake trouble for me when they get into port."
"They'll make a cussed sight more trouble for ye aboard here, is my wayof lookin' at it. We got Petrak, anyway, for a start. He said Trenjum gothim to do it, and Trenjum told ye Meeker had a hand in it. Just say oneaccused the other, and when ye come to find this aboard ye had to put 'emin irons 'cause it looked like they was hatchin' mutiny in the crew. Thenwe'll slam the other two in irons on suspicion, and they bein' crew, yegot a right to do that.
"What's the good o' bein' master if ye can't protect yerself and yership? Trenjum is safe enough, as it goes for now, but I'd make him fastbelow when we have the others, and see what sort of a talk he puts up. Ifwe git 'em to tellin' on one another, then we've got the whole yarn out,and ye won't have no trouble with the port authorities. Don't that soundsensible to ye?"
"I don't see any other way out of it," said Riggs. "I suppose the bestthing to do is to go up and take the parson. His room being next to Mr.Trenholm's, the two of 'em will know what's going on, but we don't care.Then we'll take Buckrow and Long Jim."
"I guessed ye'd see it that way, cap'n. I'm willin' to stand doublewatches and take the wheel myself, and, with the Dutchman doin' the same,we'll manage to get the old packet to port right enough."
"We'll go right up," said Captain Riggs, and I heard them move toward thedoor.
"Blow out that stinking lantern," said Riggs.
For an instant I had a wild idea of taking the key and locking them in,and then making terms with the captain, and arguing him out of theconviction that I was in league with Meeker, and offering my services incapturing the others. But I knew Harris could not be convinced that I wasnot in whatever plot was afoot, and that I could put no faith in anyagreement Captain Riggs might make while the mate was with him.
Besides, I had borne out the mate's suspicions by being below spying uponthem, and the wiser course would be for me to get back to my stateroomand let them find me there. Then I might be able to discuss the wholeaffair with them and prove that I was the victim of a plot myself.
As it was, I had lingered at the door too long, and Harris lifted thehook inside and nearly stepped on me as he stumbled into the darkpassage. I crawled out of his path so that when the three of them cameout they were between me and the companionway to the upper deck.
"Where's the cussed key?" whispered Harris. "I thought I left it in thedoor."
"Light a match," said Riggs, and he began to move his feet along thedeck. "Sure you didn't put it in your pocket, Mr. Harris?"
"Who's that?" cried Harris suddenly, and I was sure he had seen mecrouching against the bulkhead. I was about to surrender myself andexplain my presence below when I heard the patter of feet and somebodybounded up the ladder and crashed into a ventilator as he gained the deckabove.
"Somebody been listening I'll bet my hat!" said Harris. "I've got thekey--it dropped out."
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nbsp; He locked the door and they hurried down the passage, Riggs telling Rajahto "go get him," and then I heard them running forward toward theforecastle as they got on deck.
I ran for the ladder as best I could, glad of the chance to get out ofthe black hole and wondering who could have been down there with me. Istepped upon something which slipped from under me, and I went downsprawling, sure that I had gashed my foot, for I had felt a sharp edge asI fell. I found that my stocking was not cut, and was getting to my feetagain when my hand came in contact with the object which had tripped me.
I had stepped upon a large shell crucifix.
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