by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XI.
THE WHITE CROSS OF DENMARK.
Laud Cavendish was at Donald's side when they entered the grounds of Mr.Rodman, where the tables were spread under the trees in the garden. Asthe collation was in honor of the launch of the Maud, of course theyoung boat-builder was a person of no little consequence, and being withhim, Laud was permitted to enter the grounds unchallenged; but they soonseparated.
Donald was disturbed by what Laud had told him, and he did not wish toanswer any questions which might be put to him by Hasbrook, who wasevidently working his own case, trying to ascertain who had committedthe outrage upon him. He did not wish to tell whom he had seen on thatSaturday forenoon, and thus violate the confidence of CaptainShivernock. But he was entirely satisfied that the captain had nothingto do with it, for he had not left his house until after the deed wasdone, according to the testimony of Sykes and his wife, whom he hadseparately interviewed. To decline to answer Hasbrook's questions, onthe other hand, was to excite suspicion. He could not tell any liesabout the case. If he could, it would have been easily managed; as itwas, the situation was very awkward. But he had not time to think muchof the matter, for one and another began to congratulate him upon thesuccess of the launch, the fine proportions and the workmanship of theMaud. The praise of Captain Patterdale was particularly agreeable tohim; but the best news he heard was that Major Norwood intended to havea yacht built for his son, and would probably give the job to Ramsay &Son.
"Well, Don John, you are a real lion," laughed Nellie Patterdale, when,at last, the young boat-builder obtained a place at her side, which hadbeen the objective point with him since he entered the grounds.
"Better be a lion than a bear," replied Donald.
"Everybody says you have built a splendid yacht, and Maud is delightedto have it named after her."
"I think the Sea Foam ought to have been called the Nellie," addedDonald.
"Pooh! I asked Ned to call her the Sea Foam."
"If I ever build a yacht on my own account, I shall certainly name herthe Nellie Patterdale," continued Donald, though the remark cost him aterrible struggle.
"I thank you, Don John; but I hope you will never build one on your ownaccount, then," answered she, with a slight blush.
"Why, wouldn't you like to have a boat named after you?" asked he,rather taken aback at her reply.
"I shouldn't like to have my whole name given to a boat. It is toolong."
"O, well! Then I shall call her the Nellie."
"You are too late, Don John," laughed Laud Cavendish, who was standingwithin hearing distance, and who now stepped forward, raised his hat,bowed, and smirked. "I have already ordered the painter to inscribe thatword on the bows and stern of the Juno, for I never liked her presentname."
Nellie blushed deeper than before, but it was with anger this time,though she made no reply to Laud's impudent remark. At this moment Mr.Rodman invited the party to gather around the tables and partake of thecollation.
"Will Miss Patterdale allow me to offer her my arm?" added Laud, as hethrust his elbow up before her.
"No, I thank you," she replied, walking towards the tables, but keepingat Donald's side.
The boat-builder had not the courage to offer her his arm, though someof the sons of the nabobs had done so to the ladies; but he kept at herside. Laud was desperate, for Nellie seemed to be the key of destiny tohim. If he could win her heart and hand, or even her hand without theheart, his fortune would be made, and the wealth and social position ofwhich cruel fate had thus far robbed him would be obtained. Though shesnubbed him, he could not see it, and would not accept the situation. IfDonald had not been there, she would not have declined his offered arm;and he regarded the boat-builder as the only obstacle in his path.
"I wish you had not invited that puppy, Don John," said Nellie, as theymoved towards the tables; and there was a snap in her tones whichemphasized the remark.
"I didn't invite him," replied Donald, warmly.
"He came in with you, and Mr. Rodman said you must have asked him."
"Indeed, I did not; I had no right to invite him," protested Donald.
Nellie immediately told this to the host of the occasion, and in doingso she left Donald for a moment.
"Why don't you get out of the way, Don John, when you see what I am upto?" said Laud, in a low tone, but earnestly and indignantly, as thoughDonald had stepped between him and the cheerful destiny in which hisimagination revelled.
"What are you up to?"
"I told you before that I liked Nellie, and you are all the time comingbetween me and her. She would have taken my arm if you had steppedaside."
"I don't choose to step aside," added Donald.
"I want to get in there, Don John," added Laud, in a milder tone.
"Paddle your own canoe."
"You don't care anything about her."
"How do you know I don't?"
"Do you?"
"That's my affair."
"She don't care for you."
"Nor you, either."
"Perhaps not now, but I can make it all right with her," said Laud, ashe twirled his colored mustache, which he probably regarded as alady-killer. "Besides, you are not old enough to think of such thingsyet, Don John."
"Well, I don't think of such things yet," replied Donald, who reallyspoke only the truth, so far as he was consciously concerned.
"But you ought not to stick by her to-day. You are the boat-builder, andyou should bestow your attentions upon Maud Rodman, after whom the yachtwas named. She is the daughter of the man who gave you the job. If youwill just keep away from Nellie, I can paddle my own canoe, as you say."
"Mr. Cavendish," interposed Mr. Rodman, "I believe you are not a memberof the Belfast Yacht Club."
"I am not yet, but I intend to join," replied Laud.
"In the mean time, this occasion is for the members of the club andtheir friends; and I wish to suggest the propriety of your withdrawing,as I believe you are here without an invitation," added Mr. Rodman.
"I came with Don John," said Laud, rather startled by the plain speechof the host.
"If Don John invited you--"
"I didn't invite him, or any one else. I did not consider that I had anyright to do so," protested Donald, as he walked forward and joinedNellie.
Laud could not gainsay this honest avowal; but there was no limit to hiswrath at that moment, and he determined to punish the boat-builder for"going back" on him, as he regarded it.
The collation was a sumptuous one, for when Belfast nabobs do anything,they do it. The guests had good appetites, and did abundant justice tothe feast. The incident of which Laud Cavendish had been the centralfigure caused some talk and some laughter.
"He had the impudence to say he was going to name his boat after me,"said Nellie Patterdale. "He don't like the name of Juno."
"Does he own the Juno?" asked Captain Patterdale, quietly.
"I suppose he does."
"How is that, Don John?" added the captain.
"Yes, sir, he owns her; Captain Shivernock got tired of the Juno, andLaud bought her."
Captain Patterdale made a note of that piece of information, andregarded it as a clew to assist in the discovery of the tin box, whichhad not yet been found, though the owner and the deputy sheriff had beenlooking diligently for it ever since its disappearance.
"What did he pay for her?" inquired Captain Patterdale.
"Three hundred and fifty dollars," answered Donald, who hoped he wouldnot be asked of whom Laud had bought the Juno.
The captain did not ask the question, for it seemed to be self-evidentthat he had purchased her of Captain Shivernock. Indeed, nothing morewas said about the matter. A dance on the shaven lawn followed thecollation, and the guests remained until the dews of evening began tofall. Donald walked home with Nellie, and then went to the shop. Heexpected to find Hasbrook there, but he had returned to Lincolnville. Hesaw that the sails for the Maud had been sent down during his absence,
and on the desk lay the bill for them, enclosed in an envelope, directedto "Messrs. Ramsay & Son." While he was looking at it, Mr. Leach, thesail-maker, entered the shop. He had come to look after his money, forpossibly he had not entire confidence in the financial stability of thefirm.
"Have you looked over those sails, Don John?" asked Leach.
"Not yet; it is rather too dark to examine them to-night," repliedDonald.
"That's the best suit of sails I ever made," added the sail-maker. "Yousaid you wanted the best that could be had."
"I did." And Donald unrolled them. "They look like a good job."
"If they are not as good as anything that ever went on a boat, I'll makeyou another suit for nothing. I was in hopes you would look them overto-night. I don't want to trouble you, Don John, but I'm a little shortof money. Captain Patterdale has a mortgage on my house, and I like topay the interest on it the day it is due. You said you would let me havethe money when the sails were delivered."
"And so I will."
"If they are not all right, I will make them so," added Leach. "I shouldlike to pay the captain my interest money to-night, if I can."
"You can. I will go into the house and get the money."
Donald went to his room in the cottage, and took from their hiding-placethe bills which had been paid to him by Laud Cavendish for the Juno.Without this he had not enough to pay the sail-maker. He did not like touse this money, for he was not fully satisfied that Laud would not getinto trouble on account of it, or that he might not himself have somedifficulty with Captain Shivernock. He feared that he should be calledupon to refund this money; but Mr. Rodman would pay him anotherinstalment of the price of the Maud in a few days, and he should then bein condition to meet any demand upon him. Laud had paid him sevenfifty-dollar bills, and he put them in his pocket. As he passed throughthe kitchen, he lighted the lantern, and returned to the shop.
"I didn't mean to dun you up so sharp for this bill," said Leach; "but Ihaven't a dollar in my pocket at this minute, and I am very anxious tobe punctual in the payment of my interest."
"It's all right; I had as lief pay it now as at any other time. In fact,I like to pay up as soon as the work is done," replied Donald, as hehanded the sail-maker three of the fifty-dollar bills, which was theprice agreed upon for the sails, five in number.
Leach looked carefully at each of the bills. All of them were quite newand fresh, and one was peculiar enough to attract the attention of anyone through whose hands it might pass. It was just like the others, butat some period, not very remote in its history, it had been torn intofour parts. It might have been in a sheet of note paper, torn up by someone who did not know the bill was between the leaves. It had been mendedwith two narrow slips of thin, white paper, extending across the lengthand width of the bill, like the horizontal white cross on the flag ofDenmark.
"That bill has been in four pieces," said Leach, as he turned it overand examined it; "but I suppose it is good."
"If it is not, I will give you another for it," answered Donald.
"It is all here; so I think it is all right. I wonder who tore it up."
"I don't know; it was so when I took it."
"I am very much obliged to you, Don John; and the next time I make asuit of sails for you, you needn't pay me till you get ready," said thesail-maker, as he put the money in his wallet.
"I didn't pay for this suit till I got ready," laughed the boat-builder;"and when you get up another, I hope I shall be able to pay you the cashfor them."
Leach left the shop a happy man; for most men are cheerful when theyhave plenty of money in their pocket. He was more especially happybecause, being an honest man, he was able now to pay the interest on themortgage note on the day it was due. He had worked half the night beforein order to finish the sails, so that he might get the money to pay it.With a light step, therefore, he walked to the elegant mansion ofCaptain Patterdale, and rang the bell at the library door. There was alight in the room, which indicated that the captain was at home. He wasadmitted by the nabob himself, who answered his own bell at this door.
"I suppose you thought I wasn't going to pay my interest on the day itwas due," said Leach, with a cheerful smile.
THE SAIL-MAKER'S BILL. Page 199.]
"On the contrary, I didn't think anything at all about it," repliedCaptain Patterdale. "I was not even aware that your interest was dueto-day."
"I came pretty near not paying it, for work has been rather slack thisseason; but the firm of Ramsay & Son helped me out by paying me promptlyfor the sails I made for the Maud."
"Ramsay & Son is a great concern," laughed the nabob.
"It pays promptly; and that's more than all of them do," added Leach,drawing his wallet from his pocket.
"I haven't your note by me, Mr. Leach," said Captain Patterdale; but hedid not consider it necessary to state that the important document wasat that moment in the tin box, wherever the said tin box might be. "Iwill give you a receipt for the amount you pay, and indorse it upon thenote when I have it."
"All right, captain."
"Do you know how much the interest is? I am sure I have forgotten,"added the rich man.
"I ought to know. I have had to work too hard to get the money in timeto forget how much it was. It is just seventy dollars," answered Leach.
"You needn't pay it now, if you are short."
"I'm not short now. I'm flush, for which I thank Don John," said thesail-maker, as he placed two of the fifty-dollar bills on the desk, atwhich the captain was writing the receipt.
The uppermost of the two bills was the mended one, for Leach thought ifthere was any doubt in regard to this, it ought to be known at once. Ifthe nabob would take it, the matter was settled. Captain Patterdalewrote the receipt, and did not at once glance at the money.
"There's a hundred, captain," added the sail-maker.
The rich man picked up the bills, and turned over the upper one. If hedid not start, it was not because he was not surprised. He was utterlyconfounded when he saw that bill, and his thoughts flashed quicklythrough his mind. But he did not betray his thoughts or his emotions,quick as were the former, and intense as were the latter. He took up themended bill, and looked it over several times.
"That's the white cross of Denmark," said he, suppressing his emotions.
"Isn't the bill good?" asked the sail-maker.
"Good as gold for eighty-eight cents on a dollar," replied the captain.
"Then it is not good," added Leach, who did not quite comprehend thenabob's mathematics.
"Yes, it is."
"But you say it is worth only eighty-eight cents on a dollar."
"That is all any paper dollar is worth when gold is a little risingfourteen per cent. premium. The bill is perfectly good, in spite of thewhite cross upon it. You want thirty dollars change."
The captain counted out this sum, and handed it to the debtor.
"If the bill isn't good, I can give you another," replied Leach, as hetook the money.
"It is a good bill, and I prefer it to any other for certain reasons ofmy own. It has the white cross of Denmark upon it; at least, the whitebars on this bill remind me of the flag of that nation."
"It's like a flag--is it?" added the sail-maker, who did not understandthe rich man's allusion.
"Like the flag of Denmark. I made a voyage to Copenhagen once, and thisbill reminds me of the merchant's flag, which has a couple of white barsacross a red ground. Where did you say you got this bill, Mr. Leach?"
"Don John gave it to me, not half an hour ago."
"It has been torn into quarters some time, and the pieces put togetheragain. Did Don John mend the bill himself?"
"No, sir; he says the bill is just as it was when he received it. Ilooked at it pretty sharp when I took it; but he said if it wasn't good,he would give me another."
"It is perfectly good. Did he tell you where he got the bill?" askedCaptain Patterdale, manifesting none of the emotion which agitated him.
"No, sir; he did not. I didn't ask him. If it makes any difference, Iwill do so."
"It makes no difference whatever. It is all right, Mr. Leach."
The sail-maker folded up his receipt, and left the library. He went homewith eighty dollars in his pocket, entirely satisfied with himself, withthe nabob, and especially with the firm of Ramsay & Son. He did not carea straw about the white cross of Denmark, so long as the bill was good.Captain Patterdale was deeply interested in the bill which bore thismark, and possibly he expected to conquer by this sign. He was not somuch interested in the bill because he had made a voyage up the Balticand seen the white cross there, as because he had seen it on a bill inthat tin box. He was not only interested, but he was anxious, for theactive member of the firm of Ramsay & Son seemed to be implicated in avery unfortunate and criminal transaction.
More than once Captain Patterdale had observed the pleasant relationsbetween Don John and his fair daughter. As Nellie was a very prettygirl, intelligent, well educated, and agreeable, and in due time wouldbe the heiress of a quarter or a half million, as the case might be, hewas rather particular in regard to the friendships she contracted withthe young gentlemen of the city. Possibly he did not approve theintimacy between them. But whatever opinions he may have entertained inregard to the equality of social relations between his daughter and thefuture partner of her joys and sorrows, we must do him the justice tosay that he preferred honor and honesty to wealth and position in thegentleman whom Nellie might choose for her life companion. Thesuspicion, or rather the conviction, forced upon him by "the white crossof Denmark," that Donald was neither honest nor honorable, was vastlymore painful than the fact that he was poor, and was the son of a mereship carpenter.
Certainly Nellie did like the young man, though, as she was hardly morethan a child, it might be a fancy that would pass away when she realizedthe difference between the daughter of a nabob and the son of a shipcarpenter. While he was thinking of the subject, Nellie entered thelibrary, as she generally did when her father was alone there. She washis only confidant in the house in the matter of the tin box, and hedetermined to talk with her about the painful discovery he had justmade.