by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIII.
MOONLIGHT ON THE JUNO.
Donald felt that he was in hot water, in spite of the assurance ofCaptain Patterdale that he believed him innocent of all wrong, and hewas sorry that he had made any bargains, conditional or otherwise, withCaptain Shivernock or Laud Cavendish. The nabob would not tell him whatwas wrong, and he could not determine whether Laud or some other personhad stolen the money. He went into the house on his return from theelegant mansion. His mother had gone to watch with a sick neighbor,though his sister Barbara was sewing in the front room.
Donald was troubled, not by a guilty conscience, but by the fear that hehad innocently done wrong in concealing his relations with CaptainShivernock and with Laud Cavendish. Somehow the case looked differentnow from what it had before. Laud had told where he got his money, andgiven a good reason, as it seemed to him at the time, for concealment;but why the strange man desired secrecy he was utterly unable toimagine. He almost wished he had told Captain Patterdale all about hismeeting with Captain Shivernock on Long Island, and asked his advice. Itwas not too late to do so now. Donald was so uneasy that he could notsit in the house, and went out doors. He walked about the beach for atime, and then sat down in front of the shop to think the matter overagain.
Suddenly, while he was meditating in the darkness, he saw the trunklights of the Maud illuminated, as though there was a fire in her cabin.He did not wait to study the cause, but jumping into his skiff, hepushed off, and sculled with all his might towards the yacht. He was madand desperate, for the Maud was on fire! He leaped on board, with thekey of the brass padlock which secured the cabin door in his hand; buthe had scarcely reached the deck before he saw a man on the wharfretreating from the vicinity of the yacht. Then he heard the flapping ofa sail on the other side of the pier; but he could not spend an instantin ascertaining who the person was. He opened the cabin door, anddiscovered on the floor a pile of shavings in flames. Fortunately therewas a bucket in the standing-room, with which he dashed a quantity ofwater upon the fire, and quickly extinguished it. All was dark again;but to make sure, Donald threw another pail of water on the cabin floor,and then it was not possible for the fire to ignite again.
Although the deck had been swept clean before the launch, the side nextto the wharf was littered with shavings, and a basket stood there, inwhich they had been brought on board, for it was still half full. Donaldfound that one of the trunk lights had been left unfastened, in thehurry and excitement of attending the festival at Mr. Rodman's house.Through the aperture the incendiary had stuffed the shavings, anddropped a card of lighted matches upon them, for he saw the remnants ofit when he threw on the first water. Who had done this outrageous deed?Donald sprang upon the wharf as he recalled the shadowy form and theflapping sail he had seen. Leaping upon the pier, he rushed over to theother side, where he discovered a sail-boat slowly making her way, inthe gentle breeze, out of the dock.
Beyond a peradventure, the boat was the Juno. Her peculiar rig enabledhim readily to identify her. Was Laud Cavendish in her, and was hewicked enough to commit such an act? Donald returned to the Maud toassure himself that there was no more fire in her. He was satisfied thatthe yacht was not injured, for he had extinguished the fire before theshavings were well kindled. He fastened the trunk lights securely,locked the cabin door, and taking possession of the basket, he embarkedin his skiff again. Sculling out beyond the wharf, he looked for theJuno. The wind was so light she made but little headway, and wasstanding off shore with the breeze nearly aft. It was Laud's boat, butit might not be Laud in her. Why should the wretch attempt to burn theMaud?
Then the scene in Mr. Rodman's garden, when Laud had been invited toleave, came to his mind, and Donald began to understand the matter.While he was thinking about it, the moon came out from behind a cloudwhich had obscured it, and cast its soft light upon the quiet bay,silvering the ripples on its waters with a flood of beauty.
Donald glanced at the basket in the skiff, still half filled withshavings. It was Laud's basket, beyond a doubt, for he had often seenit when the owner came down to the shore to embark in his boat. Theinitials of his father's name, "J. C.," were daubed upon the outside ofit, for there is sometimes as much confusion in regard to the ownershipof baskets as of umbrellas. Donald was full of excitement, and full ofwrath; and as soon as he got the idea of the guilty party through hishead, he sculled the skiff with all the vigor of a strong arm towardsthe Juno, easily overhauling her in a few moments. He was so excitedthat he dashed his skiff bang into the Juno, to the serious detriment ofthe white paint which covered her side.
"What are you about, Don John?" roared Laud Cavendish, who had seen theapproaching skiff, but had not chosen to hail her.
"What are you about?" demanded Donald, answering the question withanother, Yankee fashion, as he jammed his boat-hook into the side of theJuno, and drew the skiff up to the yacht, from which it had receded.
Taking the painter, he jumped on the forward deck of the Juno, with theboat-hook still in his hand.
"What do you mean by smashing into me in that kind of style, and jabbingyour boat-hook into the side of my boat?" cried Laud, as fiercely as hecould pitch his tones, though there seemed to be a want of vim to them.
"What do you mean by setting the Maud afire?" demanded Donald. "That'swhat I want to know."
"Who set her afire?" replied Laud, in rather hollow tones.
"You did, you miserable spindle-shanks!"
"I didn't set her afire, Don John," protested Laud.
"Yes, you did! I can prove it, and I will prove it, too."
"You are excited, Don John. You don't know what you are talking about."
"I think I do, and I'll bet you'll understand it, too, if there is anylaw left in the State of Maine."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean what I say, and say what I mean."
"I haven't been near the Maud."
"Yes, you have! Didn't I see you sneaking across the wharf? Didn't I seeyour mainsail alongside the pier? You can't humbug me. I know a pint ofsoft soap from a pound of cheese," rattled Donald, who could talk veryfast when he was both excited and enraged; and Laud's tongue was nomatch for his member.
"I tell you, I haven't been near the Maud."
"Don't tell me! I saw it all; I have two eyes that I wouldn't sell fortwo cents apiece; and I'll put you over the road at a two-forty gait."
Laud saw that it was no use to argue the point, and he held his peace,till the boat-builder had exhausted his rhetoric, and his stock ofexpletives.
"What did you do it for, Laud?" asked he, at last, in a comparativelyquiet tone.
"I have told you a dozen times I didn't do it," replied the accused."You talk so fast I can't get a word in edgeways."
"It's no use for you to deny it," added Don John.
"Do you think I'd burn your yacht?"
"Yes, I do; and I know you tried to do it. If I hadn't been over by theshop, you would have done it."
DON JOHN VISITS THE JUNO. Page 230.]
"I didn't do it, I repeat. Do you think I would lie about it? Do youthink I have no sense of honor about me!"
"Confound your honor!" sneered Donald.
"Don't insult me. When you assail my honor, you touch me in a tenderplace."
"In a soft place, and that's in your head."
"Be careful, Don John. I advise you not to wake a sleeping lion."
"A sleeping jackass!"
"I claim to be a gentleman, and my honor is my capital stock in life."
"You have a very small capital to work on, then."
"I warn you to be cautious, Don John. My honor is all I have to restupon in this world."
"It's a broken reed. I wouldn't give a cent's worth of molasses candyfor the honor of a fellow who would destroy the property of another,because he got mad with him."
In spite of his repeated warnings, Laud Cavendish was very forbearing,though Donald kept the boat-hook where it would be serviceable in anemergency.
"No, Don John, I did not set the Maud afire. Though you went back on methis afternoon, and served me a mean and shabby trick, I wouldn't dosuch a thing as burn your property."
"Who went back on you?" demanded Donald.
"You did; when you could have saved me from being driven out of thegarden, you took the trouble to say, you did not invite me," repliedLaud, reproachfully.
"I didn't invite you; and I had no right to invite you."
"No matter for that; if you had just said that your friend, Mr.Cavendish, had come in with you it would have been all right."
"My friend, Mr. Cavendish!" repeated Donald, sarcastically. "I didn'tknow I had any such friend."
"I didn't expect that of you, after what I had done for you, Don John."
"Spill her on that tack! You never did anything for me."
"I took that boat off your hands, and I suppose you got a commission forselling her. Wasn't that doing something for you?"
"No!" protested Donald.
"I have always used you well, and done more for you than you know of.You wouldn't have got the job to build the Maud if it hadn't been forme. I spoke a good word for you to Mr. Rodman," whined Laud.
"You!" exclaimed Donald, disgusted with this ridiculous pretension. "Ifyou said anything to Mr. Rodman about it, I wonder he didn't give thejob to somebody else."
"You think I have no influence, but you are mistaken; and if you insiston quarrelling with me, you will find out, when it is too late, whatfolks think of me."
"They think you are a ninny; and when they know what you did to-night,they will believe you are a knave," replied Donald. "You didn't coveryour tracks so that I couldn't find them; and I can prove all I say. Ididn't think you were such a rascal before."
"You won't make anything out of that sort of talk with me, Don John,"said Laud, mildly. "You provoke me to throw you overboard, but I don'twant to hurt you."
"I'll risk your throwing me overboard. I can take care of myself."
"I said I didn't want to hurt you, and I don't. I didn't set your boatafire; I wouldn't do such a thing."
"You can tell that to Squire Peters to-morrow."
"You don't mean to say that you will prosecute me, Don John?"
"Yes; I do mean it."
"I came down from the harbor, and tacked between those two wharves,"explained Laud. "I was standing off on this tack when you bunted yourskiff into me. That's all I know about it."
"But I saw you on the wharf. No matter; we won't argue the case here,"said Donald, as he made a movement to go into his skiff.
"Hold on, Don John. I want to talk with you a little."
"What about?"
"Two or three things. I am going off on a long cruise in a day or two. Ithink I shall go as far as Portland, and try to get a situation in astore there."
"I don't believe you will have a chance to go to Portland, or anywhereelse, unless it's Thomaston, where the state prison is located."
"I didn't think you would be so rough on me, Don John. I didn't set yourboat afire; but I can see that it may go hard with me, because Ihappened to be near the wharf at the time."
"You will find that isn't the worst of it," added Donald.
"What is the worst of it?"
"Never mind; I'll tell Squire Peters to-morrow, when we come together."
"Don't go to law about it, Don John; for though I didn't do it, I don'twant to be hauled up for it. Even a suspicion is sometimes damaging tothe honor of a gentleman."
"You had better come down from that high horse, and own up that you setthe Maud afire."
"Will you agree not to prosecute, if I do?" asked Laud.
Donald, after his anger subsided, thought more about the "white cross ofDenmark" than he did about the fire; for the latter had done him nodamage, while the former might injure his character which he valued morethan his property.
"I will agree not to prosecute, if you will answer all my questions," hereplied; but I confess that it was an error on the part of the youngman.
Donald fastened the painter of his skiff at the stern, and took a seatin the standing-room of the Juno.
"I will tell you all I know, if you will keep me out of the courts,"added Laud, promptly.
"Why did you set the Maud afire?"
"Because I was mad, and meant to get even with you for what you did atRodman's this afternoon. You might do me a great service, Don John, ifyou would. I like Nellie Patterdale; I mean, I'm in love with her. Idon't believe I can live without her."
"I'll bet you'll have to," interposed Donald, indignantly.
"You don't know what it is to love, Don John."
"I don't want to know yet awhile; and I think you had better live on adifferent sort of grub. What a stupid idea, for a fellow like you tothink of such a girl as Nellie Patterdale!"
"Is it any worse for me to think of her, than it is for you to do so?"asked Laud.
"I never thought of her in any such way as that. We went to schooltogether, and have always been good friends; that's all."
"That's enough," sighed Laud. "I actually suffer for her sake. If thequest were hopeless," Laud read novels--"I think I should drown myself."
"You had better do it right off, then," added Donald.
"You can pity me, Don John, for I am miserable. Day and night I thinkonly of her. My feelings have made me almost crazy, and I hardly knewwhat I was about when I applied the incendiary torch to the Maud."
"I thought it was a card of friction matches."
"The world will laugh and jeer at me for loving one above my station;but love makes us equals."
"Perhaps it does when the love is on both sides," added the practicalboat-builder.
"But I think I am fitted to adorn a higher station than that in which Iwas born."
"If so, you will rise like a stick of timber forced under the water; butit strikes me that you have begun in the wrong way to figure for arise."
"But I wish to rise only for Nellie's sake. You can help me, Don John;you can take me into her presence, where I can have the opportunity towin her affection."
"I guess not, Laud. Shall I tell you what she said to me thisafternoon?"
"Tell me all."
"She said you were an impudent puppy, and she was sorry I invited you."
"Did she say that?" asked Laud, looking up to the cold, pale moon.
"She did; and I was obliged to tell her that I didn't invite you."
"Perhaps I have been a fool," mused the lover.
"There's no doubt of it. Nellie Patterdale dislikes, and even despisesyou. I have heard her say as much, in so many words. That ought tocomfort you, and convince you that it is no use to fish any longer inthose waters."
"Possibly you are right; but it is only because she does not know me. Ifshe only knew me better--"
"She would dislike and despise you still more," said Donald, sharply."If she only knew that you set the Maud afire, she would love you as ahomeless dog likes the brickbats that are thrown at him."
"You will not tell her that, Don John?"
"I will not tell her, or any one else, if you behave yourself. Now Iwant to ask some more questions."
"Go on, Don John."
"Where did you get the money you paid for the Juno?" demanded Donald,with energy.
"Where did I get it?" repeated Laud, evidently startled by the question,so vigorously put. "I told you where I got it."
"Tell me again."
"Captain Shivernock gave it to me."
"What for?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Because it is a matter between the captain and me."
"I don't care if it is. You said you would answer all my questions, if Iwould not prosecute."
"Questions about the Maud," explained Laud. "I have told you the secretof my love--"
"Hang the secret of your love!" exclaimed Donald, disgusted with thattopic. "I meant all questions."
"But I cannot betray the secrets of Captain Shiv
ernock. My honor--"
"Stick your honor up chimney!" interrupted Donald. "If you go back onthe agreement, I shall take the fire before Squire Peters. The questionI asked was, why Captain Shivernock gave you four or five hundreddollars?"
"I wish I could answer you, Don John; but I do not feel at liberty to doso just now. I will see the captain, and perhaps I may honorably giveyou the information you seek."
"You needn't mince the matter with me. I know all about it now; but Iwant it from you."
"All about what?" asked Laud.
"You needn't look green about it. Do you remember the Saturday when Itold you the Juno was for sale?"
"I do, very distinctly," answered Laud. "You were in the Juno at thetime."
"I was; we parted company, and you stood over towards the Northportshore."
"Just so."
"Over there you met Captain Shivernock."
"I didn't say I did."
"But I say you did," persisted Donald. "For some reason best known tohimself, the captain did not want any one to know he was on Long Islandthat night."
Laud listened with intense interest.
"Do you know what his reason was, Don John?"
"No, I don't. You saw his boat, and overhauled him near the shore."
"Well?"
"You overhauled him near the shore, and he gave you a pile of money notto say that you had seen him."
"It is you who says all this, and not I," added Laud, with more spiritthan he had before exhibited. "My honor is not touched."
"I wish you wouldn't say anything more about your honor. It is like amustard seed in a haymow, and I can't see it," snapped Donald.
"You can see that I came honorably by the money."
"Honestly by it; I am satisfied on that point," replied Donald. "If Ihad not been, I wouldn't have sold you the boat. You see I knewsomething of Captain Shivernock's movements about that time. If Ihadn't, I wouldn't have believed that he gave it to you."
"Then you must have seen the captain at the same time."
"I didn't say I saw him," laughed Donald. "But the wind is breezing up,and we are half way over to Brigadier Island. Come about, Laud."
The skipper acceded to the request, and headed the Juno for Belfast.