Page:The Popular Magazine v72 n1 (1924-04-20).djvu/150

 He followed her on deck, Shortt coming after in the fashion of a householder escorting dubious callers to the door.

Larry was waiting with the boat and they got in.

“You haven't sent that message to Mr. Corder,” said Shortt, leaning over.

“No,” replied Dicky, “you can send it yourself if you want to.”

“I will,” said the other, “and if you've done with Ben Longley, I'd be glad to have him back this afternoon.”

“You can have him back at once.”

“That's all the better,” said Shortt, and the boat drew away.

“Larry,” said Dicky as they came on board the Baltrum, “tell Longley to get his bag and go back to the yacht.” Then when he was below again with Sheila, he sat down at the table and lighting a cigarette fell into a reverie—or seemed to. Clotted anger is a better definition of his state of mind.

Yes, Shortt was right. The whole business, the command they had got over James, the way he had gone off leaving everything to them, the use of his yacht, that big check—was fishy, and yet he could not explain. The bother was that James' past evidently contained purple patches known to Shortt. That yeggmen and rogues had had dealings with James, not to the advantage of the latter, was presumable.

The Baltrum was a dirty old boat; he himself and Sheila and Larry did not look much in a social way, and yet they had captured the butterfly James, the haunter of clubhouses and great hotels, reduced him to their environment and held him to it for over a month. Then he had run away from them, leaving them money. That's all Shortt knew, and a little knowledge of this sort is a dangerous thing.

Dicky could not tell of the treasure. Leaving other things aside, Shortt wouldn't have believed the story, at least in his present mood.

“Don't worry,” said Sheila, who knew exactly how the other was feeling. “Let him think what he likes, but I must say I'm more than disappointed in James. It was such a weak thing to do.”

“It was worse than that. It was dishonorable to go off and leave us stuck like this.”

“No, it was only weak,” said Sheila. “He didn't think we'd be stuck. He thought with that money he left us and the use of his yacht and crew it would be all plain sailing for us. You see, it never entered his head that Captain Shortt might think the whole thing queer and insult us as he's done—and now,” finished Sheila, “we'll be without Longley; just you and Larry and me, and we can't talk Spanish, at least only a little—so we've got our work cut out before us.”

“Never mind,” said Dicky. “We'll pull things through. I have nearly the whole of that four hundred pounds I drew from the bank so we aren't rushed for money.” He lit another cigarette, and leaning his arms on the table went on:

“There's getting on for a ton of gold on that blessed sand bank and here we are in Havana harbor, the only people with knowledge of it”

“Heavens!” cried Sheila.

“What?”

“Morgan—I'd forgotten him.”

“Well, Morgan can't hurt us even if he's crooked, and I very much doubt if there's anything wrong with him. I don't think there was time for any one to have got at him before the yacht left Tilbury, even though he was late in coming on board. I think it was James' imagination a good deal. I know Larry saw him poking about below and he looked at the ballast—well, he's a sailor and he'd be interested in this old hearse. No. I've got a feeling that we've all been imagining things into the situation—the wicked flee when no man pursueth, you know. You see what it has done for James, making him bolt like that. Don't let us get rattled in the same way, or we'll spoil everything.”

Sheila said nothing for a moment. Her woman's mind, a measuring tape for character, had never been under any delusion about James. Then after a moment she said:

“I don't like Morgan. I may be wrong, and there it is, but I think you are right about our imagining too much. I liked Monsieur Bompard at first sight, then I began to suspect and imagine things about him and worried James. I think I was wrong. People you like at first sight generally are to be trusted. It was the wretched gold that made me suspicious of every one. Well, what we have to do now is to forget everything but the work before us, and the first thing to do is to get a concession or permit to dig for treasure at Crab Cay.