The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs
CHAPTER III. THE CONSPIRACY
NO SHORE leave was granted the crew of the Halfmoon while the vessel layoff Honolulu, and deep and ominous were the grumblings of the men. OnlyFirst Officer Ward and the second mate went ashore. Skipper Simms keptthe men busy painting and holystoning as a vent for their pent emotions.
Billy Byrne noticed that the passenger had abandoned his daylightstrolls on deck. In fact he never once left his cabin while the Halfmoonlay at anchor until darkness had fallen; then he would come on deck,often standing for an hour at a time with eyes fastened steadilyupon the brave little yacht from the canopied upper deck of which gaylaughter and soft music came floating across the still water.
When Mr. Ward and the second mate came to shore a strange thinghappened. They entered a third-rate hotel near the water front, engageda room for a week, paid in advance, were in their room for half an hourand emerged clothed in civilian raiment.
Then they hastened to another hostelry--a first-class one this time, andthe second mate walked ahead in frock coat and silk hat while Mr. Wardtrailed behind in a neat, blue serge sack suit, carrying both bags.
At the second hotel the second mate registered as Henri Theriere, Countde Cadenet, and servant, France. His first act thereafter was to hand anote to the clerk asking that it be dispatched immediately. The note wasaddressed to Anthony Harding, Esq., On Board Yacht Lotus.
Count de Cadenet and his servant repaired immediately to the count'srooms, there to await an answer to the note. Henri Theriere, the secondofficer of the Halfmoon, in frock coat and silk hat looked every inch anobleman and a gentleman. What his past had been only he knew, but hispolished manners, his knowledge of navigation and seamanship, and hisleaning toward the ways of the martinet in his dealings with the menbeneath him had led Skipper Simms to assume that he had once helda commission in the French Navy, from which he doubtless had beenkicked--in disgrace.
The man was cold, cruel, of a moody disposition, and quick to anger.He had been signed as second officer for this cruise through theintervention of Divine and Clinker. He had sailed with Simms before, butthe skipper had found him too hard a customer to deal with, and hadbeen on the point of seeking another second when Divine and Clinkerdiscovered him on board the Halfmoon and after ten minutes' conversationwith him found that he fitted so perfectly into their scheme of actionthat they would not hear of Simms' releasing him.
Ward had little use for the Frenchman, whose haughty manner andcondescending airs grated on the sensibilities of the uncouth andboorish first officer. The duty which necessitated him acting in thecapacity of Theriere's servant was about as distasteful to him asanything could be, and only served to add to his hatred for theinferior, who, in the bottom of his heart, he knew to be in every way,except upon the roster of the Halfmoon, his superior; but money can workwonders, and Divine's promise that the officers and crew of the Halfmoonwould have a cool million United States dollars to divide among them incase of the success of the venture had quite effectually overcome anydislike which Mr. Ward had felt for this particular phase of his duty.
The two officers sat in silence in their room at the hotel awaitingan answer to the note they had dispatched to Anthony Harding, Esq.The parts they were to act had been carefully rehearsed on board theHalfmoon many times. Each was occupied with his own thoughts, andas they had nothing in common outside the present rascality that hadbrought them together, and as that subject was one not well to discussmore than necessary, there seemed no call for conversation.
On board the yacht in the harbor preparations were being made to land asmall party that contemplated a motor trip up the Nuuanu Valley whena small boat drew alongside, and a messenger from the hotel handed asealed note to one of the sailors.
From the deck of the Halfmoon Skipper Simms witnessed the transaction,smiling inwardly. Billy Byrne also saw it, but it meant nothing to him.He had been lolling upon the deck of the brigantine glaring at the yachtLotus, hating her and the gay, well-dressed men and women he couldsee laughing and chatting upon her deck. They represented to himthe concentrated essence of all that was pusillanimous, disgusting,loathsome in that other world that was as far separated from him asthough he had been a grubworm in the manure pile back of Brady's liverystable.
He saw the note handed by the sailor to a gray-haired, smooth-facedman--a large, sleek, well-groomed man. Billy could imagine the whitehands and polished nails of him. The thought was nauseating.
The man who took and opened the note was Anthony Harding, Esq. He readit, and then passed it to a young woman who stood near-by talking withother young people.
"Here, Barbara," he said, "is something of more interest to you than tome. If you wish I'll call upon him and invite him to dinner tonight."
The girl was reading the note.
Anthony Harding, Esq.
On Board Yacht Lotus,
Honolulu
My dear Mr. Harding:
This will introduce a very dear friend of mine, Count de Cadenet, whoexpects to be in Honolulu about the time that you are there. The countis traveling for pleasure, and as he is entirely unacquainted uponthe islands any courtesies which you may show him will be greatlyappreciated.
Cordially,
L. CORTWRITE DIVINE.
The girl smiled as she finished perusing the note.
"Larry is always picking up titles and making dear friends of them," shelaughed. "I wonder where he found this one."
"Or where this one found him," suggested Mr. Harding. "Well, I supposethat the least we can do is to have him aboard for dinner. We'll beleaving tomorrow, so there won't be much entertaining we can do."
"Let's pick him up on our way through town now," suggested BarbaraHarding, "and take him with us for the day. That will be settling ourdebt to friendship, and dinner tonight can depend upon what sort ofperson we find the count to be."
"As you will," replied her father, and so it came about that two bigtouring cars drew up before the Count de Cadenet's hotel half an hourlater, and Anthony Harding, Esq., entered and sent up his card.
The "count" came down in person to greet his caller. Harding saw at aglance that the man was a gentleman, and when he had introduced him tothe other members of the party it was evident that they appraised himquite as had their host. Barbara Harding seemed particularly taken withthe Count de Cadenet, insisting that he join those who occupied hercar, and so it was that the second officer of the Halfmoon rode out ofHonolulu in pleasant conversation with the object of his visit to theisland.
Barbara Harding found De Cadenet an interesting man. There was nocorner of the globe however remote with which he was not to some degreefamiliar. He was well read, and possessed the ability to discuss whathe had read intelligently and entertainingly. There was no evidence ofmoodiness in him now. He was the personification of affability, for washe not monopolizing the society of a very beautiful, and very wealthyyoung lady?
The day's outing had two significant results. It put into the head ofthe second mate of the Halfmoon that which would have caused his skipperand the retiring Mr. Divine acute mental perturbation could they haveguessed it; and it put De Cadenet into possession of information whichnecessitated his refusing the urgent invitation to dine upon the yacht,Lotus, that evening--the information that the party would sail thefollowing morning en route to Manila.
"I cannot tell you," he said to Mr. Harding, "how much I regretthe circumstance that must rob me of the pleasure of accepting yourinvitation. Only absolute necessity, I assure you, could prevent mebeing with you as long as possible," and though he spoke to the girl'sfather he looked directly into the eyes of Barbara Harding.
A young woman of less experience might have given some outwardindication of the effect of this speech upon her, but whether she waspleased or otherwise the Count de Cadenet could not guess, for shemerely voiced the smiling regrets that courtesy demanded.
They left De Cadenet at his hotel, and as he bid them farewell the mantu
"I shall see you again, Miss Harding," he said, "very, very soon."
She could not guess what was in his mind as he voiced this rather, underthe circumstances, unusual statement. Could she have, the girl wouldhave been terror-stricken; but she saw that in his eyes which she couldtranslate, and she wondered many times that evening whether she werepleased or angry with the message it conveyed.
The moment De Cadenet entered the hotel he hurried to the room where theimpatient Mr. Ward awaited him.
"Quick!" he cried. "We must bundle out of here posthaste. They sailtomorrow morning. Your duties as valet have been light and short-lived;but I can give you an excellent recommendation should you desire to takeservice with another gentleman."
"That'll be about all of that, Mr. Theriere," snapped the firstofficer, coldly. "I did not embark upon this theatrical enterprise foramusement--I see nothing funny in it, and I wish you to remember that Iam still your superior officer."
Theriere shrugged. Ward did not chance to catch the ugly look in hiscompanion's eye. Together they gathered up their belongings, descendedto the office, paid their bill, and a few moments later were changingback to their sea clothes in the little hotel where they first hadengaged accommodations. Half an hour later they stepped to the deck ofthe Halfmoon.
Billy Byrne saw them from where he worked in the vicinity of the cabin.When they were not looking he scowled maliciously at them. They werethe personal representatives of authority, and Billy hated authority inwhatever guise it might be visited upon him. He hated law and order anddiscipline.
"I'd like to meet one of dem guys on Green Street some night," hethought.
He saw them enter the captain's cabin with the skipper, and then he sawMr. Divine join them. Billy noted the haste displayed by the four and itset him to wondering. The scrap of conversation between Divine and Simmsthat he had overheard returned to him. He wanted to hear more, and asBilly was not handicapped by any overly refined notions of the ethicswhich frown upon eavesdropping he lost no time in transferring the sceneof his labors to a point sufficiently close to one of the cabin ports topermit him to note what took place within.
What the mucker beard of that conversation made him prick up his ears.He saw that something after his own heart was doing--something crooked,and he wondered that so pusillanimous a thing as Divine could havea hand in it. It almost changed his estimate of the passenger of theHalfmoon.
The meeting broke up so suddenly that Billy had to drop to his knees toescape the observation of those within the cabin. As it was, Theriere,who had started to leave a second before the others, caught a fleetingglimpse of a face that quickly had been withdrawn from the cabinskylight as though its owner were fearful of detection.
Without a word to his companions the Frenchman left the cabin, but onceoutside he bounded up the companionway to the deck with the speed of asquirrel. Nor was he an instant too soon, for as he emerged from belowhe saw the figure of a man disappearing forward.
"Hey there, you!" he cried. "Come back here."
The mucker turned, a sulky scowl upon his lowering countenance, andthe second officer saw that it was the fellow who had given Ward such atrimming the first day out.
"Oh, it's you is it, Byrne?" he said in a not unpleasant tone. "Cometo my quarters a moment, I want to speak with you," and so saying hewheeled about and retraced his way below, the seaman at his heels.
"My man," said Theriere, once the two were behind the closed door ofthe officer's cabin, "I needn't ask how much you overheard of theconversation in the captain's cabin. If you hadn't overheard a greatdeal more than you should you wouldn't have been so keen to escapedetection just now. What I wanted to say to you is this. Keep a closetongue in your head and stick by me in what's going to happen in thenext few days. This bunch," he jerked his thumb in the direction ofthe captain's cabin, "are fixing their necks for halters, an' I for onedon't intend to poke my head through any noose of another man's making.There's more in this thing if it's handled right, and handled withouttoo many men in on the whack-up than we can get out of it if that manDivine has to be counted in. I've a plan of my own, an' it won't takebut three or four of us to put it across.
"You don't like Ward," he continued, "and you may be almighty sure thatMr. Ward ain't losing any sleep nights over love of you. If you stick tothat bunch Ward will do you out of your share as sure as you are a foothigh, an' the chances are that he'll do you out of a whole lot morebesides--as a matter of fact, Byrne, you're a mighty poor life insurancerisk right now, with a life expectancy that's pretty near minus as longas Bender Ward is on the same ship with you. Do you understand what Imean?"
"Aw," said Billy Byrne, "I ain't afraid o' that stiff. Let him makeany funny crack at me an' I'll cave in a handful of slats for him--thepiker."
"That's all right too, Byrne," said Theriere. "Of course you can do itif anybody can, provided you get the chance; but Ward isn't the man togive you any chance. There may be shooting necessary within the next dayor so, and there's nothing to prevent Ward letting you have it in theback, purely by accident; and if he don't do it then there'll be allkinds of opportunities for it before any of us ever see a white man'sport again. He'll get you, Byrne, he's that kind.
"Now, with my proposition you'll be shut of Ward, Skipper Simms, andDivine. There'll be more money in it for you, an' you won't have to goaround expecting a bullet in the small of your back every minute. Whatdo you say? Are you game, or shall I have to go back to Skipper Simmsand Ward and tell them that I caught you eavesdropping?"
"Oh, I'm game," said Billy Byrne, "if you'll promise me a square deal onthe divvy."
The Frenchman extended his hand.
"Let's shake on it," he said.
Billy took the proffered palm in his.
"That's a go," he said; "but hadn't you better wise me to wot's doin'?"
"Not now," said Theriere, "someone might overhear just as you did. Waita bit until I have a better opportunity, and I'll tell you all there isto know. In the meantime think over who'd be the best men to let intothis with us--we'll need three or four more besides ourselves. Now go ondeck about your duties as though nothing had happened, and if I'm a bitrougher than usual with you you'll understand that it's to avert anypossible suspicion later."
"I'm next," said Billy Byrne.