"Reckon some of the panic boys are talking in another key about the prospects out here, about now, aren"t they?"
"Ain"t so sure about that, sir," stated the towboat man, loafing into an easier att.i.tude.
"Isn"t there a feeling on sh.o.r.e that we are likely to make good on this proposition?" There was solicitude in Mayo"s voice. He was acutely anxious. On the sentiment ash.o.r.e depended Captain Candage"s success.
"Can"t say that I hear of any!"
"But the talk must--"
"There ain"t very much talk--not now. It"s generally reckoned that this packet is a gone goose and folks are talking about something else."
"But she is here--she is upright and fast! She is--"
The towboat man was not enough interested to listen to statements concerning the _Conomo"s_ condition. "Look-a-here, son," he broke in, "do you think for a minute that this thing wouldn"t have been grabbed up by the real people if there had been any show of a make? I know there isn"t a show!"
"How do you know?" demanded Mayo, with indignation.
"Haven"t I been talking with the representative of one of the biggest salvaging companies on the Atlantic coast? He"s there in Limeport now--was aboard my tug this morning."
"How does he know?"
"Well, he does know. That"s his business. And everybody in Limeport knows what he has said. He hasn"t been bashful about expressing his opinion."
Mayo leaned over the rail, a baleful light in his eyes indicating what his own opinions regarding this unknown detractor were, just then.
"I"d like to know who this Lord Guess-so is--barking behind honest men"s backs!"
"Mr. Fogg! That"s him! Seems to know his business!"
"Fogg?"
""Exactly!" That"s his great word," explained the other, grinning. "Some chap, too, with cigars and language!"
"By the G.o.ds, now I know who chartered this tug!" he shouted. "What kind of a fool am I getting to be?"
He turned and ran toward the officers" quarters. He leaped into the main pa.s.sageway and explored headlong the staterooms. There was no sign of his visitor.
At that moment, in the tumult of his thoughts, he had only a glimmering of an idea as to what might be the motive of the man"s visit. But he was certain, now, that a wretch who had deliberately wrecked a rival steamer--if Candage"s suspicions were correct--would do almost anything else for money.
A narrow companionway with bra.s.s rails led below to the crew"s quarters.
Mayo, coming to the head of it, saw the man hurrying to its foot. The captain grasped the rails and slid down with one swoop.
"What in the devil"s name are you doing?" he gasped.
The intruder grabbed him and threw him to one side, and started up the companionway. He had dropped the suit-case to seize Mayo, and it bounced in a way to show that it was empty.
Mayo leaped and grasped the other"s legs as he was mounting. The man kicked him ferociously in the breast before the attacker managed to pinion the legs in his arms. They went down together, rolling over and over.
The stranger was stocky and strong, his muscles toughened by a sailor"s activities. Moreover, he seemed to be animated by something more than a mere grudge or desire to defend himself; he fought with frenzy, beating his fists into Mayo"s face and sides as they rolled. Then he began to shout. He fairly screamed, struggling to release himself.
But his a.s.sailant was just as tough and just as desperate, and he had a younger man"s superior agility. The other had forced the fight. Mayo proposed to hang to him until he discovered the meaning of this peculiar ferocity.
He flipped across his prisoner, clutched him by both ears, and rapped the man"s head so smartly on the deck planks that his victim relaxed, half unconscious.
Then he opened staring eyes. "Let me go! Let me go! I quit. Run for it.
Let me run. We"re goners!" he squalled.
"Run? Why?" demanded the victor.
"Dynamite! I"ve planted it. The fuse is going."
"Where is it?"
"Below--somewhere. I"ve forgot. I, can"t remember. My mind is gone. I"m too scared to think. Run!"
Mayo jumped up and yanked the man to his feet. "Take me to it!" he shouted.
"There ain"t time. I guessed at the fuse--it may burn quicker than I reckoned."
The young man drove his fist into the other"s face and knocked him down.
Then he jerked him upright again.
"Take me where you"ve planted that dynamite or we"ll stay here and go up together. And now you know I mean what I say."
The last blow had cowed his man; he raised his fist again.
The visitor leaped away from him and ran along the lower deck, Mayo at his heels. He led the way aft. In the gloom of betweendecks there gleamed a red spark. Mayo rushed to it, whipped off his cap, and snuffed the baleful glow. When he was sure that the fuse was dead he heard his man scrambling up the companion ladder. He pursued and caught the quarry as he gained the upper deck, and buffeted the man about the ears and forced him into a stateroom.
"This means state prison for you! You were guilty of barratry before, and you know it! How did you dare to try this last trick?"
"I had my orders."
"Orders from what man?"
"No matter. You needn"t ask. I won"t tell." The stranger was sullen, and had recovered some of his a.s.surance, now that his fear of the dynamite was removed.
"You"re a lunatic. You ought to have known you couldn"t pull off a thing of this kind."
"I don"t know about that! It was working pretty slick. If she had split and gone off these ledges, you couldn"t have proved anything special.
I"ve got good backing. You better let me go."
Mayo glared at him, deprived of speech by this effrontrery.
"You"d better come over with the big fellows," advised the man. "I can tell you right now that every hole in Limeport has been plugged against you. You can"t hire equipment there, or get a cent"s credit. It has all been nicely attended to. You"re here fooling with a dead duck. You"d be better off if that dynamite had been let alone to split her."
The entire uselessness of words in a situation like this, the inadequacy of speech to meet such brazen boldness, checked Mayo"s oath-peppered anathema. He pulled the key from the stateroom door and menaced the prisoner with his fist when the man started to follow him out.
"You don"t dare to keep me aboard here! Take warning by what they have already done to you, Mayo! I"m sure of my backing."