Fogg slapped open the pages of his newspaper.
"I have made my talk," said Mayo.
"By gad, I"m not going to jail--not for anybody!"
Fogg removed his eye-gla.s.ses and gave the man a full, unblinking stare.
"Did you try to dynamite that wreck?"
"Is that orders--orders to talk right out?"
"Orders? I don"t know what you mean, sir. I have asked you a plain question."
"And you want an answer?"
"Naturally."
"What I tried to do didn"t work--he was too quick for me. There, now, get together! He has made you a fair offer, Mr. Fogg. There"s no need of my going to jail. I won"t go!"
"You ought to go, for what you did!" commented Fogg, dryly.
"No, for what he didn"t do--from your standpoint," suggested Captain Mayo.
"And you have been boasting, eh?" Fogg kept up his disconcerting stare, with fishy eyes.
"I ain"t going to let men walk over me and wipe their feet on me when I"m obeying orders."
"Orders from whom, sir?"
"Condemn it all, orders from men who can protect me by saying one word!
I ain"t going to stand all this riddle-come-ree business! Flat down, now, Mr. Fogg, what say?"
"Not a word! If what this fellow says is true, you ought to be in jail."
"The advice is good. He"ll be there very soon," declared Mayo, starting for the telephone. Fogg replaced his eye-gla.s.ses and began to read.
"I"m ready to blow up!" warned the man. He hurried across the room and guarded the telephone with outspread arms.
"Both of you will be sorry if the police are called," he cried. To Mayo, who was close to him, he mumbled, "d.a.m.n him, if he dumps me like this you"re going to be the winner!"
There was so much reality in the man"s rancor that Mayo was impressed and seized upon the idea which came to him.
"We"ll test your friend," he whispered, clutching the man, and making pretense of a struggle. "I"ll fake a call. Keep wrestling."
Fogg gave only indifferent attention to the affair in the corner of the room.
With one hand holding down the receiver-arm Mayo called; he was pushed about violently, but managed to say: "Desk? Call police to hotel--lobby--at once!"
"Mr. Fogg," pleaded the man, giving Mayo an understanding nudge with his elbow, "ain"t you going to give me a chance for a private talk?"
"If you ever speak to me or try to see me again I"ll have you arrested."
"But you"re dumping me."
"Get out of this room, both of you! I don"t want the police up here."
Mayo clapped hand on his prisoner"s shoulder and pushed him out.
"Go down-stairs slow," protested the man. "He is bound to come out and call me back! He"s got to! He doesn"t dare to dump me!"
"He dares to do anything," stated Mayo, bitterly, "including what he did to me and the _Montana_. I suppose you read about it--everybody else did."
They walked leisurely, but Mr. Fogg"s door remained closed. They waited in the office of the hotel. He did not appear.
"By Judas!" rasped the man, "another two-spot torn up and thrown into the discard along with you! And I helped "em do it to you! I"m coming across, Mayo! That telephone business was a mighty friendly trick to help me force him. I appreciate it! I was on board the _Montana_ that night you and she got yours! My name is Burkett--Oliver. I was there, though you didn"t see me."
"I heard you were there, afterward," stated Captain Mayo, grimly.
"Captain Wa.s.s mentioned you!"
"And probably didn"t give me much of a reputation. I can"t help that!
You needn"t put one bit more trust in me, Captain Mayo, than you want to. I don"t ask you to have any respect for me. But I want to tell you that when a man promises to back me and then turns round and dumps me so as to cover his own tracks, he will get his if I"m able to hand it to him! I"m generally dirty. I"m especially dirty in a case like that!"
"If you show me any favors, Mr. Burkett, I suppose I"ll have to depend on your spite against Fogg instead of your affection for me. You see, I"m perfectly frank. But I have been fooled too much to place any trust in anybody."
"I don"t ask you to trust me. I know how the _Montana_ job was done. I"m not going to tell you right now. I"m going to make sure that I have been thrown down by Fogg. And if I have been--if he means it--I"m going to use you so that I can get back at him, no matter how much it helps you.
I can be pretty frank myself, you understand!"
They were silent and looked at each other.
"Well?" inquired Burkett, sourly.
"Well, what?" asked Mayo, with as little show of liking.
"What about this police business--about your complaint against me?"
"I"m not going to say anything about the case! You"re free, as far as I"m concerned. I am ash.o.r.e here to make a raise of money or credit. I can"t spend any time in court, bothering with you."
"I reckon you got your satisfaction out of that beating-up you gave me.
I rather began to like you after that," said Burkett, pulling one corner of his mouth into a grin that was a grimace. "I"m going to stay at this hotel."
"Fogg will see that our affair just now was a bluff. He will have you into camp once more."
"You"ve got to take your chances on it, Mayo. What do you say?"
"I"ll take my chances."
"By gad! sir, you"re a square chap, and I"m not meeting many of that sort in these days! Let this thing hang. Before you leave the city, slip word to me here. I"ll tell you the news!"
With that understanding they parted.