""But young Davidson"s gone to Boston," I says. "Went this morning."
""That be hanged!" says Ben. "All I know is that I got a despatch from him at Newport on Monday afternoon, telling me to have the yacht abreast this town at twelve o"clock to-night, "cause he was coming off to her then in his launch with a friend. Friend!" And he laughed and winked his starboard eye.
"I didn"t say much, being too busy thinking, but Ben went on telling about other cruises with "friends." Oh, a steam-yacht can be a first-cla.s.s imitation of h.e.l.l if the right imp owns her. Henry got speaking of one time down along the Maine coast.
""But," says I, referring to what he was telling, "if she was such a nice girl and come from such nice folks, how--"
""How do I know?" says he. "Promises to marry and such kind of lies, I s"pose. And the plain fact is that he"s really engaged to marry a swell girl in Newport."
"He told me her name and a lot more about her. I tried to remember the most of it, but my head was whirling--and not from cherry rum, either. All I could think was: "Obed, it"s up to you! You"ve got to do something."
"I was mighty glad when the sailors hailed from the sh.o.r.e and Ben had to go. He "most cried when he said good-by, and went away stepping high and bringing his heels down hard. I watched the dingey row off--the tide was out, so there was barely water for her to get clear--and then I went back home to think. And I thought all the afternoon.
"Two and two made four, anyway I could add it up, but "twas all suspicion and no real proof, that was the d.i.c.kens of it. I couldn"t speak to Phoebe Ann; she wouldn"t b"lieve me if I did. I couldn"t telegraph Cap"n Eben at Provincetown to come home that night; I"d have to tell him the whole thing and I knew his temper, so, for Barbara"s sake, "twouldn"t do. I couldn"t be at the sh.o.r.e to stop the launch leaving. What right had I to stop another man"s launch, even--
"No, "twas up to me, and I thought and thought till after supper-time.
And then I had a plan--a risky chance, but a chance, just the same. I went up to the store and bought four feet of medium-size rubber hose and some rubber tape, same as they sell to bicycle fellers in the summer.
"Twas almost dark when I got back in sight of my shanty, and instead of going to it I jumped that board fence that me and Prince had negotiated for, hustled along the path past the notice boards, and went down the bluff on t"other side of Davidson"s p"int. And there in the deep hole by the end of the little pier, out of sight of the house on sh.o.r.e, was Allie"s launch. By what little light there was left I could see the bra.s.s rails shining.
"But I didn"t stop to admire "em. I give one look around. n.o.body was in sight. Then I ran down the pier and jumped aboard. Almost the first thing I put my hand on was what I was looking for--the bilge-pump. "Twas a small affair, that you could lug around in one hand, but mighty handy for keeping a boat of that kind dry.
"I fitted one end of my hose to the lower end of that pump and wrapped rubber tape around the j"int till she sucked when I tried her over the side. Then I turned on the c.o.c.ks in the gasoline pipes fore and aft, and noticed that the carbureter feed cup was chock full. Then I was ready for business.
"I went for"ard, climbing over the little low cabin that was just big enough for a man to crawl into, till I reached the bra.s.s cap in the deck over the gasoline-tank. Then I unscrewed the cap, run my hose down into the tank, and commenced to pump good fourteen-cents-a-gallon gasoline overboard to beat the cars. "Twas a thirty-gallon tank, and full up. I begun to think I"d never get her empty, but I did, finally. I pumped her dry. Then I screwed the cap on again and went home, taking Allie"s bilge-pump with me, for I couldn"t stop to unship the hose. The tide was coming in fast.
"At nine o"clock that night I was in my skiff, rowing off to where my power-boat laid in deep water back of the bar. When I reached her I made the skiff fast astern, lit a lantern, which I put in a locker under a thwart, and set still in the pitch-dark, smoking and waiting.
""Twas a long, wearisome wait. There was a no"thwest wind coming up, and the waves were running pretty choppy on the bar. All I could think of was that gasoline. Was there enough in the pipes and the feed cup on that launch to carry her out to where I was? Or was there too much, and would she make the yacht, after all?
"It got to be eleven o"clock. Tide was full at twelve. I was a pretty good candidate for the crazy house by this time. I"d listened till my ear-drums felt slack, like they needed reefing. And then at last I heard her coming--CHUFF-chuff! CHUFF-chuff! CHUFF-chuff!
"And HOW she did come! She walked up abreast of me, went past me, a hundred yards or so off. Thinks I: "It"s all up. He"s going to make it."
"And then, all at once, the "chuff-chuff-ing" stopped. Started up and stopped again. I gave a hurrah, in my mind, pulled the skiff up alongside and jumped into her, taking the lantern with me, under my coat. Then I set the light between my feet, picked up the oars and started rowing.
"I rowed quiet as I could, but he heard me "fore I got to him. I heard a scrambling noise off ahead, and then a shaky voice hollers: "h.e.l.lo!
who"s that?"
""It"s me," says I, rowing harder"n ever. "Who are you? What"s the row?"
"There was more scrambling and a slam, like a door shutting. In another two minutes I was alongside the launch and held up my lantern. Allie was there, fussing with his engine. And he was all alone.
"Alone he was, I say, fur"s a body could see, but he was mighty shaky and frightened. Also, "side of him, on the cushions, was a girl"s jacket, and I thought I"d seen that jacket afore.
""h.e.l.lo!" says I. "Is that you, Mr. Davidson? Thought you"d gone to Boston?"
""Changed my mind," he says. "Got any gasoline?"
""What you doing off here this time of night?" I says.
""Going out to my--" He stopped. I s"pose the truth choked him. "I was going to Provincetown," he went on. "Got any gasoline?"
""What in the nation you starting to Provincetown in the middle of the night for?" I asks, innocent as could be.
""Oh, thunder! I had business there, that"s all. GOT ANY GASOLINE?"
"I made my skiff"s painter fast to a cleat on the launch and climbed aboard. "Gasoline?" says I. "Gasoline? Why, yes; I"ve got some gasoline over on my power-boat out yonder. Has yours give out? I should think you"d filled your tank "fore you left home on such a trip as Provincetown. Maybe the pipe"s plugged or something. Have you looked?"
And I caught hold of the handle of the cabin-door.
"He jumped and grabbed me by the arm. ""Tain"t plugged," he yells, sharp. "The tank"s empty, I tell you."
"He kept pulling me away from the cabin, but I hung onto the handle.
""You can"t be too sure," I says. "This door"s locked. Give me the key."
""I--I left the key at home," he says. "Don"t waste time. Go over to your boat and fetch me some gasoline. I"ll pay you well for it."
"Then I was sartin of what I suspicioned. The cabin was locked, but not with the key. THAT was in the keyhole. The door was bolted ON THE INSIDE.
""All right," says I. "I"ll sell you the gasoline, but you"ll have to go with me in the skiff to get it. Get your anchor over or this craft"ll drift to Eastham. Hurry up."
"He didn"t like the idee of leaving the launch, but I wouldn"t hear of anything else. While he was heaving the anchor I commenced to talk to him.
""I didn"t know but what you"d started for foreign parts to meet that Newport girl you"re going to marry," I says, and I spoke good and loud.
"He jumped so I thought he"d fall overboard.
""What"s that?" he shouts.
""Why, that girl you"re engaged to," says I. "Miss--" and I yelled her name, and how she"d gone abroad with his folks, and all.
""Shut up!" he whispers, waving his hands, frantic. "Don"t stop to lie.
Hurry up!"
"""Tain"t a lie. Oh, I know about it!" I hollers, as if he was deef. I meant to be heard--by him and anybody else that might be interested.
I give a whole lot more partic"lars, too. He fairly shoved me into the skiff, after a spell.
""Now," he says, so mad he could hardly speak, "stop your lying and row, will you!"
"I was willing to row then. I cal"lated I"d done some missionary work by this time. Allie"s guns was spiked, if I knew Barbara Saunders. I p"inted the skiff the way she"d ought to go and laid to the oars.
"My plan had been to get him aboard the skiff and row somewheres--ash.o.r.e, if I could. But "twas otherwise laid out for me. The wind was blowing pretty fresh, and the skiff was down by the stern, so"s the waves kept knocking her nose round. "Twas dark"n a pocket, too. I couldn"t tell where I WAS going.
"Allie got more fidgety every minute. "Ain"t we "most there?" he asks.
And then he gives a screech. "What"s that ahead?"
"I turned to see, and as I done it the skiff"s bow slid up on something.
I give an awful yank at the port oar; she slewed and tilted; a wave caught her underneath, and the next thing I knew me and Allie and the skiff was under water, bound for the bottom. We"d run acrost one of the guy-ropes of my fish-weir.