"They are large, violent, armed men; and they are far from pure home influences," went on Talbot mockingly. "Here"s a sample of them," said he indicating my huge frame. "And there are a thousand or so more, not directly interested but dying for excitement."
"Are you trying to intimidate me, sir?" demanded Brown.
"I am just stating conditions."
"You are threatening me."
"Ah, that is different," said Talbot Ward.
Brown sat lost in thought for some moments. Then he reached forward and at last struck the bell.
"Let me have your tickets," he commanded us shortly.
He endorsed them and handed them to the clerk, together with a written order. We all sat in absolute silence for perhaps five minutes. Then the clerk returned with a handful of gold. This Brown counted over and shoved across to Talbot. The latter also counted it, and thrust it in his pocket.
"Now," said Brown, with something approaching geniality, "I am counting on your honour to say nothing of this outside. I am gambling on your evident cla.s.s in life at home."
"You have our promise, and it will be kept," said Talbot rising. "But undoubtedly within two days you will think I am the biggest liar unhung.
There will be many more who will think of this same simple plan of getting a refund on their tickets and who will blab it out to every one on the street. You would do well to make your plans now as to how you intend to deal with them. But remember, I, nor my friends, will have had nothing to do with it."
"I understand that there will be plenty making your same demand," said Brown, "but I doubt any of them will think of urging that demand."
We left. As a matter of interest, Talbot"s prediction was correct; as, indeed, Brown had immediately recognized it would be. Talbot had only the advantage of thinking a little quicker than the next man, of acting immediately, and of allowing no time for reflection to the other. The steamship office had a strenuous time. Talbot"s threat had this much of real significance: that there was, lacking him, no organized demonstration. Each man went for himself and demanded his money back. In a few rare cases he got it; but was generally bluffed out, or blandly referred back to the New York offices, or reasoned out. The situation came near to riot, but in some difficult manner it was tided over. A few settled down to wait for the next steamer. The majority decided for sailing ships, and pocketed their steamer tickets in hopes of future reimburs.e.m.e.nt. One score of fanatics and ignoramuses, in dense ignorance as to the nature of the journey, actually started out to row to San Francisco in an open boat! They were never heard of again. One or two parties modified this plan by proceeding in fishing boats to the extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, and thence marched overland to San Diego. Their sufferings in that arid region were great, but they managed to arrive many months later.
We returned to our lodgings, congratulating Talbot on the prompt.i.tude of his action, for already we saw determined looking men hurrying across the plaza toward the offices.
At our place we found that Yank had not returned. At first we thought nothing of this; but about dusk we found that all his belongings had disappeared.
CHAPTER IX
NORTHWARD HO!
We could not understand this sudden departure, except on the possible ground that Yank, realizing that now the party must split forces, had decided to seek new companions among those lucky enough to sail on the first steamer.
"Even then he needn"t have been in such a hurry," complained Johnny a trifle bitterly. "And he needn"t have thought we"d be in his way."
"Has he paid his share of the lodgings?" it occurred to me to ask.
We felt quite bitter against Yank, and we carefully avoided his usual haunts, for we did not want to meet him. Then we began to think it strange we had not run across him somewhere on the streets. Then we began to look for him. We found that Yank had disappeared!
At that, a little alarmed, we set ourselves to a serious search and inquiry. A few remembered to have seen him, but were vague as to when and where. The authorities moved sluggishly, and with little enthusiasm.
Men were dying every day; and disappearing underground, leaving no trace of themselves behind. One more or less seemed unimportant.
In the meanwhile we spent much of our time by the sh.o.r.e, together with a comfortable majority of our fellow argonauts, awaiting the sighting of a vessel. We had engaged, and paid daily, a boatman to be in readiness to take us off; and we settled our lodgings account a week ahead.
"There"s going to be a scramble for that blessed ship," said Talbot; "and we"ll just be prepared."
To that end we also kept our effects packed and ready for instant removal.
The beach was not a bad place. It ran out the peninsula in a long gentle curve; and the surges broke snow white on yellow sands. Across deep blue water was an island; and back of us palm trees whipped in the trade winds. We sat under them, and yarned and played cards and smoked. In bad weather--and it rained pretty often--we huddled in smoky little huts; those of us who could get in. The rest tried to stick it out; or returned with rather a relieved air to the town.
The expected ship came, of course, on one of these dull gray days; and those who had thought themselves unlucky in being crowded out of the huts were the first to sight her. They sneaked down very quietly and tried to launch two of the boats. Of course the native boatmen were all inside; trust them! As a high surf was running, and as none of the men were in any sense good boatmen, they promptly broached to and filled.
The noise brought us to the door.
Then there was a fine row. One of the two boats commandeered by the early birds happened to be ours! All our forethought seemed to have been in vain. The bedraggled and crestfallen men were just wading ash.o.r.e when we descended upon them. Talbot was like a raving lunatic.
"You hounds!" he roared. "Don"t you dare try to sneak off! You catch hold here and help empty these boats! You would, would you?" He caught one escaping worthy by the collar and jerked him so rapidly backward that his heels fairly cracked together. Johnny flew to combat with a chuckle of joy. I contented myself by knocking two of them together until they promised to be good. The four we had collared were very meek.
We all waded into the wash where the boat lay sluggishly rolling. It is no easy matter to empty a boat in that condition. Water weighs a great deal; is fearfully inert, or at least feels so; and has a bad habit of promptly slopping in again. We tugged and heaved, and rolled and hauled until our joints cracked; but at last we got her free.
In the meantime forty other boats had been launched and were flying over the waves halfway between the sh.o.r.e and the ship.
Talbot was swearing steadily and with accuracy; Johnny was working like a crazy man; I was heaving away at the stern and keeping an eye on our involuntary helpers. The boatman, beside himself with frantic excitement, jabbered and ran about and screamed directions that no one understood. About all we were accomplishing now was the keeping of that boat"s head straight against the heavy wash.
It seemed as though we tugged thus at cross purposes for an hour. In reality it was probably not over two or three minutes. Then Talbot regained sufficient control to listen to the boatman. At once he calmed down.
"Here, boys," said he, "ease her backward. You, Johnny, stand by at the bow and hold her head on. Frank and I will give her a shove at the stern. When the time comes, I"ll yell and you pile right in, Johnny.
_Vamos_, Manuel!"
We took our places; the boatman at the oars, his eyes over his shoulder watching keenly the in-racing seas.
The four dripping culprits looked at each other uncertainly, and one of them started to climb in the boat.
"Well, for _G.o.d"s_ sake!" screeched Talbot, and made a headlong bull rush for the man.
The latter tumbled right out of the boat on his back in the shallow water. His three companions fled incontinently up the beach, where he followed them as soon as he could scramble to his feet.
Manuel said something sharply, without looking around.
"Shove!" screeched Talbot. "Pile in, Johnny!"
We bent our backs. The boat resisted, yielded, gathered headway. It seemed to be slipping away from me down a steep hill.
"Jump in!" yelled Talbot.
I gave a mighty heave and fell over the stern into the bottom of the boat. Waters seemed to be crashing by; but by the time I had gathered myself together and risen to my knees, we were outside the line of breakers, and dancing like a gull over the smooth broad surges.
Ships could anchor no nearer than about a mile and a half offsh.o.r.e. By the time we had reached the craft she was surrounded by little boats bobbing and rubbing against her sides. She proved to be one of that very tubby, bluff-bowed type then so commonly in use as whalers and freighters. The decks swarmed black with an excited crowd.
We rowed slowly around her. We were wet, and beginning to chill. No way seemed to offer by which we could reach her decks save by difficult clambering, for the gang ladder was surrounded ten deep by empty boats.
A profound discouragement succeeded the excitement under which we had made our effort.
"To h.e.l.l with her!" snarled Johnny, "There"s no sense going aboard her.
There"s enough on deck now to fill her three times over. Let"s get back where it"s warm."