"I also sail on the first ship for the Bay," the captain went on. "I am charged with the duty of delivering Lord Selkirk"s letters of instructions to the northern forts. This is a serious matter, Mr. Carew.
There is trouble brewing, and it may break out at any time. So the head office is zealously preparing for it. By the bye, do you know who this Mr. Mackenzie is?"
I shook my head.
"He is an official and a spy of the Northwest Company," said Captain Rudstone, "and he has been in London working for the interests of his people. I was aware of this when he approached us on the quay, and I hurried away so that he might be the less suspicious as to my dealings with the young lady."
"I did you an injustice," said I. What I had just heard caused me much uneasiness, and I foresaw possible unpleasant complications.
"It was a natural mistake," replied Captain Rudstone. "I overlook it.
But speaking of Mackenzie--the letters would be of the utmost value to him if he could get hold of them. I don"t believe he suspected the girl during the voyage, or he would have robbed her; but I am afraid he saw her withdraw the packet from her bosom. I made her put it back at once."
"He was standing near us on the quay for some time," said I, "does he know who you are?"
"It is quite likely! Hang it all, Mr. Carew, I don"t like the look of things! I"m going to do a little spying about the town on my own account; but, first it is important that I should see Miss Hatherton."
I did not relish the idea of disturbing the girl so soon after her arrival, and I was about to say as much. But just then appeared Madame Ragoul with a request that my companion would accord an interview to Miss Hatherton. He departed with alacrity, and I took it with an ill grace that I should be left out of the matter. I waited for a long time, seeking consolation in the thought that I alone would be the girl"s protector in future, and at length Captain Rudstone returned.
"I have the dispatches," he announced, tapping his breast.
"You were an hour about it," said I petulantly.
"Oh, ho!" he laughed; "so the wind blows from that quarter! But I am no lady"s man, Mr. Carew. And Miss Hatherton is not for either of us, rare beauty though she is--ay, and a girl of pluck and spirit. She is bound by a sacred promise--a promise to the dead--to marry that old fossil, Griffith Hawke. I knew him seven years ago. A fine husband indeed for such a maid!"
The captain"s foolish insinuation angered me, and I felt myself blushing furiously, but I said nothing.
"It is a sad story," he went on. "I persuaded the girl to give me her confidence. It seems that her father, a gentleman of good family, was a friend of Lord Selkirk. Some months ago he lost every shilling he had in the world through unwise speculation, and the shock killed him. On his deathbed he sent for Selkirk, and begged him to care for his daughter, who would be left quite alone in the world. The old rascal persuaded the father that the girl could not do better than go out to the Canadas and marry the factor of Fort Royal--he had received Hawke"s application for a wife at about this time. The result was that Flora yielded and consented--I daresay there was no way out of it--and Selkirk took advantage of the opportunity to send these important letters with her; he knew she was the last person that would be suspected of having them.
This much may be put in Selkirk"s favor: he visited Canada some years ago, and took a fancy to Hawke."
"The factor is a gentleman born," said I, "but he is past fifty. And think of the life! It is a sad pity for the girl."
"She knows what is before her," replied the captain, "and she seems to be resigned. To tell the truth, though, I half-believe there is something at the back of it all--that some deeper cause drove her out here. Nothing to her discredit, I mean."
"What makes you think so?" I asked.
"A chance remark that she let fall," he answered.
I would have questioned Captain Rudstone more closely, but just then he drained his gla.s.s and rose with an air of sudden determination.
"I have work to do," he said gravely, as he put on his hat. "I must keep track of Cuthbert Mackenzie. Miss Hatherton knew nothing of his real character, and I am satisfied that he knew as little of her while they were at sea. But what he may have learned since landing is a different matter. I will come back here this evening, and meanwhile I would advise you to remain in the hotel. There is a ship sailing for the Bay in a week as you probably know, and I shall be heartily glad when we are at sea. Cuthbert Mackenzie is a serpent that stings in the dark."
He bade me good morning and was gone.
CHAPTER V.
THE ALARM IN THE NIGHT.
It was about eleven o"clock of the forenoon when Captain Rudstone departed. I smoked a quiet pipe, and then sought out Baptiste; he had a little box of a room over the hotel kitchen. I found the rascal but half-sobered, so heavily had he liquored on the previous night, and I angrily bade him stay in bed for the rest of the day. Miss Hatherton did not come down to dinner, and I had for company in the coffee room Mr.
Christopher Burley; there were no other guests in the house at the time.
Neither of us was in a talkative mood, and very brief speech pa.s.sed between us. But shortly after the meal I met him again at the bar, where he was paying his account. He looked ready for a journey, having his hat on and a portmanteau in his hand.
"You are leaving, sir?" I asked politely.
"I return to Montreal to-day," he replied, "and later I go West. You, I believe, are bound shortly for the North?"
I nodded a.s.sent.
"We may meet in the future," he went on; "and meanwhile I trust you will remember that name--Osmund Maiden."
"I will bear it in mind," I promised, "and I wish you every success in your errand."
With that we parted, the law clerk thanking me warmly and giving me his hand. That I should ever see him again, or run across the man of whom he was in search, were things so utterly improbable that I gave them no second thought. But I was to learn in later days how small a place the world really was.
I spent the afternoon in the hotel, for I was satisfied that Captain Rudstone"s caution against venturing in the streets was not to be despised. He had gone up several degrees in my estimation since the little cloud of mutual suspicion had cleared away. I did not doubt that he was as zealous for the interests of the company as myself, and, moreover, I felt that he would prove a trusty friend should Mr. Cuthbert Mackenzie try to give me any trouble. That the captain was to sail on the same ship to the Bay was a matter less to my liking, though I hardly knew why. He was of a type that a youngster like myself usually looks up to, and he had flattered me by giving me his full confidence: but he never seemed quite at ease in my presence, or inclined to stare me straight in the eyes, which I could not account for.
The time pa.s.sed listlessly. I chatted for awhile with Monsieur Ragoul, and watched the customers who came in to drink. I could not put Miss Hatherton out of my mind. As often as I remembered that she was to share the long sea voyage with me, the joy of it was marred by the picture of old Griffith Hawke waiting at Fort York for his bride. I was angry at myself for taking the thing so much to heart--uneasy because a woman could thus interest me.
I had hoped to see her that afternoon, but she did not make her appearance until the late supper-time. We sat down to table together, and it gave me a strange thrill to see her sitting opposite. She looked more lovely than ever without her bonnet, and in a black gown relieved by some touches of creamy lace. I fear I stared at her stupidly, and was dull of conversation; but she chatted freely of the wonderful things to be seen in London, and I was sorry when the meal was over. Miss Hatherton then offered me a dainty hand and bade me good-night, saying that she had not been able to sleep all day, and intended to retire early.
I finished my bottle of wine, and went upstairs to my room on the third and top floor of the hotel--a meager little hole where I, used to a blanket and fir boughs, had always felt cramped and stifled. But now I wished to be alone, and for some hours I sat there without a light, smoking and thinking. A distant clock had just pealed eleven when I heard the unbolting of a door downstairs--the house had been closed for the night. A little later, after the stir and sound of voices had died away, light footsteps fell on my ear, and there was a rap at the door. I hurriedly lit a candle.
"Come in!" I cried, thinking I knew what it meant.
Captain Rudstone entered, closing the door softly behind him. With a nod he threw himself into a chair, helped himself to a pipeful of my tobacco, and looked inscrutably at me through a cloud of smoke.
"So you are still up?" he began. "I expected to find you in bed. Have you been away from the hotel?"
"Not outside of the door," I replied.
"I have left my old lodging," he went on, "and Monsieur Ragoul has given me a room next to yours."
"I rejoice to hear it," I said politely. "And have you learned anything to-day?"
"Mr. Mackenzie will demand satisfaction for that blow," the captain answered coolly.
"He shall have it," said I.
"He is a skilled swordsman and a deadly shot, Mr. Carew."
"I will meet him with either weapon," I declared hotly.
"There must be no fighting, if it can be avoided," replied the captain.
"That is a matter which rests with me," said I. "But how do you know all this?"