Before going down to the boat, however, he had delved into the past of the Countess Olga Perigoff. It cost him a pocketful of money, but the end justified the means. The countess had no past worth mentioning.
By piecing this and that together he became a.s.sured that she had told the simple truth regarding the relationship to Florence"s mother. A cablegram had given him all the facts in her history; there were no gaps or discrepancies. It read clear and frank. Trust a Russian secret agent to know what he was talking about.
[Ill.u.s.tration: NORTON REACHED THE CAPTAIN FIRST]
So Norton"s suspicions--and he had entertained some--were completely lulled to sleep. And he wouldn"t have doubted her at all except for the fact that Braine had been with her when he had introduced Hargreave. Hargreave had feared Braine; that much the reporter had elicited from the butler. But there wasn"t the slightest evidence.
Braine had been in New York for nearly six years. The countess had arrived in the city but a year ago. And Braine was a member of several fashionable clubs, never touched cards, and seldom drank. He was an expert chess player and a wonderful amateur billiardist. Perhaps Jones, the taciturn and inscrutable, had not told him all he knew regarding his master"s past. Well, well; he had in his time untangled worse snarls. The office had turned him loose, a free lance, to handle the case as he saw fit, to turn in the story when it was complete.
But what a story it was going to be when he cleared it up! The more mystifying it was, the greater the zest and sport for him. Norton was like a gambler who played for big stakes, and only big stakes stirred his cravings.
The captain of the tramp steamer _Orient_ told him the same tale he had told the other reporters: he had picked up a man at sea. The man had been brought aboard totally exhausted.
"Was there another body anywhere?"
"No."
"What became of him?"
"I sent a wireless and that seemed to bother him. It looked as though he did not want anybody to learn that he had been rescued. The moment the boat touched the pier he lost himself in the crowd. Fifty reporters came aboard, but he was gone. And I could but tell them just what I"m telling you."
"He had money."
"About five thousand."
"Please describe him."
The captain did so. It was the same description he had given to all the reporters. Norton looked over the rail at the big warehouse.
"Was it an ordinary balloon?"
"There you"ve got me. My Marconi man says the balloon part was like any other balloon; but the pa.s.senger car was a new business to him. It could be driven against the wind."
"Driven against the wind. Did you tell this to the other chaps?"
"Don"t think I did. Just remembered it. Probably some new invention; and now it"s at the bottom of the sea. Two men, as I understand, went off in this contraption. One is gone for good."
"For good," echoed the reporter gravely. "Gone for good, indeed, poor devil!"
Norton took out a roll of bills. "There"s two hundred in this roll."
"Well?" said the captain, vastly astonished.
"It"s yours if you will do me a small favor."
"If it doesn"t get me mixed up with the police. I"m only captain of a tramp; and some of the harbor police have taken a dislike to me. What do you want me to do?"
"The police will not bother you. This man Hargreave had some enemies; they want either his life or his money; maybe both. It"s a peculiar case, with Russia in the background. He might have laid the whole business before the police, but he chose to fight it out himself. And to tell the truth, I don"t believe the police would have done any good."
"Heave her over; what do you want me to do for that handsome roll of money?"
"If any man or woman who is not a reporter comes to pump you tell them the man went ash.o.r.e with a packet under his arm."
"Tie a knot in that."
"Say the man was gray-haired, clean-shaven, straight, with a scar high up on his forehead, generally covered up by his hair."
"That"s battened down, my lad. Go on."
"Say that you saw him enter yonder warehouse, and later depart without his packet."
"Easy as dropping my mudhook."
"That"s all." Norton gave the captain the money. "Good-by and many thanks."
"Don"t mention it."
Norton left the slip and proceeded to the office of the warehouse. He approached the manager"s desk.
"h.e.l.lo, Grannis, old top!"
The man looked up from his work surlily. Then his face brightened.
"Norton? What"s brought you here? Oh, yes; that balloon business.
Sit down."
"What kind of a man is the captain of that old hooker in the slip?"
"Shifty in gun running, but otherwise as square as a die. Looks funny to see an old tub like that fixed up with wireless; but that has saved his neck a dozen times when he was running it into a noose. Not going to interview me, are you?"
"No. I"m going to ask you to do me a little favor."
"They always say that. But spin her out. If it doesn"t cost me my job, it"s yours."
"Well, there will be a person making inquiries about the mysterious aeronaut. All I want you to say is, that he left a packet with you, that you"ve put it in that safe till he calls to claim it."
Grannis nibbled the end of his pen. "Suppose some one should come and demand that I open the safe and deliver?"
"All you"ve got to do is to tell them to show the receipt signed by you."
The warehouse manager laughed. "Got a lot of sense in that ivory dome of yours. All right. But if anything happens you"ve got to come around and back me up. What"s it about?"
"That I dare not tell you. This much, I"m laying a trap and I want some one I don"t know to fall into it."
"On your way, James. But if you don"t send me some prize fight tickets next week for this, I"ll never do you another favor."
In reply Norton took from his pocket two bits of pasteboard and laid them on the desk. "I knew you"d be wanting something like this."
"Ringside!" cried Grannis. "You reporters are lucky devils!"
"I"d go myself if there was any earthly chance of a real sc.r.a.p. You make me laugh, Gran. You"re always going, always hoping the next one will be a real one. But it"s all bunk. The pugs are the biggest fakers on top of the sod. They"ve got us newspaper men done to a frazzle."