Boothby Guy
The Red Rat's Daughter

CHAPTER XXVII

The horror which greeted the announcement that a man-o'-war had made its appearance upon the horizon may be better imagined than described.

"By heaven, we have been trapped!" cried MacAndrew, as he ran out of the smoking-room in Browne's wake, and gazed out to sea.

They formed a small group in front of the door: Browne, MacAndrew, Maas, Jimmy Foote, the captain, and the chief-engineer. Day was scarcely born, yet the small black spot upon the horizon could be plainly descried by every one of the party, and was momentarily growing larger. Without doubt it was a man-o'-war. What was more to the point, she was coming up at a good rate of speed. The position was an eminently serious one, and what those on board the yacht had to decide was what should be done.

"If she's a Russian, we're in no end of a hole," said MacAndrew; "and, when you come to think of it, she's scarcely likely to belong to any other nationality."

"Let us come into the smoking-room and talk it over," replied Browne; and as he spoke he led the way into the room he mentioned. Once inside, they seated themselves, and fell to discussing the situation.

"We'll presume, for the sake of argument, that she is Russian," began Browne. "Now what is to be done? Mr. M'Cartney," he added, turning to the chief-engineer, "what was the cause of the breakdown in your department?"

"A bit of foul play, if I know anything about such things," replied the other. "Early this morning, or last night, somebody removed the main crosshead-pin of the high-pressure engine."

"With what result?" inquired Browne.

"That we're as helpless as a log, sir," answered the chief-engineer. "Until it has been replaced it would be useless for us to attempt to get any steam out of her."

"But surely you have some duplicate pins," said Browne a little testily. "Why not put one in, and then let us get ahead again without further loss of time?"

"For the simple reason, sir, that all the duplicates have been taken too," the old man returned. "Whoever worked the plot must have the run of the ship at his fingers'-ends. I only wish I could lay my hands upon him, that's all. I'd make him smart, or my name's not M'Cartney."

"Surely such an important point can easily be ascertained," remarked Maas. "Will you leave it to me to make inquiries?"

"Oh, don't you trouble," responded Browne. "I shall sift the matter myself later on." As he said this he noticed that Jimmy Foote had not entered the smoking-room with them. In an idle sort of a way he wondered at his absence.

"How long will it take you to repair the damage, do you think?" Browne inquired of the chief-engineer.

"Well, sir, it all depends upon circumstances," said that officer. "If we find the duplicate pins we can do it in less than an hour; if we cannot, it may take us twelve hours, and it may take us twenty-four."

"And how long do you think it will be before that boat comes up?" asked Browne, turning to the captain.

"Oh, a good hour at least, sir," the captain replied. "She has seen us; and I'm afraid it would be of no use our even thinking of trying to get away from her."

"But how do you know that she wants us?" Maas inquired. "Being aware of our own guilt, we naturally presume she knows it too. As Shakespeare says, 'Conscience doth make cowards of us all.'"

"I don't think there can be very much doubt, but that she's after us," said Browne lugubriously. "Her appearance at such a time is rather too much of a coincidence. Well, Mr. M'Cartney, you'd better get to work as soon as possible. In the meantime, Captain Mason, keep your eye on yonder vessel, and let me know how she progresses. We," he continued, turning to MacAndrew and Maas, "must endeavour to find some place in which to hide Monsieur Petrovitch, should the commanding officer take it into his head to send a boat to search the ship."

The captain and the engineer rose and left the room; and, when the door had closed behind them, the others sat down to the consideration of the problem, which Browne had placed before them. It was knotty in more points than one. If, as Browne had the best of reasons for supposing, the warship was in search of them, they would hunt the yacht from stem to stern, from truck to keelson, before they would be satisfied that the man they wanted was not on board. To allow him to be found would be the most disastrous thing that could possibly happen to all of them. But the question that had to be settled was, where he could be hidden with any reasonable chance of safety. They had barely an hour in which to make up their minds on this point, and to stow the fugitive away before the man-o'-war's boat would arrive. In vain they ransacked their brains. Every hiding-place they hit upon seemed to have some disadvantage.

"The only place I can think of," said Maas, who was lolling in a corner smoking a cigarette, "would be in one of these lockers. He might manage to crouch in it, and they would scarcely think of looking for him there."

"It would be one of the first they would try," retorted MacAndrew scornfully. "No, Mr. Browne; the only spot I can think of is in the tunnel of the tail shaft. We might squeeze him in there, and I could go with him to take care that he makes no noise."

"The very idea," Browne replied. "There's plenty of room, and no one would ever suspect his presence there. If you will take charge of him, and get him down there at once, I will go off and see Miss Petrovitch, and tell her what has happened, and what we intend to do."

"And is there nothing I can do to help?" Maas inquired, raising himself to a sitting posture.

"Oh yes," continued Browne. "You can keep your eye on the warship, and warn us when she gets too close to be pleasant. By the way, I must confess I should like to know where Jimmy Foote is. It's not like him to be out of the way, when there's trouble in the wind."

Without waiting for a reply, he ran down the companion-ladder and made his way along the saloon in the direction of Katherine's cabin. On reaching it he rapped upon the panel of the door, and bade Katherine dress as quickly as possible, and come to him in the saloon. The girl must have gathered from his voice that something very serious had occurred, for it was not long before she made her appearance with a scared look upon her face.

"What has happened?" she asked. "I can see something is the matter. Please tell me everything."

"Something very unpleasant," Browne replied. "In the first place, some evilly-disposed person has tampered with the engines so that we cannot go ahead for the present; but, worse than that, a man-o'-war – presumably a Russian – has come up over the horizon, and is steaming towards us."

"A Russian man-o'-war?" she exclaimed, with a look of terror in her eyes. "Do you mean that she has come after us?"

"I cannot speak positively, of course," said Browne, "but since she is here, it looks very much like it."

"Oh, Jack, Jack," she cried excitedly, "what did I tell you at the beginning? This is all my fault. I told you I should bring trouble and disgrace upon you. Now my words have come true."

"You have done nothing of the kind," Browne answered. "There is treachery aboard, otherwise this would never have happened."

Afterwards, when he came to think it all over, it struck Browne as a remarkable fact that on this occasion her first thought was not for her father, as was her usual custom, but for himself. What did this mean? Had she been disappointed in her parent, as he had half-expected she would be? Her quick womanly intuition must have told her what was passing in his mind, for her face suddenly flushed scarlet, and, clenching her hands together, she said slowly and deliberately, as if the question were being wrung from her, and she were repeating something she had no desire to say: —

"But if it is a Russian man-o'-war, what will become of my poor father?"

"We are going to hide him," returned Browne. "MacAndrew has taken him below to a certain place where he will be quite safe. He will remain there, while the ship is in sight, and rejoin us when she has disappeared again. Believe me, dear, they shall not get him, whatever happens."

There was a little pause, and then Katherine said, as if she were following up the conversation: —

"It would be too cruel if he were to be captured, just as he has got away."

"He shall not be captured; never fear," continued Browne. "And now, dear, you had better go and tell Madame Bernstein all that has happened. I think you had better both remain in your cabins for the present. When the Russian officer arrives, if all turns out as I am very much afraid it will, I will ask you to dress and come on deck, for they will ask to be allowed to search your cabins for a certainty."

"I will go to Madame at once," she answered; "but I think – "

She was about to say more when a footstep sounded upon the companion-ladder, and a moment later Jimmy Foote, his face surcharged with excitement, looked down upon them.

"For heaven's sake, Browne," he cried, as he held on to the brass hand-rail, "come up to the smoking-room at once! There is not a moment to lose."

"What on earth has happened?" Browne inquired, as he left Katherine's side and bounded up the ladder.

"Just what I suspected," said Jimmy. "I never could have believed such villainy could be possible."

Having reached the deck, they hastened towards the smoking-room. As he did so, Browne glanced out to sea, and noticed that the man-o'-war was now so close that her hull could plainly be distinguished. At most she could not be more than eight or nine miles away.

CHAPTER XXVIII

It was a curious sight that met Browne's gaze, when he entered the snug little cabin, in which he and his friends had spent so many happy hours together. The skipper was standing near the door, M'Cartney was next to him, the second engineer in the corner opposite, and half-seated, half-forced down on the cushioned locker under the starboard port-hole was Maas, with MacAndrew, revolver in hand, leaning over him. Browne glanced from one to another of the group, but failed to take in the situation.

"What does this mean?" he cried, and, as he did so, he looked at Jimmy Foote, as if for explanation.

"It's a bad business, Browne, old chap," Jimmy replied; "a very bad business. I wish to goodness I had not to say anything to you about it. But it must be done, and there is very little time in which to do it. While you were away on shore a small incident occurred which aroused my suspicions. I determined to watch, and did so, with the result that they were confirmed. I saw that our friend Maas was a good deal more familiar with your officers and crew than I thought was good, either for them or for himself. I did not know he was the traitorous cur he is."

By this time Maas's usual sallow face was ashen pale. His lips seemed to be framing words which were never spoken.

"For heaven's sake, Foote," cried Browne, in an agony of impatience, "get on with what you have to say! What have you discovered?"

Jimmy turned to the second engineer, who was almost as pale as Maas. "Tell him everything," he said; "and see that you speak the truth."

"I scarcely know how to tell you, sir," the young fellow answered. "I only wish I'd never lived to see this day. What made me do it I don't know; but he, Mr. Maas there, got round me, sir, and – well, the long and short of it is, I gave in to him, and did what you know."

"You mean, I suppose, that you and he between you are responsible for this break-down in the engine-room this morning? Is this so?"

"Yes, sir," the man admitted.

"And, pray, what reason did Mr. Maas give you for desiring you to do this?"

"He told me, sir," the young man continued, "that he had your interests at heart. He said he happened to know that, if you had started for Japan at once, as you proposed, you would be running the yacht into a certain trap. He said that, though he had pleaded and argued with you in vain, you would not listen to him. You were bent on going on. The only way, he said, that he could stop you, was for me to do what I did."

"Surely, my dear Browne," interposed Maas, speaking for the first time, "you are not going to believe this cock-and-bull story, which is quite without corroboration. Your own common-sense should show you how absurd it is. What can have induced this man to trump up this charge against me I cannot say. Our friendship, however, should be proof against it. Knowing the amount of worry you have upon your shoulders at the present time, I have no desire to add to it; at the same time, I cannot permit your servant here to insult me before your face."

Browne took no notice of what he said. Turning to the engineer, he continued: —

"How much did Mr. Maas offer you, or what inducement did he bring to bear, to get you to do what you did?"

"He offered me five hundred pounds, sir," the other returned. "I told him, however, that I wouldn't take his money. You have been very good to me, sir, and I did not want to be paid for doing, what I thought was a kindness to you. It wasn't until Mr. M'Cartney told me about that cruiser having put in an appearance, that I saw what I had been led into doing. Then I went straight to him and made a clean breast of everything."

"It was the best course you could have pursued," said Browne, "and I shall remember it, when I come to deal with your case later on. In the meantime, gentlemen, what are we to do?"

As he spoke the second officer descended from the bridge and made his appearance at the cabin door.

"The cruiser, sir, has signalled that she intends sending a boat," he reported, touching his cap.

"Very good," answered Browne; and when the officer had taken his departure he turned to Maas.

"So it is as we suspected," he began, very slowly and deliberately. "While we have been trusting you with our secret, you have been playing the traitor all round. Maas, I can scarcely believe it. I did not think a man could fall so low. However, there is no time to talk of that now. Come, gentlemen, what are we to do?"

Ever since the second officer had announced that the man-o'-war was about to send a boat, Maas had undergone a complete change. Though he had been found out, he still felt himself to be master of the situation; and with every minute's grace his pluck returned to him. Springing to his feet, he cried: —

"You ask what you should do, do you? Then I will tell you. You can do nothing at all. You are in my power, one and all. Remember that I represent the Russian Government, and, if you attempt anything against my safety, I shall place myself in the hands of the commander of the cruiser you can see over there. You must surely see that the game is hopeless, and that further resistance would be as foolish as it would be futile."

"Well, if anybody had told me – " Browne heard Jimmy remark; then MacAndrew struck in: —

"I think I take in the position," he said. "I have met with a similar case once before. Perhaps you would not mind leaving it in my hands, Mr. Browne?"

"What do you mean to do?" inquired Browne.

"I will very soon show you," replied MacAndrew. "Perhaps Mr. Foote will assist us?"

"I will do anything you like to be even with him," returned Jimmy vindictively.

"That's the sort of talk," answered MacAndrew. "Now let us make our way to his cabin. Mr. Maas, I shall have to trouble you to accompany us."

"I'll do nothing of the sort," responded Maas. "I decline to be left alone with you."

"I'm very much afraid you've no option," remarked MacAndrew calmly; and as he spoke he gave a little significant twist to the revolver he held in his hand. "Come, sir," he continued more sternly than he had yet spoken. "On to your feet, if you please. Remember you are playing with desperate men. If by hesitating you get into trouble, you will have only yourself to thank. Your friend, the cruiser, is still a couple of miles away, as you must be aware, and a revolver-shot would scarcely be heard as far."

Seeing that there was nothing for it but to obey, Maas rose to his feet and passed out of the smoking-room, along the deck, and down the saloon companion-ladder to his own cabin. Once there, MacAndrew handed his revolver to Jimmy, with the request that he would be good enough to watch the prisoner during his absence, and to put a bullet through his skull if he should attempt to escape or give the alarm.

"For my part," resumed MacAndrew, "I'm going to test the resources of Mr. Browne's medicine-chest."

Five minutes later he returned with an ounce or so of some dark fluid in a graduating-glass.

"Good heavens! You're surely not going to poison him," exclaimed Browne; while Maas stared at the glass with frightened eyes.

"Poison him?" answered MacAndrew coolly. "My dear fellow, is it likely I should do anything so absurd? No; I am simply going to place him in a position of safety, so that he cannot harm us during the time the warship is in sight. Now, Mr. Maas, I shall have to trouble you to swallow this."

"I'll do nothing of the kind," asserted Maas sturdily. "You shall not persuade me to put my lips to it."

"In that case, I'm afraid there will very probably be trouble," replied MacAndrew. "If I were you, sir, I should make up my mind to the inevitable. Remember there are unpleasant arguments we could bring to bear, should you still remain obdurate."

Maas gasped for breath. He looked right and left, as if for some loophole of escape, but could find none. He was surrounded on every side by inexorable faces, which gazed upon him without pity or remorse, while on the table before him stood the small glass half-full of the dark-coloured liquid.

"Come, sir," said MacAndrew, "I shall be glad if you would toast us. Let me remind you that there is no time to lose. It always pains me, in cases like the present, to have to apply physical argument when moral might produce the same result. In the event of your not drinking, as I request, perhaps Mr. Browne will be kind enough to permit us the use of his galley fire. The method, I admit, is barbarous; nevertheless it is occasionally effective."

The perspiration rolled down Maas's cheeks. Bantering as MacAndrew's tones were, he could still see that he was in deadly earnest.

Browne glanced out of the port-hole, and noticed that the man-o'-war's boat had left its own vessel. In less than a quarter of an hour it would be alongside, and then – But he did not like to think of what would happen then.

"I will give you one more minute in which to drink it," rejoined MacAndrew, taking his watch from his pocket. "If you do not do so then you must be prepared to take the consequences."

Silence fell upon the group for a space, during which a man might perhaps have counted twenty.

"Half a minute," murmured MacAndrew, and Browne's heart beat so violently that it almost choked him.

"Three-quarters of a minute," continued MacAndrew. "Mr. Foote, would you mind giving me the revolver and standing by that door? I am afraid that we shall be driven into a tussle."

Jimmy did as he was requested, and another pause ensued.

"Time's up," said MacAndrew, shutting his watch with a click. "Now we must act. Mr. Browne, take his legs if you please."

They moved towards their victim, who shrank into a corner.

"I give in!" he cried at last, affecting a calmness he was far from feeling. "Since there is no other way out of it, I will do as you desire, provided you will give me your assurance that the stuff is harmless."

"It is quite harmless," replied MacAndrew; and then, with an air of braggadocio that could be easily seen was assumed, Maas tossed off the decoction, and, having done so, seated himself on the settee. A quarter of an hour later he was in his bunk, fast asleep, and Jimmy was sitting by his side in the capacity of sick-nurse.

"You had better bear in mind the fact that he has been ill for the past week," MacAndrew remarked, before he left the cabin. "He caught a chill through falling asleep on deck, and pneumonia has set in. Now I shall retire to join my friend in the tunnel, and leave you to your own devices. Don't forget to let me know, Mr. Browne, as soon as the Russian has bidden you farewell."

"You may depend on me," Browne answered; and, as he spoke, the captain hailed him from the deck above, to inform him that the boat was coming alongside.