the night was still and muggy. it was the night of the day scheduled for the first maplewood-fairhaven game, but because of the fog the maplewood team had been unable to reach the island.
long after most of the guests at the maple heights hotel had retired, a solitary man paced up and down on the lawn in front of the building.
there was no moon, and the stars, which occasionally peeped through openings in the hazy clouds, gave forth a faint nebulous light by which objects near at hand could be seen only with indistinctness.
in the valley the village slept, with not a solitary light gleaming from a window.
the lonely man on the lawn was puffing at a cigar. at intervals he seemed to forget his cigar and finally it went out.
the last guest had left the hotel veranda and disappeared within when the man realized his cigar was extinguished and threw the stump away. in a moment he brought forth another weed, tore off the end with his teeth, and paused near a clump of shrubbery to strike a match.
the glow of the match, shaded in the hollow of his hands as he held it to the end of his cigar, distinctly revealed the features of benton hammerswell. the man’s face bore a haggard, careworn expression.
there was a rustle amid the shrubbery.
with a start hammerswell dropped the blazing match and clapped his hand on his hip pocket. he had reached for his revolver, but it was not there.
“forgot i’d lost it,” he muttered, falling back a step.
forth from the shrubbery advanced the dark figure of a man.
“who are you?” demanded hammerswell.
“i guess you know me,” answered a voice. “i’ve been watching for you. wasn’t sure it was you till i saw your face by the light of that match.”
hammerswell was startled and astounded by the voice.
“is it you, luke grimes?” he demanded.
“hit it first guess,” was the retort.
“well, what in blazes are you doing here? i supposed you were well on your way to san francisco.”
“think likely you did,” retorted grimes. “you reckoned i wouldn’t darst come back here. that’s why you broke your promise ter me. that’s why you didn’t send me the money you promised me when i reached montreal. i waited fer it two days, and then i decided to come back here and git it myself.”
“you insane idiot!” snarled hammerswell, in a low tone. “you’re right in thinking i didn’t fancy you would be crazy enough to return here. if you’re seen and recognized you will be arrested instantly.”
“i guess that’s straight,” confessed grimes coolly. “but if you didn’t want that to happen it was up to you to keep your promise. don’t be feeling in your pockets. i’ve got a gun myself.”
“don’t worry,” said hammerswell, pulling out his handkerchief and mopping his face. “i’ve no pistol. it was stolen from my room to-day.”
“mebbe that’s so,” chuckled grimes; “and then agin’ mebbe it ain’t. you’re such a liar no man can believe you. i’ll watch ye, and don’t yer forgit that. if you start any shooting i’ll join in. i’m pretty desperate, hammerswell, and you can’t snuff me out without getting your dose in return.”
“oh, dry up!” growled the manager of the maplewood team. “i’m not a lunatic, if you are. i’m not anxious to face a murder charge.”
“jest what i thought,” nodded grimes, again chuckling villainously. “that’s why i came back here. you know that i know something about you that might put you where you’d have to face a murder charge.”
“’sh! stop that fool talk! there’s a rustic seat over yonder. come over and sit down.”
side by side they walked toward the rustic seat, which stood near another cluster of shrubbery.
barely had they seated themselves there when forth from the same cedars near the spot where they had met crept a form resembling a huge dog, but which was in truth a human being on hands and knees. slowly and silently this figure moved across the open space, once or twice stopping and lying flat on his stomach as he fancied one of the men had turned in his direction. at last he reached the shelter of the shrubbery not far from the bench. there he remained crouching and listening.
“why didn’t you keep your word and send the money?” grimes was saying. “i had your promise.”
“but i didn’t have the money to send,” declared hammerswell. “i told you once before that this baseball business has put me on the rocks. i am down to the bottom of my pile now. you were crazy enough to demand an exorbitant sum.”
“only a thousand dollars.”
“only a thousand!” snapped benton.
“yes; that was the price you promised hop sullivan to close his mouth.”
“but i didn’t pay it. i closed it in another way.”
“that’s right,” said grimes, “and i saw you do it. i was there on high bluff at midnight when you met sullivan. i saw yer give him a package containing nothing but strips of brown paper. then, while he was tearing it open, i saw yer shift your position so that he stood between you and the edge of the bluff. jest as he ripped the package open and found it didn’t contain a dollar you jumped on him and pushed him over into the river. you knew he couldn’t swim. the river runs swift there, and the falls is close below. he went over, and of course he was drowned. have they ever found his body?”
twice hammerswell had attempted to check his companion, and now he burst forth into a volley of low-spoken curses.
“no need of talking to me of that!” he snarled. “yes, they found sullivan’s body two days ago. he’s buried, and his tongue is silenced forever.”
“but mine ain’t,” reminded grimes. “it’ll take money ter close me up. i knew you wouldn’t like much ter see me arrested if i came back here. i might be sent to the jug for my doings, but you’d git a life term, if yer neck wasn’t stretched. it ain’t healthy for no man ter fool with me the way you have.”
“now look here,” said hammerswell, facing his companion on the bench, “it’s best that you should know the absolute truth. i can’t pay you that money because i haven’t got it. all my money is gone, with the exception of what i’ve bet on the final game to be played to-morrow. even if i win i can’t give you a thousand. five hundred would be the limit. i must win, and i believe i shall. i have risked everything on the result. we play two games in fairhaven.”
“how does this baseball business stand?” asked grimes. “you oughter be on top after all your schemes and plans. i suppose you are.”
“no. maplewood and fairhaven are tied in second position, having played forty-four games each, winning twenty-two of them. rockford and seaslope have played forty-five games each. rockford is on top, as she has won twenty-three and lost twenty-two. seaslope is at the bottom, having won twenty-two and lost twenty-three. rockford and seaslope have only one game more to play. if rockford wins she will hold first place, although maplewood may tie her. to do so we must win both games from fairhaven. if rockford loses and we win both games we’ll go into first position, while fairhaven will go plumb to the bottom.”
“but what if rockford loses and fairhaven wins both games?” asked hammerswell’s companion.
“it won’t happen!” savagely declared hammerswell. “it can’t happen!”
“but what if it does?” persisted the other man.
“why, fairhaven would win the pennant. she’d have twenty-four games to her credit.”
“where would maplewood land?” asked grimes, with a touch of maliciousness in his voice.
“at the bottom,” confessed hammerswell.
“and you’d be bu’sted?”
“wiped out! i wouldn’t have a dollar left. i’ve drawn all my money from the bank and bet it in two ways. i have found suckers who were willing to bet even money that fairhaven will win first position, or at least will be tied for first place after the games to-morrow. i have also found others who were confident maplewood will land at the bottom, and so i’ve risked everything on those two chances. i can’t lose on both bets. there’s not one chance in a hundred that i shall.”
“if that’s the case,” said grimes, “you oughter have some boodle in your clothes to-morrer night.”
“i will have some,” nodded benton; “but at the most it will not be enough to make good my losses this summer or come anywhere near it.”
“well, i ain’t goin’ to be hard on you, seeing you’ve had such bad luck, but you’ll have to fork over five hundred. i’ll split my price in two and take that amount. don’t try to monkey with me if you win, hammerswell. i’m going to be on fairhaven island to-morrer.”
“how do you expect to get there without being seen and recognized?”
“leave that ter me. i’ll git there.”
“stay away,” urged benton. “i’ll make an appointment and meet you somewhere on the mainland to-morrow night.”
“oh, no, you don’t! i know you too well. i know how you keep your app’intments and your promises. i will be on hand after the game, and i’ll keep track of you, hammerswell, till you fork over. you can bet your life on that!”
in vain hammerswell urged his companion not to attempt such a thing. grimes was determined and would not yield.
“don’t worry,” he said. “i won’t git nabbed. i’ll take care of that. now i guess i’d better be jogging. i’ve had good luck ter-night in seein’ you all quiet by your lonesome self, and i am satisfied. but don’t forgit what i know! don’t forgit what i can tell! don’t forgit i saw you throw sullivan inter the river! don’t forgit it’s murder you will face if i peach on you! good night!”
the speaker rose and backed off, keeping his eyes on the man he did not trust. having retreated some distance in this manner, he turned suddenly and disappeared behind the shrubbery.
hammerswell had risen to his feet. he stood there for several moments. finally he savagely muttered:
“i’ll find a way to fool that yelping cur! if i win to-morrow—and i must—i’ll get out of these parts in a hurry. i’ll disappear, and then luke grimes may amuse himself by trying to find me. confound it all! he set my nerves on edge talking about sullivan. people around here think sullivan was drowned by accident. this grimes is the only person living who knows the truth and can do me harm.”
he turned and walked slowly toward the hotel, passing within four feet of the dark figure huddled close to the cedars near the rustic hedge.
when hammerswell had mounted the steps of the hotel and disappeared within, this figure moved and sat up.
“ha! ha,” laughed a low, triumphant voice. “so you think grimes is the only person aware of your crime! you’re soon to learn you are mistaken! you’re soon to find out that the black truth is known to chester arlington!”
