it would be idle to say that browne will never forget his feelings, when the hail reached him from the deck, announcing the fact that a boat from the russian man-o’-war was coming alongside. it was the most desperate moment of his life; and there are times, even now, when only to dream of it is sufficient to bring him wide awake with a cold sweat upon his forehead. as he heard it, he turned to jimmy, who was leaning over the bunk in which maas lay, and said anxiously:—
“i suppose i may leave him to you, jimmy? you will take care that they don’t get any information out of him?”
“you may trust me for that,” jimmy replied, and there was a look of determination in his face as he said it, that boded ill for any attempt maas might make to communicate with the enemy. “i hope for his own sake that he won’t wake while they are here. jack, my son, this is going to be a big deal for all of us. keep your head while they’re aboard, or you’ll be in queer street.”
thereupon they shook hands solemnly.
“thank heaven, i’ve got you with me, old chap,” continued browne fervently. “you don’t know what a relief it is to me to know that. now i must go and warn miss petrovitch and madame bernstein.”
“good-bye, old fellow,” said foote. “good luck go with you.”
browne glanced again at maas, then he went out, closing the door behind him, and made his way through the saloon in the direction of katherine’s cabin. he had scarcely knocked at the door before she opened it. from the pallor of her face he guessed that she knew something of what was happening. this proved to be so; for browne afterwards discovered that the cruiser had all the time been plainly visible from her port-hole.
“i have just seen a boat pass,” she said. “have they come to search the yacht?”
“yes,” answered browne. “you need not be afraid, however; they will not find him. he is hidden in a place where they would never think of looking; and, to make assurance doubly sure, macandrew is with him.”
“but what was that noise i heard just now? it sounded as if you were struggling with some one, and trying to drag him down into the saloon.”
browne informed her in a few brief words of what had occurred, and bade her, in case she should be questioned, keep up the fiction that maas was seriously ill. then, bidding her inform madame bernstein of what was going on, he left her and returned to the deck. simultaneously with his arrival the russian officer made his appearance at the gangway. he was a tall, handsome man of about thirty years of age. having reached the deck, he looked about him as if he scarcely knew whom to address; then, seeing that the captain looked to browne as if for instructions, he saluted him, and said in french:—
“your pardon, monsieur, but this is the yacht lotus blossom, is it not?”
“it is,” replied browne, “and i am the owner. what can i have the pleasure of doing for you? you find us in rather a fix. we have had a break-down in the engine-room, and, as you can see for yourself, it has left us in a by no means pleasant position.”
“i have to present the compliments of my captain to you, and to request that you will permit me to overhaul your vessel.”
“to overhaul my vessel!” cried browne. “surely that is a very curious request for what reason do you wish to inspect her?”
“i regret to say that we have heard that an attempt is being made to rescue an escaped convict from the island yonder. from information received, it is believed he is on board your vessel.”
“a runaway convict on board my yacht?” exclaimed browne in a tone that suggested complete surprise. “you must excuse me if i do not understand you. you surely do not suppose that i make it my business to go about the world, assisting convicts to escape from captivity?”
“that is no business of mine,” answered the officer. “all i have to do is to obey my instructions. i should, therefore, be glad if you would permit me to inspect your vessel.”
“you may do so with pleasure,” said browne. “but let it be understood, before you commence, that i resent the intrusion, and shall, immediately on my return to civilization, place the matter before my government to act as they think best. you have, of course, considered what the consequences of your action will be?”
“it is not my business to think of the consequences,” responded the other. “all i have to do is to obey the orders i receive. may i therefore trouble you to permit me to carry them out? i should be loath to have to signal to my ship for assistance.”
“such a course will not be necessary,” rejoined browne, with all the dignity of which he was master. “if you persist in your absurd demand, i shall raise no further objection. only, i should be glad if you could do so with as little delay as possible. i have a friend below who is seriously ill, and i am anxious to return to him.”
“in that case, it would be as well for us to proceed without further loss of time,” continued the officer.
turning to captain mason, who was standing beside him, browne gave the necessary orders. the russian officer immediately called up a couple of hands from his boat alongside, and then, escorted by browne, set off on his tour of inspection. commencing with the men’s quarters forward, he searched every nook and cranny, but without success. then, little by little, they worked their way aft, exploring the officers’ and engineers’ quarters as they proceeded. the engine-room and stoke-hole followed next, and it was then that browne’s anxiety commenced. the convict, as he had good reason to know, was the possessor of a hacking cough, and should he give proof of its existence now they were ruined indeed.
“i presume you do not wish to look into the furnaces,” ironically remarked the chief-engineer, who had accompanied them during their visit to his own particular portion of the vessel. “should you desire to do so, i shall be pleased to have them opened for you.”
“i have no desire to look into them,” answered the officer, who by this time was beginning to feel that he had been sent on a wild-goose chase.
“in that case let us finish our inspection, and be done with it,” said browne. “it is not pleasant for me, and i am sure it cannot be for you.” as he spoke he turned to the officer, and signed him to make his way up the steel ladder to the deck above. just as he himself was about to set foot on it, the sound of a smothered cough came from the spot where the men lay hidden, and at the same instant the officer stopped and looked round. browne felt his whole body grow cold with terror. fortunately, however, even if he had heard it, the other failed to place the proper construction upon it, and they left the engine-room without further comment. then, having explored the smoking-room and deck-house, they made their way aft to the drawing-room by way of the main companion-ladder.
“i have two ladies on board, monsieur,” said browne as they reached the drawing-room and stood for a moment looking about them, “also the sick friend of whom i spoke to you just now. perhaps you would not mind waiving your right to inspect their cabins.”
“monsieur,” returned the officer, “i must see every cabin. there must be no exceptions.”
“in that case,” replied browne, “there is no more to be said. will you be kind enough to accompany me?”
so saying, he led him forward a few paces, and, having shown him the pantry and stewards’ quarters, the storerooms, bathrooms, and other domestic offices, took him to the cabin in which maas was undergoing his involuntary confinement. browne knocked softly upon the door, and a moment later jimmy foote opened it, with his finger on his lips as if to warn them to be silent.
“hush!” he whispered. “don’t wake him; he has been asleep for nearly half an hour, and it will do him a world of good.”
browne translated this speech to the officer, and, when he had done so, they entered and approached the bedside. the representative of imperial russia looked down upon maas, who was sleeping as placidly as a little child; at the same time his eyes took in the rows of medicine bottles on the table and all the usual paraphernalia of a sick-room. it was plain not only, that he imagined jimmy foote to be the doctor in charge, but also that he knew nothing of the identity of the man before him.
“what is the matter with him?” he asked a little suspiciously of browne.
“pneumonia, following a severe chill,” the other replied. “we want to get him down to yokohama as quickly as possible in order that we may place him in the hospital there. i presume you are satisfied that he is not the man you want?”
the officer nodded his head. “quite satisfied,” he answered emphatically. “the man i want is a little, old fellow with red hair. he is thirty years this gentleman’s senior.”
thereupon they passed out of the cabin again, and made their way along the alley-way towards the drawing-room once more.
when they reached it they found katherine and madame bernstein awaiting them there. browne, in a tone of apology, explained the reason of the officer’s visit.
“however, i hope soon to be able to convince him that his suspicions are unfounded,” he said in conclusion. “we have searched every portion of the yacht, and he has not so far discovered the man he wants.”
“do you say that the person you are looking for is a russian convict?” continued madame bernstein, who felt that she must say something in order to cover the look of fear, that was spreading over katherine’s face.
“yes, madame,” the officer replied. “he is a most dangerous person, who in his time has caused the police an infinity of trouble.”
“a nihilist, i suppose?” remarked browne, as if he thought that that point might be taken for granted.
“indeed, no,” continued the officer. “his name is kleinkopf, and he is, or rather was, the most noted diamond-thief in europe.”
“what?” cried browne, startled out of himself by what the other said. “what do you mean? a diamond ——”
what he was about to add must for ever remain a mystery, for at that moment madame bernstein uttered a little cry and fell forward against the table in a dead faint. with a face as ashen as a cere-cloth, katherine ran to her assistance, and browne followed her example. together they raised her and carried her to a seat.
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“you see, sir, what mischief you have done,” said browne, addressing the russian officer, who stood looking from one to another of them, as if he scarcely knew what to say or how to act. “you have frightened her into a faint.”
picking her up in his arms, he carried her to her cabin, and laid her in her bunk. then, resigning her to the care of katharine and the stewardess, whom he had summoned to his assistance, he rejoined the officer outside.
“if you will come with me, sir,” he began, “i will show you the remainder of the vessel, and then i think you will be able to return to your ship and inform your commander that, on this occasion, at least, he has committed an egregious blunder, of which he will hear more anon.”
“i am at monsieur’s disposal,” replied the officer; and together they entered katherine’s cabin. needless to say there was no sign of any fugitive there. browne’s own cabin followed next, with the same result. at last they reached the deck once more.
“you are satisfied, i presume, sir, that the man you want is not on board my yacht?” asked browne, with considerable hauteur.
“quite satisfied,” replied the other. “and yet i can assure you, monsieur, that we had the best reasons for believing that you were conniving at his escape.”
“i am very much obliged to you, i am sure,” retorted browne. “i fancy, however, that, even presuming i contemplated anything of the sort, i have convinced you that i have not carried it out yet. and now i have the honour to wish you a very good morning. my engineer informs me that the break-down in the engine-room has been repaired; and, if you have any suspicions left, you will have the satisfaction of seeing us get under way without further delay. i tell you this in case you should imagine, that i intend hanging about here, in the hope of picking up the man to whom you allude. by the way, did you say that his name is kleinkopf, and that he was originally a diamond-thief?”
“he was the most expert diamond-thief in europe, monsieur,” the officer replied. “now, permit me to offer my apologies for the trouble to which i have put you, and to bid you farewell. at the same time, if you will allow me to do so, i will give you a little advice. if i were in your place i should leave this coast as soon as possible.”
“i shall do so within a quarter of an hour, at latest,” browne answered.
with that the officer saluted once more and disappeared down the companion-ladder. a few moments later his boat was to be seen making her way in the direction of the man-of-war. browne stood and watched her, scarcely able to realize that all danger was now passed and clone with. then he turned to go in search of his friends, and as he did so a thought came into his mind, and brought him to a standstill once more. what could the officer have meant when he had said that the escaped convict’s name was kleinkopf, and that he was not a nihilist, as they had been informed, but a diamond-thief; not a man who plotted and risked his life for the welfare of his country, but a common felon, who lived by defrauding the general public? was it possible that katherine’s father could have been such a man? no; a thousand times no! he would never believe such a thing. but if it were not so, what did it all mean? madame bernstein had recognised the fugitive as katherine’s father, and the man himself had rejoiced at being with his daughter again after so long a separation. there was a mystery somewhere, upon which he would have to be enlightened before very long.
as he arrived at this conclusion captain mason approached him.
“the chief-engineer reports that all is ready, sir,” he said. “if you wish it we can get under way at once.”
“the sooner the better, mason,” browne replied. “i shall not be happy until we have put the horizon between ourselves and that gentleman over there.”
he nodded in the direction of the cruiser, which the boat had just reached.
“i agree with you, sir,” answered the captain. “i will get the anchor away at once.”
“before you do so, mason,” said browne, “just get those two men out of the tunnel and send them aft. don’t let them come on deck whatever you do. they’re certain to have their glasses on us over yonder.”
“very good, sir,” mason returned, and went forward to execute his errand.
anxious as he was to go below, browne did not leave the deck until the screw had commenced to revolve. when he did, it was with a great fear in his heart — one that he would have found it extremely difficult either to describe or to account for. as he argued with himself, it was extremely unlikely that the russian authorities would make a mistake; and yet, if they did not, why had madame bernstein always been so anxious to assure katherine that the man, he had saved, was her father? and, what was still more important, why had she fainted that morning when the officer had given his information concerning the fugitive? when he entered the drawing-room, to his surprise, he found katherine alone there. her face was still very white, and it struck browne that she had been crying.
“what is the matter, dear?” he inquired, as he placed his arm round her and drew her towards him. “why do you look so troubled?”
“i do not know,” she answered, burying her face in his shoulder, “but i am very, very unhappy.”
he did his best to soothe her, but without success. a weight was pressing upon her mind, and until it was removed relief would be impossible. for some reason browne made no inquiry after madame’s condition. it seemed, for the moment, as if he had forgotten her very existence. at last he bade katherine put on her hat and accompany him to the deck. the fresh air would revive her, he said. she accordingly departed to her cabin, and in five minutes rejoined him. in the meanwhile browne had visited the cabin on the starboard side, and had informed foote of all that had transpired. maas was still sleeping quietly in his bunk.
“thank goodness they’ve cleared out,” said jimmy. “now our friend here can wake up as soon as he pleases.”
“the sooner the better,” browne replied. “in the meantime, jimmy, i’ve something awfully important to say to you.”
in a few words browne told him what he had discovered, and what he suspected. foote listened with attention, and when he had finished, scratched his chin and regarded his own face in the mirror opposite, looking the very figure and picture of perplexity.
“what did i always tell you?” he remarked at last. “i was as certain then, as i am now, that the woman was playing some underhand game, though what it is i cannot say. however, i’ll find out somehow or another. upon my word, when we return to civilization, i think i shall embark upon the career of a private inquiry agent.”
feeling that there was nothing more to be said upon the subject just then, browne left him, and returned to the drawing-room in search of katherine. he found her ready to accompany him to the deck above.
“the fresh air will soon bring the roses back to your cheeks,” he whispered, as they made their way along the drawing-room in the direction of the companion-ladder.
she was about to reply, when the sound of footsteps reached them from the port alley-way, and, before they had set foot upon the first step, macandrew and the fugitive stood before them. browne noticed that katherine instinctively shrank away from the latter. he accordingly slipped his arm round her, and, telling macandrew that he would like to speak to him in a few minutes, led her to the deck above.
