Chapter 9.
The Phantom presently came along close to the Osprey, and Carthewshouted:
"Is there anything that I can do for you?"
"No, thank you," Frank replied.
Then Bertha called out:
"I am so sorry."
Frank waved his hand in reply. The men were all busy trying to getthe wreckage alongside. The cross-trees had been carried away bythe fall of the topmast, and her deck forward was littered withgear. The difficulty was greatly increased by the heavy sea in therace.
"As soon as you have got everything on board, Hawkins, we will puta couple of reefs in the mainsail. She will go well enough underthat and the foresail. If the mizzen is too much for her, we cantake it off."
It was nearly half an hour before all was clear, and the last ofthe yachts in the race had passed them before the leeward sheet ofthe foresail was hauled aft, and the Phantom resumed her course. Assoon as she did so, the captain came aft with part of the copperbar of the bobstay.
"There has been foul play, sir," he said. "I thought there musthave been, for I could not imagine that this bar would have brokenunless there had been a flaw in the metal or it had been tamperedwith. I unshackled it myself, for I thought it was better that themen should not see it until I had told you about it."
"Quite right, Hawkins. Yes, there is no doubt that there has beenfoul play. The bar has been sawn three-quarters of the way throughwith a fine saw, and, of course, it went as soon as she began todip her bowsprit well into it in the race. You see, whoever hasdone it has poured some acid into it, and darkened the copper,partly perhaps to prevent the colour of the freshly-cut metal frombeing noticed, and partly to give it the appearance, after it wasbroken, of being an old cut."
"It cannot have been that, sir, for we were out in quite as rough asea as this last week, and the bowsprit would have gone then ifthis cut had been there. Besides, we should have been sure to havenoticed it when we went round her to polish up her sides."
"I don't know about that, Hawkins. You see, the cut is from below,and it is only two or three inches above the waterline. It mightvery well have been there without being noticed. Still, I agreewith you, it could not have been there last week, or it must havegone when she put her nose into it then. In point of fact, I haveno doubt that it was done last night or the night before. It couldeasily have been managed. Of course, everyone was below, both hereand in the yachts lying round us, and a man might very well havecome out in a small boat between one and two o'clock in themorning, and done this without being noticed."
"He might have done that, sir, but we should have heard the gratingdown in the forecastle."
"I don't know, Hawkins. A fine steel saw, such as burglars use,will work its way through an iron bar almost noiselessly, and Ishould say that it would go through copper almost as easily as itwould through hard wood. It is as well to say nothing to the crewabout it, but I think it my duty to lay the matter before the clubcommittee, and they can do as they like about it. Mind, I don't sayfor a moment that it was done by anyone on board the Phantom. Itmay have been someone on shore who had laid a bet of a few poundsagainst us, and wanted to make sure of winning his money. Besides,the Phantom might very well have hoped to have beaten us fairly,for she was just as much fancied as we were. Take it below, and layit in my cabin, and when we get in unshackle the other bit of thebar, and put it with this."
It was impossible, however, when the bowsprit and bobstay werebrought on board, that the crew should have failed to notice thebreak in the bar, and the news that there had been foul play had atonce been passed round. Seeing the angry faces of the men, and theanimated talk forward, Frank told the captain to call all handsaft.
"Look here, my men," he said. "I see that you are all aware of whathas taken place. It is most disgraceful and unfortunate, and I needhardly say that I am as much vexed as yourselves at losing the Cup,which, but for that, we must have carried off. However, it is oneof those cases in which there is nothing to be done, and we shouldonly make things worse by making a fuss about it. We have no groundwhatever for believing that it was the work of one of the Phantom'screw, and it is far more likely that it was the work of somelongshore loafer who had laid more than he could afford against us.It has partly been our own fault, but we shall know better infuture, and your captain will take good care that there shall be ananchor watch set for two or three nights before we sail anotherrace.
"What I have called you up for is to beg of you not to make this anoccasion for disputes or quarrels ashore. Hitherto I have beenproud of the good behaviour of my crew, and I should be sorryindeed to hear that there was any row ashore between you and thePhantom's men. They at least have nothing to boast of. They havewon the Cup, but we have won the honour. We have shown ourselvesthe better yacht, and should have beaten them by something like amile, if it had not been for this accident. Therefore it is myexpress wish and order that you do not show your naturaldisappointment on shore. You can give the real reason of ourdefeat, but do not say a word of blame to anyone, for we know notwho was the author of the blackguardly act.
"Of course, the matter cannot be kept altogether a secret, for itwill be my duty to lay it before the committee. I shall make noprotest. If they choose to institute an inquiry they must do so,but I shall take no steps in the matter, and it is unlikely in theextreme that we shall ever know who did it. I shall pay you allwinning money, for that you did not win was no fault of yours. Onething I will wager, though I am not a betting man, and that is,that the next time we meet the Phantom we shall beat her, by asmuch as we should have done today, but for this accident."
The appearance of the Osprey as she sailed into the anchorage,without topmast or bowsprit, excited great attention; and many ofthe yachtsmen came on board to inquire how the disaster hadhappened. To save going through the story a score of times, Frankhad the broken pieces of the bobstay bar brought up and laid on thedeck near the tiller, and in reply to inquiries simply pointed tothem, saying:
"I think that tells the tale for itself."
All were full of indignation at the dastardly outrage.
"What are you going to do, Major?"
"I am not going to do anything, except take it ashore and hand itto the Sailing Committee. That it has been cut is certain. As towho cut it, there is no shadow of evidence."
"If I were in Carthew's place," one of them said, "I should declineto take the Cup under such circumstances, and would offer to sailthe race over again with you as soon as you had repaired damages."
"I should decline the offer if he made it," he said, quietly. "Itis probable that we shall meet in a race again some day, and thenwe can fight it out, but for the present it is done with. He haswon the Queen's Cup, and I must put up with my accidents."
The effect produced by the facts reported to the committee, andtheir examination of the broken bar, was very great. Such a thinghad not been known before in the annals of yachting, and thecommittee ordered a poster to be instantly printed and stuck upoffering a reward of 100 pounds for proof that would lead to theconviction of the author of the outrage.
Frank returned on board at once, and sent off a boat, towing behindit the broken bowsprit and topmast to Cowes, with instructions toMessieurs White to have two fresh spars got ready, by the followingafternoon if possible.
He did not go ashore again until he landed, at half-past ten, atthe clubhouse. Every window was lit up, and dancing had begun anhour before. Frank at once obtained a partner, in order to avoidhaving to talk the unpleasant business over with yachting friends.
Presently he sat down by the side of Lady Greendale.
"I am so sorry, Frank," she said. "It does seem hard when you hadset your mind on it."
"I had hoped to win," he said, "but it is not as bad as all thatafter all. It would have been more mortifying to lose because theOsprey was not fast enough, than to lose from an accident, when shehad already proved herself to be the best in the race. You knowthat I never went in for being a racing yachtsm
an. I look uponracing as being a secondary part of yachting. I can assure you, Idon't feel that I am greatly to be pitied. It might have beenbetter, and it might have been a great deal worse."
"Well, I am glad that you take it in that way," she said. "I canassure you that I was greatly upset over it when I heard it."
He sat chatting with her for some time. Presently Bertha wasbrought back by her partner to her mother's side.
"Thank you for your hail as you passed us, Miss Greendale. Itsounded hearty, and really cheered me up, for just at the moment Iwas in an exceedingly bad temper, I can assure you. You see, myforebodings came true, and luck was against me."
"Not luck," she said, indignantly. "You would have won but fortreachery."
"Treachery is rather a hard word," he said. "However, it is of nouse crying over spilt milk. I have lost, and shall live to fightanother day, I hope; and next time I shall win. Still, you know,there is really nothing to grumble at. I have been fortunatealtogether this season, and as I bought the Osprey as a cruiser, Ihave done a great deal better with her than I could have expected."
At this moment another partner of Bertha's came up, and was aboutto carry her off, when she said:
"I suppose the Osprey can sail still, Major Mallett?"
"Oh, yes. She is a lame duck, you know, but she can get about allright."
"Well, why don't you ask mamma and me to take a sail with youtomorrow afternoon?"
"I shall be very happy to do so," he said, "but I almost think thatyou had better wait until she gets her spars. I don't think thatthey will be finished before tomorrow evening. The men can get towork early in the morning, and we can be here by two o'clock nextday."
"No, I think that we will come tomorrow, Major Mallett.
"It will be a novelty to sail in a cripple, won't it, mamma?
"Besides, you know, or you ought to know, that the day aftertomorrow is Sunday, and that at present our plans are arranged forgoing up to town on Monday."
"That being so," Frank said with a smile, "by all means cometomorrow. Will you come to lunch, or afterwards?"
"Afterwards, I think. We will be down at the club landing stage athalf-past two."
"Bertha is bent upon taking possession of you tomorrow," LadyGreendale said, smiling, as the girl turned away; "and I shall beglad for her to have a quiet two or three hours out of the racket.A large party is very fatiguing, and I think that it has been toomuch for her. Yesterday and today she has been quite unlikeherself; at one time sitting quiet and saying nothing, at othertimes rattling away with Miss Haverley and Lady Olive, andabsolutely talking down both of them, which I should have thoughtimpossible. She seems to me to be altogether over-excited. Ithought it would have been a rest for her to get away for a weekfrom the fag in London, but I am sorry now that we came downaltogether. I am a little worried about it, Frank."
"Well, the season is drawing towards its end now, Lady Greendale,and if you can get a short time at home no doubt it will do yougood. I did not think that Bertha was looking well when I saw heryesterday."
Frank danced a couple more dances, and then went to Lady Greendaleand said:
"Will you make my excuses to Bertha? and tell her that, havingshown myself here, so that it might not be thought that I was outof temper at my bad luck, I shall be off. Indeed, I do not feelquite up to entering into the thing. You can understand, dear LadyGreendale, that at present things are going rather hardly with me."
She gave him a sympathetic look. "I can understand, Frank," shesaid; "but here she comes. You can make your excuses yourself."
"I can quite understand that you don't care about staying," Berthasaid, when he repeated what he had said to her mother. "Well, Iwill give you the next dance, or, what will be nicer, I will sit itout with you. Ah, here is my partner.
"I am afraid I have made a mistake, Mr. Jennings, and have got mycard mixed up. Do you mind taking the thirteenth dance instead ofthis? I shall be very much obliged if you will."
Her partner murmured his assent.
"Thank you," Frank said, as she took his arm. "Now, shall we go outon the balcony, or on the lawn?"
"The lawn, I think. It is a lovely evening, and there is no fear ofcatching cold.
"I am afraid that you are very disappointed," she went on, as theywent out. "I am disappointed, too. I told you I wanted the bestyacht to win, and it has not done so."
"Thank you," he replied, quietly. "I should have liked to have won,just this once, but all along I felt that the chances were againstme, and that fortune would play me some trick or other."
"It was not fortune. Fortune had nothing to do with it," she said,indignantly. "You were beaten by a crime--by a mean, miserablecrime--by the same sort of crime by which you were beaten before."
"I have no reason for supposing that there is any connection."
"Frank," she broke in, suddenly, and he started as for the firsttime for years she called him by his Christian name, "you are anold friend of ours, and you promised me that you would always be myfriend. Do you think that it is right to be trying to throw dustinto my eyes? Don't you think, on the contrary, that as a friendyou should speak frankly to me?"
Frank was silent for a moment.
"On some subjects, yes, Bertha; on others, what has passed betweenus makes it very difficult for a man to know what he ought to do.But be assured that if I saw you make any fatal mistake, anymistake at least that I believed to be fatal, I should nothesitate, even if I knew that I should be misunderstood, and that Ishould forfeit your liking, by so doing. This is just one of thecases when I do not feel justified, as yet, in speaking. Carthew isnot my friend, and you know it. If I had had no personal feud--forit has become that with him--I should be more at liberty to speak,but as it is I would rather remain silent. I tell you this now,that you may know, in case I ever do meddle in your affairs, howpainful it is for me to do so, and how unwillingly I do it. At anyrate, there is nothing whatever to connect the accident that tookplace today with him. The event is one of a series of successesthat he has gained over me. It does not affect me much, for thoughI should have liked to have won today, I don't feel about suchmatters as I used to.
"You see, when a man has suffered one heavy defeat, he does notcare about how minor skirmishes may go."
They walked up and down in silence for some time, then she saidquietly:
"The music has stopped. I think, Frank, that I had better go inagain. So you will take us tomorrow?"
"Certainly," he said.
He took her in to Lady Greendale, and then went off to the Osprey.He was feeling in higher spirits than he had done for some time, ashe walked up and down the deck for an hour before turning in. Itseemed to him that she might not after all accept Carthew, and thathe would not be obliged to bring trouble upon her by telling theshameful story.
"It will be all the same, as far as I am concerned," he said tohimself, "but I am sure that I could stand her marrying anyoneelse; which, of course, she will do before long, better thanCarthew. I hear whispers that he was hard hit at Ascot, though hegives out that he won. Not that that matters much, but it is nevera good lookout for a girl to marry a man who gambles, even thoughshe be rich, and her friends take good care to settle her moneyupon herself. She evidently suspects that he is at the bottom ofthis trick, and she would hardly think so if she really cared forhim. But if she does think so, I fancy that the winning of theQueen's Cup will cost him dearly.
"I wonder why she has apparently so set her mind on going out withus tomorrow."
Carthew enjoyed his triumph that evening, loudly expressed hisindignation and regret at the scandalous affair to which he owedhis victory, frankly said that he could hardly have hoped to winthe Cup had it not been for that, and expressed his determinationto add another hundred pounds to the reward offered by the club forthe discovery of the author of the outrage. The men felt that itwas hard on a fellow to win the Cup by the breakdown of an opponentin that way, and the ladies admired the sincere way in which heexpressed his
regrets. He was a good dancer, a good talker, and ahandsome man; and as few of them knew Frank, they had no particularinterest in his misfortune.
He danced only once with Bertha, who said:
"As the hero of the occasion, Mr. Carthew, you must be generous inyour attentions and please everyone."
"I suppose I must obey you, Miss Greendale," he said, "but I hadhoped to have had an opportunity of saying something particular toyou tonight."
"Really?" she answered innocently. "Well, I shall be at hometomorrow morning, and if you come up about eleven you are sure tofind me."
"Miss Greendale is at the other end of the garden, sir," theservant said, as he enquired for her the next morning. "She askedme to tell you if you called that she was there."
With considerable assurance of success, Carthew walked into thegarden. She must know what he wanted to say to her, and he had oflate felt sure that her answer would be favourable when thequestion was put. She was sitting on the same bench on which twodays before she had heard George Lechmere's story.
"You know what I have come for, Miss Greendale," he began at once."I think that you know how I feel towards you, and how deeply Ilove you. I have come to ask you to be my wife."
"Before I answer you, Mr. Carthew," she said, calmly, "I must askyou to listen to a story. It was told me here two days ago by a mannamed George Lechmere. Do you know him?"
"I seem to have heard his name, though I cannot say where," hereplied, surprised at the coolness with which she spoke.
"He is a farmer's son, I believe, and he was an interested party,though not the chief actor of the story. The chief actor, I supposeI should say actress, was Martha Bennett. You know her?"
Carthew stepped back as if he had received a sudden blow. His facepaled, and he gave a short gasp.
"I see you know her," she went on. "She was a poor creature, Ifancy, and her story is one that has often been told before. Shethrew away the love of an honest man, and trusted herself to avillain. He betrayed the trust, took her away to America and thencast her off, and she went home to die. Her destroyer did notaltogether escape punishment. He was attacked and pelted by herfather and his friends in the market place at Chippenham. You see,it all happened in my neighbourhood, and the villain, not daring toshow his face in the county again, disposed of his estate."
"You don't believe this infamous lie?" Carthew said hoarsely.
"How do you know that it is an infamous lie, Mr. Carthew? I havementioned no names. I have simply told you the story of a haplessgirl, whom you once knew. Your face is the best witness that I canrequire of its truth. Thank God I heard it in time. Had it not beenfor that I might have been fool enough to have given you the answeryou wanted, for I own that I liked you. I am sure now that I didnot love you, for had I done so, I should not have believed thistale; or if I had believed it, it would have crushed me. But Iliked you. I found you pleasanter than other men, and I evenfancied that I loved you. Had I not known this story, I might havemarried you, and been the most miserable woman alive, for a man whocould play the villain to a hapless girl, who could stoop to somean and dastardly an action as to cripple a rival yacht, is acreature so mean, so detestable, that wretched indeed would be thefate of the woman that married him.
"Do not contradict it, sir," she said, rising from her seat nowwith her face ablaze with indignation. "I was watching you. I hadheard that story, and had heard another story of how the boat of anantagonist of yours at Henley had been crippled before a race, andI watched you from the time I came on board. I saw that you werestrangely confident; I saw how you were watching for something; Isaw the flash of triumph in your face when that something happened;and I was absolutely certain that the same base manoeuvre that hadwon you your heat at Henley had been repeated in your race for theQueen's Cup.
"I don't think, sir, you will want any more specific answer to yourquestion."
"You will repent this," he panted, his face distorted by a ragingdisappointment. "I do not contradict your statements. It would bebeneath me to do so; but some day you may have cause to regrethaving made them."
"I may tell you," she said, as she turned, "that it is not myintention to make public the knowledge that I gained of yourconduct yesterday. I have no proof save my own absolute conviction,and the knowledge that I have of your past."
He did not look round, but walked at a rapid pace down the garden.Half an hour later the Phantom's anchor was got up, and she sailedfor Southampton Water. Beyond giving the necessary order to getunder way, Carthew did not speak a word until she anchored off thepier, then he went ashore at once and took the next train for town,sending off a telegram before starting.
When he got home he asked the servant briefly if Mr. Conking hadcome.
"Yes, sir. He is waiting for you in the dining room."
"Well, Carthew, how have things gone off? I see by the papers thismorning that you won the Cup, and also that the Osprey's bobstayburst at the right time, and that a great sensation had been causedby the discovery that there had been foul play.
"Why, what is the matter with you? You look as black as athundercloud."
"And no wonder. I won the race, but I have lost the girl."
"The deuce you have. Why, I thought that you felt quite certain ofthat."
"So I did; and it would have come off all right if some infernalfellow had not turned up, and told her about an old affair of minethat I thought buried and forgotten three or four years ago; and ittook me so aback that, as she said, my face was the best evidenceof the truth of the story. More than that, she declared that sheknew that I was at the bottom of the Osprey's business. However,she has no evidence about that; but the other story did thebusiness for me, and the game is all up in that quarter. Therenever was such bad luck. She as much as told me that, if I hadproposed to her before she had heard the story, she would have saidyes."
"No chance of her changing her mind?"
"Not a scrap."
"It is an awkward affair for you."
"Horribly awkward. Yes, I have only got fifteen thousand left, andunless things go right at Goodwood I shall be cleaned right out. Icalculated that everything would be set right if I married thisgirl. Things have gone badly of late."
"Yes, your luck has been something awful. It did seem that with thepains that we took, and the way I cleared the ground for you bybribing jockeys and so on, we ought to have made pots of money. Ofcourse, we did pull off some good things, but others we looked onas safe, and went in for heavily, all turned out wrong."
"Well, there will be nothing for me but to get across the Channelunless, as I say, things go right at Goodwood."
"I should not be nervous about it, for unless there is some darkhorse I feel sure that your Rosney has got the race in hand."
"Yes, I feel sure of that, too. We have kept him well back all theseason, and never let him even get a place. It ought to be acertainty."
Then they sat some time smoking in silence.
"By gad, I have half a mind to carry her off," Carthew broke out,suddenly. "It is the only way that I can see of getting thingsstraightened out. She acknowledged that she liked me before sheheard this accursed story, and if I had her to myself I have nodoubt that I could make her like me again in spite of it."
"It is a risky thing to carry a woman off in our days," Conklingsaid, thoughtfully, "and a deuced difficult one to do. I don't seehow you are going to set about it, or what in the world you woulddo with her, and where you would put her when you had got her. Ihave done some pretty risky things for you in my time, Carthew, butI should not care about trying that. We might both find ourselvesin for seven years."
"Well, you would have as much as that for getting at a horse, and Idon't know that you wouldn't for bribing a jockey. Still, I seethat it is an uncommonly difficult thing."
For five minutes nothing more was said; then Conkling suddenlybroke the silence.
"By Jove, I should say that the yacht would be just the thing."
"That is a good idea, Jim; a
first-rate idea if it could be workedout. It would want a lot of scheming, but I don't see why it shouldnot be done. If I could once get her on board, I could cruise aboutwith her for any time, until she gave in."
"You would have to get a fresh crew, Carthew. I doubt whether yourfellows would stand it."
"No, I suppose some of them might kick. At any rate, I would nottrust them. No, I should have to find a fresh crew. Foreignerswould be best, but it would look uncommonly rum for the Phantom tobe cruising about with a foreign crew. Besides, I know men inalmost every port I should put into."
"Couldn't you alter her rig, or something of that sort, so that shecould not be recognised? It seems to me that if you were to takeher across to some foreign port, pay off the crew there and sendthem home, then get her altered and ship a foreign crew, you mightcruise about as long as you liked, especially abroad, without asoul being any the wiser; and the girl must sooner or later givein, and if she would not you could make her."
"That is a big idea, Jim. Yes, if I once got my lady on board youmay be sure that she would have to say yes sooner or later. I don'toften forgive, and it would be a triumph to make her pay for thedressing down she gave me this morning. Besides, I am really fondof her, and I could forgive her for that outbreak, which I supposewas natural enough, after we were married, and there is no reasonwhy we should not get on very well together.
"I tell you what, I will go down the first thing tomorrow toSouthampton, and will sail at once for Ostend. There I will pay heroff, alter her rig, and ship a fresh crew. I will draw my moneyfrom the bank. If things go well, I shall be set up again. If theygo badly, there will be some long faces at Tattersall's on settlingday, but I shall be away, and the money will be enough if we haveto cruise for a couple of years, or double that, before she givesin.
"I shall try mild measures for a good bit; be very respectful andrepentant and all that. If I find after a time that that does notfetch her, I must try what threats will do. Anyhow, she won't leaveuntil she steps on shore to be married, or safer still, till I canget a clergyman on board to marry us there. Would you like to gowith us?"
"If the thing bursts up, there is nothing I should like better."
"You will have to help me carry her off, Jim, and the day that shesigns her name Bertha Carthew I will give you a couple of thousandpounds."
"That is a bargain," the man said. "It is a good scheme altogether,if we can hit upon some plan for carrying her away."
"It is of no use to think of that, until we know where she will be.I don't see at present how it is to be done, but I know that thereis always a way if one can think of it. You telegraph to me everyday Poste Restante, Ostend, or wherever I am stopping. I will sendyou the name of the hotel I put up at directly I get there. You hadbetter send someone down at once to Ryde to let you know what sheis doing, and when she comes up to town; it is just on the cardsthat they may not come for a bit, but may go for a cruise inMallett's yacht, as they did last autumn. Anyhow, let me know, andif I telegraph for you to come over, cross by the next boat.
"Likely enough I may run over myself as soon as I get the businessthere going all right; but of course I shall stay there if I can. Ishould get it done in half the time if I were present to pushthings on. Of course, you will run down and see how the horse isgetting on, and pick up any information that you can, and let meknow about it."
"I will put that into good hands, Carthew. It is better that Ishould stay here and watch things at Tattersall's; then I can keepyou informed how things are looking every day, and be ready tostart as soon as I get your telegram. But, of course, you won't doanything until after the race is run."
"No, I feel as safe as a man can as to Rosney, but even if he winsI shall carry my idea out. I have had enough of the turf, and burntmy fingers enough over it, and I shall be glad to settle down as acountry gentleman again. If I lose I shall make a private sale ofall my horses before I leave the course. That ought to bring me inanother seven or eight thousand pounds for our trip."