CHAPTER XIX--A DANGEROUS SECRET
A cold snap had suddenly fallen over the northern half of VancouverIsland, and tall pines and unpaved streets were white with frozen snow.A chilling wind swept round Jaques' store and rattled the loose windows;tiny icicles formed a fringe about the eaves; but the neat little backroom, with its polished lamp and its glowing stove, seemed to Jimmy andhis comrades luxuriously bright and warm. Supper had been cleared away,and the group sat about the table discussing what could now be done,after the failure of the second attempt to recover the gold.
Jaques leaned his head on his hand, with his elbow resting on the table;Mrs. Jaques sat opposite him, her eyes fixed intently on Bethune, whowas the spokesman for the party. Jimmy, with a gloomy expression, gazedtoward the one window, where a frozen pine bough occasionally scrapedagainst the pane with a rasping sound that was heard above the rattle ofthe sashes. Moran, with a downcast face, sat where the lamplight fellfull upon him.
There was silence for a few moments, broken only by the cheery crackleof the stove. Then Jaques spoke.
"We might as well thrash the thing out from the beginning," he said."The first matter to be decided is what had better be done with yourboat."
"That raises another point," asserted Bethune. "What we do with her nowdepends on our plans for the future, and they're not made yet."
"Then suppose we consider that you're going back to try again in thespring?"
Jimmy looked at Mrs. Jaques, and fancied that her expression wasencouraging.
"You're taking it for granted that we can get out of debt. If such athing were possible, we'd haul her up and strip her for the winter withthe first big tides."
"Not here," Jaques said pointedly. "For one thing, she'd be spotted, andyou'll see why you had better avoid that if you'll listen."
"I see one good reason now," Bethune answered with a rueful grin."You're not our only creditor, and the other fellow isn't likely to showus much consideration."
"Let that go for the present. Do you know any lonely creek some distanceoff where she'd lie safe and out of sight?"
"I dare say we could find one," Jimmy replied.
"Then I'm going to talk. Some time after you left, a man from Victoriacalled on me. Said he was an accountant and specialized on thedevelopment of small businesses. He'd undertake to collect doubtfulaccounts, show his clients how to keep their books, and buy on the bestterms, or sell out their business, if they wanted; in fact, he said thatsome of his city friends thought of trying to make a merger arrangementwith the grocery stores in the small Island ports."
"No doubt it seemed an opportunity for getting a good price for yourstore," Bethune suggested.
"I wasn't keen. Things had improved since you were here, and trade waslooking up. However, I showed the man my books, and I saw that he wasespecially interested when he came to your account. Asked me did I knowthat you were a remittance man who had forfeited his allowance and thatyour partner was a steamboat mate who'd been fired out of his ship. Itold him that I was aware of it; and he said the chances were steepagainst your making good. Then he gave me some useful hints and wentaway."
"That's interesting," Bethune commented. "Did you hear anything morefrom him?"
"I did; not long ago he sent me an offer for my business as it stands,with all unsettled claims and liabilities. When I got a Vancouverdrummer I know to make inquiries, he said that it ought to be a safeproposition--the money was good."
"Ah! It looks as if somebody thought us worth powder and shot. Did youtake his offer?"
"No, sir! I stood off, for two reasons. I knew that the buyers eitherforesaw a boom in the Island trade, in which case it would pay me tohold on, or they'd some pretty strong grounds for wanting to get hold ofyou. On thinking it over, I didn't see my way to help them."
"Thanks. I wonder whether Mrs. Jaques had any say in the matter?"
"She certainly had," Jaques admitted fondly. "She thought it wouldn't bethe square thing to give you away, and that to see you through might bethe best in the end."
"We're grateful; but I'm not sure that she was wise. It's obvious thatthere was something crooked about the wreck, and what you have told usimplies that some men with money are anxious to cover up their tracks. Isuspect they've grown richer since the bogus gold was shipped, and mightbe willing to spend a good sum to keep the matter dark. The fellow whocalled on you probably knew nothing of this; he'd be merely acting forthem on commission."
None of the others spoke for the next minute. The situation demandedthought, for they were people of no consequence, and they did not doubtthat men with means were plotting against them.
"You seem to have got hold of a dangerous secret," Mrs. Jaques said,breaking the silence.
"An important one, at least," Bethune agreed. "It might, perhaps, get usinto trouble; but our position's pretty strong. I'll admit, though, thatI can't see what use we had better make of it."
Mrs. Jaques watched him closely.
"I suppose it has struck you that you might make a bargain with thepeople who insured the gold? They'd probably pay you well if you put thescrew on them."
Jimmy started and frowned, but Bethune motioned to him to be silent.
"I wonder whether you really thought we'd take that course, ma'am?" heasked.
"No," she smiled; "I did not. But what's the alternative?"
"We might go to the underwriters and see what we could get from them. Isuppose that's what we ought to do; but I'd rather wait. If we can cleanout the strong-room, we'll have the whole thing in our hands."
"In your hands, you mean."
"No; I meant what I said. My suggestion is that your husband shouldrelinquish his claim on us, and take a small share in the venture. Ifhe'd do so, we could go back next spring. It's a proposition I wouldn'tmake before, but things have changed, and we want another man."
"Well," said Jaques, "I half expected this, and I've been doing somefiguring. The mills are booked full of orders for dressed lumber,there's a pulp factory going up, and I'm doing better now that trade'scoming to the town. Still, I see a risk."
"So do I," Bethune replied. "We're three irresponsible adventurerswithout a dollar to our credit, and we have men of weight and businesstalent up against us. It's possible that they may break us; but I thinkwe have a fighting chance." He turned to Mrs. Jaques. "What's youropinion?"
"Oh, I love adventure! And somehow I have confidence that you'll makegood."
"Thank you! It's evident that the opposition can do nothing at the wreckwhen we're on the spot, and the ice will keep the field for us whilewe're down here; but we must get back before they can send a steamer inthe spring. In the meanwhile, we have the bags of gold to dispose of."
"That's a difficulty," said Jaques. "They certainly ought to be handedto the underwriters."
"Just so; but as soon as we part with them we give our secret away. Wemust stick to them and say nothing until we finish the job."
"Wouldn't it be dangerous? You have cut one bag and broken into the box.If the fellows who are working against you found that out, they'd claimyou had stolen the gold. Then you'd be in a tight place."
"The experience wouldn't be unusual," Bethune answered with a laugh. "Wemust take our chances, and we'll put the stuff in your safe. What mostencourages me to go on is that there were several different consignmentsof gold sent by the steamer and insured, and I can't take it for grantedthat all the shippers were in the conspiracy. There's no reason tosuspect the contents of the remaining cases."
"You hadn't made out the marks when I last asked you about them," Jimmybroke in.
"No; they're hardly distinguishable; but I now think I have a clue. I'minclined to believe the case was shipped by a man named Osborne. Hisname's in the vessel's manifest, and he has been associated with herowner for a long time. I found that out when I was considering thesalvage scheme."
Jimmy started.
"His Christian name?"
"Henry. I understand he has a house on the shore of
Puget Sound. Youlook as if you knew him!"
Jimmy said nothing for a few moments, though he saw that the others werewatching him curiously. Bethune's suggestion had given him a shock,because it seemed impossible that the pleasant, cultured gentleman hehad met on board the _Empress_ should be guilty of common fraud.Besides, it was preposterous to suppose that Ruth Osborne could be thedaughter of a rogue.
"I do know him; that is, I met him on our last voyage. But you'remistaken," he said firmly.
"It's possible," Bethune admitted. "Time will show. I've only asuspicion to act on."
"How do you mean to act on it? What do you propose to do?"
Bethune gave him a searching glance.
"Nothing, until we have emptied the strong-room and we'll have toconsider what's most advisable then. In the meanwhile, I expect theopposition will let us feel their hand; there may be developments duringthe winter." He turned to Jaques. "We'll lay the sloop up out of sightwith the next big tides and then go south and look for work. In thespring we'll ask you to grubstake us, and get back to the wreck as soonas the weather permits. I think that's our best plan."
The others agreed, and soon afterward the party broke up. As they wentback to the boat Bethune turned to Jimmy.
"Do you feel inclined to tell me what you know about Osborne?" he asked.
"I only know that you're on the wrong track. He isn't the man to join ina conspiracy of the kind you're hinting at."
Bethune did not reply, and they went on in silence down the snowystreet. Jimmy found it hard to believe that Osborne had had any share inthe fraud, but a doubt was beginning to creep into his mind. For a fewminutes he felt tempted to abandon the search for the gold; but hereflected that he was bound to his comrades and could not persuade themto let the matter drop. Besides, if by any chance Bethune's suspicionproved correct, he might be of some service to Miss Osborne. No matterwhat discovery might be made, she should not suffer; Jimmy was resolvedon that.
Leaving port the next day, they found a safe berth for the sloop; andwhen they had hauled her up on the beach they walked to a Siwashrancherie, where they engaged one of the Indians to take them back in acanoe. Reaching Vancouver by steamboat, they had some trouble in findingwork, because the approach of winter had driven down general laborersand railroad construction gangs from the high, inland ranges to thesheltered coast. There was, however, no frost in the seaboard valleys,and at last Jimmy and his friends succeeded in hiring themselves to acontractor who was clearing land.
It was not an occupation they would have taken up from choice, but astheir pockets were empty they could not be particular. The firs thechoppers felled were great in girth, and as Moran was the only member ofthe party who could use the ax, the others were set to work sawing upthe massive logs with a big crosscut. Dragging the double-handled sawbackward and forward through the gummy wood all day was tiring work,while, to make things worse, it rained most of the time and the clearingwas churned into a slough by the gangs of toiling men. When they left itto haul out a log that had fallen beyond its edge they were forced toplunge waist-deep into dripping brush and withered fern.
For all that, Bethune and Jimmy found the use of the crosscut easy bycomparison with their next task, for they were presently sent with oneor two others to build up the logs into piles for burning. The masses oftimber were ponderous, and the men, floundering up to the knees intrampled mire, laboriously rolled them into place along lines of skids.Then they must be raised into a pyramid three or four tiers high, andgetting on the last row was a herculean task carried out at the risk ofbeing crushed to death by the logs overpowering them and running back.
Jimmy and Bethune stuck to it because they had no other recourse,toiling, wet through, in the slough all day and dragging themselvesback, dripping, dejected, and worn out, to the sleeping shack at night.The building was rudely put together, and by no means watertight. Itsearth floor was slimy, the stove scarcely kept it warm, while it wasfilled with a rank smell of cooking, stale tobacco, and saturatedclothes. The bunks, ranged like a shelf along the walls, were damp andsmeared with wet soil from the garments the men seldom took off; andJimmy was now and then wakened by the drips from the leaky roof fallingon his face. He felt that once he was able to lay them down he wouldnever wish to see a cant-pole or a crosscut-saw again.
But the deliverance he longed for came in a way he did not anticipate.