CHAPTER XVIII
FOUND OUT
"I DREAMED about that old pouch last night," said Richard in one of theintervals of rest which they allowed themselves.
"I dreamed that it belonged to a Chinese man with crooked, yellowfinger-nails a foot long. He came and stood over my bed and said thatbecause there was important news in that letter and we buried it, andkept it from going to where it ought to go, _we_ had to be buried alive.And he picked me up like I was that nut and tossed me over his shoulder,and said, 'Brother, go find your brother.' And I began sinking down inthe sand deeper and deeper until I began to smother."
Georgina made no answer. The dream did not impress her as being at allterrifying. She had swung her prism around her neck that morning whenshe dressed, and now while she rested she amused herself by flashing thebars of color across Captain Kidd. Richard resented her lack ofinterest.
"Well, it may not sound very bad out here in the daylight, but you oughtto have _had_ it. I yelled until Daddy shook me and told me I'd wake upthe whole end of town with such a nightmare. If you'd have seen thatold Chinaman's face like a dragon's, you'd understand why I feel thatwe've just got to find that pouch. It's going to get us into some kindof trouble, certain sure, if we don't."
Georgina rose to begin digging again. "It's lucky nobody ever comes thisway to see all these holes," she began, but stopped with her shovel halflifted. A familiar voice from the circle of bushes at the top of thedune called down cheerily:
"Ship ahoy, mates. What port are you bound for now? Digging through toChina?"
"It's Uncle Darcy!" they exclaimed in the same breath. He came plungingdown the side of the dune before they could recover from theirconfusion. There was a pail of blueberries in each hand. He had beendown the state road picking them, and was now on his way to the Gray Innto sell them to the housekeeper. Leaving the pails in a level spot underthe shade of a scrubby bush, he came on to where the children werestanding, and eased himself stiffly down to a seat on the sand. Itamused him to see their evident embarrassment, and his eyes twinkled ashe inquired:
"What mischief are you up to now, digging all those gopher holes?"
Neither answered for a moment, then Georgina gulped and found her voice."It's--it's a secret," she managed to say.
"Oh," he answered, growing instantly grave at the sound of that word."Then I mustn't ask any questions. We must always keep our secrets.Sometimes it's a pity though, when one has to promise to do so. I hopeyours isn't the burden to you that mine is to me."
This was the first time he had spoken to them of the promise they hadmade to him and Belle. With a look all around as if to make certain thecoast was clear, he said:
"There's something I've been wanting to say to you children ever sincethat day you had the rifle, and now's as good a chance as any. I wantyou to know that I never would have promised what I did if it could havemade any possible difference to Mother. But lately she seems allconfused about Danny's trouble. She seems to have forgotten there wasany trouble except that he went away from home. For months she's beenlooking for him to walk in most any day.
"Ever since I gave my word to Belle, I've been studying over the rightand wrong of it. I felt I wasn't acting fair to Danny. But now it'sclear in my mind that it _was_ the right thing to do. I argue it thisway. Danny cared so much about saving Emmett from disgrace and Bellefrom the pain of finding it out, that he was willing to give up his homeand good name and everything. Now it wouldn't be fair to him to makethat sacrifice in vain by telling while it can still be such adeath-blow to Emmett's father and hurt Belle much as ever. She's gone onall these years fairly worshiping Emmett's memory for being such ahero."
Uncle Darcy stopped suddenly and seemed to be drawn far away from themas if he had gone inside of himself with his own thoughts and forgottentheir presence. Georgina sat and fanned herself with her shade hat.Richard fumbled with the little compass, rolling it from one hand to theother, without giving any thought to what he was doing. Presently itrolled away from him and Captain Kidd darted after it, striking it withhis forepaws as he landed on it, and thus rolling it still farther tillit stopped at the old man's feet.
Recalled to his surroundings in this way, Uncle Darcy glanced at theobject indifferently, but something strangely familiar in its appearancemade him lean closer and give it another look. He picked it up,examining it eagerly. Then he stood up and gazed all around as if it haddropped from the sky and he expected to see the hand that had droppedit.
"Where did you get this?" he demanded huskily, in such a queer,breathless way that Richard thought his day of reckoning had come. Hissin had found him out. He looked at Georgina helplessly.
"Yes, tell!" she exclaimed, answering his look.
"I--I--just _played_ it was mine," he began. "'Cause the initials on itare the same as mine when we play pirate and I'm Dare-devil Dick. I wasonly going to keep it till we dug up the pouch again. We were keeping itto help find the pouch like Tom Sawyer did----"
It seemed to Richard that Uncle Darcy's hand, clutching his shoulder,was even more threatening than the Chinaman's of his nightmare, and hisvoice more imperative.
"Tell me! Where did you get it? _That's my compass!_ _I_ scratched thoseletters on that nut. 'D. D.' stands for Dan'l Darcy. I brought it homefrom my last voyage. 'Twas a good-luck nut they told me in the last portI sailed from. It was one of the first things Danny ever played with.There's the marks of his first little tooth under those letters. I gaveit to him when he got old enough to claim it, for the letters were his,too. He always carried it in his pocket and _he had it with him when hewent away_. For the love of heaven, child, tell me where you found it?"
The hand which clutched Richard's shoulder was shaking as violently asit had the day the old rifle gave up its secret, and Richard, feelingthe same unnamable terror he had felt in his nightmare, could onlystammer, "I--I don't know. Captain Kidd found it."
Then all three of them started violently, for a hearty voice just behindthem called out unexpectedly:
"Hullo, what's all the excitement about?"
It was Captain James Milford, who had strolled down from the bungalow,his hat stuck jauntily on the back of his head, and his hands in hispockets. A few moments before he had been scanning the harbor through along spy-glass, and happening to turn it towards the dunes had seen thetwo children digging diligently with shovel and hoe.
"Looks as if they'd started to honey-comb the whole Cape with holes," hethought. "Curious how many things kids of that age can think of. Itmight be well to step down and see what they're about."
He put up the spy-glass and started down, approaching them on one sideas the Towncrier reached them on the other.
"Now for a yarn that'll make their eyes stand out," he thought with asmile as he saw the old man sit down on the sand.
"Wonder if it would sound as thrilling now as it did when I was Dick'sage. I believe I'll just slip up and listen to one for old times' sake."
Uncle Darcy let go of Richard's shoulder and turned to the newcomerappealingly.
"Jimmy," he said with a choke in his voice. "Look at this! The firsttrace of my boy since he left me, and they can't tell me where they gotit."
He held out the compass and Mr. Milford took it from his tremblingfingers.
"Why, _I_ remember this old trinket, Uncle Dan'l!" exclaimed Mr.Milford. "You let me carry it in my pocket one day when I was no biggerthan Dicky, here, when you took me fishing with you. I thought it wasresponsible for my luck, for I made my first big catch that day. Got amackerel that I bragged about all season."
Uncle Darcy seized the man's arm with the same desperate grip which hadheld the boy's.
"You don't seem to understand!" he exclaimed. "I'm trying to tell youthat _Danny_ is mixed up with this in some way. Either he's been nearhere or somebody else has who's seen him. He had this with him when hewent away, I tell you. These children say they took it out of a pouchthat the dog found. Help me, Jimmy. I can't seem to think----"
He sat weakly down on the sand again, his head in his hands, and Mr.Milford, deeply interested, turned to the children. His questions calledout a confusing and involved account, told piecemeal by Georgina andRichard in turn.
"Hold on, now, let's get the straight of this," he interrupted, growingmore bewildered as the story proceeded. "What was in the pouch besidesthe gold pieces, the other money and this compass?"
"A letter with a foreign stamp on it," answered Richard. "I noticedspecially, because I have a stamp almost like it in my album."
On being closely cross-questioned he could not say positively to whatcountry the stamp belonged. He thought it was Siam or China. Georginarecalled several names of towns partially scratched out on the back ofthe envelope, and the word Texas. She was sure of that and of "Mass."and of "Mrs. Henry----" something or other.
"But the inside of the letter," persisted Mr. Milford. "Didn't you tryto read that?"
"Course not," said Georgina, her head indignantly high. "We only lookedat each end of it to see if the person's name was on it, but it began,'Dear friend,' and ended, 'Your grateful friend Dave.'"
"So the letter was addressed '_Mrs._,'" began Mr. Milford, musingly,"but was in a tobacco pouch. The first fact argues that a woman lost it,the last that it was a man."
"But it didn't smell of tobacco," volunteered Georgina. "It was nice andclean only where Captain Kidd chewed the string."
"I suppose it didn't have any smell at all," said Mr. Milford, not as ifhe expected anyone to remember, but that he happened to think of it. Aslowly dawning recollection began to brighten in Georgina's eyes.
"But it did have a smell," she exclaimed. "I remember it perfectly wellnow. Don't you know, Richard, when you were untying it at the top of thesteps I said 'Phew! that makes me think of the liniment I bought fromthe wild-cat woman last night,' I had to hold the bottle in my lap allthe time we were at the moving picture show so I had a chance to getpretty well acquainted with that smell. And afterwards when we werewrapping the tin foil around the pouch, getting ready to bury it we bothturned up our noses at the way it smelled. It seemed stronger when thesun shone on it."
"The wild-cat woman," repeated Mr. Milford, turning on Georgina. "Wherewas she? What did you have to do with her? Was the dog with you?"
Little by little they began to recall the evening, how they had startedto the show with the Fayal family and turned aside to hear the patentmedicine man sing, how Richard and Georgina had dared each other totouch the wild-cat's tail through the bars, and how Georgina in climbingdown from the wheel had stumbled over Captain Kidd whom they thoughtsafely shut up at home.
"I believe we've found a clue," said Mr. Milford at last. "If anybody intown had lost it there'd have been a notice put up in the post-office orthe owner would have been around for you to cry it, Uncle Dan'l. But ifit's the wild-cat woman's she probably did not discover her loss tillshe was well out of town, and maybe not until she reached her nextstopping-place."
"There's been nothing of the sort posted on the bulletin board at thepost-office," said the old man. "I always glance in at it everymorning."
Mr. Milford looked at him thoughtfully as if considering something. Thenhe said slowly:
"Uncle Dan'l, just how much would it mean to you to find the owner ofthat pouch?"
"Why, Jimmy," was the tremulous answer, "if it led to any trace of myboy it would be the one great hope of my life realized."
"You are quite sure that you _want_ to bring him back? That it would bebest for all concerned?" he continued meaningly.
There was a silence, then the old man answered with dignity:
"I know what you're thinking of, and considering all that's gone before,I'm not blaming you, but I can tell you this, Jimmy Milford. If the towncould know all that I know it'd be glad and proud to have my boy broughtback to it."
He smote the fist of one hand into the palm of the other and lookedabout like something trapped, seeking escape.
"It isn't fair!" he exclaimed. "It isn't fair! Him worthy to hold up hishead with the best of them, and me bound not to tell. But I've given mypromise," he added, shaking his head slowly from side to side. "I s'poseit'll all work out for the best, somehow, in the Lord's own good time,but I can't seem to see the justice in it now."
He sat staring dejectedly ahead of him with dim, appealing eyes.
The younger man took a step forward and laid an arm across the bentshoulders.
"All right, Uncle Dan'l," he said heartily. "If there's anything underthe sun I can do to help you I'm going to do it, beginning right now.Come on up to the house and I'll begin this Sherlock Holmes business bytelephoning down the Cape to every town on it till we locate thiswild-cat liniment wagon, and then we'll get after it as fast as the bestautomobile in Provincetown can take us."