The Case and the Girl

  CHAPTER XXI

  THE YACHT "SEMINOLE"

  There was little to do but wait impatiently for some further message ofguidance. McAdams dispatched a few telegrams to nearby lake ports, andbriefly outlined certain plans of action for the morrow, provided nothingfurther was heard from the missing boat; these included a possible visitto Fairlawn, and a city-wide search for Hobart, who both men decidedcould not be included among the party on the yacht. West told his newassistant the entire story in detail, and Mac's interest in ferreting outthe matter became intense. It was the kind of case which fascinated himwith its mystery, but no theory he could spin born from long policeexperience, seemed to exactly fit all the revealed facts. The greatpuzzle revolved about the strange actions of the girl; her part in theaffair presenting an unsolvable riddle. They must have talked for anhour, discussing the situation frankly from every angle, yet arriving atno definite conclusion. The sky in the east was red with dawn when bothmen fell fast asleep in their chairs, still waiting.

  It was nine o'clock, and still no word. The two had eaten a hastybreakfast in a restaurant across the street, discussing the situationagain thoroughly, but to no more satisfactory result. It seemedimpossible to reconcile certain facts. If the silver knife, with its callfor help, had indeed been dropped by Natalie Coolidge, and she was beingheld a prisoner in the hands of villains on board the _Seminole_, why hadshe acted toward West as she did in that house on Wray Street? To allappearances there she had been hand in glove with the conspirators,willing even to connive at the Captain's murder if necessary to thesuccess of their crime. Only one theory was possible; that the girl wasunder constraint, driven to her strange act by personal fear. She dare donothing else, terrorized by the threats of Hobart, and her own sense ofutter helplessness in his power. This, and this only, must be the answerto the riddle.

  McAdams, unable to remain quiet, departed to get his police searchstarted in an attempt to discover Hobart in his new hiding place. Thefellow could not be on the yacht, as that had sailed from Jackson Port atfar too early an hour for him to have possibly made one of the party. Hewould still be in the city then, securely concealed in some dive of theunderworld, perfecting his plans, whatever they might be, and, perhaps,arranging to join those on the boat later. The detective even thoughtthis unlikely, his theory being that Hobart merely desired to get thegirl safely out of the way for a length of time sufficient to enable himto complete his nefarious scheme. He argued that Natalie was in no realdanger; she would be held no doubt, kept out of sight as long as wasnecessary, but otherwise left uninjured. This was no strong-arm crime,but a high class confidence game, and the important thing was to quicklylay hands on Hobart. With him once in the toils, the whole conspiracywould instantly collapse. With this end in view, McAdams took up theman's trail, leaving West to stand guard over the telephone.

  The latter called up Sexton, and hurried him out to Fairlawn, withinstructions to find out all he could from the servants there relativeto any late developments. He expected no important revelation from thispoint, as Natalie could not have returned home, yet there might havebeen a telephone communication, or some other occurrence of interest tofurnish a clue. Sexton was instructed to report the result of hisinvestigation at the earliest moment possible. This accomplished,nothing remained for West to do, but sit down and wait for somethingelse to happen.

  The delay was shorter than he anticipated. There was a sharp ringing ofthe bell, the police operator responding quickly.

  "Police Headquarters. What's wanted? McAdams; no he is not in justnow. Who is calling him? Harbour Master's office; all right; hold thewire a minute."

  He turned his head around.

  "Must be your case, Captain; better hear what they have to say."

  West grasped the receiver eagerly.

  "Is this the Seminole matter?" he asked swiftly. "Certainly, Iunderstand about it. What's that. Oh, Winchell told you to call up ifyou learned anything. Of course; what is it? Yes, I hear; just found hertied up at north side of Municipal Pier. What's the trouble? Engineworking bad, and had to come in, hey? All right--thanks; I'll gostraight over and see them."

  This was great luck, yet there was very little he could hope toaccomplish alone, without the help and authority of McAdams. Even if thevessel had been stolen--which was probably not true--he possessed nopower of arrest. All he could hope to do would be to keep the fellows insight until Mac showed up, and, if possible, prevent them from puttingout into the lake again. Even in that he needs must be cautious not to beseen by any of the gang who might recognize him. An alarm, proving theywere being followed, would doubtless send them scattering instantly. Ifthey were to be trapped, no suspicion could be aroused.

  West thought of all these things as a taxi bore him across the city tothe pier, and acted accordingly. The open air restaurant accorded himevery reasonable opportunity for concealment, while affording ample viewof whatever was going on. It was a bright, sunshiny day, the waters ofthe lake a deep blue. No crowd was present, yet enough people were at thetables, or lounging about the pier, to make his presence unnoticeable.The pleasure boat for Lincoln Park, a band aboard, and with a barkerindustriously busy, was close by, surrounded by a bevy of women andchildren. Beyond these, on the same side, snuggled close against thecement wall, lay the yacht. West ordered a drink, and sat down at a tablewithin easy view, although partially concealed himself by a pillarsupporting the roof.

  The _Seminole_ was a much larger boat than he had anticipated seeing,yet he could not doubt her being the vessel sought. The name was plainlystencilled on the bow, as well as upon the dingy towing astern. Her decklay almost even with the promenade, and he was able to trace her linesclearly from where he sat. The craft had evidently been constructed forcomfort as well as speed. He noted two short masts unrigged, a bridgeforward of the wheel-house, together with a decidedly commodious cabinaft. The deck space between was clear, except for the hatchway leadingdown to the engine. The planking was clean, as though newly scrubbed,while every handrail glistened in the sun. The cabin appeared tightlyclosed, even the windows being heavily draped. Some mechanics wereevidently working below; there was a sound of hammering, and occasionallya fellow in overalls appeared at the hatch opening. No one wearing anysemblance of a yacht uniform was visible, although four or five menlounged about the deck, or close at hand on the pier, apparentlyconnected with the vessel. Two were well-dressed, rather gentlemanlyappearing fellows, the others of a decidedly rougher class, althoughbearing no outward marks of being sea-men. While an air of carelessnesswas assumed by all these, yet West, watching them closely, felt thatthey were very much on their guard, anxiously waiting an opportunity todepart. No face among the party had any familiarity; he had encounterednone of them at Mike's Place the evening before. Satisfied as to this, heleft the table, and strolled out on to the promenade, joining the crowdwatching the Lincoln Park boat get underway. So far as he could observethis movement attracted no attention, although a moment later his eyesplainly caught a bit of drapery drawn slightly aside at one of the cabinwindows of the _Seminole_, and, he felt convinced, the quick gesture of awoman's hand.

  There was a woman on board then! This certainty of knowledge by evidenceof his own eyes, set his blood leaping. Whatever the purposes of thesepeople he was again upon the right trail. The uplifted curtain wasimmediately lowered, and, if any signal had thus been conveyed, there wasno other evidence visible. A little later one of the two better dressedfellows loafing on the pier, a rather heavily built man, with closelyclipped red moustache, and a scar over one eye, slowly crossed the deck,and entered the cabin. He came forth again a moment later, asked somequestion of the workmen below and then clambered back carelessly overthe rail, joining his companion on the pier.

  "A half hour yet; it was quite a job the boy's had, but they are makingtime. Come over here a minute."

  They walked forward, out of earshot from where West sat on a bench in thesun. He watched the fellows closely, yet without neglecting the boat, butthey n
either glanced toward him, or seemed aware of his existence.Convinced that they felt no suspicion, but were merely exercisingordinary precaution not to be overheard, the watcher soon banished allfear of them from his mind. His whole thought centred on the earlyarrival of McAdams. Until the detective came, there was nothing he coulddo but sit there quietly and wait. But what if the necessary repairs werecompleted, and the _Seminole_ sailed before Mac got there? The fellowcalled Joe had mentioned half an hour, and he probably meant that was thetime set by the mechanics for completing their job on the engine. Beyonddoubt, the intention was to depart immediately. Was there any means inhis power by which this could be prevented? The only suggestion whichcame to him was the picking of a quarrel in some way, with the two menashore. The boat would never depart unless they were aboard, as theywere evidently the leaders of the gang, yet this would be a mostdesperate expedient, to be resorted to only when all other effort hadfailed. The two were husky chaps, and he would probably be the one tosuffer most in such an encounter. Besides it would put them on theirguard, and possibly avail nothing. Why not speak to the fellowspleasantly, and naturally? They had no reason to be suspicious of him; hewas but one of many others lounging idly about the pier. His curiositywould seem reasonable enough, and he might thus gain some clue as totheir destination. Then, even if they did sail before Mac appeared, theycould be safely intercepted in time for a rescue. Indeed, suchinformation, if it could be gained, would give opportunity to planeffective action.

  Circumstances seemed to work to this end, the two men strollingcarelessly back toward where he sat, pausing within a few feet of him,all their attention apparently riveted upon the yacht.

  "Had some hard luck?" he ventured. "Engine give out?"

  The red-moustached one glanced about, his eyes surveying the speakerindifferently.

  "Broke a piston, and had to be towed in," he replied carelessly, "We'llbe off again presently."

  "Nice day for a sail."

  "Sure is."

  The very indifference of the fellow led West to take a chance.

  "Some nice boat you've got there. The Coolidge yacht, isn't it? Haven'tseen it out lately."

  "Are you a yachtsman?"

  "A bit of an amateur, yes; have a cat-boat I play with some. Belong tothe Columbia Club."

  "Off Grant Park; this boat quarters in the Jackson lagoon. We left therelast night. You knew Coolidge?"

  "No, never met him; recognized the boat though. Has it been sold?"

  "Not yet. It wasn't his anyway; belonged to the estate. I'm one of thetrustees; that's how I've got the use of it--see? Ever looked it over?"

  West shook his head.

  "No, but I wouldn't mind; she's a dandy."

  "She sure is; better inside than out to my notion. Come aboard; we've gottime enough. Not thinking of buying a yacht, are you?"

  "Well, I might, if the price is not too steep. I've got the fever allright; what I lack maybe, is money. It costs a lot to run a yacht."

  "Oh, I don't know. We operate this with three men as a crew. That's notso bad. Come along with us, Mark; we'll take a look at the cabin first,and then go forward."

  The three men stepped over the low rail, and moved aft across the deck,the leader talking fluently, and pointing out various things of interest.His only object apparently was to arouse in West a desire to purchase.The other man never spoke, and the latter gave no thought to hispresence. He had been rarely fortunate so far, and was looking for anopportunity to question his guide on the purpose of their voyage. Hewould wait until later; until the examination had been completed,perhaps, when they believed him a possible purchaser. Joe opened thecabin door, and West stepped inside, the interior darkened by drawncurtains. The dusk was confusing, and he stood still after the firststep, hearing the latch click behind him.