CHAPTER X
"FIND THE AMERICAN"
As Orme let the table-cover fall back to its normal position and turnedto get himself into a comfortable attitude, his hand touched somethingsoft and yielding. For a moment he was startled, but the sound of athroaty purr, and the realization that his hand was resting on fur soontold him that his companion in hiding was a cat.
He wondered whether the Japanese liked pets. From what little he knew ofJapanese character it did not seem to him consistent that they shouldcare for animals. Yet here was a peaceful tabby.
In order to accommodate himself to his close quarters, Orme had to doublehis legs back, resting on his thigh and supporting the upper part of hisbody with one hand. The cat settled down against his knee.
The light filtered redly through the table-cover. To his satisfaction hefound a small hole, evidently a burn made by some careless smoker.Through this aperture he could look out. His range of vision included thegreater part of the room, excepting the side on which the table stood. Hecould see the window and several chairs, as well as the door into theadjoining room, but the door into the hall was out of view, at his right.
While he was looking about, a man came from the next room. Doubtless itwas Arima; at least Orme recognized the Japanese who had overcome him inthe porter's office at the Pere Marquette the night before. He steppedinto the room with a little smile on his brown face. Seating himself in achair, he fixed his heels in the rungs and clasped his hands about hisknees. He was waiting.
The black eyes rested on the table. To Orme they seemed to be boringthrough the cover that concealed him, and he hardly dared to breathe, butthe Asiatic appeared to observe nothing unusual. Orme wondered at theunfathomable intelligence of those eyes. He had often said of the Chineseand Japanese that he did not trust them for the reason that a Caucasiancould never tell what they were thinking about. The racial difference inthought processes he found disconcerting.
A bell rang. Arima went to the door, out of view, and opened it. Ormecould hear persons mounting the stairs, and presently the voice of Arimasaid, "Come in," and the visitors entered the room.
Pausing near the door for a moment, they exchanged a few whisperedsentences. Then one of them walked over toward the window. Orme repressedan exclamation, for the figure that came into view was the figure ofPoritol--dapper, assertive.
He was dressed as on the night before, and his precious high hat washugged close to his shoulder.
His eyes roved with an exaggerated assumption of important cunning.Presently he threw over his shoulder a rapid sentence in a foreigntongue. It sounded like Spanish, and Orme inferred that it was a dialectof Portuguese.
The answer came from an oily tongue; the voice was Alcatrante's.
What were the South Americans doing here? It was only a few hours sincethe Japanese had set on Alcatrante, yet here he was in a stronghold ofthe enemy--and expected! Had the astute diplomat fallen into a trap?
Arima was standing, not far from Poritol. His face was expressionless.Looking from Alcatrante to Poritol and back again, he said in English:"The mos' honorable gentleman will soon be here."
"That is right," said Alcatrante suavely. "Mention no names."
Arima nodded slightly.
The silence grew intense. Orme was relieved when it was broken by anotherring of the bell, and Arima slipped to the door. Alcatrante moved overbeside Poritol and whispered a few words, scarcely moving his lips. Hisface looked yellow by daylight, and the eyes behind the gold spectacleswere heavy-lidded and almost closed. Orme inferred that the night hadbeen sleepless for Alcatrante.
These observations were interrupted by the entrance of the newcomer. Hepaused at the threshold, evidently to salute, for Poritol and Alcatrantebowed low. Then quick steps crossed the floor and into view came anervous but assured-looking little figure--a Japanese, but undoubtedly aman of great dignity. His manner of sharp authority would be hard todispute, for it was supported by a personality that seemed to be strongerthan Alcatrante's. Who he was Orme could not guess, but that he wassomebody of importance it was easy to see.
The stranger bowed again and addressed himself to Alcatrante. Theconversation was carried on in French.
"It is well that you communicated with me, sir," he said, "we wereworking at cross-purposes when, in reality, our interests wereidentical."
Alcatrante bowed. "I came to that conclusion late last night," he said."I do not deny that it would have pleased me to carry the affair throughby myself."
"Yes, your position would then have been stronger." The Japanese smiledfaintly.
"But," continued Alcatrante, with a slight grimace, "the activity of yourmen made that impossible. I have no lieutenants such as yours." He shotan ugly gleam at Poritol, whose sudden assumption of fearsome humilitywas in strange contrast to his usual self-assurance.
"As we hold the documents"--the Japanese spoke with great distinctness--"you will necessarily admit our advantage. That means, you willunderstand, a smaller commission on the next contract."
Alcatrante twisted his face into the semblance of a smile. "Not toosmall, or we cannot undertake the work," he said.
"No, not too small," the stranger agreed calmly, "but smaller than thelast. You must not forget that there are others who would gladly do thesame work."
"Yes, but at best they cannot get the terms we get."
"Possibly. That is a matter still to be determined. Meantime we haveassumed that our interests in this document are identical. Let us testit."
"One word first," said Alcatrante. "I take it that, if our interests aresympathetic with yours, we may count on your protection?"
"Most assuredly."
"Then----?"
"Then we shall see. My fairness is clear in that I give you a sight ofthe document with myself. I might have denied all knowledge of it."
Alcatrante smiled as if to say: "I already knew so much that you couldnot risk that."
The stranger turned to Arima and said something in Japanese. Arimareplied, and the stranger explained to Alcatrante: "I asked about my manMaku. The American struck him on the head last night, and injured him.But he is recovering. He is troublesome--that American."
Orme started. His head bumped against the table.
"What's that?" exclaimed Poritol, advancing. "There's something underthat table!" He stooped to lift the cover.
One chance flashed into Orme's mind. Quickly he seized the cat, which wasstill sleeping against his knee, and pushed it under the table-cover. Itwalked out into the room, mewing plaintively.
"A cat," said Poritol, drawing back.
Arima explained in English: "It belongs to lady upstairs. Comes downfire-escape. Shoo! Shoo!" He clapped his hands and the animal bounded tothe window-sill and disappeared up the iron steps.
"And now," began the stranger, "shall we examine the documents?"
"One moment," said Alcatrante. "I should first like a clear understandingwith you--some words in private." He moved to a corner, and there thestranger joined him. They talked in an undertone for several minutes,Alcatrante gesturing volubly, the stranger nodding now and then, andinterjecting a few brief words.
What was going on was more than ever a mystery to Orme. The stranger'sreference to "the next contract" strengthened the surmise that thedocuments in the envelope were connected with a South American tradeconcession. Alcatrante had plainly concluded that his interests and thoseof the Japanese were identical. He must have communicated with thestrange Japanese the first thing in the morning. That would account forhis failure to call at the Pere Marquette at ten o'clock. Learning thatthe bill had been taken from Orme, and that the coveted documents were inthe possession of the Japanese, he had no object in keeping hisappointment. As for Poritol, he had become a figure of minor importance.
But Orme did not let these questions long engage him, for he had made adiscovery. Where his head bumped against the table, the board abovehim--solid, as he had supposed--rattled strangely. At the moment he couldnot investi
gate, but as soon as the cat had satisfied the suspicions ofPoritol, and Alcatrante and the stranger had retired to their corner, hetwisted his head back and examined the wood above him.
The table had a drawer. From the room outside this drawer was concealedby the cloth cover, and Orme had not suspected its existence.
Now, the table was cheaply made. The drawer was shallow and narrow, andit was held in position, under the table, by an open framework of wood.When it was pushed in, it was stopped at the right place by two cleats;there was no solid strip to prevent its being pushed in too far.
Orme put his hand to the back of the drawer. There was a space between itand the table-top.
Cautiously he pushed his hand through the opening. His fingers touched aflat object--a pad of paper, or--the thought made his heart beat--alarge, thick envelope. Could Arima have used the drawer as ahiding-place?
Slowly he got the edge of the object between his first and second fingersand drew it a little way toward the back of the drawer. A moment later hehad it under his eyes.
Yes, it was a long envelope of heavy linen, and there were bulky paperswithin. The gummed flap was toward him. He was interested to note that,important though the documents seemed to be, the envelope was not sealedwith wax.
He remembered what the girl had said: her father's name was written onthe address side. He had only to turn it over to learn who she was. Inthe circumstances such an act might be justified. But she had not wishedhim to know--and he would even now respect her wish and keep his ownpromise to her.
His first thought was to slip the envelope into his pocket, but itoccurred to him in time that, if it did indeed contain the documentsconcerning which Alcatrante and the stranger were disputing, it would besought and missed long before he could escape from the room. So, taking apencil from his pocket, he inserted it under the corner of the flap andslowly worked the flap free. The strength of the linen prevented anytearing.
He removed the contents of the envelope--two folded sheets of parchmentpaper, held together by an elastic band--and thrust them into the insidepocket of his coat. All this was done swiftly and noiselessly.
It now remained to find something to take the place of the abstracteddocuments. In his pocket were some printed prospectuses of the mine whichhe had come to Chicago to investigate. In shape and thickness they werenot dissimilar to the documents which he had taken. He slipped theprospectuses into the envelope and, wetting his finger, rubbed it alongthe gummed surface of the flap. Enough glue remained to make the flapadhere, after a little pressure. The job was by no means perfect, but itwas not likely to be detected.
At that moment Alcatrante raised his voice and said, still in French:"You are sure, then, that this will not only delay the game, but end it."
"Quite sure," said the Japanese. "Unless the documents are signed beforemidnight to-night nothing can be done for sometime. We have the Germansfixed. They will do what they have thus far agreed to do, but if anytechnical hitch arises, such as a failure to sign within the time-limit,they will decline to renew negotiations. That was all we could get fromthem, but it is enough--now."
"And for other ships," said Alcatrante, "the commission shall be fivehundred thousand."
"Five hundred thousand. Seven hundred and fifty was too much."
"Five hundred thousand in gold."
"In gold."
Orme slipped the envelope back into the drawer and put his eye to thehole in the cover. His position was now more and more critical, for toopen the drawer and get the envelope, Arima would have to lift the tablecover.
The stranger turned to Arima. "Give us the envelope," he said.
Arima approached the table. Orme crowded back against the wall as far ashe could, knowing that the chances of escaping discovery were stronglyagainst him. But he was saved by the very eagerness of the others. Theyall crowded about Arima, as he lifted the cover, opened the drawer, andtook out the envelope. So close did they stand that Orme was out of theirangle of vision. The table-cover fell again, and he was safe. He resumedhis position at the peep-hole.
The stranger stepped to the middle of the room, the others gatheringaround him. With a quick jerk he tore the envelope open, and taking outthe papers, ran his eye over them rapidly. He uttered an exclamation."What is it?" said Alcatrante. The South American's hand was shaking, andperspiration stood out on his forehead.
The Japanese snarled. "Tricked! They've fooled us. That honorable burglarof yours got the wrong envelope."
Alcatrante snatched the papers. "'Prospectus,'" he read, "'of the LastDare Mining Company.' But I do not understand."
The Japanese glared at him angrily. "If you had kept out of thisbusiness," he snapped, "and let Maku attend to it, everything would havebeen right. Now your burglars have spoiled it." He snatched back theharmless prospectuses and tore them in two, throwing the fragments to thefloor and grinding them under his heel.
Arima spoke. "Pardon, honorable sir, Maku say the right envelope wastaken from the safe. Maku know."
"Ha! Then it was you who were tricked--outwitted. That American reachedthe tree before you last evening and substituted these papers. Go back toJapan, Arima. I don't need you."
Arima bowed submissively. As for the stranger, his rage gave way todespair.
"What shall I say to the Emperor?" he muttered. "What shall I say to theEmperor?"
Then his feelings came again under control; he looked calmly atAlcatrante. "Well," he said, "what would you suggest?"
Alcatrante's face was a puzzle. Every shade of doubt, disappointment,anger, suspicion, and shrewd deduction passed over it. He was puttinginto play that marvelous power of concentration on subtle issues that hadenabled him to play so brilliantly the role of international under-dog.At last he smiled and spoke.
"Find the American," he said.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Arima looked at his master, whonodded indifferently and said: "Yes, see who it is. It can do no harmnow."
Orme heard the door open. What startled him first was the action ofPoritol, who stepped back to the wall, his jaw dropping, his face apicture of embarrassment and fright. Alcatrante and the stranger showedamazement.
For a moment they stood thus in silence, and then from the door came aclear voice:
"What? You here, Mr. Alcatrante? And the Japanese minister?"
Orme almost sprang from his hiding-place. The voice was the voice of thegirl!