Chapter 21

ON BOARD THE YACHT

Being old and enfeebled by incessant doses of whisky, Gowrie remained unconscious for a long time. How many hours had passed since he had been seized in the back garden of the "Marsh Inn," he did not know, but when he opened his eyes and came to himself he found that he was in a luxuriously furnished room. Later, when his brain became clearer, and he was better able to take in his surroundings, he perceived, by the decorations of the place, and from a certain heaving sensation that he was in the state room of a vessel. From the ornate decorations and costly furniture, it looked more like a boudoir than a cabin. Then he remembered what Kind had reported concerning the splendours of the "Tarabacca," and realised, with some dismay, that he was on board that very boat. This belief was confirmed, when he beheld seated before him Captain Bruce Kyles in a gold-laced uniform.

As Gowrie struggled into a sitting position,--he had been dropped unconscious on the divan running round the cabin,--Kyles, whose brilliant black eyes were fixed mockingly on him, laughed in a provoking manner. He pointed to a bottle of whisky and a glass, which stood on the table.

"Take a drink, Mr. Gowrie," said the Captain, encouragingly, "and don't look so terrified. I mean to do you no harm."

"Nae harrum," quavered the old man, trying to steady his shaken nerves, "are ye nae ashamed tae treat me sae? What the deil dae ye mean?"

"Many things, Mr. Gowrie, and I would point out to you that blustering will not improve the situation. You are in my power."

"Aye, but this is a law-abiding country, and----"

"Oh," Captain Kyles shrugged his shoulders, "the law has no power on board this craft. I am the law."

"Ye're a Scotchmon, and thereby a subject o' His Mawjesty Edward First o' Scotland, for never wull I ca' him Seeventh o' yon kingdom. And as a subject o' Edward o' Scotland aforesaid, I command ye tae pit me ashore, and pay me siller for moral damages."

"Like old Kruger. Eh?" said Kyles, pleasantly, "you're an old rip, Mr. Gowrie, and I'm going to bring you to book."

"In the name of your King----"

"I haven't got one. I'm Scotch by birth and name, cosmopolitan by choice. I was the admiral of the Indiana navy, but since the revolution, I am a wanderer on the face of the earth."

"Aye," Gowrie unconsciously stretched for the drink, and filled himself a full glass, "we're beginning tae unnerstan the seetuation, my mon. Yer a gipsy o' sorts."

"A gipsy of the sea."

"An' a black-hearted villain at that."

"You'll find me so if you don't keep a civil tongue in your head, Mr. Gowrie. Permit me to remind you that you are drinking my whisky, and therefore cannot afford to vilify your host."

"I'm here against ma wull."

"Yes. And here you will stop until you give me certain information regarding the murder of Sir Simon Tedder."

"I ken naethin'," said the old man sullenly.

"Aye, but ye ken muckle," mocked Kyles, "I can talk the Scottice tongue as well as you, sir. You said at the 'Marsh Inn' that you wanted to have a crack, so I brought you here to have it."

"Then ye kidnapped me wi' intention?"

Captain Kyles nodded carelessly, produced a cigarette and swung back in his chair as he lighted it.

"From what you hinted at the inn, I saw that you were poking your nose into matters which do not concern you."

"Aye, but ma son-in-law----"

"Quite so, Mr. Gowrie. You are playing his hand, and I am swinging on my own hook. When I left the tap-room on business promising to return, I intended to bring the motor-launch up the creek, and collar you. She was lying in the river on the other side of the station, having brought me from this ship."

"And am I at Pierside near the wharf?" asked Gowrie, thinking he could escape if he was in touch with Mother Earth.

"No. You are on board my yacht, and she is swinging at anchor off Tarhaven. If you go on deck you'll be able to see the lights of the town a quarter of a mile away."

"I'll gie the alarrum," and Gowrie rose unsteadily. Kyles made a long arm and pushed him back on to the divan.

"Sit tight," said Kyles, "and drink your whisky. You'll need it before I've done with you."

"Ye mean tae do an auld mon harrum?"

"Not unless the old man is obstinate. See here," Kyles flung away the cigarette and placing his arms on the table talked coldly and slowly, "after the hint you gave me at the inn, I intended to kidnap you. Failing anything else I would have rushed the inn, but you saved me the trouble by coming to dig in the garden. Now then, Mr. Gowrie, from what I have gathered at the inquest and the trial, and from sources which you need not be told about, I always thought you were a proper old scoundrel. When we spoke in the inn I knew you at once although it suited my book to pretend ignorance. I have long wanted to get a hold of you to hear exactly what you saw and heard in the tap-room on the night of Sir Simon's murder. But," added the Captain with emphasis, "I did not think to find in you the assassin of that old man."

Gowrie's remaining gray hairs rose straight on end, and he gasped.

"Me! Mel Is it o' me ye talk?"

"Of you,--of your very own self, as the children say," retorted Kyles coolly. "Look over there."

Gowrie, quite bewildered with the accusation brought against him, glanced towards the end of the cabin, which was in semi-darkness. Kyles leaning back, switched on an electric, and then the prisoner, as he truly was, saw a black tin box of no great size, covered with moist red earth.

"You were digging that up," said the Captain. "After your crime you buried it on the shore of the Red Creek, and returned to the inn, when you thought that all was safe, so as to get the notes."

"Notes!" screeched Gowrie rising in great excitement.

"As if you didn't know," replied the Captain contemptuously. "Yes, the notes to the value of one thousand eight hundred pounds, which you thieved from the pocket-book of Sir Simon, after you had cut his throat."

"That's a lee,--a lee. I'll hae ye in court for libel, nae less."

"Pooh! If you didn't hide the notes, how came you to be digging them up? After you fainted I had you bundled on board the launch, and then searched for myself. I found that box very speedily, and on opening it on the way back here, I discovered the notes. But the gold is gone."

"The gold."

"Two hundred pounds worth. What have you done with it?"

"Naething. I hadnae one shullin' o' they sovereigns."

Kyles rose, and stood over the shrinking old man menacing and dark; and with a fierce expression on his swart face.

"Mr. Gowrie," he said very distinctly, "no one knows that you have been kidnapped, as no one saw the launch come up the creek. And I dare swear that you didn't tell anyone, when you came to look up your cache. You are here, in my power, and there's nothing whatever to prevent me from dropping you overboard, with a shot at your heels."

Gowrie, now truly frightened, grovelled with a cry of alarm.

"Nae, nae, dinna dae that. I ken naethin' aboot the siller. I never saw yon box until the noo, and I have nae set eyes on they notes."

"You liar."

"It's the truth. Ye ca' me a murderer. What then dae ye ca' Mistress Narby, wha acted the pairt o' Jael."

"Mrs. Narby?" ejaculated Kyles, with a start and a frown.

"Aye," mumbled Gowrie, "she brocht forth butter in a lordly dish, an gie him milk tae drink, foreby it wis a chop an' beer. Then the limmer, for want o' a hammer an' a nail, cut the auld mon's windpipe."

"Is this true?" Kyles seized Gowrie by the throat fiercely.

"Augh, augh," choked the tutor, grasping at the hands which clutched him, "ask her yersel!"

Captain Kyles loosened his grip, and walked up and down the long cabin, while Gowrie drank more liquor to restore his courage. And truly he needed all the courage he possessed, for the position he was in, terrified him not a little. Kyles was evidently a lawless man, and as no one knew that he, Gowrie, had been kidnapped, he could be put away in the manner described by the Captain, very easily. Fondling the glass, and looking as dismal as a sick monkey, Gowrie shivered and quailed at every glance of the Captain's fierce eyes. Finally after a short silence Kyles returned to the side of the table opposite to Gowrie.

"See here," said he, striking the table with his closed fist, "these notes, and that gold belong to me."

"Aye. I ken you wis expected by Sir Simon on that nicht."

"How do you know that?"

"The lawyer body told Sweetlips Kind how Sir Simon had written a letter to you on the 'Tarabacca,' the which is this boat."

"But how did Ritson know that the letter was addressed to me?"

"It's a lang story."

"Then you tell it, or by Heaven, over the side you go. I have too much at stake to waste time on your babbling, Mr. Gowrie. I am aware that Herries is free, as he deserved to be, for he is innocent. But he and that Cheap-jack, and the lawyer, and the doctor, all think that I am guilty, and should they discover certain things, I may be arrested."

"Then ye are guilty?" asked Gowrie, shrinking.

"No. Would I have accused you were I guilty? Would the notes have been buried in that back garden were I guilty? Use a little common-sense, man, and tell me what Herries and Co. are doing. I'm not going to be laid by the heels if I can help it, and I want that money," he pointed to the box.

"Ye have it,--ye have it."

"And much good it will do me. If it was in gold I would put you in a boat and steam away south at once, but those are notes, Mr. Gowrie, and the number of every note is in the possession of the police. Did I present those notes, I would be----"

"But ye can defend yourself."

"I'm not so sure of that. There are certain circumstances----"

"Then ye were in the inn on that night?"

"Are you here to question me?" said Kyles fiercely. "Just you tell me what is doing in this case, so that I know where I stand, or prepare to be thrown overboard."

"If I tell ye all, will ye let me go?"

"I might or I might not. But if you speak the truth your life is safe. Until I leave these dangerous coasts I may have to keep you prisoner, but you will be well treated. Come now," Kyles rapped on the table, "tell me all."

Thus compelled, Gowrie, shivering with dread, related all that he knew concerning the case, from the time of Herries' arrest, down to his digging in the garden in search of what Mrs. Narby had hidden. The Captain kept his sinister eyes on the wrinkled old face before him, and made sure that the tutor was speaking the truth. Gowrie never considered that he might be betraying Herries to the enemy. All he wanted was to save his life, and escape from the gaze of those eyes which probed into his guilty old soul. When he ended the Captain flung himself back in the chair and laughed.

"You old villain," said he sneeringly, "no wonder I intend to keep you a prisoner."

"What?" cried Gowrie in dismay.

"For the time being. You have been so ready to betray your son-in-law, that you would have no hesitation in betraying me. You will stop here."

"For how long, Captain Kyles?"

"Until the murderer of Sir Simon is arrested."

"Mistress Narby?"

"Perhaps. It looks as though the woman was guilty, and yet----" his brows wrinkled themselves perplexedly, and he shook his head, "I do not quite see how to----" here he fell into a brown study.

"See to do what?" ventured Gowrie.

Kyles turned and smiled.

"That is my business. Do you think Mr. Herries would come and see me on board this boat, if I asked him?"

"I'll tack the message ma ain sel," said Gowrie eagerly.

"I dare say you would," replied the Captain dryly, "But it doesn't suit my book to let you go on shore; you might make capital out of this kidnapping."

"I swear----"

"I wouldn't were I you. It will do no good. Answer me a few questions, Mr. Gowrie. Where is Mrs. Narby?"

"At the inn."

"And her husband,--her son?"

"Pope's in London getting his poetry published, but I don't know where the husband is."

"Humph. I notice, Mr. Gowrie, that you waver between Scotch and English according to the state of your feelings. I assure you that now I know what I know, you are quite safe. Take another drink."

Kyles pushed the bottle in the old man's direction.

"And what's more, if I get this money," he glanced towards the box, "I'll pay you well for the fright that you have had."

"But hoo can ye get the siller?" asked Gowrie reassured, and again filling his glass.

"Herries will give me the equivalent of those notes."

"He canna, Captain."

"What, with fifty thousand a year?"

"He does nae come in for the siller until he finds the murderer o' his uncle."

"Well," said Kyles, coolly, "I may be able to help him there."

"Eh mon, dive ye ken wha killed the auld mon?"

"I do," said Kyles, nodding decisively.

"And who?"--Gowrie was devoured by curiosity.

"No, no, Mr. Gowrie. It is not yet the time to play my hand. You are of opinion that Mrs. Narby is guilty. Perhaps I struck the blow----"

"You," Gowrie almost shrieked, "and ye own it."

"I would if I wanted to," rejoined Kyles calmly, "only let me get the two thousand, which Sir Simon was about to pay me, and which by an accursed accident slipped through my fingers, and I don't mind confessing anything."

"But the police----?"

"They can't arrest me on board this boat, and when once steam is up, the 'Tarabacca' will show a clean pair of heels, until she drops anchor in South American waters."

"But there may be an extradition treaty between Indiana Republic and Great Britain."

"There is. But I'm not going back to Indiana. The President Se�or Guzman, who was my friend, has been kicked out, and his enemy is in power. Of all his wealth and mine, this yacht only remains. I came to England to get money."

"And nae tae purchase war-ships."

"Pooh, that was a blind. However, to make a long story short, Se�or Guzman is waiting for me and his daughter in a certain spot in South America which does not concern you. From that place we start out to find the treasure of Manco Capac. But to do so, I wanted money, and two thousand is the least I can do with. Indeed," said Kyles biting his fingers, "I fancy I'll ask Herries to double the sum. He can easily spare it out of fifty thousand a year."

"When he gets the siller."

"He'll get it right enough, after an interview with me," said Kyles carelessly, "and now we'll retire, Mr. Gowrie, and I'll inform you of my plans to bring Herries on board to-morrow."

"But I thocht he wis on board," said Gowrie perplexed. "When he sent me tae spy oot the land at the 'Marsh Inn,' he wis ganging tae Pierside to see Se�ora Guzman. Miss Tedder accuses her o' the crime."

"The devil she does. Then I can tell you it's a lie," cried Kyles, his dark face flushing, "Se�ora Guzman has nothing to do with these things. As to Herries,--I daresay he went to Pierside, but this boat left there early this morning. However, that makes things easier. Se�ora Guzman will invite him on board, and explain that she is entirely innocent."

"And will you confess your guilt, Captain?"

"I never said that I was guilty," retorted Kyles dryly, "don't jump to conclusions, Gowrie. Miss Tedder accuses Se�ora Guzman."

"Aye, and Mistress Mountford accuses you."

"Indeed. And you accuse Mrs. Narby. There's a devilish lot of females in this case. Well, Mr. Gowrie, and which person do you think guilty?"

"Mrs. Narby."

"Then you exonerate me."

"Weel," said Gowrie perplexedly, "ye speak sae queerly----"

"Quite so," said Kyles, cutting him short, "you evidently know nothing, Mr. Gowrie."

"I tauld ye sae," said the sage triumphantly.

"Did you see anything, when you slept in the tap-room?"

"Naething," said Gowrie in a brazen manner.

"And when you went upstairs, as you confessed at the trial?"

"I didnae confess that. I said that I drugged Herries' drink tae give him a sleep."

"Humph. I should scarcely think that you were so philanthropic. But you were up the stairs."

"Hoo d'y' ken?" asked Gowrie swiftly.

"Ah, that's my secret. I know more about your movements on that night than you think."

"Then you were at the inn; ye climbed in at the window."

"Perhaps," Kyles thought for a moment and then laughed. "Did you hear anything?"

"Weel, I heard the swish o' a wumon's dress in the darkness o' the stairs. It sounded as going doon."

"Ah. So you _were_ up the stairs and in Herries' room. Robbing him of his few shillings."

"Hoo d'y' ken?" asked Gowrie once more. "I believe that you are the guilty person."

"Don't put all your money on that, Mr. Gowrie, you might lose. However, you'll know all in good time, say when I get that four thousand pounds, by exchanging those notes with Herries."

"There's no two thoosand yonder."

"No, I intend to have double as I said. Come now, you write a note to Herries asking him to come to-morrow evening to the 'Marsh Inn.' I'll meet him there and arrange matters."

"But he'll nae come."

"He will if you write the letter to trap him. Come now."

And Mr. Michael Gowrie had to do what he was told.

"But ye'll gang tae the Pit of Tophet for this," said Mr. Gowrie viciously.