Part 57 (1/2)
Then Golden Beard and Ali Baba, between them, lifted the young man and seated him on the iron bed and tied him fast to it.
”Go out on deck!” said Golden Beard to Ilse Dumont.
”Let me stay----”
”No! You have acted like a fool. Go to the lower deck where is our accustomed rendezvous.”
”I wish to remain, Johann. I shall not interfere----”
”Go to the lower deck, I tell you, and be ready to tie that rope ladder!”
Ali Baba, down on his knees, had pulled out a steamer trunk from under the bed, opened it, and was lifting out three big steel cylinders.
These he laid on the bed in a row beside the tied man; and Golden Beard, still facing Ilse Dumont, turned his head to look.
The instant his head was turned the girl s.n.a.t.c.hed a pistol from the brace of weapons on the washstand and thrust it under her cloak.
Neither Golden Beard nor Ali Baba noticed the incident; the latter was busy connecting the three cylinders with coils of wire; the former, deeply interested, followed the operation for a moment or two, then walking over to the trunk, he lifted from it a curious little clock with two dials and set it on the railed shelf of gla.s.s above the washstand.
”Karl, haf you s.h.i.+p's time?”
Ali Baba paused to fish out his watch, and the two compared timepieces. Then Golden Beard wound the clock, set the hands of one dial at the time indicated by their watches; set the hands of the other dial at 2:13; and Ali Baba, carrying a reel of copper wire from the bed to the washstand, fastened one end of it to the mechanism of the clock.
Golden Beard turned sharply on Ilse Dumont:
”I said go on deck! Did you not understand?”
The girl replied steadily:
”I understood that we had abandoned this idea for a better one.”
”There iss no better one!”
”There _is_! Of what advantage would it be to blow up the captain's cabin and the bridge when it is not certain that the papers will be destroyed?”
”Listen once!” returned Golden Beard, wagging his finger in her face:
”Cabin and bridge are directly above us and there remains not a splinter large like a pin! I know. I know my bombs! I know----”
The soft voice of Ali Baba interrupted, and his shallow, lightish eyes peered around at them:
”Eet ees veree excellent plan, Johann. We do not require these papers; eet ees to destroy them we are mooch anxious”--he bent a deathly stare on Neeland--”and this yoong gentleman who may again annoy us.” He nodded confidently to himself and continued to connect the wires.
”Yes, yes,” he murmured absently, ”eet ees veree good plan--veree good plan to blow him into leetle pieces so beeg as a pin.”
”It is a clumsy plan!” said the girl, desperately. ”There is no need for wanton killing like this, when we can----”
”Killing?” repeated Golden Beard. ”That makes nothing. This English captain he iss of the naval reserve. _Und_ this young man”--nodding coolly toward Neeland--”knows too much already. That iss not wanton killing. _Also!_ You talk too much. Do you hear? We are due to drop anchor about 2:30. G.o.d knows there will be enough rus.h.i.+ng to and fro at 2:13.
”Go on deck, I say, and fasten that rope ladder! Weishelm's fis.h.i.+ng smack will be watching; _und_ if we do not swim for it we are caught on board! _Und_ that iss the end of it all for us!”