Part 23 (1/2)

”No,” said Jake, indicating the flowers and fruit he carried. ”I got these at the hotel. The colors matched so well that I felt I couldn't let them go, and then it struck me that you might like them. d.i.c.k warned me that the things are not eatable in their present state, which is a pretty good example of his utilitarian point of view.”

Clare laughed as she thanked him, and he resumed: ”Lucille has enough to carry, and I'd better bring the basket along.”

”Very well,” said Clare. ”My father was getting up when I left.”

d.i.c.k said nothing, and stood a yard or two away. The girl had met him without embarra.s.sment, but it was Jake she had addressed. He felt that he was, so to speak, being left out.

”Then I'll come and talk to him for a while,” said Jake. ”I don't know a nicer place on a hot morning than your patio.”

”But what about your work? Are you not needed at the dam?”

”My work can wait. I find from experience that it will keep for quite a long time without shriveling away, though often it gets very stale.

Anyhow, after being engaged on the company's business for the most part of last night, I'm ent.i.tled to a rest. My partner, of course, doesn't look at things like that. He's going back as fast as he can.”

d.i.c.k hid his annoyance at the hint. It was impossible to prevent the lad from going to Kenwardine's when Clare was there to hear his objections, and he had no doubt that Jake enjoyed his embarra.s.sment. Turning away, he tried to forget the matter by thinking about the coal. Since Kenwardine was at home, it was improbable that he had been at Adexe during the night. If Clare had a part in her father's plots, she might, of course, have made the statement about his getting up with an object, but d.i.c.k would not admit this. She had helped the man once, but this was an exception, and she must have yielded to some very strong pressure. For all that, d.i.c.k hoped his comrade would not tell Kenwardine much about their trip in the launch.

As a matter of fact, Jake handled the subject with some judgment when Kenwardine, who had just finished his breakfast, gave him coffee in the patio. They sat beneath the purple creeper while the suns.h.i.+ne crept down the opposite wall. The air was fresh and the murmur of the surf came languidly across the flat roofs.

”Aren't you in town unusually early?” Kenwardine asked.

”Well,” said Jake with a twinkle, ”you see we got here late.”

”Then Brandon was with you. This makes it obvious that you spent a perfectly sober night.”

Jake laughed. He liked Kenwardine and meant to stick to him, but although rash and extravagant, he was sometimes shrewd, and admitted that there might perhaps be some ground for d.i.c.k's suspicions. He was ent.i.tled to lose his own money, but he must run no risk of injuring his father's business. However, since Kenwardine had a share in the coaling wharf, he would learn that they had been to Adexe, and to try to hide this would show that they distrusted him.

”Our occupation was innocent but rather arduous,” he said. ”We went to Adexe in the launch to see when our coal was coming.”

”Did you get it? The manager told me something about the tug's engines needing repairs.”

”We got one scow that broke adrift off the Tajada reef. They had to turn back with the others.”

”Then perhaps I'd better telephone to find out what they mean to do,”

Kenwardine suggested.

Jake wondered whether he wished to learn if they had already made inquiries, and thought frankness was best.

”Brandon called up the wharf as soon as the office was open, but didn't get much information. Something seemed to be wrong with the wire.”

”I suppose he wanted to know when the coal would leave?”

”Yes,” said Jake. ”But he began by asking if the tug had come back safe, and got no further, because the other fellow couldn't hear.”

”Why was he anxious about the tug?”

Kenwardine's manner was careless, but Jake imagined he felt more interest than he showed.

”It was blowing pretty fresh when she left us, and if the scows had broken adrift again, there'd have been some risk of losing them. This would delay the delivery of the coal, and we're getting very short of fuel.”

”I see,” said Kenwardine. ”Well, if anything of the kind had happened, I would have heard of it. You needn't be afraid of not getting a supply.”