Part 41 (1/2)
Stuyvesant looked hard at him. ”You must recognize that this is a pretty good job, and you're not likely to get another without Fuller's recommendation. Then I understand you were up against it badly when he first got hold of you. You're young and ought to be ambitious, and you have your chance to make your mark right here.”
”It's all true,” d.i.c.k answered doggedly. ”Still, I can't go.”
”Then it must be something very important that makes you willing to throw up your job.”
d.i.c.k did not answer and, to his surprise, Stuyvesant smiled as he resumed: ”It's England first, with you?”
”How did you guess? How much do you know?” d.i.c.k asked sharply.
”I don't know very much. Your throwing out the wine gave me a hint, because it was obvious that somebody had been getting after you before, and there were other matters. But you're rather young and I suspect you're up against a big thing.”
”I'm afraid I can't tell you about it yet, if that is what you mean.”
”Very well. Stay here, as usual, if you like, or if you want a week off, take it. I'll find a suitable reason for not sending you in the launch.”
”Thanks!” said d.i.c.k, with keen grat.i.tude, and Stuyvesant, who nodded pleasantly, went away.
d.i.c.k sent a note to Don Sebastian by a messenger he could trust, and soon after dark met him, as he appointed, at a wine-shop on the outskirts of the town, where they were shown into a small back room.
”I imagine you are now satisfied,” the Spaniard said. ”The liner has been chased and people on board her have been killed.”
”I'm ready to do anything that will prevent another raid. To some extent, perhaps, I'm responsible for what has happened; I might have stopped and seen the mate or captain, but then I'd have lost the man I was after.
What do you think became of my note?”
Don Sebastian looked thoughtful. ”The boy may have lost it or shown it to his comrades; they carry a few Spanish stewards for the sake of the foreign pa.s.sengers, and we both carelessly took too much for granted. We followed the spy we saw without reflecting that there might be another on board. However, this is not important now.”
”It isn't. But what do you mean to do with Kenwardine?”
”You have no cause for troubling yourself on his account.”
”That's true, in a way,” d.i.c.k answered, coloring, though his tone was resolute. ”He once did me a serious injury, but I don't want him hurt. I mean to stop his plotting if I can, but I'm going no further, whether it's my duty or not.”
The Spaniard made a sign of comprehension. ”Then we need not quarrel about Kenwardine. In fact, the President does not want to arrest him; our policy is to avoid complications and it would satisfy us if he could be forced to leave the country and give up the coaling station.”
”How will you force him?”
”He has been getting letters from Kingston; ordinary, friendly letters from a gentleman whose business seems to be coaling s.h.i.+ps. For all that, there is more in them than meets the uninstructed eye.”
”Have you read his replies?”
Don Sebastian shrugged. ”What do you expect? They do not tell us much, but it looks as if Senor Kenwardine means to visit Kingston soon.”
”But it's in Jamaica; British territory.”
”Just so,” said the Spaniard, smiling. ”Senor Kenwardine is a bold and clever man. His going to Kingston would have thrown us off the scent if we had not known as much as we do; but it would have been dangerous had he tried to hide it and we had found it out. You see how luck favors us?”
”What is your plan?”
”We will follow Kenwardine. He will be more or less at our mercy on British soil, and, if it seems needful, there is a charge you can bring against him. He stole some army papers.”
d.i.c.k started. ”How did you hear of that?”