Part 13 (2/2)
”But you say he was going FROM the s.h.i.+p. Then it could not have been he who made the noise we heard down here.”
”Mebbee no, and mebbee yes,” returned Nott, cautiously. ”But if he was already concealed inside the s.h.i.+p, as that open door, which you say you barred from the inside, would indicate, what the devil did he want with this?” said Renshaw, producing the monkey-wrench he had picked up.
Mr. Nott examined the tool carefully, and shook his head with momentous significance. Nevertheless, his eyes wandered to the hatch on which he was seated.
”Did you find anything disturbed THERE?” said Renshaw, following the direction of his eye. ”Was that hatch fastened as it is now?”
”It was,” said Nott, calmly. ”But ye wouldn't mind fetchin' me a hammer and some o' them big nails from the locker, would yer, while I hang round here just so ez to make sure against another attack.”
Renshaw complied with his request; but as Nott proceeded to gravely nail down the fastenings of the hatch, he turned impatiently away to complete his examination of the s.h.i.+p. The doors of the other lofts and their fastenings appeared secure and undisturbed. Yet it was undeniable that a felonious entrance had been made, but by whom or for what purpose still remained uncertain. Even now, Renshaw found it difficult to accept Nott's theory that de Ferrieres was the aggressor and Rosey the object, nor could he justify his own suspicion that the Lascar had obtained a surrept.i.tious entrance under Sleight's directions. With a feeling that if Rosey had been present he would have confessed all, and demanded from her an equal confidence, he began to hate his feeble, purposeless, and inefficient alliance with her father, who believed but dare not tax his daughter with complicity in this outrage. What could be done with a man whose only idea of action at such a moment was to nail up an undisturbed entrance in his invaded house! He was so preoccupied with these thoughts that when Nott rejoined him in the cabin he scarcely heeded his presence, and was entirely oblivious of the furtive looks which the old man from time to time cast upon his face.
”I reckon ye wouldn't mind,” broke in Nott, suddenly, ”ef I asked a favor of ye, Mr. Renshaw. Mebbee ye'll allow it's askin' too much in the matter of expense; mebbee ye'll allow it's askin' too much in the matter o' time. But I kalkilate to pay all the expense, and if you'd let me know what yer vally yer time at, I reckon I could stand that.
What I'd be askin' is this. Would ye mind takin' a letter from me to Rosey, and bringin' back an answer?”
Renshaw stared speechlessly at this absurd realization of his wish of a moment before. ”I don't think I understand you,” he stammered.
”P'r'aps not,” returned Nott, with great gravity. ”But that's not so much matter to you ez your time and expenses.”
”I meant I should be glad to go if I can be of any service to you,”
said Renshaw, hastily.
”You kin ketch the seven o'clock boat this morning, and you'll reach San Rafael at ten--”
”But I thought Miss Rosey went to Petaluma,” interrupted Renshaw quickly.
Nott regarded him with an expression of patronizing superiority.
”That's what we ladled out to the public gin'rally, and to Ferrers and his gang in partickler. We SAID Petalumey, but if you go to Madrono Cottage, San Rafael, you'll find Rosey thar.”
If Mr. Renshaw required anything more to convince him of the necessity of coming to some understanding with Rosey at once it would have been this last evidence of her father's utterly dark and supremely inscrutable designs. He a.s.sented quickly, and Nott handed him a note.
”Ye'll be partickler to give this inter her own hands, and wait for an answer,” said Nott gravely.
Resisting the proposition to enter then and there into an elaborate calculation of the value of his time and the expenses of the trip, Renshaw found himself at seven o'clock on the San Rafael boat. Brief as was the journey it gave him time to reflect upon his coming interview with Rosey. He had resolved to begin by confessing all; the attempt of last night had released him from any sense of duty to Sleight.
Besides, he did not doubt that Nott's letter contained some reference to this affair only known to Nott's dark and tortuous intelligence.
VIII
Madrono Cottage lay at the entrance of a little canada already green with the early winter rains, and nestled in a thicket of the harlequin painted trees that gave it a name. The young man was a little relieved to find that Rosey had gone to the post-office a mile away, and that he would probably overtake her or meet her returning--alone. The road--little more than a trail--wound along the crest of the hill looking across the canada to the long, dark, heavily-wooded flank of Mount Tamalpais that rose from the valley a dozen miles away. A cessation of the warm rain, a rift in the sky, and the rare spectacle of cloud scenery, combined with a certain sense of freedom, restored that lighthearted gayety that became him most. At a sudden turn of the road he caught sight of Rosey's figure coming towards him, and quickened his step with the impulsiveness of a boy. But she suddenly disappeared, and when he again saw her she was on the other side of the trail apparently picking the leaves of a manzanita. She had already seen him.
Somehow the frankness of his greeting was checked. She looked up at him with cheeks that retained enough of their color to suggest why she had hesitated, and said, ”YOU here, Mr. Renshaw? I thought you were in Sacramento.”
”And I thought YOU were in Petaluma,” he retorted gayly. ”I have a letter from your father. The fact is, one of those gentlemen who has been haunting the s.h.i.+p actually made an entry last night. Who he was, and what he came for, n.o.body knows. Perhaps your father gives you his suspicions.” He could not help looking at her narrowly as he handed her the note. Except that her pretty eyebrows were slightly raised in curiosity she seemed undisturbed as she opened the letter. Presently she raised her eyes to his.
”Is this all father gave you?”
”All.”
<script>