Part 17 (1/2)

The skipper stared at Curlie for a full moment as if attempting to determine whether he were insane, then turned in silence to his wheel.

The wind blew the door shut and Curlie resumed his long-legged, short-legged march.

He had done three turns around the deck when his eyes caught a small figure crumpled up on the pile of ropes forward.

”h.e.l.lo,” he cried, ”you out here?”

Gladys did not answer at once. She was straining her eyes as if to see some object which might be hovering above the jagged, sea-swept skyline.

”No,” said Curlie, as if in answer to a question, ”you couldn't see the plane. You couldn't see it fifty fathoms away and then it would flash by you like a carrier pigeon. No use if you did see it. Couldn't do anything. But there's one chance in a million of their coming into our line of vision, so it's no use watching. Only chance is a radiophone message giving their location.”

”But I--I want to. I--I ought to do something.” For the first time he noticed how white and drawn her face was.

”All right,” he said in a quiet voice, ”you just sit where you are and I'll sit here beside you and you tell me one or two things. That will help.”

”Tell--tell what?”

”Tell me this: Did your brother have the original of that old map?”

”Yes,” her tone was already quieting down, ”yes, he did, or Alfred Brightwood did. His father is very rich and he has a hobby of collecting very old editions of books. He pays terrible prices for them. He bought an old, old copy of 'Marco Polo's Travels'; paid fifteen thousand dollars for it. And inside its cover Alfred found that old map with the curious writing on the back of it.

”He thought right away that it might hide some great secret, so he had it photographed and sent the photo to Vincent. Vincent got a great scholar to read the writing for him. He never told me what the writing was; said that no one but he and Alfred should know; that it was a great secret and that girls couldn't keep secrets, so I was not to know.

”But they can keep secrets!” she exploded, breaking off from her narrative. ”They do keep secrets--more secrets than boys do. Wonderful and terrible secrets sometimes!”

”All right,” smiled Curlie, ”I agree with you, absolutely, but what did they do then?”

”Well,” the girl pressed her temples as if to drive the thoughts of the present from her. ”They--why then Alfred called Vincent by radiophone on 600. Vincent was terribly afraid to answer on 600, but he did. And then, because he thought the discovery of the map was so awfully important, he rigged up a radiophone on his auto and I--I”--she buried her face in her hands--”I helped him. I was with him in the car; drove while he sent the messages, all but that last night, when the car was wrecked.

”I--I know I shouldn't have done it. I knew all the time it was wrong, but Alfred was stubborn and wouldn't talk on anything but 600--said he had as much right on 600 as anyone else--so we did it.”

”And then the car was wrecked?” suggested Curlie. He felt a trifle mean about making the girl tell, but he knew she would be more comfortable once she got it out of her system. People are that way.

”Yes,” she said, ”someone shot his tire and wrecked his machine. I found the car, first thing in the morning, and when I saw Vincent wasn't there I got two big packing baskets that we once used in the Rockies and put them on my horse. Then I went back and got all that radio stuff and took it home and hid it. Do you think I did wrong?” The eyes she turned to his were appealing ones.

”Maybe you did,” said Curlie huskily, ”but that doesn't matter now; you're paying for it all right--going to pay for it in full before this voyage is over. The thing you must try to think of now is the present, the little round present that is right here now. And you must try to be brave.”

”And--and”--she said in a faltering voice--”do you think Vincent is paying for what he did?”

”I shouldn't be surprised.”

”Then you won't have to arrest him if he's already punished?” The appealing eyes were again upon him.

At that moment Curlie did a strange thing, so strange that the words sounded preposterous to his own ears:

”No,” he said slowly, ”I won't, unless--unless he asks me to.”

”Oh!” she breathed, ”thank you.” She placed her icy-cold hand on his for a second.