THE PRIVATEERS
 
 "I saw her draw bacK" 
 
 Set pagt l!)
 
 The Privateers 
 
 BY 
 
 H. B. MARRIOTT WATSON 
 
 Author of "Hurricane Island," 
 "Captain Fortune," etc.
 
 Copyright, 1906-1907, by 
 H. B. Marriott Watson 
 
 Published, February, 1907 
 
 All rights reserved, 
 
 including that of translation into foreign language* t 
 including the Scandinavian
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER ?ACB 
 
 I. The American on the Links . . 3 
 
 II. Sylvia Lovell 15 
 
 III. The Second Man . . . . 33 
 
 IV. The Abduction . . % . . 51 
 V. Morning Glory ..... 70 
 
 VI. The Chase 89 
 
 VII. The Factotum . . . . . no 
 
 VIII. Breaking out of Chateau Cabriac . . 131 
 
 IX. The Osier Swamp . . . . 148 
 
 X. The Affray on the Sands . . . 166 
 
 XI. The Mist 180 
 
 XII. The Mermaid ..... 204 
 
 XIII. The Rising 222 
 
 XIV. The Fight in the Dark ... 241 
 XV. At the "Petits Oiseaux" . . . 258 
 
 XVI. The A. K. U 274 
 
 XVII. Running the Blockade . . . 290 
 
 XVIII. The Coming of the Tide . ... 306 
 
 XIX. In the Pine Wood . . . . 324 
 
 XX. The Quarry Doubles . . . . 342 
 
 XXI. Alston at Bay 356 
 
 XXII. The Last Chase . . . . 376 
 
 2138815
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " I saw her draw back" .... Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 " She trod on a stone, stumbled, and would have gone over 
 
 if I had not caught her by the arm " . . . 6 
 
 "He staggered, and fell forward with both hands instinc- 
 tively outstretched to save himself " . . .30 
 
 " The two vehicles crashed into one another in the narrow 
 
 lane" ....... 66 
 
 " Alston stood looking down on the hysterical woman with 
 
 pre-occupation and indifference in his eye ". . 72 
 
 " It was only when I slipped the serviette into his mouth 
 
 that he gave in " . . . . .126 
 
 " I lifted one end gently and slipped the note well into the 
 
 mess "....... 136 
 
 " After an ineffectual attempt to recover his balance he 
 
 fell headlong into the slime " . . . .164 
 
 " The figure in the bow raised his arm and the magazine 
 
 rifle answered to his finger " . . . .176 
 
 " With the utmost difficulty did I keep my position of 
 
 vantage " . . . . . . . 202 
 
 " He was left, a figure of ridicule, in an open boat " .212 
 
 " Fire belched across Butterfield's shoulder " . . 238 
 
 " I was out on the sands in a moment, with the agile But- 
 
 terfield at my heels " ..... 302 
 
 " I ran forward. ' Miss Lovell ! ' I shouted " . .312 
 
 " My eyes went hopelessly towards the cliff top " . .318 
 
 " ' I don't care if you keep that girl or not, Fordyce, but 
 
 we've got to see her right away ' " . . 360 
 
 PRIVATEER cur on
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONS 
 
 LIEUTENANT KERSLAKE, R.N., the narrator. 
 
 HERBERT FORDYCE ALSTON, an American oper- 
 ator, who is engaged to Sylvia Lovell. 
 
 WILSON RUDGWICK, an American operator, in- 
 terested in railways and other things. 
 
 NATHANIEL BUTTERFIELD, his factotum. 
 
 JUDE BACON, the captain of Rudgwick's yacht. 
 
 SYLVIA LOVELL, a beautiful English girl, who 
 unwittingly becomes the shuttlecock between 
 battledores. 
 
 MRS. LOVELL, her mother.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 THE AMERICAN ON THE LINKS 
 
 THE first time I saw Miss Lovell was about 
 six of a fine evening in early summer. I 
 had crossed from Portsmouth to Ryde, 
 and taken the ridiculous toy train of the Island 
 railway as far as Bembridge in order to enjoy a 
 game of golf on the links. I had done the same 
 thing a dozen times during my gunnery course, 
 though I usually went over to Hayling Island to 
 indulge my taste for golf. But the links at St. 
 Helen's are prettily situated, not too difficult for 
 a beginner, and the sun that June day was fiery. 
 I think those were the inducements that took me 
 over. Portsmouth was hot and stuffy, but a 
 breeze blew out in the Solent, and upon the 
 eastern coast of the Island the flags were cracking 
 in the wind that came up that open channel with 
 a freshness unfelt on the southern shores of the 
 mainland. 
 
 It was the wind that drew my eyes to Miss 
 Lovell. I finished my round early, and, refusing
 
 4 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 to join a foursome, was ferried into Bembridge 
 across the mouth of Brading harbour. The 
 harbour was lively with the picturesque little 
 boats of the yacht club, and some bigger shipping 
 loomed against the summer green of the rising 
 ground behind. Out of Bembridge I took a 
 route that led me over the hills and towards the 
 open downs. This corner of the Island stands 
 sentinel in the Channel, with, as it were, one eye 
 upon France, and the other eastwards towards 
 the narrowing straits of Dover. Between Bem- 
 bridge and Sandown on the south the chalk bulges 
 towards the sea, rolling in the characteristic 
 manner of chalk, in rounded masses inland, and 
 presenting a scarped and formidable white face to 
 the charging water. It was on these gently 
 swelling downs that I met Miss Lovell. 
 
 The wind by this time had risen to a petty gale, 
 and came over the brow of the cliffs from the sea 
 with considerable force. The blue sea was 
 aglitter with foam-heads, and in the dim haze of 
 the horizon one seemed to discern, or imagine, the 
 mass of the adjacent continent. Sea-birds cried 
 and flew 'twixt the cliff and the water, and a 
 small steamer ploughed heavily across the middle 
 distance, rounding the Island from Shanklin or 
 Ventnor. I made these observations with a 
 mind pleasantly and idly occupied, and then I 
 turned and saw Miss Lovell.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 5 
 
 She was at the edge of the cliff, a hundred 
 yards away, and I do not think she was aware of 
 my presence. She gave me at that distance but 
 the impression of a white figure, with blown 
 skirts, for the wind was romping with her. Yet 
 even so I was attracted by the picture she made, 
 instinct apparently with youth and freshness, and 
 facing that deep void beneath her with the 
 magnificent unconsciousness of health. And so 
 in my course I moved slowly in her direction, 
 with some curiosity to see her closer, that innocent 
 curiosity which is bred in a holiday mood and in 
 a place of strangers. It was when I was already 
 within a dozen paces of her that she withdrew her 
 gaze from the sea, and turned to go. Then I had 
 a clear sight of her. She was above the mean 
 height of women, as young as the spring, frank and 
 bright of eye, and full of warm blood. To that 
 her complexion spoke, for her face was delicately 
 flushed and happy. She almost smiled at me, as 
 our looks met, and I was conscious that it would 
 have been the smile of mere animal content; or 
 rather, I should say the ebullition of an innocent 
 child abandoned to its mood. As it was, the 
 habit of restraint which in that exhilaration she 
 had thrown aside returned in time; and she 
 passed me with a very proper face, demure and 
 conscious; but the wanton wind still played 
 tricks with her skirt.
 
 6 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 As she walked away from the edge it blew up 
 the fichu of her muslin frock, and cast it as a net 
 about her face. She put her head on one side, 
 instinctively to regain her freedom, and tried to 
 withdraw the web of lace with one hand. But 
 the gust was still flying, and pressed the wrap 
 harder upon her. I suppose it blinded her. At 
 any rate she turned round, with her face away 
 from me to disentangle herself, stepping care- 
 lessly backward as she did so. Her reckless 
 youth was responsible for the act, and I do not 
 imagine it would have had any serious conse- 
 quences. She trod on a stone, stumbled and 
 would have gone over if I had not caught her by 
 the arm. In point of fact she was staggering to 
 recover her balance for some few seconds ere I 
 reached her. But I certainly think she would 
 have fallen and she was of the same opinion. 
 
 " Thank you so much, " she said breathlessly, as 
 she succeeded in ridding herself of her gag. " It 
 was stupid of me. " 
 
 " It was the wind, " said I civilly. 
 
 She had by this quite recovered, and we were 
 face to face. Hers was oval, soft-skinned, and 
 now wore a deeper flush. Her beauty matched 
 her figure and her courage. 
 
 "I was enjoying the air," she explained con- 
 fusedly. There was really no reason why she 
 should explain to me, and besides it was obvious
 
 'She trod on a stone, stumbled, and would have one over 
 if I had not caught her by the arm"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 7 
 
 that she had been so occupied. But my remark 
 was equally unnecessary. 
 
 " It's beautiful, isn't it ? " 
 
 I think we went three or four steps together 
 before it dawned on her that it was unusual to be 
 walking with a stranger, even if he had saved her 
 from a fall. 
 
 " Thank you very much, " she said in her pretty 
 voice . ' ' Good evening. ' ' 
 
 I returned her good-evening, and resumed my 
 walk. I watched her go over the rises, until I 
 lost her in the hollows, and then I turned and 
 made my way back to Bembridge. In my 
 thoughts I put her down as a very pretty girl of 
 twenty with the promise of greater beauty in 
 greater maturity. Her face, her voice, and her 
 manner alike had attracted me. But she had 
 gone over the hills, Heaven knew .whither, while I 
 had finished my gunnery course, and should be 
 gone in a week even from Portsmouth. 
 
 There did not, however, seem any adequate 
 reason why I should be gone from Bembridge 
 that night. As a matter of fact at dinner in 
 the hotel I made an arrangement to play on 
 the following morning. I am no hand at golf 
 to this day, but it has a fascination for me, and if 
 I can find a man who is not too greatly my 
 superior I am willing to fight him. My opponent 
 of the morrow was not much better than I,
 
 8 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 and I had determined to beat him, if I could ; 
 I am supposed to be an obstinate man in the 
 service. 
 
 In the smoking-room were several members of 
 the club and other visitors to the Island, and here 
 the talk circled airily, as is the habit, about the 
 game. Cricketers may well bore those un- 
 interested in the sport by their excessive devotion 
 to it, and base-bailers may easily fire the un- 
 initiated with their technicalities ; but I know no 
 one so wearisome with his "shop" as the golfer. 
 I was listening with one ear to the desultory 
 comments while I lent two eyes to an illustrated 
 magazine, when among the exchanges of conver- 
 sation I heard a new note and a new voice. I do 
 not know what made me look up. Certainly it 
 was with no conscious curiosity that I did so. 
 Perhaps it was that I merely recognised the voice 
 as American, and thus a little more individual 
 among the several voices of the room. At any 
 rate I did glance across to the group, and thus 
 Herbert Fordyce Alston passed at once into my 
 sight and life. 
 
 He was tall and somewhat elegantly built but 
 his head seemed slightly to overbalance his body. 
 Perhaps this impression was due to the heavy 
 moustache he wore, which swept in two great 
 arcs across his cheeks and protruded thus upon 
 the surrounding vacancy of air. But the breadth
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 9 
 
 of his brow and the mass of his sleek hair, worn 
 rather long, and parted in the middle, probably 
 helped to give emphasis to his head. He held a 
 cigar in one hand which was jewelled on three 
 ringers, and it wagged to give point to his agree- 
 ment. As his voice ceased he looked round with 
 the air of having silenced his opponent, and his 
 eye caught mine. He smiled engagingly. There 
 was just so much attraction in his silent salute 
 that I almost rose and joined the discussion. But 
 I didn't. In fact I was tired with my exercise 
 and the full-flowing air of the downs, and shortly 
 afterwards I went to bed. As I thrust open my 
 window the noise of a panting engine ascended to 
 me from the yard below; and I looked out, and 
 descried in the faint light a motor-cycle puffing 
 slowlv away into the night. 
 
 It is in these facts that my first association with 
 Herbert Fordyce Alston lies. I thought no more 
 of him either then or next day, until I met him on 
 the links, when he once more gave me the im- 
 pression of unusual individuality. He watched 
 me make a rather good stroke, leaning on his own 
 brassy, and when I came up to him nodded with 
 more ceremony than an Englishman. 
 
 "That was a right good hit," he said with his 
 pleasant but unmistakeable American voice. 
 
 I acknowledged his compliment civilly, and we 
 went round the course more or less in proximity
 
 io THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 with occasional encounters and an occasional ex- 
 change of remarks. 
 
 It was at lunch that we grew friendly. He had 
 a good deal to say of the Island, and of England 
 in general, and was interesting with the manner of 
 his criticism as well as in the matter. His style 
 had piquancy above all, though his comment was 
 goodnatured. He was not a stranger to Europe, 
 but, as he phrased it, got few chances of really 
 assimilating it. He was from the Middle West, as 
 I gathered, and pursued a career which he did not 
 specify. I remember thinking this omission odd 
 in one who was otherwise so frank, and even 
 voluble. He had been at Yale, and he knew 
 several languages ; in fine he met me on my own 
 level as an educated man of the world. One got 
 the idea of a certain largeness of confidence about 
 him, which was rather fascinating ; and that with 
 his keen cheerful eyes, and his handsome well- 
 coloured face composed an altogether attractive 
 personality. He had no great proficiency at golf 
 which did not seem to distress him. Indeed he 
 told me that he was playing to while time away. 
 
 "I'm here, Lieutenant Kerslake, on a more 
 important mission, " said he with twinkling eyes. 
 "It might be fixed up as business, only it's 
 more important than business. There's degrees 
 of comparison, I reckon, Lieutenant, in affairs. 
 There's play, you know, that's positive; there's
 
 THE PRIVATEERS n 
 
 business that comparative; and there's mar- 
 riage. That's the top-note. " 
 
 I murmured congratulations such as a stumbling 
 Englishman may offer to a stranger who has 
 unexpectedly thrust a confidence upon him. 
 
 "Well, you see," he said lighting his cigar, and 
 speaking in that even unexcited voice he employed 
 throughout. " A good many of you go over and 
 extract our beauties ; and it's time we evened the 
 balance." 
 
 "The lady is English?" I asked with a show of 
 interest. 
 
 He threw aside the match he had blown 
 out. "English to the bone," he pronounced, 
 "and I don't know after all that there's very 
 much difference between us. If she'd been born 
 or lived in the United States she'd have been an 
 American, and as it is she's English. That's 
 about all it amounts to. Which only goes to 
 demonstrate that birth is an accident, and that 
 there's no monopoly of beauty in either country. ' ' 
 
 "American women have a great charm," said 
 I politely. 
 
 " I know one English woman who can beat 'em 
 on their own ground, " said he, smiling. 
 
 He was in love, I reflected, but I hoped it was 
 true for the sake of my countrywomen. 
 
 We played together in the afternoon, and I gave 
 him a hollow beating which he accepted with
 
 12 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 infinite good nature, drawing shrewd deductions 
 from the game as we walked to the ferry. 
 
 "I could better that stroke with a week's 
 practice, " he decided. " If I stay here any time 
 I'll fix it up." 
 
 "Are you staying long?" I asked without great 
 curiosity. 
 
 "Well, that depends," he returned. "It de- 
 pends on a lady. " 
 
 "Oh!" I apologised by my intonation for my 
 unintentional trespass on his privacy, but he con- 
 tinued as if unconscious of this. 
 
 " If I can persuade the lady to marry me right 
 away, I shan't be kicking my heels about here 
 very long. But if she proves obdurate " He 
 smiled at me, and did not finish his sentence. 
 "You see there's a good deal women have to 
 arrange on these occasions. I know our women 
 over yonder couldn't start on a voyage without 
 full rigging, while you and I might be willing to 
 sail with a jury mast. " 
 
 His manner implied no comment; he was 
 merely stating a fact; and he sat in the boat 
 meditatively contemplating the thwarts, as the 
 ferryman pulled his oars. I had no doubt that 
 he was pursuing the chain of thought which our 
 conversation had started, and I supposed it was 
 pleasant. My attention left him, and wandered 
 to the offing where a schooner was tacking for the
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 13 
 
 harbour. It had the smart appearance of a 
 yacht, not over-large, was trim of rig, and black of 
 hull, and flew neither flag nor pennon, which was 
 unusual in a boat arriving at harbour. As I 
 watched her idly, I was conscious that Alston had 
 lifted his eyes, and was, like me, gazing at her. 
 His face had undergone some change which I could 
 not at first determine. His colour remained, but 
 his eyes were now narrowed slits, and his lower 
 jaw protruded so as to give him almost a progna- 
 thous appearance. You could see the ridge of 
 the bone and the muscles outlined in the flesh. 
 He looked back at me suddenly. 
 
 "Lieutenant, do you mind if this man puts 
 back? I've just recalled that I'm due at St. 
 Helen's. I hope it won't disturb your plans any." 
 
 I assured him it was not of the slightest conse- 
 quence to me, and, the necessary instructions 
 having been given, the boat was put round. 
 Alston resumed his chatter which had been 
 interrupted by his reverie, and saluted me as he 
 stepped out on the point. 
 
 "I'm much obliged, Mr. Kerslake, " said he 
 and smiled and nodded. He took a few steps 
 away and the ferryman turned the boat again. 
 The schooner had come to anchor, not more than 
 two hundred yards away, and a small boat was 
 putting off from her. Alston's face had somehow 
 arrested my interest. It had changed from the
 
 i 4 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 moment he had sighted the yacht. I wondered 
 why. And his sudden remembrance of a duty at 
 St. Helen's was too obviously an expedient. 
 There had been during that unconscious moment 
 of self-revelation, when he was off guard, so to 
 speak, an expression of concern upon his face, and 
 if I had read aright, of resolution. He interested 
 me. I sat in the boat wondering; and as I won- 
 dered I looked back. Alston's tall figure was 
 discernible on the top of a dune, and he was 
 watching the progress of the small boat towards 
 Bembridge.
 
 CHAPTER H 
 SYLVIA LOVELL 
 
 As I landed from the ferry the schooner's boat 
 drew up to the point, and I cast a glance at it. In 
 the stern, with the rudder in his hand sat a short 
 square-faced man of forty or thereabouts, clean- 
 shaven, and sallow of complexion. He scruti- 
 nised me keenly as he discarded his rudder and 
 stood up, buttoning his sailor's reefer with one 
 hand on his broad chest. 
 
 " Lay her along, " said he to the men, and that 
 injunction demonstrated his nationality by the 
 intonation. I had left one American on the 
 sands of St. Helen's; and I stepped ashore to 
 encounter another on Bembridge point. The two 
 men, side by side, would have contrasted phys- 
 ically as strongly as in their apparent natures. 
 This newcomer from the sea, was abrupt and 
 quick in manner ; he had no sense of spaciousness 
 either in manners or in mind, I could have sworn. 
 But he knew his own mind like the other; both 
 acted with a display of decision which is unusual 
 with us, and leaves perhaps the impression of a 
 stronger determination on the spectator. I con- 
 is
 
 16 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 trasted them in my mind idly because one had 
 avoided the other; and that other now walked 
 briskly up to the hotel behind me. 
 
 As I saw him presently in conversation with the 
 manager he rather suggested to me a prizefighter, 
 and it was clear that he had as little ceremony as 
 one. 
 
 "I suppose you've got a directory, anyway, 
 knocking about this football, " said he with an 
 intonation that almost imparted contempt, as he 
 turned away from the manager. 
 
 Face to face we stared at each other, but myself, 
 I trust with less frankness and overtness. He 
 decided in that stare that he had no use for me, 
 and as he shouldered his way past he had, I 
 imagine, dismissed me from his mind as immaterial 
 to his quest and history. For all his masterfulness 
 he was no prophet. 
 
 I have said immaterial to his quest, for it was 
 evident that he had been making inquiries of the 
 manager and had been disappointed. I wondered 
 vaguely if he had been asking for Herbert Fordyce 
 Alston, and if so, why. In the coffee-room he 
 turned over several books of reference, including 
 time-tables and local guides, and abandoned 
 them all with an audible exclamation of im- 
 patience. He sat at the window looking out for a 
 moment, and whistled as he pondered. I became 
 immersed in a paper, and when I looked up again
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 17 
 
 he was gone. He had the restlessness of his race 
 and I the placidity perhaps of mine. 
 
 In further evidence of my placidity I spent 
 half an hour watching the yacht enter the basin 
 from which act I deduced like a good detective 
 that, directories or no directories, the owner 
 designed to stay for some little while. She was 
 handled with skill, but to my sailor's mind there 
 was some slackness about the crew, who were 
 directed by a red-faced man, with an upturned 
 nose, and a big voice. One in particular fixed 
 my eye, tall, lean, grey of face and pock- 
 marked, who squirted tobacco juice into the 
 water, and caressed a short irregular beard 
 in the intervals of hauling at a rope. His beard 
 seemed to grow in patches on his chin, and as 
 he chewed he discovered large vacancies in his 
 row of teeth. 
 
 But the schooner passed into Brading 
 harbour, and I into the hotel again, where I dined 
 with a fellow-golfer very pleasantly. As I came 
 out into the hall I scanned the letter rack, and 
 found nothing for myself, but a telegram ad- 
 dressed "Alston." It seemed then that he was 
 expected back at the hotel wherever he wandered 
 at the moment. And that I was destined to 
 discover that very evening; for I met him as I 
 strolled on the downs a little later. 
 
 He welcomed me in his almost affectionate way,
 
 i8 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 paid a tribute to the evening air, and asked how 
 one of our companions of the afternoon had fared 
 in his match. But he was not really interested in 
 my reply, as was obvious. He had not put his 
 question, and it came presently. 
 
 " Anyone new at the hotel ? " 
 
 I told him. "Ah!" said he "from the 
 schooner?" 
 
 "Yes"; I returned almost with intention "a 
 countryman of yours. " 
 
 "Plenty of us in Europe about now," he re- 
 marked indifferently. At that I recollected some- 
 thing, and told him of the telegram in the rack. 
 He bent his brows, but his affable eyes smiled. 
 "Really? It's good of you to tell me," he said, 
 "I must send for it." Then he paused, "In the 
 rack, was it?" He gazed at the great blue water 
 that vanished in indeterminate darkness towards 
 France. " If there's one thing I hate more than 
 another, it's getting cables when I'm on my 
 holiday, " he declared slowly. " It spoils sport. 
 But these damned business matters won't wait. 
 We must take the tide, Sir, or get left on the 
 strand. I'll send for that cable. ' ' 
 
 "I'll have it sent up to you, if you'll give me the 
 address," said I, " I'm going straight back. " He 
 paused before he answered. "It's very kind of 
 you, Mr. Kerslake, and I'll accept your offer with 
 thanks. It would take me some trouble to find a
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 19 
 
 boy and I've got rather a particular engagement 
 on just now. " 
 
 " Oh, I'll send it, " I replied easily, " if you'll tell 
 me where." Herbert Fordyce Alston and I were 
 mortal atoms from distant parts of the world. 
 We had fortuitously encountered, and were 
 destined in all likelihood fortuitously to part. In 
 a week we should hardly remain names to each 
 other. Yet he seemed to hesitate ere he gave me 
 the address, which he finally wrote on an envelope : 
 
 Bessenton Manor, 
 
 By Sandown. 
 
 And so I left him, with the added conviction that 
 he did not want to meet the owner of the schooner, 
 his countryman. 
 
 When I reached the hotel the dusk was in the 
 air, and the haU was darkling. I went up to the 
 rack to get Alston's telegram, and as I put out my 
 hand for it I perceived that the dark shaven 
 American was standing in front of the board. I 
 wondered if he had noticed the superscription of 
 the telegram, or if the darkness had prevented him 
 from doing so. If Alston wanted to avoid him it 
 followed that he wanted to find Alston. Yet if he 
 wanted to know of Alston's presence in the 
 neighbourhood he might have learned it by 
 inquiry of the manager; and I had gathered that
 
 20 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 he had retired from those investigations dis- 
 comfited. 
 
 I took the wire, and, seeing my arm come past 
 him, he turned and favoured me with a sharp look. 
 Did he realise then that I might not be so im- 
 material in his life as he had thought? After the 
 glance he left the hall, and I turned to find the 
 messenger. Yet ere I had reached the office I had 
 a bright idea. It was a lovely June evening, and 
 the fragrance of the sea mingled with the scents of 
 the fields and hedges. It could not be more than 
 a few miles to Bessenton. I would take the letter 
 myself for the sake of the walk. 
 
 It was delightful along the upper heights, 
 where the Road from Bembridge ascends and 
 descends among woods and valleys towards the 
 bare and open downs that front the sea. I walked 
 briskly, accompanied by the most casual welter of 
 thoughts, for when one is most entertained one's 
 mind is least coherent. Sounds, scents and 
 sights alone contributed to my mental flow in 
 which there was no logical sequence. The stars 
 emerged in the vault above, and stimulated a 
 vague sense of romance. I was young, I was 
 sound as a bell, and I thought I had a career 
 before me. I was not in love, and the world was 
 my oyster. Romance visits such with exquisite 
 tantalisations, and romance was my attendant on 
 that walk.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 21 
 
 I was half way to my destination before I 
 discovered that I had someone else in attendance. 
 At least I was never sure of this until much later 
 but I had a vague suspicion. It is absurd to say 
 that one can have a sense of being pursued. No 
 instinct renders civilised man that service. But 
 sounds, recurrent or even intermittent, may 
 arouse the mind to suspicion. The whole ma- 
 chinery of the senses and the intellect is called into 
 operation in detecting that pursuit, as mine was 
 on this occasion. I stopped, and the noise of my 
 follower (if he was my follower) died away. I 
 resumed my course, and it seemed as if he also 
 presently resumed his. It could not be echo, nor 
 was it likely to be mere coincidence. But as I say 
 I did not come to this conclusion definitely until 
 later, until, in fact, on my return journey. I 
 was, as I went, too deeply engaged by pleasant 
 fancies. 
 
 Those fancies endured until I found I had 
 missed my way, and was upon the barren downs. 
 It seemed now somewhat absurd to have started 
 from Bembridge with that unnecessary enthu- 
 siasm for the trudge. Far better if I had sent a 
 messenger according to my earlier thought. The 
 place was vacant; its wide and empty spaces 
 challenged one inhospitably. To be sure there 
 were the stars and the cool night-winds, but I 
 could have enjoyed these better if I had been sure
 
 22 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 of my destination. And no one was about to 
 advise me. Where the mischief was Bessenton 
 Manor? 
 
 I struck down from the hills and deliberately 
 crossed a hedge, for if I could not trust myself 
 confidently to the roads I had a certain faith in 
 being able to reach a farm-house; and here 
 perhaps I got an inkling first of my follower. I 
 caught sight of him mounting the hedge in the 
 starlight, at a distance of fifty yards. There was 
 the loom of his figure for a moment and then it 
 disappeared. Here was my chance to obtain my 
 direction ; I went back and called to him. But no 
 answer came out of the night. I called again, and 
 was still received with silence. In some wonder I 
 resumed my way conjecturing that the figure 
 must be that of some trespasser, some hind maybe 
 upon an unlawful mission, who had no occasion 
 for publicity. 
 
 My precognition was right, and my faith 
 justified itself with my arrival at some sort of 
 cottage after the passage of two or three fields. 
 Here I had no difficulty in learning my way, and 
 pursuing the road again I came eventually out 
 upon a limb of the downs that overhung Sandown 
 Bay. Lights were twinkling on the distant 
 beach like glow-worms, but here on the uplands 
 all was very still and dark; and Bessenton 
 Manor was formidably dark and unfriendly. It
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 23 
 
 had a humble approach through a small gate and 
 across a patch of orchard, and it seemed to suggest 
 dilapidation even in the gloom of night. I 
 made my way with some difficulty to the door, and 
 pulled at the bell, which started crazily to jingle in 
 the distance. It jigged on the air and the silence 
 till it almost made me ashamed of my uninten- 
 tional violence, and then suddenly the door was 
 opened, and the light of a hanging lamp flickered 
 on me from the hall. 
 
 I recognised her in a moment, and I think she 
 recognised me, for she showed ever so slight a 
 confusion when I made my errand clear. 
 
 " I have brought a telegram for Mr. Alston, " I 
 said. 
 
 "Oh won't you please come in," she re- 
 turned, seeing that I was obviously not a tele- 
 graph messenger. 
 
 I hesitated, but the coincidence of her being 
 there and of Alston's confidence made me some- 
 what curious. I did not refuse, though I had 
 no real excuse for accepting. I entered the hall, 
 saying "I don't think there's any necessity to 
 trouble you. If you will kindly let Mr. Alston 
 have that" 
 
 " Yes, yes, " she interposed hastily, and at that 
 moment Alston himself entered the hall from an 
 adjoining room. His quick eyes embraced the 
 situation without a word and he came forward.
 
 24 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "It's very good of you, Lieutenant," he said 
 courteously. It's no end kind of you. " 
 
 "Oh, I wanted the walk," I explained, and 
 looked at the girl. He had the pleasant formality 
 of his country. 
 
 " Lieutenant Kerslake has been so very good as 
 to bring me out this cable from the hotel," he 
 explained to the girl. " No end kind of him, isn't 
 it, Sylvia?" He glanced at me. "This is Miss 
 Lovell, Mr. Kerslake. " 
 
 It was an introduction, although we had met 
 before, and I bowed. I was aware that her 
 eyes were dancing on me inquisitively, as they 
 might safely do in that light. "Come in, Mr. 
 Kerslake," invited the American, and with the 
 re-enforcement of his request I hesitated no 
 longer. We passed into an interior drawing-room 
 of considerable size, panelled in oak, but lighted 
 very weakly by a lamp on a central table. The 
 girl merely went through into a room beyond, as 
 though leaving us to any communications to- 
 gether we desired; and I had somehow the idea 
 that Alston had something to say. 
 
 He was as amiable and unconcerned as ever, as 
 veritable a dilettante to the eye as you might meet 
 on a leisurely holiday. 
 
 "Do you mind my opening this thing?" he 
 asked with some contempt of the thing, when I 
 was seated; and when I had replied, "You'll have
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 25 
 
 a little whiskey with me, after your walk, won't 
 you?" 
 
 He moved across the room towards the bell, 
 reading his telegram, and having rung came back 
 to me still occupied in reading. His face in the 
 light was expressive ; amusement, contempt and 
 indifference seemed to chase across his features. 
 He put the cable in his pocket carelessly. " Now 
 then, " said he heartily as the maid arrived. " The 
 whiskey and glasses, please Jenny. " He twinkled 
 at me, "I've learned to drink Scotch over here, " he 
 said. "It's cleaner than our Bourbon somehow. 
 It sort of rounds up an evening. I guess I'll leave 
 off when I get back, but this climate exacts it. 
 It's a sort of civility to the damp air which keeps 
 your lawns so exquisite. Look at Carisbrooke 
 Castle yonder. I think I'd put up with a relaxed 
 throat or two to get a green like that, especially as 
 there's the whiskey cure, " he remarked smilingly. 
 " What I like is the unanimity with which a whole 
 smoking-room orders its Scotch and soda after 
 dinner. It's like grace after supper. The British 
 constitution isn't complete without it. It's the 
 coping stone of the day's work. Our countrymen 
 don't understand its insinuating virtues. Say, by 
 the bye, wasn't there another from my way 
 landed at the hotel, did you say ? " 
 
 He handed me a cigar, lighted one himself, and 
 poured out two jorums of the spirit.
 
 26 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " The schooner-yacht's American, " I answered. 
 
 "Ah!" he puffed as he used the syphon. "I'm 
 here as lodger; that's why I make free, you see." 
 He nodded his head towards the door. A charm- 
 ing woman, Mrs. Lovell, but there have been 
 disabilities." He reclined in his chair lazily. 
 
 "Oh, he's at the hotel then?" 
 
 " Yes, " I said catching his drift. " The schoon- 
 er's inside, so I suppose he contemplates a stay. " 
 
 What he was going to say I cannot tell, for an 
 interruption occurred in the entrance of a lady. 
 She was about middle height, had a young figure 
 and a face with claims to good looks. She was 
 essentially "elegant" in the old phrase, and her 
 expression seemed to appeal to you, to inquire of 
 you, to express confidence in you. I guessed her 
 at once, and before the introduction, as Mrs. 
 Lovell. Her manner was at once shy and dig- 
 nified, and it was easy (I thought) to see in her the 
 woman of good family and perhaps of once good 
 fortune, reduced to playing landlady to well-to-do 
 Americans. Alston had a gracious caressing way 
 with her which was quite charming, and under 
 which she sensibly warmed. The poor lady, as 
 it seemed to me, basked in the sun of his pros- 
 perity. 
 
 "Mrs. Lovell," said he playfully, "has been 
 acting as my cicerone round your island. I 
 don't want any better dragoman or woman.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 27 
 
 I've no room for any. She's keen on historic 
 places and that just suits me, I guess. " 
 
 As he spoke Miss Lovell joined the party, and he 
 cast a glance at her, half -whimsical, half -affection- 
 ate. There could be no longer any doubt in my 
 mind. This was the English girl of whom he had 
 spoken, whom he was to marry to "even the 
 balance." Well, they were well-matched in 
 handsome looks, though I had an insular prejudice 
 in favour of our own style of beauty. Mrs. 
 Lovell's gaze appeared to be directed on her 
 daughter with some anxiety; but Sylvia Lovell 
 said nothing, only looked at me, her lips parting 
 slightly as if in unconscious wonder. She was 
 even more of a girl here than I had thought her 
 on the downs, and showed an unself conscious 
 naivete 1 in her bearing that was somehow delight- 
 fully attractive. 
 
 I had intruded long enough, and rose to go. 
 Alston rose also, and offered to put me on the 
 road. It might have been mere courtesy, but I 
 could not help feeling that he had not managed to 
 say what he wanted to say before Mrs. Lovell's 
 appearance, and that he would revert to the topic 
 when we were alone. Still it was of no personal 
 interest to me, and I took leave of the ladies. As 
 we went out, I a little in advance of Alston, I 
 noticed, turning to raise my hat, that he put out 
 an arm with a playful proprietorial air towards the
 
 28 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 girl, and with equal distinctness I saw her draw 
 back. Perhaps she observed that my face was 
 towards them, even in the twilight of the stars, 
 yet it struck me that she winced, that she shrank 
 as from a familiarity which she had not courted, 
 withdrew into the deeper obscurity of the door- 
 way; and as she did so the swinging lamp of the 
 hall illumined for an instant her face, and I saw 
 its expression. It was that of a terrified child. 
 
 By contrast with the ill-lighted hall the stars 
 seemed a little brighter under the open heaven, 
 and we walked in silence for a time, I on my part 
 sending back some reflections towards the girl in 
 the porch and her relation to my companion. 
 
 " You probably made the mistake of bearing to 
 the left too much, " said he at last, referring to my 
 blunder on the way out from Bembridge. " I've 
 got to know the road well. " 
 
 "You've been long here?" I could not but 
 inquire casually. He reflected. "A few weeks. 
 I like an hotel as a rule better than a house, Mr. 
 Kerslake, but there are occasions when one 
 prefers a house. " 
 
 He laughed. "Then the lady" I began, for 
 clearly one need not stand on too much ceremony 
 with so communicative an acquaintance. 
 
 "Yes; you've guessed it first time," he as- 
 sented pleasantly. "Miss Lovell's going to help 
 square the balance, I hope. "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 29 
 
 I murmured that he was very fortunate, and 
 expressed a formal wish for the prosperity of so 
 interesting and international a union. But I was 
 wondering why he walked with me. Was it 
 really only amiability? As the thought went 
 through my mind I chanced to look back across 
 the field into which we had turned by a stile, and 
 the loom of a figure crossing the stile blotted a 
 patch of stars. A sense of familiarity with it 
 dawned on me at once ; it was almost with recog- 
 nition that my mind went back to the passage of 
 another field and of a figure against the sky. I 
 paused and stared, and my companion looked at 
 me. 
 
 "I don't know," said I in explanation, "it's 
 odd; but I seem to have seen that fellow before. 
 He crossed a field with me when I came. " 
 
 "Did he?" inquired Alston, and added, "You 
 didn't take a field-path, did you? You crossed a 
 field anyhow. " 
 
 " I took it blindly, " said I. 
 
 " Then, " said he, " This fellow " 
 
 " Well, it looks as if he was interested in me, " I 
 admitted. 
 
 He had resumed walking, and was silent for 
 some little time. "You don't boast road agents 
 here, Mr. Kerslake, " he said then, "maybe he's 
 a tramp." 
 
 "He may be," said I, "but as I am of an in-
 
 30 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 quisitive nature, and dislike unsolved riddles I 
 think I'll make sure. " 
 
 He said nothing, but waited on what I should 
 do. What I did was to mount the stile which 
 made connection with the road and turn aside 
 into the shelter of the hedge. He took up his 
 position by me, without a word, and we listened. 
 
 The sound of a man's progress came off the 
 field, reaching us softly at first, and then with the 
 emphasis of increasing proximity; and presently 
 we could hear someone at the stile. A figure 
 darkened the gap in the hedge and descended in a 
 light leap to the road. As it did so I put out the 
 heavy walking-stick I carried horizontally into 
 the blackness of the shade he cast ; his knees took 
 it, he staggered, and fell forward with both 
 hands instinctively outstretched to save himself. 
 Stepping out of concealment I caught him and 
 bore him up. 
 
 " Hulloa ! " said I, " come over too quickly? " 
 He stood up, and under the faint light I could 
 make out his face ; it was that of the yacht-hand 
 I had noticed, the tall meagre man with gaps in 
 his teeth. He muttered thanks and hastened 
 away, and I was left with Alston who had not 
 budged from the hedge. Now he came forward. 
 "Well?" said he, "Tramp? or pickpocket?" 
 I picked up my stick which had been wrenched 
 out of my hands.
 
 "He staggered, and fell forward with both hands instinctively 
 outstretched to save himself"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 31 
 
 "Neither," said I laconically. I felt he was 
 waiting, and I was somehow satisfied that he 
 should wait. I took off my hat to the cool 
 breezes of the evening. "But I've seen him 
 before," I resumed as if meditating, "I think he 
 was one of the sailors I noticed on the yacht that 
 came in to-day." 
 
 There was a little pause ere he spoke, and then, 
 
 "Well, if he's American you're safe enough," 
 he said jocularly. 
 
 "Oh, I'm all right," I replied easily, "and 
 really I don't see why I should bother you to 
 come out of your way so far. I've got the road. " 
 
 " I owed that to you at any rate, " said Alston. 
 "You were good about that cable. And I don't 
 know that I need have troubled you after all." 
 
 " Business matters " I began. 
 
 " Business! I'm here on something better," he 
 interrupted laughing. Besides I might have 
 waited comfortably till to-morrow, I daresay I'll 
 see you then, Mr. Kerslake. You see, I've left 
 my motor-tricycle at the hotel and must fetch 
 it. He made a pause and then added, as it seemed 
 inconsequently, " that was a very neat trick of 
 yours with the stick, neat and prompt. You're 
 a man of resources. " 
 
 " I'm only a sailor, " said I modestly. 
 
 He gave me goodnight, and strode off ; and as I 
 resumed my journey to Bembridge I wondered
 
 32 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 why he had been so anxious to avoicTthe hotel all 
 the afternoon, and now was willing to visit it in 
 the morning. It puzzled me, as did indeed all the 
 factors in the situation.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE SECOND MAN 
 
 I BREAKFASTED early on the following morning, 
 and, having given some orders about the despatch 
 of my luggage to the station, entered the smoking- 
 room to look at a paper and enjoy a cigar. The 
 windows were open, and the sea was calling on the 
 beach through the fine sunshine. I had hardly 
 settled to my news when I heard my name, and 
 looking up saw Alston. He was debonair and 
 smiling, with that air of negligent attention which 
 I had detected in him and he flung himself down 
 opposite to me after expressing a civil hope that 
 he was not disturbing me. We exchanged re- 
 marks on some different topics between intervals 
 of perusing our papers, and then suddenly he rose, 
 dropping his journal. 
 
 "Wilson Rudgwick, as I live!" he cried in a 
 cheerful voice. I turned, and there was the clean- 
 shaven man who had arrived in the yacht. 
 
 "Alston!" said he, and grinned. They shook 
 hands. 
 
 "Sit down," said Alston. "This is my friend 
 .Wilson Rudgwick, Lieutenant Kerslake, come over 
 
 33
 
 34 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 to look up the old country, and see if it's anchored 
 off Europe, as usual. Though he's no stranger to 
 it, eh, Wilson?" 
 
 "Lancashire born," said th" other briefly, and 
 now I recognised a mingling of accents in his 
 voice. 
 
 "And how's the business going?" inquired 
 Alston. 
 
 "A bit easier," said Rudgwick, biting the end 
 from a cigar. " That's why I'm here." 
 
 "You're here for pleasure?" I inquired politely. 
 
 " Some," was his laconic reply. 
 
 " Mr. Rudgwick unites pleasure and business," 
 explained his friend. " There's never an occasion 
 when Wilson Rudgwick refuses to do business, 
 even here, eh?" 
 
 " If I get on a good line, here too," admitted the 
 new-comer. " But say, Alston, what brings you 
 here ? I had an idea of my own that you'd maybe 
 be in Montana." 
 
 Alston shook his head. "I've no use for 
 Montana at the moment. Montana's all right, 
 but you can get fed up on Montana. I'm here on 
 the same business as yourself." 
 
 " To get rid of dollars," said Rudgwick. ' 'Well 
 I suppose we're mighty fools, yet a sovereign will 
 go further than five dollars, and that's how I pay 
 my yachting expenses, with the margin. You 
 staying long?"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 35 
 
 Alston crossed his legs. " Long as I like it," he 
 returned. He did not seem to me so communica- 
 tive as I was used to seeing him, though wholly at 
 his ease. 
 
 "You ought to have done business with me 
 away in Chicago," remarked the older man after 
 a pause. "It would pay you best to deal with 
 our house." 
 
 " Oh, I'm not keen on a deal. I can wait," said 
 the other smiling. " Some fellows, my dear Wilson 
 can't resist the temptation of concluding a bar- 
 gain nohow, as long as they see dollars in it. Now, 
 dollars are a bit over-estimated, seems to me. It's 
 what they ' 11 buy that matters , and if I give up health 
 or a fortnight's good time to make ten thousand 
 dollars, I've got to reckon up if it's worth while." 
 
 To my surprise Rudgwick broke into a hearty 
 chuckle at this, which increased as he eyed his 
 companion. 
 
 " I conclude there's some sense in what you say,' ' 
 he said at last. "You hang onto things in the 
 right way, Alston. And as it appears you're here 
 for pleasure, I believe I can help you. There's 
 my yacht now. What's the matter with a 
 Mediterranean trip?" 
 
 "You're too good, Rudgwick," said his friend. 
 " You're just almighty good, and I should love to. 
 But, say, is that your black-hulled schooner out 
 there?"
 
 36 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "That's so," nodded the other. 
 
 " She looks trig. I should like to see her foot it. 
 Could we have a turn this afternoon, Wilson?" 
 
 Rudgwick blew the smoke from his mouth. 
 " I'll fix it," said he. "You staying here?" 
 
 " No ; I'm a bit in the interior of this continent," 
 said Alston without hesitation. "I'm Sandown 
 way quarters in a real English rural old-fashion- 
 ed place. Reminds you of Stratford-on-Avon and 
 Kenilworth all in one." 
 
 "Well, come along after lunch," said Rudgwick 
 as he rose, with an inclination of his head which 
 rather curtly included me. 
 
 Now I had been conscious all along that there 
 was something underneath the two men's talk, 
 that in a way, they were fencing with each other. 
 I do not think I should have noticed it in the 
 manner of either, or in any words actually passing 
 between them, but I was prepared by my previous 
 discoveries for latent hostility, and in the light of 
 my knowledge I read thrust and riposte in every 
 sentence. What it was between them I did not 
 know, nor was it any affair of mine. But that I 
 was not wrong hardly needed the assurance of 
 Alston's words to me when the older man was 
 gone. 
 
 " Mr. Rudgwick's partner in a big wheat busi- 
 ness in Chicago," he said, "and he's pretty smart 
 but he's not so smart as he thinks himself. He
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 37 
 
 wanted a deal with me over mines Montana 
 mines, but I didn't see it. No ; Wilson Rudgwick 
 knows a lot about packing and wheat, but he don't 
 know much about mines. I reckon he's a little 
 late for a deal now. And he'll begin to find it out. ' ' 
 He smiled, shook hands with almost effusive 
 friendliness and went out. An hour later I left 
 Bembridge for Ryde on my way to Portsmouth, 
 under the distinct impression that I had seen the 
 last of my American, and all associated with him. 
 Yet the world is a small place, after all, and the 
 Isle of Wight is a smaller. Indeed it is a ridicu- 
 lous toy piece broken off the Hampshire coast, and 
 one feels one must perforce knock up against every 
 one in it several times a day, as one encounters the 
 same faces in a village street. So at the pierhead 
 at Ryde, while waiting for the Portsmouth boat, I 
 happened upon Alston once more. He was in the 
 company of ladies, and I at once recognised the 
 younger. It was Miss Lovell, dressed in light 
 muslin with a light dust-coat almost to her heels 
 which the fresh breezes off Spithead were blowing 
 about her. Her face was delicately pink under the 
 threshing of the wind but she seemed to me to 
 have a dispirited air, and stood helplessly against 
 the railway station while Alston bustled about 
 among the porters. My way lay past her, and our 
 glances met. I stopped, lifting my hat, and she 
 impulsively offered her hand.
 
 38 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "You're crossing?" I asked, and was answered 
 by her companion whom I now saw to be her 
 mother. 
 
 "Yes, we're going to town, Mr. Kerslake for a 
 few days." She spoke I thought with some 
 triumph in her voice. 
 
 " I saw Mr. Alston just now," I went on. 
 
 "Yes, he's going up with us," explained Mrs. 
 Lovell. " It won't be rough, will it? I'm such a 
 bad sailor." 
 
 I looked out across the strait. " Those are only 
 foam-heads," said I. "There's no substance in 
 them. They're mere decorative rosettes of spume 
 on a placid sea, dissolving even as they form." 
 
 I was conscious that Miss Lovell was looking at 
 me inquiringly, and it was rather an earnest, 
 wondering glance, almost as if she were trying to 
 weigh me in her mind. And then Alston caught 
 sight of me, and waved his hand cordially as he 
 came up. 
 
 " Well met on the Rialto," he called. " I 
 wonder, are we crossing together? That would be 
 bully." 
 
 "Crossing, are you, Fordyce?" said a sharp 
 crisp voice which singled itself suddenly out of the 
 many voices of the pier. 
 
 Alston swung round, as did I, and there was 
 Rudgwick, swart of face, square of figure, with a 
 billy-cock on the back of his head.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 39 
 
 "Wilson! Bully for you! Are you going over 
 too? We'll have a regular party." This was in 
 Alston's regulation affable manner. 
 
 Rudgwick did not reply, but fixed his gaze on 
 the women, and instantly the younger man re- 
 sponded to that interrogatory stare. 
 
 " Let me introduce you, Mr. Rudgwick, to Mrs. 
 Lovell, and Miss Lovell." He made the presenta- 
 tion gracefully ; and as Rudgwick lifted his hat I 
 was struck by the shadow on his face. It was like 
 the shadow of a grin, and a grin that was rather 
 sardonic; but it was gone when he turned to 
 Alston with : 
 
 " Now, it seems like we've got to wait a bit for 
 that boat yonder. Alston, what's the matter with 
 my boat? Couldn't she take the ladies on as easy 
 as this orthodox craft that's coming along?" 
 
 Alston gave one glance out upon the Solent, 
 where I recognised the black hull of Rudgwick's 
 schooner, and then the eyes of the two men met, 
 Rudgwick's impassive, the younger man's slightly 
 supercilious and smiling. 
 
 "She's at your disposal, Fordyce," said the 
 former. 
 
 "You're good all through, Wilson," said Alston 
 laughing. " But I reckon we can get along more 
 easily with the steamer." 
 
 " Now, I've taken a fancy to have you on that 
 yacht," persisted Rudgwick. "You and the
 
 40 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 ladies," He ignored me which Alston would cer- 
 tainly not have done. " Say, can't I persuade you?" 
 
 Alston shook his head, and threw a glance out of 
 his quick eyes towards the incoming boat. He 
 appeared to be considering, and the other watched 
 him. I watched both, for again I had the definite 
 impression that some duel was covertly in 
 progress. 
 
 " If I can't," went on Rudgwick after a pause, 
 "I'm unhappy, but I recollect anyhow you're 
 coming along this afternoon, Fordyce." 
 
 I remembered now the engagement which had 
 been made in my presence earlier in the morning. 
 
 Alston, if he had not forgotten, had ignored 
 this, for was he not bound for London for a few 
 days ? But he showed no signs of being disturbed. 
 
 " I was wiring to you about that to put that 
 off," he said. 
 
 " That so ?" Rudgwick nodded. " Then if I'm 
 not going to see you to-day again, we'd better fix 
 that other matter up. You must give me five 
 minutes, Fordyce. I think I can manage it all in 
 five minutes." 
 
 "Certainly," Alston shrugged his shoulders 
 gracefully. " Your pardon, ladies. Mr. Kerslake, 
 I trust them to you for five minutes." 
 
 I was not loth to undertake the trust, and entered 
 into conversation when the two men had gone. 
 It seemed to me that the Montana mine was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 41 
 
 developing a more open hostility between them. 
 It was Mrs. Lovell who did most of the talking. 
 She was something between excited and anxious, 
 and she cast glances about the pier as if afraid 
 they would lose the boat. Her daughter was very 
 silent and still, and now I wondered if this was 
 the same girl who had struck me as filled with 
 such natural gaiety on Bembridge downs two 
 days before. 
 
 Alston returned alone, with serene unruffled 
 brow, and said equably: 
 
 "My dear Mrs. Lovell, I am chagrined, but I 
 have news from my friend, Wilson Rudgwick, 
 which will postpone this visit. Will you forgive 
 me? Nothing, as you may guess, but the most 
 weighty reasons would have induced me to put 
 this off; but I'm merely drift-wood this moment. 
 That's the way of us business-men. However, if I 
 can get through, we'll make a start a bit later." 
 
 He turned to Miss Lovell "Sylvia, dear de- 
 lightful name, can you pardon this unpardonable 
 thing?" 
 
 He spoke with soft tenderness, but somehow I 
 did not like his air. Perhaps his proprietary man- 
 ner offended me. He was adjusting the balance 
 altogether too magnificently by his capture of 
 this beautiful girl. As he spoke he took her hand, 
 and she left it in his grasp. 
 
 " Oh, of course," she assented in a conventional
 
 42 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 way: and then withdrew from his touch; and as 
 she turned the expression on her face altered; it 
 showed obvious and unmitigated relief. She was 
 glad not to be going. 
 
 Alston turned to me. "I havn't finished my 
 business yet," he said. "Rudgwick's waiting for 
 me. Would you mind, like a very good fellow, 
 seeing the ladies into the train? " 
 
 I expressed the pleasure I should have in the 
 operation, and he went off with less than his usual 
 urbanity. Something abrupt had crept into his 
 manner, which was, no doubt, "business." I had 
 the impression that he would not have an easy 
 time with his friend Rudgwick. 
 
 Mrs. Lovell was manifestly disappointed; and 
 with difficulty kept her manifestations within the 
 good manners of convention. She deprecated in 
 a plaintive way the exactions of business, obvi- 
 ously keeping hold on herself with effort. " Amer- 
 icans are supposed to be greater victims to it than 
 our own men, aren't they, Mr. Kerslake?" she 
 appealed. " It is a shame Mr. Alston should have 
 his holiday spoiled, and he's so very thoughtful 
 too and considerate. Sylvia dear, are you sure all 
 the luggage is here?" 
 
 I gave my services unreservedly to the luggage 
 which I succeeded in collecting, and showed the 
 ladies to their carriage. Miss Lovell was a little 
 formal in her manner, but had brightened per-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 43 
 
 ceptibly. Her mother was harassed and rather 
 staccato in conversation. Meanwhile I was sure 
 I was missing the boat, but I did not mind. The 
 train lingered to take up the arrivals from Ports- 
 mouth, and the platform was crowded with 
 porters and passengers, the station noisy with 
 rattling hand-trucks. 
 
 I stood by the carriage door, exchanging 
 sentences with Mrs. Lovell, who kept craning her 
 head out as if in the hope of seeing Alston return. 
 
 "I wonder how long his business will last," she 
 confided in me. " He's such a conscientious man. 
 I know he would not have altered his plans if it 
 hadn't been " She paused, a frown of per- 
 plexity and annoyance on her comely face. " Have 
 you known Mr. Alston long?" 
 
 I answered in the negative without committing 
 myself to details or dates. I daresay Alston's 
 own cordial manner gave an erroneous impression 
 as to our relations. At any rate she had by this 
 time relaxed her guard on herself ; she was warmed 
 to confidence either by my friendliness or by her 
 conjecture of my friendship with Alston. 
 
 " He's very active, isn't he? Are all Americans 
 like Do you think that's he over there? Oh no 
 it's" 
 
 I asked in my turn if he were an old acquaint- 
 ance of hers, on which she looked at me directly. 
 She had her daughter's directness of vision.
 
 44 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Not very long," she said. "Perhaps you're 
 wondering " 
 
 I was, but I wondered more what she had been 
 going to say. 
 
 " You see, " she said, lowering her voice. " It's 
 very upsetting considering the circumstances." 
 
 "It's certainly annoying to have one's plans 
 upset," I murmured, looking at Miss Lovell, 
 who was gazing out of the other window in a 
 brown study. The mother followed my gaze. 
 
 "Of course it would naturally upset her," 
 she whispered. 
 
 "Naturally," I assented. 
 
 "You know Mr. Alston has told you?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "I understand that he is a fortunate man," 
 I said evasively. 
 
 "This is terrible almost like a blow," the 
 poor lady blurted confidentially. "You see, it 
 was to have taken place to-morrow." 
 
 It flashed upon me what she meant. "The 
 marriage?" I said. She nodded, pursing her 
 lips warningly. "In London. That's why we 
 were going." 
 
 Perhaps she told me this because she imagined 
 me to be a friend of Alston's; perhaps it was 
 only her garrulous nature. She was greatly 
 flustered, and had lost her head. 
 
 "Well, there is still to-morrow," I said reason-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 45 
 
 ingly, as the train moved out slowly. I took off 
 my hat. Mrs. Lovell turned in a flutter to see 
 if everything was in the carriage, and to my 
 salutation only a grave but friendly smile re- 
 sponded over her head. 
 
 I walked out upon the pierhead, and there 
 was my boat two hundred yards away en route 
 for Portsmouth. Well, if I had lost it, it seemed 
 foolish to wait there ; so I took the electric tramway 
 to the town and walked up Union Street. It 
 was a surprise to me that Alston had been to all 
 intents and purposes on his wedding-journey. 
 He had been going to London to be married. I 
 wondered what business might be so pressing, so 
 urgent, as to be excuse for the interruption. It 
 seemed on the first sight of it monstrous, but 
 then as Mrs. Lovell had plaintively observed 
 "business" has a bigger hold in America and on 
 Americans. If Alston were faced with disaster 
 I could perhaps understand his sudden desertion. 
 No doubt it was practical wisdom to clear the 
 way for the train, to have the track ready, as it 
 were. But frankly I could not have left the girl 
 as he had done ; I should have let Rudgwick and 
 Montana go hang together, and steamed equably 
 into Waterloo. 
 
 In the midst of these reflections I reached the 
 door of the Bodega, and entered for a glass of 
 wine. It was vastly better than the refresh-
 
 46 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 ment bar at the station, and less formidable 
 than the coffee-room of a big hotel. I sat at the 
 counter and sipped my sherry, and cocked an 
 eye over some illustrated papers. Presently 
 from the recesses came the tread of advancing 
 feet with corresponding voices. My back was 
 towards the persons and I did not turn ; but out 
 of the tail of an idle eye perceived them as they 
 passed away towards the street door. It was 
 Alston and his friend, or enemy, Rudgwick, and 
 two sentences emerged to me from their talk 
 somewhat louder than the low level of it. One 
 was in Rudgwick' s incisive accents, and seemed 
 to clinch an argument. 
 
 " Well, now, we understand each other, Fordyce, 
 and I reckon it's just as well we had this talk. " 
 
 "I'm agreeable," said Alston, "I'm always 
 ready to stake out a ring, Wilson. " 
 
 On that they drifted out, evidently on terms 
 of reconciliation. It looked as if they had settled 
 their differences over Montana mines, and I 
 should not like to have had to say with which lay 
 the victory. Rudgwick had business graven 
 on every line of his determined face, but perhaps 
 Alston was more diplomatic. He might have 
 imagination, which is, or may be, the secret of 
 success even in business. 
 
 When I was in the Portsmouth boat I had 
 this brought home to me, for Alston crossed with
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 47 
 
 me, much to his gratification. He was very 
 talkative, mainly about Rudgwick. 
 
 "We settled everything," he remarked com- 
 placently. "There was a big canon between us, 
 but we bridged it. There isn't much of a fissure 
 now, though we're on opposite sides, so to 
 speak." 
 
 "Montana?" I inquired. 
 
 He nodded. "Wilson Rudgwick' s clever, but 
 he's not so clever as he thinks or looks. If he 
 sees a thing ahead he's got good eyes and sizes it 
 up. He draws a bead on a distant object as well 
 as any man I know. But it's just got to be there, 
 and that's where he misses things. He can't see 
 what isn't there, and he ought to. What you 
 want is to skin your eyes closer than any other 
 man, and get on the horizon. There's some that 
 can't get away back farther than the foreground, 
 and some can fetch away to the middle distance. 
 But the man that wants to come out on top must 
 be prepared to adjudicate on the horizon every 
 time." 
 
 Thus was the philosophy of business unfolded 
 to me apropos of Montana mines. I was inter- 
 ested, for the point of view and the phrasing of 
 it alike were new to me. 
 
 "Yes, we've fixed up a working arrangement," 
 continued Alston. "And I don't suppose we'll 
 quarrel over that, at any rate, though when it
 
 48 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 comes to the end Rudgwick won't laugh. But 
 it's all right and pleasant now." 
 
 Why then was he going to Portsmouth and 
 London, and not to the Manor House and the 
 distressed ladies? 
 
 You will think that all these questions in my 
 own mind concerning the parties were inspired 
 by undue curiosity, but the fact was that Alston's 
 confidences, together with the coincidences I 
 have already related, practically thrust them 
 upon me. I had to be interested so long as I 
 travelled with these incidents for company. And 
 I was doomed to travel with them longer; but 
 that, I confess, was my own doing. It came 
 about in this way. 
 
 When we reached Portsmouth I lost sight of 
 Alston for a time in the bustle of the station, but 
 saw him presently issuing from the telegraph 
 office. 
 
 "Say, Mr. Kerslake, " he hailed me. "Are 
 you going back to the hotel to-night?" 
 
 Now my luggage had been landed from the 
 steamer, and was already being deposited in the 
 cloak-room in preparation for my departure to 
 London that evening. And I had mapped out 
 for myself a fairly full afternoon. In his pre- 
 occupation with his own affairs Alston had not 
 troubled to inquire about my movements, and 
 it appeared that he thought I was still staying at
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 49 
 
 Bembridge. I hesitated for no earthly reason 
 that I could have told you then, or could analyse 
 now, and he went on quickly: 
 
 "Oh, it's all right. I thought you might be 
 getting back to-night, and I wanted a favour of 
 you. It's these blamed mails of yours. I don't 
 exactly trust them. I've sent a wire, but I 
 wanted a letter to reach to-night. I guess I'll 
 express it off, right away." 
 
 "I'll have it sent," I said. 
 
 I need not have said it, but I knew what the 
 letter was. The telegram had gone to Mrs. Lovell 
 in explanation of his departure; the letter was 
 in full explanation and was addressed to Miss 
 Lovell. 
 
 "No; I won't worry you," he said pleasantly. 
 
 "I'm going back," said I. "I can have it 
 sent this evening." 
 
 Alston did not interest me more than a little, 
 and I did not care two straws about Rudgwick. 
 But I had been tumbled somehow into their 
 affairs, and I could not get out. Frankly I knew 
 what it was. There were several influences at 
 work on me, but I could not but recognise that 
 one was the most powerful. I was interested in 
 Sylvia Lovell, and the eclipse of her dancing 
 eyes. It was a ridiculous thing to abandon all 
 my plans on an impulse, but I have always been 
 of too precipitate a nature for entire worldly
 
 50 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 success. I have always consoled myself by as- 
 suring myself that if I have impetuosity, I have 
 resolution, and do not go back on my impulses. 
 Unhappily analysis comes to precipitate people 
 oftentimes too late, and they see the errors of 
 their course behind them. Yet I have known 
 many advantages arising out of a quick rash mind. 
 I put out my hand. 
 
 "It's real good of you," said Alston, shaking 
 it, as he gave me the letter. "I don't think I'd 
 have time to send it off myself. The train's 
 due to start now. I hope we'll meet again soon, 
 Mr. Kerslake. Goodbye, and I won't forget 
 your kindness." 
 
 He was swept into the train, and I watched it 
 wind out of the station. Then my eyes left it 
 and wandered to the superscription on the en- 
 velope. Contrary to my expectation it was 
 addressed to Mrs. Lovell in a bold and rather 
 formal hand. Then I looked up, and a man was 
 watching me across the platform
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 THE ABDUCTION 
 
 I RETURNED to Ryde after dinner, and took the 
 train to Brading, which was the nearest station to 
 Bessenton Manor. I had "no use," as Alston 
 might have said, for express messengers when I 
 could take the place myself almost en route for 
 Bembridge. I sent forward my bag by rail, and 
 in the gathering twilight climbed the slopes 
 towards the sea. When I had reached Bessenton 
 it was gloaming, and the light lingered only in the 
 open spaces of the garden. To the right of the 
 house was a neat lawn giving on the flower borders 
 which parted it from a tangled orchard, and here 
 I caught a glimpse of a woman's figure. Con- 
 ventionally I should have rapped on the door; 
 what I did was to turn aside upon the sward and 
 approach her. 
 
 " Good evening, Miss Lovell, " said I. "I have 
 a letter for your mother. " 
 
 She had started slightly, and it was a moment 
 ere she replied. 
 
 " Thank you so much. I will take it to her. " 
 
 She reappeared within two minutes, which 
 51
 
 52 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 allowed me to deduce that she had not waited to 
 hear the letter read. 
 
 "Isn't it perfectly charming?" she said. 
 
 " Is the Island your native place? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes; this was my father's house, but " she 
 paused. " He has been dead a long time. " 
 
 I told her how much I admired the situation, 
 and was falling into a pleasant talk, when Mrs. 
 Lovell's voice was heard calling from the house. 
 
 "Sylvia! Sylvia!" she cried, and there was 
 an unusual flutter in it. 
 
 The girl turned her head, and began to walk 
 with due deliberation across the lawn. She must 
 have known that there was news concerning her 
 lover, yet she showed no sign of haste or excite- 
 ment. I accompanied her. 
 
 "Sylvia! he's gone to London; he's gone to 
 get " Then conscious of my presence she 
 stopped. "How kind of you to bring this!" she 
 declared warmly. "We were anxious. The tele- 
 gram didn't Sylvia love, you must read this. " 
 
 She put the letter in her daughter's hand with 
 agitation, which the girl did not exhibit. On the 
 contrary she went slowly into the drawing-room 
 and held the paper to the light. 
 
 "But mother " she looked up, and an 
 expression of dismay crossed her face. She 
 folded the letter, handed it back and with a sudden 
 impulsiveness went out of the room. She had
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 53 
 
 appeared to be on the eve of exhibiting some 
 emotion, and to have gone lest she should betray 
 herself. Her mother watched her anxiously, and 
 turned a care-worn face on me. She had accepted 
 me now outright as Alston's friend who was in 
 his confidence. "She is naturally excited," she 
 explained. " Poor Sylvia ! With these changes 
 You know how it is, Mr. Kerslake. It's it's 
 very upsetting to a girl, of course. I wonder 
 if" 
 
 She fluttered towards the door as if she would 
 follow her daughter, but refrained. "Of course 
 it will be pleasanter that she should be married 
 from her home, much nicer. " 
 
 " Much, " I assented wondering. 
 
 "If we had gone to town it would have been 
 stiff er, and less home-like, if somewhat grander," 
 said the lady. "Whereas at Brading or " she 
 opened the letter again. '"Somewhere in your 
 beautiful island,' " she read. " But it would have 
 to be Brading, of course. That's our parish. 
 Dear me, would it be possible to get married in 
 two days, Mr. Kerslake?" as a fresh doubt 
 assailed her. 
 
 " With a special license, " I explained. 
 
 "Oh, yes, that will be all right then, because 
 he's gone to get that in London, and he'll be back 
 the last train to-morrow night. " 
 
 " He wants the wedding soon? " I asked.
 
 54 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "The following day," she replied, again con- 
 sulting the letter. 
 
 Alston was in a hurry, and it struck me as 
 precipitate. I was not particularly pleased at the 
 prospect, and I thought that the girl was not ; but 
 perhaps it was on the score of her trousseau, or it 
 might have been mere maidenly embarrassment. 
 
 The mother emitted a sigh of relief and smiled. 
 "Americans are quicker than we, aren't they? 
 I suppose they carry their new-fashioned ways 
 even into marriage, and hustle along, as they 
 call it." 
 
 " I gather that Mr. Alston is not the sort of man 
 to lose time at anything, " I remarked casually. 
 
 She might have determined from that statement 
 my unfamiliarity with the American, but she did 
 not. She was a self-concentrated woman with 
 an anxious outlook. 
 
 " It only took him two weeks to get engaged," 
 she said with a smile of one who has triumphed. 
 
 "And he has been engaged?" I queried frankly 
 this time, for I wanted to make a calculation. 
 
 "One week!" she smiled very broadly into my 
 face as if she invited me to tolerate the impetu- 
 ousness of love. 
 
 But instead I made my easy calculation. 
 Alston had arrived in the island three weeks ago ; 
 had proposed to Miss Lovell within a fortnight, 
 and was to be married under the month. It did
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 55 
 
 have the air of impetuousness, but I had not 
 thought Alston was so impetuous as that. 
 
 Mrs. Lovell sat down. " Of course, I need not 
 say I'm relieved it did turn out so," she said 
 confidentially. "Mr. Alston is everything that 
 one could desire in a son-in-law. He is a gentle- 
 man, and has good manners, and he is consider- 
 ation itself. There's something in the attitude of 
 the American man towards women that is very 
 attractive. They're so chivalrous. " 
 
 "They have more manner than we," I agreed. 
 " But I don't know that I could say manners. " 
 
 "Oh, they're charming. And of course it 
 really is a good thing for Sylvia. This old house 
 and " She shrugged her shoulders. " It would 
 have been different had my husband lived. But 
 perhaps it is all for the best. " 
 
 She sighed complacently, while my eyes went to 
 the portrait of a handsome man of middle age 
 that hung over the mantelpiece. It was a jocund 
 face, of rather full habit, with a sparkle in the eye, 
 and a general aspect of resolution. If this were 
 Mr. Lovell, as he lived, I was sure things might 
 have been different, had he lived. The faded 
 gentility of the room and outlook could hardly 
 have subsisted with the presence of that full- 
 blooded man. I seemed to glimpse now the 
 course of this love-affair, and to take a little 
 suspicion of it. I wished that the girl might
 
 56 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 return, when my inquisitive eyes could examine 
 hers with deeper scrutiny. Her emotion had 
 driven her forth, but what emotion? I began to 
 guess, and I thought I was guessing right. Here 
 was a wealthy and an ardent wooer, and on the 
 other hand an anxious and embarrassed mother, 
 and a girl with childish eyes . The solution appeared 
 to be inevitable. The problem had been solved 
 so many hundred times before that it had come to 
 be almost part of nature. And after all I reflected 
 that Alston was not a bad fellow. But Sylvia 
 Lovell did not return, and I took my departure, 
 perhaps a little abruptly. 
 
 I reached Bembridge about ten o'clock, and 
 the first man I saw at the hotel was Rudgwick, 
 Rudgwick smoking a long cigar and drinking 
 a whiskey and soda, Rudgwick with his soft hat 
 tilted over his forehead, plunged in profound 
 meditation. He came out of it forthright, 
 greeting me. 
 
 "That you, Mr. Kerslake?" he said. "Come 
 away here, and keep me company. I thought 
 you'd gone. " 
 
 "I go to-morrow afternoon," said I taking a 
 seat. 
 
 He gave me a steady look in his calculating 
 way. " Well, I can put in a week or two here, I 
 guess, if this weather holds. I'm going to find 
 time to learn golf, which my friend Alston
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 57 
 
 recommends to me as a game to keep your mind 
 off business. It's like whiskey and soda, maybe; 
 you want the soda to mix with the whiskey. " 
 
 "Most golfers would call their holidays mere 
 soda water without golf to inspirit them," I said. 
 
 "Is that so? Well, I'm going to learn, and 
 when Alston comes back he shall give me 
 wrinkles. I suppose he won't be away long. " 
 
 The tone was almost an inquiry, but it might 
 have been a statement only. I answered it as the 
 first. 
 
 "He comes back to-morrow night last train, 
 I believe." 
 
 He nodded. "Then we'll make a start next 
 day." 
 
 I was interfering in these people's affairs, which 
 were none of mine; but they would force them 
 upon my attention. 
 
 "I'm afraid you won't get Mr. Alston's help, 
 that day," I said with a certain bluff ness. "As 
 it's his wedding-day." 
 
 Rudgwick stared me full in the face for half a 
 minute. His expression underwent no change, 
 save for a little squaring of the already square 
 jaws. 
 
 "That so?" he observed at last, "I hadn't a 
 notion it was so near. Fact is, we talked business 
 all along this morning, and hadn't time for mere 
 matrimony. Well, Fordyce is a clever boy and
 
 58 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 a smart. I'm not sure he's so smart as he thinks 
 himself, but he's right down smart. " 
 
 This was so precisely what Alston had said of 
 Rudgwick that the coincidence tickled me. 
 
 "And a very pretty girl, "he added critically. 
 "A real good sample of the old country at her 
 best." I agreed, and Rudgwick finished his 
 whiskey at a gulp and rose. "I'm going to keep 
 early hours on my vacation, " he said. " I'm going 
 to rise fresh as paint every dawn. Say, Fordyce 
 would likely get a special license in London. 
 Business and pleasure combined, eh?" 
 
 The black-hulled schooner lay once more in the 
 offing when I pulled aside the curtains of my 
 bed-room window next morning. The sea was as 
 quiet as a nun, and the sun was already well 
 advanced in a serene heaven, giving promise of 
 great heat. Rudgwick I did not see until late in 
 the morning when he visited the hotel, to which I 
 had just returned from a dip in the sea. He was 
 smoking the usual cigar which he took from the 
 grip of his teeth to chaff me. He had evidently 
 no opinion of our English watering-places, and 
 humourously expatiated on the bathing tents. 
 
 "I'm English by birth," he said, "and I can 
 afford to say it, while Alston can't, you see. 
 That makes the difference between us. I can 
 patronise your scenery, and he can't, at least not 
 with any decency, while he's over here. When he
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 59 
 
 gets along there, he can talk if he likes. You 
 known Fordyce long?" 
 
 "Our acquaintance is two days old, I think," 
 I told him. " We are merely hotel acquaint- 
 ances." 
 
 "Ah!" he nodded, "I thought from what you 
 said as to his marriage you'd know him pretty 
 well." 
 
 "Oh, but you must know that Mr. Alston 
 makes familiarity very easy, " said I curtly. " He 
 has short cuts." 
 
 Rudgwick laughed. "I suppose he has. He 
 talks at any rate, and talk tells one way or the 
 other. But Fordyce's garrulousness is about 
 say, I'd wager that Fordyce didn't specify his 
 marriage to you, Mr. Kerslake. " 
 
 "No," said I stiffly, "not the exact date. I 
 heard it from Mrs. Lovell. " 
 
 " Is she an old friend of yours, by any chance? " 
 he inquired bending his obstinate eyes on me. 
 
 I was annoyed at this cross-questioning by a 
 stranger and answered shortly: "I've known her 
 a day less than I've known Mr. Alston. " 
 
 He seemed to recognise that I resented the 
 inquisition, for he laughed good-humouredly, and 
 pointed to his yacht with his cigar. 
 
 " Pretty boat, Mr. Kerslake. " 
 
 I admitted it, for the schooner was a picture, 
 and had already charmed my sailor's eyes.
 
 60 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " She can show a clean pair of heels to anything 
 her own weight," said the owner proudly. "You 
 come along, Mr. Kerslake, and have a look at her. 
 Say, what's the matter with now? You're going 
 this afternoon, you say? Well, I should like your 
 honest opinion as an expert, what you think of 
 her. What do you say ? ' ' 
 
 "I should like to very much," I answered, for 
 I never can resist a yacht. 
 
 Thus it came about that we were being pulled 
 out to the schooner inside five minutes, and that 
 within ten minutes I was standing on the polished 
 white deck of the Mermaid. 
 
 " My captain, Mr. Jude Bacon, Lieutenant Ker- 
 slake," introduced the proud owner, as a short 
 red-faced man with prominent blue eyes ad- 
 vanced. I looked about me. A sailor was busy 
 with a coil of rope not six paces from me, and 
 turning presented himself fully to me, round of 
 face and puffy, small-eyed and bullet-headed. It 
 was the man who had stared at me in Portsmouth 
 station. 
 
 And on that, as if directed by design, my glance 
 alighted on the man who had pursued me to the 
 Manor House two nights before. Had this 
 second man also followed me? Or had it been 
 Alston ? I was nothing to anyone of that crew. I 
 was to Rudgwick merely a man who was departing 
 at four o'clock out of his life and Alston's. No;
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 61 
 
 if anyone had been watched it was Alston. This 
 man had witnessed Alston's departure to London. 
 Perhaps it was " business " again ; or it might have 
 been sheer coincidence. 
 
 I was soon engaged in an interesting inspection 
 of the schooner which was exhibited to me by 
 Rudgwick with a certain fervour hitherto un- 
 perceived in him. He called this man and that, 
 had details bared for my admiration, and wound 
 up with a chaffing remark regarding the America 
 Cup. The boat was not large, but was skilfully 
 designed to combine elegance with comfort, and 
 I envied the owner, as I told him to his delight. 
 What particularly struck me was the commo- 
 diousnessof the salons and staterooms, which were 
 furnished with all the taste and luxury necessary 
 at the command of a millionaire. In one of the 
 rooms which Rudgwick called his bureau was 
 a man at work at a table. He had dark ruffled 
 hair, streaked with grey, an odd bunched-up face, 
 and bright eyes which he fastened on me momen- 
 tarily as I entered, and then lowered to his papers 
 again. Business was business, I supposed once 
 more, and could not brook interruption even of 
 this transitory character. 
 
 We parted on deck very amicably and with 
 mutual compliments. 
 
 " So you're off at four?" he asked as I got into 
 the boat which was to take me to the shore. "I'm
 
 62 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 glad to have made your acquaintance. Let's see, 
 when is Alston arriving back ? ' ' 
 
 "Last train to-night," I answered. "Please 
 make him my adieux. " 
 
 "I will," he returned, and waved a farewell 
 at me. 
 
 But I did not leave at four for the simple reason 
 that I was enticed into a foursome, and we played 
 till well on in the afternoon ; so that I decided to 
 dine at the hotel and cross later to sleep with a 
 friend at Portsmouth. And when the carriage 
 arrived for myself and my bag I had a sudden 
 inspiration. It was still very hot, but the breath 
 of the downs was cool, and I thought I would 
 drive to Brading by way of Bessenton. It was 
 unconventional, but I thought it would be nice to 
 call on the Lo veils and bid them goodbye. I 
 have no excuse to offer except that well I was 
 interested in Miss Lovell ; that was all. 
 
 When my carriage was skirting the shoulder of 
 the downs I passed a pedestrian, who looked up 
 quickly, stared at me a moment, and then looked 
 away. It was the man I had seen at Portsmouth, 
 and suspected of following Alston. But he did 
 not remain long in my mind, which went forward 
 to greet Sylvia Lovell, the prospective bride of my 
 acquaintance of two days. It was singular how 
 she returned to the memory. In the narrow lane 
 which led up to the Manor House a carriage was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 63 
 
 waiting, the driver idly flicking the hedge with 
 his whip. It was drawn up before no house, and 
 seemed to have no object in its existence. The 
 driver ceased to play with his whip as we passed 
 him and gave us a glance; and I recognised him 
 as the odd-faced man who had been writing in the 
 yacht. I daresay if I had not been so close upon 
 my destination this might have struck me as 
 curious, but I had hardly room to think of co- 
 incidences just then. I was engaged in hoping 
 that my intrusion would not be regarded as a 
 liberty. I did not think Mrs. Lovell would look 
 upon it in that light, being as she was fully under 
 the impression that I was a friend of Alston's, but 
 I was uncertain of her daughter. I did not 
 quite know how to estimate her, and I wanted to 
 know. The glow of the sun was dying in the 
 west as I entered the gate. 
 
 The maid who opened the door informed me that 
 Mrs. Lovell was not in, but went at once to tell 
 her young mistress of my arrival; and presently 
 Sylvia Lovell entered the room in an obvious 
 state of unrest. 
 
 I explained that I had come to make my 
 adieux, and that the carriage was waiting to carry 
 me to the station. 
 
 "My mother," she said, "has gone to Ryde 
 unfortunately. She she will be sorry to have 
 missed you."
 
 64 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I did not know that I was honestly sorry to have 
 missed her ; and I sat down to take advantage of 
 the situation. 
 
 " Are you leaving the Island? " she asked. 
 
 '"Yes. And you?" I asked with a smile. 
 
 She coloured. "Oh, I don't know. I suppose I 
 mean I think Mr. Alston will live in America. He 
 has business there. ' ' She had not the air of a happy 
 bride, and was very nervous in her movements. 
 
 " The great event is to-morrow? " I asked. 
 
 She rose hastily. "I don't know. I I don't 
 think anything is quite settled," she said con- 
 fusedly. She made a feint of opening the window 
 wider. The lawn was fading into the shadows of 
 dusk. For a moment she stood with her back to 
 me, looking forth into the evening, while I 
 admired the graceful lines of her figure; and 
 then she turned. 
 
 "My mother went to meet Mr. Alston," she 
 said. "He telegraphed," and impulsively she 
 put the telegram in my hand. I liked the little 
 impulsiveness ; it betrayed confidence in me, or 
 so I liked to think. I read the telegram. 
 
 " Please meet me eight, hotel Ryde, alone, im- 
 portant. Alston." 
 
 I looked at the office of despatch and found it 
 was Portsmouth. 
 
 "Then Mr. Alston has got back earlier than he 
 expected, " I said.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 65 
 
 But after that burst of impulse she seemed to 
 have reclined on reserve. "I suppose so," she 
 said formally. 
 
 But I too have my impulsive moods, and here 
 was one. 
 
 "Miss Lovell," said I, "I have known Mr. 
 Alston two days and a bit, and I have seen you 
 four times at most. I'm going clean out of your 
 lives within ten minutes, indeed two minutes 
 if you resent, as you well may, what I am say- 
 ing. But but I have eyes, and frankly do you 
 want any help ? Is all quite right ? I am imperti- 
 nent, I know, but I have noticed " 
 
 She had drawn herself together, and gave me a 
 startled look. Then her expression altered, and 
 when she spoke her voice was cold. 
 
 "Thank you. I don't quite understand what 
 you mean. I have no doubt you mean to be 
 kind, but aren't you rather portentous?" 
 
 I was. I felt an ass, and I took my hat. 
 " Forgive me, " said I humbly, " I had no right to 
 address you. I am a foolish person, who tends to 
 build up imaginary structures on the flimsiest 
 foundation. But there, they're in ruins. Good- 
 bye, and may life bring you all happiness ! " 
 
 I got out of the room awkwardly and blundered 
 down the hall, fumbling at the door. Ere I could 
 get it open Miss Lovell had reached it, and turned 
 the handle. She put out her hand, and in the
 
 66 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 dull light I could see her face wholly transfigured. 
 It was alive with feeling. 
 
 "It was good of you. I didn't mean to hurt 
 you," she stammered. "Please remember I am 
 grateful, only it seemed strange. " 
 
 "It was unpardonable," said I with a nervous 
 laugh, and on that the words, "God bless you," 
 ran off my tongue ere I knew it. The next 
 moment I was in the lane and in the carriage. 
 
 " The station ! " I called to the driver in a tumult 
 of confusion and shame, and he whipped up his 
 wiry Island pony, and we rattled down the hill. 
 It was some minutes before I had recovered from 
 my embarrassment, and even then I could not look 
 back on the incident without discomfort. I had 
 violated all the rules and courtesies that bound 
 the mutual relations of acquaintances, and had 
 been put in my place very properly by a slip of a 
 girl. That she had done it so kindly rather 
 aggravated the case, for it would have been less 
 disconcerting to have been bowed out with 
 hauteur. I turned aside for the consideration of 
 my solecism deliberately at last, in the hope of 
 getting into a better frame of mind ; and became 
 conscious of the darkling sky. The lane was in 
 the full leafage of summer, and sunk betwixt 
 high hedges; so that we drove in a deeper night 
 than held the stars overhead. It must have been 
 half way to Brading station that I caught the
 
 'The two vehicles crashed into one another in the narrow lane'
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 67 
 
 sound of an approaching trap, and then suddenly 
 the driver took a corner sharply and the two 
 vehicles crashed into one another in the narrow 
 lane. 
 
 I jumped out at once, for one of the occupants 
 of the other carriage was a lady, as I could see by 
 the dress. Also she had called out in alarm. A 
 man beside her followed my example in descending, 
 and we met between the struggling horses. 
 
 "Now, was that your fault or ours?" he in- 
 quired, and instantly I knew him. It was 
 Alston. Then the lady must be Mrs. Lovell. I 
 revealed myself, but neither repudiated nor 
 accepted responsibility for my driver. No dam- 
 age had been done. We shook hands heartily. 
 
 "Now this is real luck," he said. "Mrs. Lovell, 
 it's Lieutenant Kerslake. " 
 
 "I have just had the misfortune to miss Mrs. 
 Lovell," said I greeting that lady; and I ex- 
 plained where I had been. 
 
 "Ah! "said Alston. 
 
 "Miss Lovell told me you had gone to meet 
 Mr. Alston, " I explained further. 
 
 "Well; that's very interesting, seeing that 
 Mr. Alston didn't think of meeting her," said 
 Alston dryly. ' 
 
 I did not understand, and said nothing. It was 
 the lady who explained volubly. 
 
 "Mr. Alston never sent any telegram. I only
 
 68 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 met him by accident on the pier. He wasn't at 
 the hotel and so I waited there, and then went to 
 the pierhead and accidentally met him. " 
 
 " But I saw the wire, " I said in surprise. 
 
 "That's just what I'm anxious to do," said 
 Alston quickly, "and so if you don't mind we'll get 
 along. Say," he continued as an afterthought, 
 " You staying at Bembridge last night? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Did you see Rudgwick there? " 
 
 " Yes ; I visited his yacht to-day. " 
 
 He was silent a moment, and then his voice had 
 changed. "I don't like this I don't like this wire. 
 See here, Mr. Kerslake, will you come along with 
 us? Can't you stay awhile? Coachman, how 
 long will it take you to get to Bessenton, driving 
 like hell? Come along, Mr. Kerslake. Damn it, 
 I'm not done yet. You come along. There's 
 something in this. I don't like it I don't like 
 it." 
 
 His voice was no longer sleek, but harsh; he 
 had in a moment cast his whole temperament, and 
 now I could see or hear rather, a new Alston, 
 perhaps a Montana Alston of the mining camp. 
 But the new note alarmed me, bringing to a head 
 a host of misgivings and suspicions which I had 
 never really formulated. I could not have gone 
 forward now to Brading if I had tried; and so, 
 hardly troubling to make a formal assent to his
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 69 
 
 proposal, and not questioning further into his 
 motives, I had the carriage turned and followed 
 after him. What he said or what face he showed 
 to his companion during the rest of the journey I 
 do not know. I was occupied on my part with 
 vague fears and above all with a sense of be- 
 wilderment. What did it all mean ? 
 
 When I reached the door Mrs. Lovell and 
 Alston had already preceded me by a few minutes ; 
 and I entered the room to the sound of a woman's 
 shrieks. Mrs. Lovell was on the sofa in a collapse, 
 and Alston stood by her, a frown bitten deep in 
 his brow. He looked up when he heard me. 
 
 "Will you pass the water, Mr. Kerslake, " he 
 asked. " She's hysterical. " 
 
 "What what has happened?" I said anx- 
 iously. 
 
 He threw a glance at me, as he administered 
 the water. 
 
 " Miss Lovell's gone, " said he shortly. 
 
 "Gone! "I echoed. 
 
 " Abducted ! " he said still coolly. 
 
 "Abducted!" I repeated. Abducted! What 
 indeed did it all mean?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 MORNING GLORY 
 
 ALSTON stood looking down on the hysterical 
 woman with pre-occupation and indifference in 
 his eye. It was undoubtedly annoying that 
 Mrs. Lovell should so inconveniently have given 
 way, but it was hardly to be wondered at in a 
 woman of her excitable and anxious temperament. 
 Her daughter abducted! The idea seemed gro- 
 tesque, anachronistic, out of keeping with that 
 quiet rural scenery and those homely shores. 
 
 Alston threw the handkerchief he held on the 
 table. 
 
 "Take charge here like a good man," he said 
 peremptorily, "I've got to make inquiries. " 
 
 He left the room swiftly without awaiting an 
 answer, and I took up the duty of restoring the 
 lady to her senses. She came to by degrees, 
 becoming meekly plaintive and helpless, as 
 though she had exhausted her capacity for feeling 
 in tears. She spoke in a low tone, as if she had 
 been on her death-bed and offering me her last 
 confidences, while I continued to soothe and 
 
 70
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 71 
 
 encourage her with what comforting words I 
 might find. 
 
 " It was too good to be true. I knew it, " she 
 asserted. " Things were going on so well too. I 
 ought to have been warned. But who could have 
 thought of this ? Poor Sylvia stolen ! ' ' 
 
 " There must be some mistake, " said I. " Girls 
 are not abducted in this way. Besides who would 
 doit?" 
 
 "An enemy," she said, raising herself on her 
 arm, and speaking with bated breath. "An 
 enemy of Mr. Alston's. He says he knows. It's 
 a vendetta or something over there. And he's 
 struck at him this way. " 
 
 I was silent pondering. My mind flew in- 
 stantly to Rudgwick. The challenging faces of 
 the two men flashed before me; and then I saw 
 the bloated sailor creeping by the shoulder of the 
 downs in the dusk, and that restless figure in the 
 carriage, with the shock head and sallow face, 
 flicking a whip at the hedge. I wondered, and my 
 wonder deepened into something else, something 
 that was near illumination. Mrs. Lovell's melan- 
 choly voice broke on my thoughts. "It would 
 have been such a good thing for her. We have 
 always known what it was to want. Dear 
 Sylvia only last month was obliged to sell some 
 of her jewellery. I've stood it as long as I could; 
 but the house is expensive, Mr. Kerslake, and
 
 72 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 hard to let out in this lonely place. It isn't as if 
 it was near the sea. And Sylvia liked him so 
 much." 
 
 I saw that, had I wished it, nay even if I had 
 wished it not, the whole story would have been 
 forced into my ears. She was unstrung, she 
 wanted sympathy, and I believe she was vaguely 
 in her own mind offering excuses for herself. She 
 had brought about this match with a wealthy 
 stranger precipitately, and her daughter "liked 
 him so much." She had done it for both their 
 sakes, but I really believe she thought it was 
 more on account of her daughter. 
 
 " It is so hard on a girl, " she explained wearily, 
 " to have no future, no prospect and to be stinted 
 in youth to lack everything. " 
 
 So it is; but the present case of Sylvia Lovell 
 seemed to be even harder, if all was true. Alston 
 entered as abruptly as he had left. 
 
 "That hired girl is about scared to death," he 
 said grimly, " I believe she thinks I'm worse than 
 the marauders. However, I've got most of what 
 I want out of her. You'll see me through this 
 night, Mr. Kerslake? " I nodded. " That's right. 
 Now, we've got no time to lose. Let's get aboard 
 your carriage." 
 
 I was ignorant of many things I should like to 
 have known, but I accepted marching orders 
 without a word, and, leaving Mrs. Lovell mistress
 
 'Alston stood looking uown on the hysterical woman, with 
 pre-occupation and indifference in his eye"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 73 
 
 of herself once more, we set out. She appeared 
 to rest absolutely on Alston, and to take his 
 ultimate success as a matter of course. 
 
 " You will bring her back to me at once, won't 
 you?" she pleaded, and he nodded, with a little 
 smile. 
 
 "Don't you worry any," he advised her. 
 " This is my funeral. " 
 
 It was an odd phrase at that moment, and 
 contrasted in my mind with the marriage which 
 he had anticipated on the morrow. But that 
 night Alston shed every sign and symptom of the 
 sensitiveness with which he usually impressed one. 
 And that was the first time I saw him compara- 
 tively undraped, but not the last, as you shall 
 hear. 
 
 "I can't stick an hysterical woman," he 
 remarked, as we bowled along through the night 
 towards Sandown, and thus dismissed poor Mrs. 
 Lovell. "Say, there's one thing you ought to 
 know, Kerslake, and that's this. You've been 
 good and asked no questions, and made no 
 bother, and handled the sponge and so forth. But 
 I've run up against a snag just here, and if you 
 were sharp as a needle you couldn't put a name 
 on it." 
 
 "I think I could," said I. "Rudgwick!" 
 
 He whistled. " How did you get round there ? " 
 he asked.
 
 74 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " I just put two and two together, " I said. 
 
 In the darkness I felt he was examining me 
 carefully, and added: "Mrs. Lovell said you 
 declared it to be the work of an enemy, and I 
 knew you were at loggerheads with Rudgwick. 
 Besides I saw two of his men up here. " 
 
 "You did?" he asked in some excitement. 
 "Tell." 
 
 "I encountered a sailor from the yacht as I 
 drove up and there was another yacht hand 
 waiting in a carriage within a hundred yards 
 of the house." 
 
 " Now, why in the blazes didn't you say that 
 before? " he cried almost roughly. 
 
 "What bearing had that knowledge on Miss 
 Lovell's disappearance until I had the clue from 
 Mrs. Lovell?" I asked. 
 
 "True," he assented. "You couldn't suspect. 
 No. Well, anyway, you're right. This is Rudg- 
 wick's hand, and I know it. I had more than a 
 fear when I heard about that telegram. That 
 was to get Mrs. Lovell out of the way. The hired 
 girl was negligible. Two men met her at the 
 door, says she, and locked her in a room where we 
 found her. She might have screamed there till 
 daylight without being heard in this solitude. 
 Then there was the carriage you saw. Oh, yes, 
 Rudgwick managed it like clockwork. He's good 
 at machinery, keeps it in good oiled working
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 75 
 
 order. He didn't reckon on any hitch. But as 
 it chanced I caught an earlier train. " 
 
 " Have you any guess where they will be gone? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " They didn't go Brading way, or we should have 
 met them ; and I doubt if they went to Bembridge. 
 We'll have a look at the lane and the wheel-marks 
 when we get to the cross-roads. My idea is 
 Rudgwick's got his yacht off Sandown. That 
 would be nearest. " 
 
 " I should like to know what on earth his object 
 could be in kidnapping a young lady of whom he 
 knows nothing, and what he looks for out of the 
 outrage." 
 
 "Since you're in this tonight with me, you've got 
 a right to know, " said Alston deliberately. " And 
 I'm going to tell you right away. It's not the 
 first time we've run up against each other, Wilson 
 Rudgwick and I. Maybe it won't be the last. 
 But this occasion's the biggest. This Montana 
 deal has gone against him badly, and he knows it 
 for all his show of indifference. It's got between 
 the joints of his armour, and he feels pretty bad. 
 Last thing he did was to make me an offer yester- 
 day. I don't say that in its way it wasn't a 
 liberal sort of offer. But as it happens I hold the 
 cards, and I'm not going about Wall Street for the 
 sake of philanthropy. So I declined his generous 
 terms, and he's laid for me another way. "
 
 76 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "But Miss Lovell " I said, and then jumped 
 at what he was hinting. "You mean she's a 
 hostage?" 
 
 " Precisely, " he assented. " Sylvia won't come 
 by any harm ; it's me that's meant to suffer. " 
 
 "But it is monstrous," I protested. "People 
 don't do these things. " 
 
 "Don't they?" he retorted^quite complacently. 
 "Paul Jones wasn't much of a pirate compared 
 with Wilson Rudgwick when he's on the loose end 
 of a business deal. He wants me to give terms; 
 but I will see him and hear him sizzling on the 
 gridiron below before I call a truce. He's run up 
 against something harder than a brick wall this 
 time." 
 
 This broke from him with a certain grossness of 
 accent, and yet with a forcefulness which could not 
 but impress one. Out of the sweet and sleek the 
 strong seemed that night to have emerged. I had 
 an increased respect for Herbert Fordyce Alston 
 but I do not know that my fancy for him was 
 augmented. 
 
 At the cross-roads we pulled up, and with the 
 aid of matches made an examination of the road. 
 The marks were unintelligible to me, but my 
 companion seemed satisfied with his inspection. 
 He announced that Sandown was our destination, 
 and we resumed our journey which was now down 
 hill in silence, and at an accelerated pace. I was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 77 
 
 occupied by my own thoughts which were miscel- 
 laneous and curiously mixed, while on his part I 
 have no doubt Alston was similarly engaged. 
 After all he had lost a bride, though at present I 
 was inclined to underestimate the situation. I 
 could not bring myself to regard the incident as so 
 serious as it seemed to him, for all his outward 
 coolness. Things did not happen that way, at 
 least in England, and bluff (I flattered myself) 
 did not "go down" in my country, as possibly it 
 did in America. I was in fact a little conventional 
 in my outlook, as I see now, not realising the 
 formidable possibilities of human life and human 
 nature under unusual stress. Well, I was to be 
 enlightened later. 
 
 It was quite dark by the time we reached 
 Sandown, and our horse was more than a little 
 blown. However he was destined to enjoy a rest, 
 for our enquiries took up some time. At length 
 we found a coastguardsman who told us what we 
 wanted and Alston threw up the sponge. That 
 is, he acknowledged his defeat in the first round. 
 The black-hulled schooner had been off shore most 
 of the afternoon, and our informant had descried 
 her setting sail an hour since. "She's heading 
 down channel, " he concluded. 
 
 Alston was quite quiet. He made no comment 
 on the information, but thanked the man and 
 turned about.
 
 78 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "That's first blood to Wilson," said he cheer- 
 fully. " Now if you'll act bottle-holder, my dear 
 Sir, you'll witness a pretty bout. I've not had a 
 spar for some time and I'll take off my coat to 
 this. " He whistled a stave of a popular tune, but 
 his brow was contracted in thought. We walked 
 up towards the hotel where we had left the 
 carriage, and as we entered the yard a boy 
 emerged from the darkness and accosted us. 
 
 "Name o' Alston?" he inquired in an official 
 voice. 
 
 "That's so," said my companion, scrutinising 
 him. 
 
 Without a word the boy put a letter in his hands 
 and walked away. A light from the yard lamp 
 fell on it. 
 
 "Rudgwick, Great Scott!" ejaculated Alston, 
 and broke the seal. 
 
 I did not wait; the boy was slipping into the 
 night; and I followed him. He turned into the 
 dark street and went along at a good pace, clearly 
 reckless of pursuit. The urchin was innocent 
 enough of his mission, but he had been used as an 
 unconscious pawn on one side, and he might be 
 useful in the same way on the other. I kept him 
 in sight down the street to the door of the big 
 hotel. He wore no postal badge or dress, and 
 hence he must be a private messenger. I entered 
 the hotel after him, and he passed along the
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 79 
 
 corridors into the billiard room. In the door was 
 a little glass plate inserted so as to give a view of 
 the nearest table from without, and so avoid the 
 risk of spoiling a stroke by rough or hasty entrance 
 I glanced through it, and saw the boy cross the 
 room to a divan on which some men were seated. 
 One of them was the man with tumbled iron-grey 
 hair I had seen first on the yacht, and then in the 
 carriage by Bessenton. I wanted to see no more 
 for the present. Indeed I was curious to learn 
 what communication Rudgwick had made, but I 
 had to discover one thing ere I left. 
 
 I stopped at the inquiry office, and put some 
 questions. I found that there was no chance of 
 getting to London that night, and secondly I got 
 the hour of the departure of the earliest train and 
 boat from Ryde. I was on the point of leaving 
 when an idea struck me, and I paused. 
 
 "By the way could you tell me if an American 
 gentleman named Mr. Wilson Rudgwick is staying 
 here?" 
 
 The clerk considered, and shook his head. " No 
 Sir no one of that name. " 
 
 "Are you sure?" I asked. "I understood for 
 certain he was to be here. It's most disappointing. 
 Are you quite certain ? An American gentleman ?' ' 
 
 The clerk turned over the leaves of his book. 
 "There's only one American gentleman here," he 
 said. "Mr. Nathaniel Butterfield." I shook my
 
 8o THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 head. " Arrived to-day, " he added. I shook my 
 head again, thanked him, and went out. I 
 thought I had found my sallow friend's name. 
 
 Alston was awaiting me when I reached the 
 stables, but he did not offer to show me the letter. 
 He was showing a little more irritation than he 
 confessed to, and his previous attitude would have 
 advertised. In fact I inferred that he was 
 suppressing a good deal of his feelings by an effort. 
 
 "I got Wilson's back kick," he remarked in a 
 tone that struggled gallantly to be philosophical. 
 " He sends his compliments. Well the laugh's on 
 me now. Let him enjoy the performance. I 
 don't mind. This comedy's going to run a 
 considerable time, and the first act's not the most 
 important. I guess the racket comes in the third, 
 don't it?" 
 
 It was a way of talking, but I could not help 
 reflecting that his mind seemed to be more 
 concerned with the defeat of Rudgwick than with 
 the loss of his lady-love. 
 
 " Does he confess to his outrage? " I asked. 
 
 " Well, he says Q. E. F. and that's the same 
 thing. He quotes a bit of poetry. It's the only 
 piece Wilson ever knew or heard of. I reckon 
 he'll have to learn the 'Elegy in a Country Church- 
 yard ' when I've done with him. " 
 
 He laughed as he mounted into the carriage, 
 but I was silent. Somehow I did not tell him of
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 81 
 
 my discovery, and I spoke very little all the way 
 back to the manorhouse; while Alston on the 
 contrary talked a good deal, and talked, I could 
 not help thinking, with a touch of swagger. But 
 swagger is justified always by the qualities behind 
 it, and Alston impressed me with a sense of his 
 personality. 
 
 It was arranged that I should stay the night at 
 the manorhouse, for I was now fully committed to 
 the quest; and though I said nothing of it I was 
 the less disinclined to join Alston through feeling 
 that inadvertently I had provided Rudgwick with 
 the information which enabled him to carry out 
 his plot. I was in that sense an unconscious 
 party to the abduction; since it was arranged to 
 happen during Alston's absence. Moreover, I 
 had communicated the news of the impending 
 marriage which had probably stirred him to 
 sudden action. It was preposterous that a bride 
 should thus be held to ransom, as it were, but 
 there was no other interpretation of the seizure 
 possible. Alston was anxious that I should help 
 him, as I could see from his return from the stark 
 nakedness of primitive passions and his visions of 
 revenge to his affable and polished manner. And 
 he was sensibly affected when I consented. 
 
 " I'll see you through if I can, " I said. " But 
 of course if you get the police on " 
 
 "No; that doesn't go," said he thoughtfully.
 
 82 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " Rudgwick's cleared out somewhere, and he and 
 I'll settle this deal ourselves. We don't want to 
 advertise our quarrel, nor for the matter of that 
 bring Miss Lo veil's name into it. Not but what, " 
 he added with a smile, " it would be a clean scoop 
 for a newspaper. Our reporters out there would 
 give their heads for five columns of this stuff. It 
 would make a fine story, eh ? " 
 
 " Then, " said I, " what do you propose? " 
 
 " I want a boat," said he quickly, "and I want 
 a crew, and that's why I want you, lieutenant." 
 I reflected. "There's plenty of money," he 
 added significantly. 
 
 I nodded. "That was not in my mind. It 
 seems to me you're asking for a pursuit. You 
 want the Mermaid followed and brought up?" 
 
 "I do," said he, helping himself to a finger of 
 whiskey; for this conversation took place in the 
 manorhouse, after Mrs. Lovell had retired, grief- 
 stricken and bewildered to her room. 
 
 "Then what do you expect?" I inquired. 
 "Mind you, I'm prepared to go with you, but I 
 want the ground cleared now. " 
 
 "You're right, Mr. Kerslake," said he. "I 
 should prefer it cleared, and I'm going to clear it. 
 I want a boat and crew for emergencies that may 
 arise any emergencies, see? " 
 
 I thought I saw, and I thought I knew my crew 
 and my boat.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 83 
 
 " You'll fight to a finish ? " I asked, " rather than 
 call in authorities ? " 
 
 "Who in the devil can I call in? Where is 
 Rudgwick?" he demanded. "As far as I know 
 there's no sea-police. Let's suppose Wilson has 
 a fancy for Java or the Canaries. Who's to stop 
 him? Why me, and me only. I can't ask His 
 Britannic Majesty's cruiser to start out, can I?" 
 
 " There are processes " I began. 
 
 "Now, see here, Kerslake," he interrupted. 
 " I want to work this off on my own, partly for 
 reasons I've given you, and partly because I 
 believe I can manage it with greater facility and 
 celerity. I'm not afraid of being beat if you'll 
 fulfil your part of the bargain. " 
 
 "Very well," said I. "I understand. You 
 shall have ship and crew by to-morrow evening. " 
 
 "Good man!" said he pleasantly, "and now 
 have another whiskey. " 
 
 I refused, but accepted a cigar, and he took one 
 himself. There were no matches in the room, and 
 after a futile hunt for a box in his pockets he 
 produced from them a slip of paper and twisted 
 it into a spill. This he lit at the lamp and so got 
 a light for my cigar and his, subsequently knocking 
 out the flame on his boot. 
 
 " By the way, " said I at that moment, " do you 
 know anyone called Nathaniel Butterfield? " 
 
 I asked on the impulse, though I had not told
 
 84 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 him my story, of the messenger boy, and he 
 looked up at me suddenly with interrogating eyes. 
 
 "Why so? "he asked. 
 
 "Because I think he's a man employed by 
 Rudgwick, " I answered. 
 
 "You're right," he replied. "He's Wilson's 
 confidential man; he's Wilson's secretary. He 
 knows more about Wilson than any other score of 
 men put together. " 
 
 That was satisfactory ; for if I had my hands on 
 Butterfield, perhaps I should be able to put my 
 hands on Rudgwick also. I smiled to myself, but I 
 said nothing. It was my secret, to be revealed in the 
 fullness of time, and I would keep it as a surprise. 
 
 In that June season the night was shrunk to its 
 smallest dimensions, so as to have become but a 
 transitory patch of darkness occluded between 
 twilight and dawn. The punctual sun called me 
 through the open window from which the curtains 
 had lapsed, and I rose in the dews of the morning 
 and looked forth across the lawn. The house was 
 silent about me, but the garden was in full song, 
 and magical with music. Ever so many voices 
 mingled in that choir. I heard under all the low 
 cadences of the blackbird, and through them the 
 song-thrush facile and melodious, the jocund flow 
 of the wren, the chaffinch at his matins and the 
 delicate lute of the willow-warbler. The sym- 
 phony echoed from the walls of my room em-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 85 
 
 phasising thus the deathly stillness of the house. 
 At the foot of the lawn the garden-plots began, and 
 beyond the sun twinkled like gold on the young 
 green of early summer. It was a morning to 
 breathe romance into one ; and of a sudden I took 
 fire out of the freshness and the glory of it. 
 Within my heart was a swift insurgence of feeling, 
 and I thrilled with the commotion of it from head 
 to foot. I knew now. My eyes were opened 
 precipitately. It had come upon me in a tide as I 
 stood at the window. It was not idle curiosity 
 that had kept me in the Island and about those 
 scenes, when I should have been in London; nor 
 was it mere human compassion for someone who 
 had seemed unhappy. No; the solution was 
 simpler than either of these explanations. Sylvia 
 Lovell herself explained it. I loved her. 
 
 As I stood there I could in my mind's eye see her 
 upon the lawn dabbled with those early dews, 
 sweet as roses and bright with beauty. She had 
 a natural gaiety, revealed in the open generosity of 
 her fine eyes, but that had suffered eclipse during 
 the strange operations of the last few days. But 
 I had a picture of her blossoming under the 
 warmth of happiness into that lovely smiling 
 flower she represented to me. But the rub was 
 there. She had been wantonly abducted as a 
 pawn in the game two speculators were playing. 
 It was monstrous; it was unutterable; and my
 
 86 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 heart flooded with fury. She did not love this 
 man, but he was evidently genuinely attached to 
 her. Why else should he have engaged himself to 
 a penniless girl ? It was her wonderful beauty to 
 which the cool business-like American had fallen 
 a victim. But she was not for him. She did not 
 love him. She was a child in spirit and all but 
 years, and it was I that should teach her what 
 life meant. That exquisite bud should open to me 
 and for me. I descended into the dark house and 
 opened the French windows that gave on the 
 lawn. The light streamed into the room, daz- 
 zlingly. I walked forth. How oddly composed 
 was this man Alston, that he could contain him- 
 self so wonderfully in the midst of his bereavement. 
 But then he knew his enemy. And yet it was not 
 so that I could have loved and shown my love. I 
 would not have sat and smoked my cigar with the 
 knowledge that my love was prisoner going out 
 with the tide for an unknown destination. As I 
 thought on it now, I grew infuriate. 
 
 I could conceive her now newly risen crossing 
 the lawn to meet me, who had watched under her 
 windows and called her forth with my voice. She 
 advanced smiling, that flower of youth, that 
 opening bud. The glory of the morning sang in 
 my ears with the voices of the birds. Morning 
 Glory! Sylvia was my morning glory. She 
 would abide with me.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 87 
 
 At the bottom of the lawn a pretty little pergola 
 was covered with clusters of noisette roses, and 
 honeysuckle, and I plucked a nosegay. Had it 
 not been tended by Sylvia's hands ? I set it in my 
 buttonhole, and as I did so my eye was caught by 
 something. It was but a trifle, but I think I was 
 inordinately excited, and so supremely alive to 
 ideas and impressions. My brain worked like an 
 engine running free, and my heart beat in a 
 tumult. At the foot of the pillars of the pergola 
 were thin and climbing tendrils. They had put up 
 from the earth a few inches, almost as if they had 
 grown overnight, or sprung up in that dewy dawn. 
 They were the first shoots of the convolvulus- 
 woodbine, they call it; but to me it is always 
 Morning Glory. There was to my mind something 
 prophetic, something encouraging in that co- 
 incidence. The Morning Glory had grown in the 
 night. It reminded me of those wonderful fairy 
 tales in which the blood or body of the unhappy 
 princess springs in an hour into flower, and thus 
 keeps watch and ward. My princess was not 
 dead, but she was gone, and here was her flower 
 just dawned. When the bloom of the Morning 
 Glory opened that flower of mine would open to 
 me. I vowed on the lawn and amid the love- 
 songs of the birds that she should. 
 
 When I reached the house silence still held it, 
 and I looked round the room, which displayed all
 
 88 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 the signs of discomfort characteristic of an 
 unswept chamber in the morning. It was dis- 
 covered by the sun in its undress, and seemed to 
 wince and be ashamed. In the fire-place were the 
 ashes of cigars, and the half burned matches. A 
 twisted piece of paper caught my attention, and, 
 almost with an instinct for tidiness, I stooped and 
 picked it up. I was full of my thoughts that went 
 straying far into the future as I did so, and I was 
 not aware that I was smoothing out the spill. 
 When I discovered the fact I realised that it was 
 the message from Rudgwick which Alston had 
 thrown charred into the grate. It was only brief, 
 and half was consumed, but my eye gathered an 
 impression of it instantaneously. The hand was 
 big and sprawling. The fragment ran 
 
 Reckon I caught you napping, Fordyce 
 
 haven't broke the ring. We staked it out 
 
 observe the pegs same as me 
 
 // you can get home on me Pm not complaining .... 
 
 Well, it was no longer Alston he had to face, 
 this confident millionaire ; he had to deal with me, 
 and if Alston did not "get home," I was in that 
 hour of exultation confident that Willoughby 
 Kerslake would. And as for his ring that had 
 nothing to do with me ; for, thank Heaven, I was 
 neither a pork-packer nor a speculator in Montana 
 mines.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE CHASE 
 
 I LEFT the manorhouse before Alston was up, 
 and was amazed that he took his sleep so securely. 
 His nature was as yet beyond my comprehension ; 
 it comprised so many incongruous elements. I 
 gave the frightened and inquisitive maid a note 
 for him, to the effect that I had gone to engage 
 a yacht and a crew; but really I had other fish 
 to fry. I made at once for Sandown, reaching 
 that town by breakfast time, and I chose an 
 hotel for my meal other than that which har- 
 boured Mr. Nathaniel Butterfield. I need not 
 say that I was not long delayed by my appetite, 
 and immediately went to the station, taking up 
 in the waiting-room a position of vantage. If 
 Butterfield was to rejoin his chief, I was assured 
 it would be through some other port of departure 
 than Sandown. It was unlikely that he would 
 use a yacht to follow up the Mermaid; and the 
 chances were all in favour of his meeting the 
 party at some point of call. Hence I waited, if 
 with some misgivings, in my lair. 
 
 My assumption was justified by events, for it 
 needed but five minutes to the departure of the 
 
 8 9
 
 90 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 train when I recognised the man walking briskly 
 up the platform. He carried a small handbag, 
 and whistled as he went, seemingly well pleased 
 with himself. I watched him into a first class 
 carriage, and then myself got into the next com- 
 partment, so as to keep him well under my nose. 
 At Ryde he embarked on the boat with the same 
 airy indifference and, so far as I could see, never 
 had a suspicion that he was followed. He read a 
 paper with absorption in the carriage of the 
 London train until it started, and again I managed 
 to enter by the next door without being perceived, 
 after I had sent an urgent telegram to a marine 
 dealer of my acquaintance at Southsea. Present- 
 ly we were aboard together en route for London. 
 At Waterloo station I ducked successfully into 
 the crowd on the platform and thus evaded 
 notice, keeping all the while my quarry within 
 eyeshot. There was no reason in the world why 
 he should suppose he was followed, and conse- 
 quently his movements were overt and unsus- 
 picious, and I went in his wake to a restaurant 
 in the Strand, where I established myself at a 
 table not very far away. I had a view of his 
 face in profile as he ate and read a newspaper, 
 and now I examined it with some care. It was 
 heavy-browed, thickly lined and pallid, and it was 
 almost out of drawing about a knob of a nose. 
 His shock of greying hair came across his fore-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 91 
 
 head, and his small eyes peeped sharply from 
 under eyebrows that hardly existed. He had the 
 air of a man ready and expectant, and darted 
 glances swiftly at people who came and went. 
 Apparently he decided instantaneously concerning 
 them, for his eyes invariably came back to his 
 paper. But it gave me the impression of a 
 certain inquisitive and alert habit of mind. His 
 actions too were alert and almost unexpected; 
 for suddenly he called the waiter, paid his bill 
 and rose, as if he had remembered an appoint- 
 ment. He came sharply down between the 
 tables, and his eye encountered mine. 
 
 There was recognition in his face, and I took 
 my decision at once. I stared hard, rose, and 
 advanced a step. He came to a pause. 
 
 "I think" I began tentatively fluttering and 
 civil. " Don't I know your face? I'm sure " 
 
 He grinned. "I saw you aboard a yacht the 
 other day," said he. "But I guess you don't 
 know me. It was Mr. Wilson Rudgwick's boat." 
 
 He knew nothing then, he suspected nothing. 
 My ruse of half-remembering him would have 
 laid any doubts if he had had them. 
 
 "I'm sorry," said I apologising. "But your 
 face seemed somehow familiar. I suppose it 
 isn't a face one forgets. How is Mr. Rudgwick? " 
 
 He sat down in an empty chair, and now I 
 saw that his eyes were pleasant in their smile.
 
 92 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "He's just all right," he answered. "I reckon 
 he's going to enjoy himself over here." 
 
 "We're rapidly becoming your playground," 
 I said. 
 
 "Well, this London's grand, real grand, though 
 it's a bit behind the times. Those omnibuses 
 now, running outside, I like 'em, but then I 
 don't do business here. I guess they stand for 
 London all through. I like London for pleas- 
 ure." 
 
 "Making a long stay?" I queried. 
 
 He looked down his nose, "Leaving to-day 
 returning to-morrow, so to speak. I'll hang on 
 to London when I can, while I can." 
 
 "I hope you'll enjoy yourself," said I. He 
 was evidently not communicative, and my tone 
 marked the end of civil exchanges. He got up, 
 and with a somewhat formal but rapid salutation 
 left me. Now that he had recognised me it was 
 impossible that I should allow him to do so again. 
 I hurriedly paid my bill and hastened into the 
 street. My man was getting into a cab, and I 
 called another. 
 
 "Follow that cab," I said, "and find out 
 where that gentleman goes. If you bring me 
 precise and exact information it's a guinea for 
 you. I'll be here." 
 
 He whipped up and drove off into the whirl- 
 pool of the Strand almost ere I had done speaking,
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 93 
 
 and I returned into the restaurant and sat down 
 near the door, keeping an eye on the brilliant 
 street. The cabman pulled up before the door 
 a little over an hour later, and we were soon in 
 colloquy. He was a businesslike fellow. 
 
 "Followed the gent, Sir, to a barber's shop, 
 where he keeps his cab waiting. Then he was 
 off to a perfumer's where he stopped a bit. 
 Then he drove off to Waterloo and landed." 
 
 "And then you lost him?" said I. 
 
 " Beggin' your pardon, no, Sir," said the driver 
 with triumph. " I just put the cab on the rank 
 in the 'ands of a friend o' mine, and run in after 
 'im. I follered 'im to the bookin' office second 
 platform, and run agen' 'im, so to speak. He 
 took a ticket for Marlow. " 
 
 "Marlow!" I echoed. Marlow! What did 
 my American friend want on the river? Besides 
 Marlow was reached from Paddington not Water- 
 loo? Was it stay, Marlow! surely I had a 
 flash of inspiration. St. Malo! 
 
 Southampton was the point of departure for 
 the little French port. 
 
 I gave the cabman his guinea, and jumped into 
 his cab. "Waterloo," said I. 
 
 I caught the next train back to Portsmouth, 
 interviewed my marine dealer, and before I had 
 reached Bessenton Manor that evening I had 
 engaged boat and men to man her.
 
 94 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Alston met me with some impatience in his 
 manner, as if he were of the opinion that I had 
 been unduly dawdling, but he was vastly too 
 polite a man to break out in speech. 
 
 "Say, Mr. Kerslake," was his remark. "When 
 do you reckon we can be getting?" 
 
 I pulled out my watch and glanced at 
 it. "The boat I have engaged and commis- 
 sioned will be off Bembridge at nine o'clock 
 to-night. I was going to suggest that we should 
 drive there at once. We shall meet her coming 
 in." 
 
 "Bully!" said he, "you're a smart man," 
 and turned at once to give his instructions. 
 
 He took command of the hopeless house nat- 
 urally and without bustle. Mrs. Lovell under 
 the pressure of his quiet influence regained com- 
 posure and almost confidence. She leaned on 
 him again as she had grown to do in the past 
 fortnight. But I do not think either of us paid 
 her much attention beyond ceremonious polite- 
 ness. Our object was to get off, and I breathed 
 more freely when this was accomplished; and as 
 we bowled along by the shoulder of the downs, 
 on which I had first seen Sylvia Lovell, Alston 
 surprised me by emerging from the authoritative 
 air which had surrounded him so far, and saying 
 to me mildly, 
 
 "And now, Kerslake, I've got time to listen.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 95 
 
 What's your news? You know something. Get 
 ahead." 
 
 "How do you guess that?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, well," says he, lighting a cigar. "I've 
 played poker, and I'm a speculator. I'm nothing 
 if not a gambler, and it's my business to read 
 faces. If I can't get hold of the ledger I try my 
 hand with the blotting-paper." 
 
 "You're right," said I. "Rudgwick's in 
 France, and we're trimming our sails for St. Malo." 
 
 "Huh!" said he, and was silent a minute; and 
 then, "Perhaps you'll be good enough to empty 
 the basket." 
 
 And then I told him of Butterfield, and of my 
 recognition at Sandown, and of my pursuit in 
 London. He squeezed my arm in a large and 
 friendly grasp. 
 
 "They told me the British Navy was the 
 smartest institution over here," said he, "and 
 by the Day of Judgment I begin to believe it. 
 That was pretty cute of you, and you can hold 
 your tongue." 
 
 I felt he was inspecting me thoughtfully in the 
 twilight. 
 
 " Now the first time I got a real notion of you, " 
 he went on, "was when you tripped up that man 
 of Rudgwick's. I fastened on to you then as a 
 good man. It was neat and smart and imagi- 
 native. There are no flies on you, Mr. Kerslake. "
 
 96 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I told him I felt complimented, but I had not 
 given him all my news, nor did I intend to do 
 so just then. 
 
 The boat was lying in the roads when we got 
 to Bembridge, and we went aboard without delay. 
 She was yawl-rigged, and of fifty tons burden, 
 and carried a crew of six hands, excluding her 
 master, McCulloch. I had him on the best recom- 
 mendation, as a thorough sailor, which he gave 
 evidence of being from the outset. He had 
 reached Bembridge inside his time, and the boat 
 was as clean and smart as a man o' war. She 
 had too a capable air, which McCulloch bore out 
 from his account of her. 
 
 "She slipped across," he said. "She'll go 
 down the Channel with greased heels to-night." 
 
 "Good," said Alston. "Excellent, Mr. Mc- 
 Culloch. And if you're agreeable we'll go right 
 away." 
 
 "Oh, I'm all right," said the skipper bluffly. 
 "We're fit for a fortnight's cruise, if you want 
 it;" and then when Alston was gone he turned 
 to me. "I want to know where I stand, Mr. 
 Kerslake. Am I to take orders from this gentle- 
 man, same as from you?" 
 
 A bluff blond-bearded man of five and thirty 
 he confronted me with eyes in which nothing but 
 cold constancy was legible. 
 
 "Oh yes, said I. We're partners."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 97 
 
 1 "That's all right," he declared, and dismissed 
 the subject promptly and decisively. 
 
 For that was what I had kept from Alston. 
 I was not joining this expedition to rescue a wife 
 for him, as he should know all in good time, 
 though it would be a fair field and no favour 
 between us. And so the yawl was not his affair, 
 but mine, though I was content that he should 
 unite forces with me in our first and common 
 object to save Sylvia Lovell from this mon- 
 strous trans-Atlantic abduction. 
 
 And when we had set sail, Alston returned on 
 deck to find me communing with myself on this 
 point. A short, blue-eyed sailor had the wheel 
 and on the topsail behind him was a lifebuoy, 
 with the name of the yawl " Esperance. " 
 
 The colour was new and Alston's eyes fastened 
 on it. 
 
 "Say, we've a scunner of a name here, 
 Kerslake, " he said. "We got to live up to 
 this." 
 
 "Yes, " I assented. Had I dared I would have 
 styled her Sylvia, but no, there was in her present 
 name some special and private meaning for me 
 alone. It was my yacht, and she carried my 
 secret in her name. 
 
 We footed it down the Channel very easily, 
 the yawl dancing on a broken sea, with a little 
 wind from the south; and as the stars came out
 
 98 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 in a clear sky a sense of expectancy and romance 
 grew in my heart. 
 
 " Butterfield, " said Alston, who had been 
 silent for some time, "would get to St. Malo 
 to-night." 
 
 "He's probably there now," said I. 
 
 "Where does that bring us in?" he asked. 
 
 "The Lord knows," I answered shortly. 
 "We've discovered his base that's all. We'll 
 give him a run." 
 
 He was silent a moment, and then lit a cigar 
 which glowed in the darkness. " This is an inter- 
 esting country of yours," said he with what 
 seemed to me irrelevance. "It's full of contra- 
 dictions. Now over with us, what you call your 
 gentlemen are the only folk with manners ; while 
 here seems to me all the gentlemen are the only 
 folk without 'em." 
 
 "Yes, we've rubbed off all the polish by this 
 twentieth century," I replied with some amuse- 
 ment at his naivete of address. "But you see 
 frankness has its advantages over ceremonious- 
 ness. " 
 
 "Well, yes." He did not see my counter, or 
 at least did not appear to see it. "I reckon 
 there's a time for bluntness, and bluntness and 
 sharpness are the same thing oddly enough." 
 
 "We're too pressed for time to be polite," I 
 said.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 99 
 
 "We're generally considered to be more in a 
 hurry than you, yet we manage it," he retorted. 
 
 I laughed. "I yield," I said. "But I don't 
 always know what that politeness means, and 
 after all it may cover something." He threw 
 me a look. "It may mask a battery." 
 
 "Oh, yes," he agreed amiably. "That's in 
 the game, and now, Mr. Kerslake, its time we 
 talked business. What about this yawl?" 
 
 "You mean the terms?" I asked, for I was 
 expecting this. 
 
 "Yes. I suppose the sum is tidy?" 
 
 "The terms are fair," I replied after a pause, 
 and I told him what they were. 
 
 He nodded. " I don't mind that. That's all 
 right. Well, if you'll tell me what you're out of 
 pocket by this and fixing things up, I'll draw 
 you a cheque. And I'll stand handsomely in- 
 debted to you all the same." 
 
 " There are no expenses, " I said. " Pay at the 
 end. We've got her for a fortnight, which can 
 be extended, and we pay hands that's all at 
 present." 
 
 "It's not my notion of business," he com- 
 mented. " But if your people are content to do 
 it that way, why I won't raise any objections, 
 and I'm still your humble servant, Mr. Ker- 
 slake." 
 . "Oh, I like sport," I said awkwardly, "and
 
 ioo THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I've, never chased a slaver before. It's putting 
 back the clock." 
 
 "Yes, it has an antique look," he agreed. 
 "Anyway, you oblige me greatly, and if we can 
 come up with Rudgwick I'll be up to my neck 
 in gratitude." 
 
 "Supposing," said I, "that we do find him, 
 what is your plan of campaign?" That was a 
 point which had never been discussed between 
 us in the bustle of our departure. But of course 
 it must be determined. His cigar was a circle 
 of red fire before me in the night. 
 
 "Well," he said with unusual deliberation, 
 "I've got a notion." 
 
 "Legal operations?" I inquired. 
 
 Again he was deliberate. "I don't fancy so. 
 You see, it would take time to move the machinery 
 in France, and maybe Wilson would have skipped. 
 But I've a notion and I'm working it out." 
 
 " There's only the one alternative, " I remarked, 
 "unless Rudgwick surrenders at discretion." 
 
 "He won't do that," said Alston. "Wilson 
 won't do that. He's in for a fight, and he rather 
 likes a fight. He's been fighting all his life, and 
 now he's on top he'll keep on fighting out of mere 
 habit." 
 
 "Then," said I, "this looks like a conflict." 
 
 "You may put it at that, " replied Alston com- 
 placently. "It's a real campaign, and I guess
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 101 
 
 there's going to be real fighting. But I haven't 
 settled the details. I've a notion, and that's all." 
 
 Was he speaking metaphorically? Or did he 
 refer to actual war? I did not know, nor did I 
 in that hour of exaltation greatly care. I was 
 in for an adventure and one highly seasoned with 
 romance. And so the Esperance travelled pleas- 
 antly through the night for Cherbourg. 
 
 We reached the port early in the morning and 
 arrived by train at St. Malo some hours later 
 and at once set inquiries on foot. But we could 
 hear of no yacht in the neighborhood, and so 
 we came to the conclusion that Butterfield must 
 have designed to pick up the Mermaid at another 
 point. It was just possible, but not likely, that 
 he was in the town awaiting the arrival of the 
 yacht, but that would reveal confidence in his 
 position which Rudgwick would not be justified 
 in assuming. We talked the situation over. 
 
 "Well," said Alston with his friendly smile. 
 "Lost the trail? You didn't hear enough in 
 London. That cabman of yours should have 
 gone down with Butterfield." 
 
 This, as I had gathered, was his inveterate 
 habit, to throw the onus amiably on another's 
 shoulders, mitigating this investment with respon- 
 sibility by his smile. I did not refuse the respon- 
 sibility. He moved too largely for me, and I 
 was not at all certain I knew him. I was there
 
 102 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 merely to play the part of head-clerk (unpaid) 
 to a business man. 
 
 " In a small place like this we can pick up the 
 trail," I said. "He does not know he is being 
 followed. He would move openly. There's the 
 railway station." 
 
 He nodded. "We'll try it." 
 
 Well, we had no difficulty at the station; in- 
 deed our course had been barely interrupted 
 since we sailed. When I looked back on it it 
 seemed to me astonishing how success had at- 
 tended our efforts, ever since I had dropped eyes 
 on Nathaniel Butterfield in Sandown. The man 
 with greying hair and a knob nose was identified 
 without difficulty by the officials of the railway. 
 He had arrived the night before and taken a 
 ticket to Tretang. Monsieur would no doubt 
 find his friend there. 
 
 Yes, Messieurs would make the attempt at all 
 events. We had left the yawl in McCulloch's 
 hands at Cherbourg to await orders, and now 
 we struck inland. At Tretang in Morbihan if 
 we did not find Butterfield we hoped to hit on 
 his trail again with as little trouble as we had at 
 the port. Alston had shipped his motor cycle, 
 which was a tri-car with a second seat, on the 
 yawl, and now with businesslike prudence en- 
 trained it, and thus we reached Tretang in the 
 evening of a bright warm day.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 103 
 
 The principal inn of the village drew us at 
 once, for if Butterfield had arrived late at night, 
 as seemed probable, he would have taken shelter 
 under that friendly roof. Here again our rea- 
 soning was instantaneously justified. A man 
 answering to nis description of Butterfield had 
 lain there the night before and gone on in the 
 morning. How had he gone? We were getting 
 "warm," in the language of the child's game. 
 Why, Monsieur had taken a carriage, Jean Bretoi's 
 carriage. We too then must take a carriage. 
 But stay, there was Alston's tri-car. Butterfield 
 had driven along the Quiberon road, which thus 
 made connection with the open sea. We began 
 to understand now, or thought we did. The 
 Mermaid was or would be off the Morbihan coast, 
 by Belle Isle or thereby, and there was to await 
 Rudgwick's emissary. The tri-car saved us from 
 the tedium of a country cart and we were pres- 
 ently bound for the coast which was not more 
 than twenty-five miles distant. Our way lay 
 through open and broken country most charac- 
 teristic of that part of Brittany and for some 
 time we took the air of moorlands. But pres- 
 ently we passed down into flatter country, grown 
 with pines here and there and apparently more 
 cultivated towards the seaboard. By this time 
 it was growing dusk, and the Atlantic was 
 murk on the horizon, and when we entered the
 
 104 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 village of Tellezac on the shore the day was done. 
 Our chase was necessarily ended for that night, 
 yet not our investigation. The inn was comfort- 
 able and old; and we settled down to a supper 
 very appetising after our efforts all through that 
 day and the previous night. But Alston, now 
 that he was so near and yet so far, was restless, 
 which he showed not so much outwardly as by 
 his abrupt change of topic. He visited the inn- 
 keeper more than once and I knew had been in- 
 terrogating him. At last he came back more 
 satisfied. 
 
 "It's all right. I believe we're on the scent, 
 Kerslake. A man who looks like being Butterfield 
 passed along here to-day, but he don't know 
 where he went to Quiberon or south. We've 
 got to hunt that out. Say, I think I'll go and 
 send a wire through to McCulloch to bring her 
 along this way. Seems as if we've found our 
 circus at last." 
 
 Well, we had found it more certainly than we 
 knew, as I was to discover there and then; for 
 he was not gone more than five minutes when 
 Wilson Rudgwick walked into the room. 
 
 "Why," said he after a stare, "It's Lieutenant 
 Kerslake isn't it? This is riotous. What brings 
 you here, and what '11 you take, Sir?" 
 
 The appearance of the kidnapper, cool, airy, 
 <lark of visage and bluntly hospitable, took me
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 105 
 
 aback. Of a sudden I realised the proximity of 
 Sylvia Lovell. If the man were here, she could 
 not be far away; and I throbbed at the thought. 
 But I had myself in complete control, for a life 
 of discipline has that advantage at least. I ex- 
 pressed equal surprise to see him. 
 
 "This is a mighty small world, isn't it?" he 
 observed, drinking his glass of wine he had or- 
 dered. "If this wasn't an all-fired hot day, I 
 couldn't load up with this swill. " He made a sour 
 face at the bottle. " But my throat's dusty and 
 sandy. I've been coming along the seaboard. 
 My yacht's off there along. What's yours? 
 Whiskey?" 
 
 I told him, glibly lying, that I was on a brief 
 tour to a sister who had a house at Quimper. 
 
 "Ah!" said he. "Corkscrewing round to it, 
 eh. Well, it's nice weather and sun for it, but 
 I'm for sea again. It's too dry on land, and I'm 
 dried enough in Chicago." 
 
 Now while he was speaking I was on pins and 
 needles lest Alston should return and blunder in 
 on his enemy. I felt that he ought to be warned, 
 and yet I did not know how this was to be ac- 
 complished. 
 
 Suddenly an idea struck me. I had a note- 
 book in my pocket and I took it out, and began 
 to scribble in it. A sharp glance from Rudgwick 
 told me that the imperturbable American had
 
 io6 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 marked my action, and I explained amiably, as 
 I yawned. 
 
 "I always write up my diary before going to 
 bed." 
 
 "Ah!" said he. "I don't keep 'em. Ledgers 
 and daybooks are enough for me." 
 
 "I only record my holidays," I added. "Yet 
 a diary has its advantages." 
 
 "I take it you don't spread yourself in the 
 style of the young ladies," he said with a smile. 
 "Confidences and raptures and speculations don't 
 go with the twentieth century." 
 
 "No," I laughed back at him, folded my note 
 surreptitiously and rose. I wanted to warn 
 Alston, but I did not want to lose sight of Rudg- 
 wick. I rang the bell and the innkeeper ap- 
 peared. 
 
 "L' addition!" said I. He bowed and with- 
 drew. "Not staying here?" said Rudgwick. 
 "Rather late for a start, isn't it?" 
 
 " I'm on a motor-cycle, " I explained, "and I'm 
 bound to hurry up to Quimper. " 
 
 The innkeeper returned with my bill, which 
 I paid, and at the same time I slipped into his 
 hand the note I had written, which was inscribed 
 "Pour Monsieur mon ami." 
 
 The man's bow, I felt, included his acknowl- 
 edgment of the message, and he went out. Rudg- 
 wick rose.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 107 
 
 "I'll follow your example," he said, "if my 
 yacht's come up as she should. I'll just have a 
 look." 
 
 When he was gone I made my preparations to 
 start, but I did not intend to go very far. Rudg- 
 wick re-entered. 
 
 "There's no sign of her," he remarked evenly, 
 "so I guess I'm fixed here to-night. You're not 
 in a hurry, Mr. Kerslake?" 
 
 I hesitated. Of course I was not in a hurry, 
 for I had now found what I had been running 
 down for the last four and twenty hours. But 
 I made a feint of doubt. 
 
 "I ought to start shortly," I said. 
 
 "There's a moon, ain't there?" he inquired. 
 "Come, sit down again, and let us have a drink. 
 I'd like your advice on that point. I don't know 
 much about France; I don't travel much. But 
 I will be damned if I drink any more of that 
 wine. " 
 
 "Cognac," I suggested. 
 
 "That smiles better," he assented; and we 
 ordered cognac with our coffee. 
 
 It was an hour before I left him, and I must do 
 that only because of my pre-engagement with 
 Alston. I knew by his absence that he had re- 
 ceived my letter, and if so he would have followed 
 my instructions. And so I got up, shook hands 
 with my companion cordially, and departed.
 
 io8 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Rudgwick here. Meet me on Quimper road at 
 the first inn or two miles, whichever nearest. 
 
 That had been my communication, and as I 
 went out of the tavern I made a few inquiries of 
 the landlord. There was an inn a mile and a half 
 along the road, a wayside auberge. Alston would 
 be waiting there. 
 
 I got into the tri-car, and started off at a fair 
 pace. It was now quite dark, for the night was 
 moonless, and my lamp scattered the road with 
 thicker shadows. They lay in ambush on both 
 sides and all around me, investing that single 
 patch of bright light just before me, and by con- 
 trast all the blacker for it. The car thumped 
 and beat along, and the lights of the village faded. 
 My thoughts flew forward to Alston. What plan 
 had he in his head? Now that we had our hands 
 on the enemy, what was his design? I wanted 
 to learn it, and he had had an hour or more to 
 elaborate it; but I was by no means sure that it 
 would be my plan. Rudgwick was at the inn, 
 and we could go back and seize him. One ab- 
 duction justified another, indeed was the proper 
 ironic rejoinder. Rudgwick sleeping comfortably 
 in his four-post bed, or Rudgwick at his farewell 
 cigar, or Rudgwick again, newly risen and com- 
 placent in the breezy dawn there was our quarry 
 unsuspecting and ready to our gun. And, Rudg- 
 wick once in bondage, we had the whip hand of
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 109 
 
 the party, which it was not likely contained any- 
 one willing or able to carry out his scheme, what- 
 ever that might be. In loyalty to Alston I was 
 on my way to a conference with him, but I had 
 no doubt as to the best and wisest course. And 
 then my thoughts reverted to Sylvia Lovell, and 
 my eyes unconsciously went seawards, where the 
 water of the Bay lay wrapped in night. I could 
 conceive half a dozen ways now by which she 
 was to be reclaimed, for my brain worked quickly 
 as I flew through the soft night air. I was 
 affected unaccountably more than I had antici- 
 pated by the thought of seeing her again, but 
 Alston, good-humoured, large, persuasive and 
 capable, suddenly loomed in the background, a 
 shadow on the sunshine. When Sylvia was safe 
 there was Alston to face. It was ridiculous to 
 suppose that she would necessarily have any 
 preference for me over him, but all that I wanted 
 then was that she should not be driven by cir- 
 cumstances and maternal folly or selfishness into 
 
 this marriage. Afterwards 
 
 Across the flashlight of the acetylene lamp 
 leapt a shadow; there was a crack, a whirr in 
 my head, a sense of falling; and I knew no more.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 I HAD a vague consciousness of voices about me, 
 also of a jogging which gave me pain, but I re- 
 mained for long under the envelope of stupor, and 
 when I did fully awake to life all was new to me. 
 I was in a room sparsely furnished, with big cold 
 walls of stone, on one of which, as I stared at it 
 weakly in the candle light, was a faded fresco of 
 very ancient date. 
 
 But my eyes soon passed to the human inhabit- 
 ant of that chamber, who, hearing, I imagine, my 
 stir, came out of the gloom. It was Nathaniel 
 Butterfield. 
 
 " Guess you're better," said he with a grin ; " say, 
 your head's pretty thick, eh?" 
 
 "What happened?" I asked feebly. 
 
 " Pitched off your cycle a collision, or run into 
 something, I suppose. Anyways there you were, 
 kinked up like a broken wheel, and a scalp wound 
 as large as life." 
 
 "It was the dark road," I murmured. "I 
 was a fool to go so hard." 
 
 "That's very likely. I'm not contradicting 
 no
 
 THE PRIVATEERS in 
 
 you," he said amicably. "And now let's have a 
 look at the injury." 
 
 His hand was gentle as a woman's, and he 
 handled me as dextrously as any doctor in a ward. 
 
 "Lucky you struck the plain road," he said, 
 "and not a rock or a branch. You came off 
 pretty soft, I reckon. We'll fix you up all right." 
 
 But by now I had recovered myself sufficiently 
 to wonder at his presence. 
 
 "How did I come here?" I asked, "and where 
 is it?" 
 
 He dabbed a sponge on my head cheerfully. 
 "Now, you're talking," he said, "and I'll 
 oblige you all I can. We found you in the road, 
 and fetched you here in a cart; and as for here, 
 it's Wilson Rudgwick's chateau." 
 
 " Rudgwick's !" I cried. 
 
 "That's so, " he replied, eyeing me almost with 
 benevolence; but ere I could comment on the 
 astonishing explanation the door creaked and 
 Rudgwick himself entered. 
 
 He was smoking as usual, and the fragrance of 
 the cigar was sensible in the room. 
 
 "Come round, Butterfield?" he asked, and then 
 to me: "Feel yourself?" Without waiting an 
 answer he nodded and Butterfield left us. " So!" 
 he began again, with his calm eyes on me. "You 
 didn't get so far as Quimper, Lieutenant?" 
 , "As you see, ' ' I replied dryly.
 
 112 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He stared at me. " I'm glad your crown's no 
 worse, " he said. " I feared you might have broken 
 a bone or something. One never can say. But 
 Butterfield's smart." 
 
 " He's a very admirable nurse, I think, " said I. 
 Rudgwick smiled. " Oh yes, he ain't bad at that 
 too. He's pretty handy all the way round. He's 
 a good Jack of all trades, is Nathaniel; and I 
 brought him up from drummer and ought to know. 
 But you know, boy," he shook his head indulgent- 
 ly. "You ought to know more than to buck up 
 against Wilson Rudgwick." 
 
 There was a momentary pause, while I stared at 
 him. " I don't say you weren't smart, " he re- 
 sumed after pulling at his cigar. " You are, or you 
 wouldn't be here now. If I hadn't had a notion 
 of you, you might have gone to perdition and back 
 for all I would have held out a finger. But smart 
 you were, and that sealed you; but not smart 
 enough, boy." 
 
 I moistened my lips, for my ideas were coming 
 back to me, coming in upon me indeed in a flood. 
 
 "Perhaps we had better understand each 
 other," I said. 
 
 "That's good talking," he said approvingly. 
 " Let's swab up the decks since there's not likely 
 to be another mess, at least where we two are con- 
 cerned. I took measure of you, Lieutenant, in that 
 island, and I guessed you pretty smart, but your
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 113 
 
 bluff put me off. Englishmen can't bluff much 
 and I took your statements at face value. That's 
 where I just made a mistake. You said you'd 
 known Fordyce two days. I took that in like 
 milk, and dismissed you. You weren't in the 
 game. And, by blazes, if it hadn't been for my 
 trail, you'd have diddled me." 
 
 ' ' Trail !" I cried in amazement. 
 
 "Why yes, trail," he repeated evenly. "What 
 else have you been following on the last day and 
 a half? You followed up Butterfield from San- 
 down. Now I'd reckoned on his being followed, 
 and I wanted him followed, but I didn't think of 
 you. I'd put my money on Alston. And you 
 caught Butterfield at a restaurant and faced it out 
 pretty nicely. That was when I first took sus- 
 picion you might not be quite on the straight ; but 
 I wasn't certain till I saw you at that inn to-night. 
 That fixed me up, and I was glad I'd opened my 
 bag's mouth wide. I thought it was wide enough 
 to catch two." 
 
 "I'm beginning to see some sense in all this," 
 said I as indifferently as I might. "I've been sand- 
 bagged, if I may put it in that way." 
 
 "That's a rough way of putting it, " said Rudg- 
 wick, meditatively, flicking the ash from his 
 cigar. 
 
 "And with what purpose?" I asked formally. 
 ' "Say, Lieutenant, you got on my trail the
 
 Ii 4 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 trail I had laid carefully, and was keeping full of 
 scent, and you fell into the net. I reckoned when 
 Butterfield came along, with his itinerary chalked 
 so plain behind him, we should have someone 
 along after him, but I hardly looked for you. I 
 thought there was some doubt about that restau- 
 rant business. But we must take what the gods 
 send." 
 
 He grinned at me quite pleasantly. Here he 
 was", so to speak, tabling his cards, and pretences 
 were of no use between us . I followed his lead. 
 
 " You wanted to bag Alston?" I asked. 
 
 " So, " he assented. " But all's fish that comes 
 to the net. I've got you." 
 
 "Again we return to that point, "I said dryly; 
 "with what object?" 
 
 "You're in this," he said. "You're up to your 
 neck in it; and so you take the risks. You play 
 the game by the rules, I take it, and know 
 what to expect." He looked at me keenly, 
 and then his glance travelled to my head. "I 
 guess you're sore-headed, and I'm sorry. But 
 why the blazes don't you stand from under? 
 I suppose," he ended meditatively, "it's be- 
 cause you stand in with Alston." 
 
 " On the contrary, " said I, "I spoke the pre- 
 cise truth when I told you I had only known 
 Alston two days. I know nothing of his business 
 affairs or your Montana mines."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 115 
 
 He shot a swift glance at me. "That so?" he 
 said slowly. "You don't know anything about 
 our Montana mines. Well, where precisely do 
 you come in, Mr. Kerslake? That's interesting 
 me a lot." 
 
 "You have wonderful ways in America," I 
 answered. "But on this side we don't reckon 
 abduction as a legitimate factor in business 
 operations." 
 
 "You don't?" he said with an intonation of 
 interrogation, but he evidently wanted no answer, 
 and was lost in thought. He smoked reflectively. 
 " So," said he presently, " It's the young lady, eh? 
 Well, Lieutenant, don't you get it into your head 
 that there's any distressed damsel in this business, 
 because there isn't. This lady's not going to be 
 uncomfortable, not by a long way. She's going 
 to enjoy a sea-trip ; at least she'll enjoy it when she 
 gets her sea -legs." His familiar grim smile flared 
 and faded on his swart face. " The lady's fixed up 
 right enough. I guess we can give you that 
 assurance." 
 
 "Your assurance would be more valuable if I 
 knew anything about you," I said shortly. "All 
 that I do know is that you operate with women 
 as pawns, a thing which we do not understand 
 here." 
 
 "You'll understand that further along, I 
 reckon, " he replied unmoved.
 
 n6 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " I don't know anything of your business with 
 Alston and it doesn't interest me ; but, damn it, I 
 will not see an innocent countrywoman of mine 
 dragged into your quarrels." 
 
 " Meaning mine and Alston's?" said he. 
 
 " Either of you both of you, " said I hotly. 
 
 He turned aside and screwed his mouth askew. 
 
 "I see how you stand now, " he said, "and 
 Alston's pretty smart to have got hold of you. 
 He's to be congratulated. I'll make you an offer, 
 Mr. Kerslake. Miss Lovell goes on a pleasure 
 voyage, Mediterranean or anywhere you will, and 
 comes back the picture of health and beauty if 
 you'll clear out of this." 
 
 "I clear out?" I echoed. 
 
 " You're mixed up in this for Miss Lovell's sake. 
 You think she isn't being played with fair. That's 
 it, isn't it? Well, if you are assured that she's 
 all right, you'll clear out?" 
 
 I laughed. "Good Lord, man," said I. "Do 
 you suppose we do things that way in England?" 
 
 " I guess this is France, " he said coolly. " Not 
 that I take much stock in England either. I 
 admit your English law and order is a bit stiffer 
 than ours, but it won't hold together more than 
 paste-board in the rain if I try. What I ask is 
 your parole, so to speak, in return for my assur- 
 ance." 
 
 "Absurd!" I ejaculated.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 117 
 
 "You will see that it is parole on both sides," 
 he said gravely. 
 
 "I utterly refuse" I said angrily. "You kid- 
 nap a young and helpless girl, and when she is 
 followed by one who has no claim on her save that 
 of common humanity, he is waylaid and bludg- 
 eoned by your hirelings; and then you stand 
 there and talk of terms." 
 
 " That's it ; you docket the case very succinctly, " 
 he said approvingly. " I'm a business man and I 
 offer terms." 
 
 " Your terms be damned, " I cried. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing 
 to keep a fool from his folly, so far as I know, that 
 was ever invented, " he remarked. " I hope you'll 
 find your quarters comfortable," he added as he 
 went to the door. 
 
 I stopped him. " Stay, " I said. "I should like 
 to know exactly how we stand." 
 
 "The move's up to you, " he said imperturbed. 
 " If you like to pass your w r ord to go out of it, you 
 can go right back to-morrow. If not, I hope you'll 
 make shift to make yourself comfortable here." 
 
 "You hold me prisoner?" I demanded. 
 
 " It comes to that, " he admitted. " Prisoner of 
 war." 
 
 I looked round the room with its massive cold 
 walls. This then was designed as my cell. It 
 seemed preposterous. He noted my glance. "Its
 
 ii8 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 an interesting old place," he said; "they tell me 
 these frescoes date from the fourteenth century. 
 This was where the friars had their refectory. It's 
 quite an antique place." 
 
 It was as if the proprietor introduced his house 
 to an honoured guest. I could have laughed. 
 
 " I'll send Butterfield along, to see if you want 
 anything," he added, and with a familiar nod 
 passed out ere I could answer. I went to the 
 window and peered out. The night was full, but 
 was, as is ever the case in midsummer, still preg- 
 nant with unborn light. The stars gleamed in 
 heaven, and the sickle moon shone in the Bay. 
 From the window I guessed it was a drop of 
 twenty feet to the ground, and from the contours 
 and configurations of the building I came to the 
 conclusion that I was in a tower. The window 
 was barred heavily with iron on the outside. I 
 returned and tried the door. It was locked. 
 Nothing was lacking to constitute this room an 
 ideal gaol. My head throbbed and I was dead- 
 tired. The events of the last twenty-four hours 
 had worn me out, and I could not " get the hang" 
 of my situation; and so, like a wise man and an 
 old campaigner who has been in many difficulties, 
 I resolved on sleep. I told Butterfield that I 
 wanted nothing, and I threw myself down on the 
 bed which occupied one corner of the big chamber. 
 I think I was asleep within ten minutes.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 119 
 
 When I awoke the sun was well up, and streamed 
 upon a beautiful world. The house lay, as I 
 conjectured, some three miles from the sea, and 
 the broad blue waters were flashing in the distance 
 enchantingly. As I gazed my eye was caught by 
 the raking masts and black hull of a schooner. It 
 was undoubtedly the Mermaid, Rudgwick's 
 yacht, that lay at anchor off the land. And he 
 had taken possession of this old house to hold 
 Alston prisoner. For it was clear that he had not 
 expected my participation in the struggle. Well, 
 he had snared me, but what of Alston? As I 
 stood, wrapped in thought, and only half -conscious 
 of that beautiful morning, the door opened and 
 Butterfield made his appearance. 
 
 His greeting was friendly, as if there was nothing 
 at all embarrassing between us, and he inquired 
 what I should like for breakfast. 
 
 " They don't use breakfasts here as we do, Mr. 
 Kerslake," he explained. "This is a one-horse 
 place for food exceptin', they tell me, Paris. 
 Paris is all right, they say, and I'm going to try 
 when I get to Paris." 
 
 " I hope that will be soon, " said I. 
 
 "Well, I can't exactly say," he said. "It de- 
 pends on circumstances," and he looked at me 
 shrewdly. 
 
 I gave him my order, and surveyed the situation 
 during his absence. If Rudgwick adhered to his
 
 120 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 plan of keeping me prisoner I was helpless to assist 
 Miss Lovell, as helpless as if I passed my word to 
 withdraw from her affairs. Rudgwick had me in 
 a cleft stick, always providing I could not break 
 out. That was the sole chance. But I wanted to 
 see a little deeper into his schemes, and so was not 
 averse from another meeting with him. I had 
 discipline enough to keep my temper now as well 
 as he, for I saw it was not by emotional outbreaks 
 that anything might be accomplished. Brain 
 must henceforward be matched against brain. 
 It was at this point in my thoughts that Rudg- 
 wick appeared. 
 
 "I've looked in to sort of punch your ticket for 
 the journey," he explained jocosely; "that is, if 
 you'll go that journey." 
 
 I shook my head. " I like my quarters." 
 
 His smile was appreciative. "I like a stout 
 opponent, who plays fair, " he observed. 
 
 " Oh, I will play anyway, I warn you, " I said. 
 
 "You think you would," he said. "But I 
 guess you're white enough. If you want any- 
 thing, ask Butterfield. He's ready on his part 
 and has a way of getting round things. He's the 
 trickiest man I've knocked up for many a year." 
 
 " Your factotum ?' ' I asked quite civilly. 
 
 He nodded. "Do anything from cooking hot 
 clam broth to bulling railway bonds." 
 
 " Well," said I, " and how long do I lodge here?"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 121 
 
 "That depends on yourself," said he, "and 
 after that on Fordyce." 
 
 "You have him too?" I asked quickly. 
 
 "No," he said slowly. "We didn't bag him. 
 He was too fly. We couldn't hit on him." 
 
 "Yes, I sent him word," I said. 
 
 "Ah! That so?" said Rudgwick. "That was 
 cute of you. I see, the diary dodge, was it? Yes, 
 you're smart. Well, we didn't get him. But if 
 he'll sign up now, I guess you're free now. If he's 
 obstinate and you too, I guess I've got to enter- 
 tain you a bit longer." 
 
 "Do you imagine this is the Wild West?" I 
 asked. "This is civilised Europe." 
 
 "I fancy we're going to enliven civilised 
 Europe, a bit then," said he, " and don't you forget 
 it!" 
 
 I turned and looked out of the window, where 
 the Mermaid rode, a stretch off the land on 
 the unruffled sea. 
 
 "I'll tell you what, Mr. Kerslake," I heard 
 Rudgwick's voice. "I'm willing to make a deal 
 with you even now. Say, I'll better my offer; 
 and if you'll give me that parole not to interfere 
 with anything, I'll ship you along with the lady 
 for a pleasure voyage." 
 
 He paused, while of a sudden my heart woke 
 within me, and the glow of my hot blood thrilled 
 me through. " You stand out of the game, and
 
 122 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 you can see things are all right for yourself," he 
 added, seeing me hesitate. 
 
 I shook my head. The temptation had been 
 great; the renunciation was heroic. If I agreed to 
 this course I abdicated all power to intervene in 
 Miss Lovell's predicament. To accept were base 
 selfishness, all the more pronounced because of my 
 private feelings for her. If Rudgwick spoke the 
 truth she would come to no harm whether I was 
 there to safeguard her or not. And I might, 
 though now a prisoner, be able to accomplish 
 something. Even if I did not, the compact he 
 proposed would be a shameful one. 
 
 "No; it is impossible," I said. "I'm your 
 prisoner." 
 
 He nodded casually, and left me. I think he 
 was amused, for he had never any doubt of himself, 
 as I learned to know, and he never wasted words. 
 
 I had thus signed my own committal order, so 
 to say, and must put up with the situation so 
 created. Rudgwick vanished, on what business 
 I could only guess. He had not Alston, and so 
 was not wholly in the winning position, but he had 
 powerful trumps in his hand, if not the "joker," 
 at least he had right and left "bower," if Miss 
 Lovell might be classified as the one and I as the 
 other. That would enable him to put the screw 
 on Alston, and, groping about in my ignorance of 
 the exact dispute between them, I concluded that
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 123 
 
 probably Rudgwick would seek to bring his enemy 
 to terms. Meanwhile I was left to the society of 
 Butterfield, an excellent handy man, as I dis- 
 covered. I made a thorough examination of my 
 cell, during the first two days of my incarceration, 
 and found no encouragement as a prison-breaker. 
 The masonry was solid, the windows were staunch- 
 ly barred and Butterfield was clearly, strongly 
 supported. I made this out from his own 
 statement, for he was communicative up to a 
 point. 
 
 "Did you ever bargain to turn gaoler?" I 
 asked him once; and he interrupted his work, 
 which was that of making my bed, to consider. 
 
 "No; I guess not. I've been most things, but 
 I never thought of that," he answered. "But 
 what the boss says goes. I reckon that '11 be com- 
 fortable now, " and he patted the bed. 
 
 " See here, Butterfield. " I went on gravely. 
 " I'm a pretty strong man, and I shouldn't put you 
 down at that, whatever your good points are. 
 Not to put too fine a point on it, you look some- 
 thing of a shrimp. What's to prevent my knock- 
 ing you over and making off?" 
 
 He grinned, stroked his curiously twisted face, 
 and put a hand in his pocket. " I guess I'm not 
 leaving much to the imagination," he said. "I 
 don't pretend to be Hercules, and you don't sup- 
 pose I put my hand in the lion's mouth without
 
 124 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 taking precautions. If I were you, Lieutenant, 
 I wouldn't put that experiment to the test. " 
 
 "No," said I. "I've always taken you for a 
 man of parts, and those parts evidently don't lie 
 in your bodily frame. You go by brains, Butter- 
 field." 
 
 "That's so," he said complacently. 
 
 " I wouldn't have asked, only I was curious to 
 know exactly what protection you had. " 
 
 " You'll have to try again, Lieutenant, " he said, 
 wagging his head pleasantly. 
 
 No ; there was not much to be got out of Butter- 
 field, but he would talk as much as I liked of 
 matters that did not matter ; and it whiled away 
 the heavy hours to chatter with him. His good- 
 nature was imperturbable, and he never took 
 offence, even at my most irritable remarks. Per- 
 haps that was natural, as he held the upper hand. 
 He was possessed by an overwhelming admiration 
 for the "boss." The boss was everything; he 
 could do no wrong; and so far as Butterfield was 
 concerned, the President of the United States took 
 a very inferior position. Yet this loyalty I gather- 
 ed, was founded rather on respect for Rudgwick's 
 mental properties and business qualities than on 
 any personal affection. He was quite a young 
 man, I discovered, only 35, yet he wore a battered 
 air with his changing hair, such as was consonant 
 with a man of much more advanced years. He
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 125 
 
 had been for some years in Rudgwick's employ- 
 ment, and he esteemed him profoundly. 
 
 " The boss, " said he approvingly, " is hot as hot 
 cakes. I guess he's a wall, Sir, if you run up 
 against him; and I wouldn't have that forty ton 
 engine on my track, not for bonanzas. " 
 
 "A successful man, as success is accounted in 
 your country," I remarked. 
 
 " Why, ain't success success ? " asked Mr. Butter- 
 field with some indignation. "The boss can 
 reckon himself in seven figures, and he's going to be 
 reckoned in eight too. There's Rockefeller, and 
 Morgan and Carnegie. I know," he said with a 
 little strain of sadness in his voice, "that their 
 piles is pretty big, and the boss has got a lot of 
 way to make up. But I put my greenbacks on 
 him. He'll catch 'em up, Sir, you trust me, and 
 I shouldn't be surprised before long to see him 
 wipe Rockefeller's eye." 
 
 "If he pulls off this Montana deal?" I said. 
 Butterfield looked at me, but said nothing to this, 
 only repeated : 
 
 " I guess he'll dust W. J.'s jacket for him. " 
 
 The man was obviously ignorant; he was pro- 
 vincial to a degree ; and (I gathered) this was the 
 first time he had been out of America. But he 
 was undoubtedly a handy man, good at shifts, 
 and clever of invention. Yet his record spelled, 
 according to his own showing, failure. He had
 
 126 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 passed through many trades and callings, and suc- 
 ceeded at none. There was some defect in him 
 which told against him in the long run. He made 
 an admirable and useful servant, but he was no 
 good as his own master ; and he clung with almost 
 touching fidelity to the man who was a success, 
 and who had seen his possibilities and picked him 
 up at a shabby period of his variegated career. 
 
 On the third day of my captivity the schooner 
 disappeared from the Bay. By this time I was 
 getting restive, for all my ingenuity failed before 
 the facts of the situation, but I took a resolution 
 that day. I had not succeeded so far in extracting 
 from Butterfield anything of material use to me. 
 I did not even know how I was guarded. That 
 was to be remedied, as you will see. 
 
 When Butterfield entered to remove my dejeuner 
 in his debonair and friendly manner I rose from 
 my seat and suddenly gripped him by the middle 
 as he bent over the table. The little man squirm- 
 ed and kicked and fought like an imp. He bit 
 into my knuckles deeply, and my shins were 
 knocked raw with his heels. It was only when 
 I slipped the serviette into his mouth that he gave 
 in. Perhaps he did so with a sense of humour. 
 He had fought but he was of no use where mere 
 physical prowess was in question. I took from 
 his pocket the revolver which I had suspected, 
 and, having rolled him up in a smothered tangle
 
 ' It was only when I slipped the serviette into his mouth that he gave in "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 127 
 
 in the blankets, went to the door. This I opened 
 and slipped into the passage, turning the key be- 
 hind me. When this was over I looked up to find 
 myself covered by a Colt ; and the man behind it 
 was the puffy red-faced, bullet-headed man whom 
 I had seen on Rudgwick's yacht, and who had 
 watched me at Portsmouth. 
 
 It was his funeral, as he would have said, and 
 I let my arm drop. 
 
 " All right, " I said with a short laugh, " I'm go- 
 ing back. I'm not looking for an undertaker," 
 and I turned the key again and re-entered. I 
 had found out something which I did not know 
 before. Butterfield was protected, and, if I was 
 to make my escape, all my wits would be needed. 
 They had carried me to this discovery, which 
 was useful, and a point further also, as Butter- 
 field realised presently. He had extricated 
 himself from the bed-clothes, when I returned, 
 and had taken the gag from his mouth. 
 
 " Lieutenant, if you'd taken the trouble to ask 
 me," he said solemnly, "I could have told you 
 that was no good, and prevented you from wasting 
 your time." 
 
 "And saved your throat a bit, eh?" I said 
 jauntily, with the revolver in my hands. It was 
 a six-barrelled pin-fire weapon, quite small and 
 neat. He looked at it. 
 
 " I reckon it's no go, sir, " he said.
 
 128 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "No; but I know a bit more," I replied, and 
 I placed the toy in my inner breast pocket. 
 
 "Say," he said solicitously. "You're not 
 going to keep that?" 
 
 "Why, yes; it's safer here than with you, 
 Butterfield, ' ' I answered. ' ' You can see for your- 
 self that I can't do anything with that blatant, 
 gooseberry-eyed bos'un of yours without. So 
 easy's easy, and let us cry quits. Only I keep the 
 toy." 
 
 After a momentary hesitation he acquiesced, 
 though I could see he did not approve of the new 
 arrangement and only yielded to the argument of 
 force. I had the weapon and there was an end of it. 
 
 "Well, Lieutenant, I reckon you're sensible," 
 he said soothingly. "You won't be drilling any 
 holes anywhere unnecessarily. " 
 
 I sat down with a curious sense of growing con- 
 fidence. What was it, after all, to have gained 
 this petty advantage over a weakling? 
 
 " And yet, " I said, " you would have drilled a 
 hole in me." 
 
 " I suppose I would, " he said coolly. 
 
 " Do you reconcile that with your conscience as 
 a decent man?" I asked. "It looks like blank 
 murder." 
 
 "No; I don't look at it in that light, " said Mr. 
 Butterfield argumentatively. " It's a kind of war 
 we're on, and we take our risks. "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 129 
 
 "I'm only trying to rescue a poor girl from a 
 dastardly abductor, " I said sharply. 
 
 "That may be, Lieutenant," he said equably, 
 after a pause. " I don't deny that may be from 
 your point of view. But, it isn't philosophy, not 
 by any means. See here," he went on, getting 
 hold of his argument, and consequently showing 
 more animation. "If you're doing business, 
 you've got to take risks and the other fellow has 
 too. Well, the boss takes his risks, and if he can 
 crowd out ElihuK. Scanlan with a big popgun, he 
 does it. That means hell for Elihu, and all his lot, 
 but it's in the game, and he can't complain. It's a 
 natural warfare, an' someone's bound to come on 
 top, just as someone's bound to go under. I guess 
 the boss's operations don't exactly mean theatre 
 tickets all round. When he gets on the prowl, I 
 tell you a tiger isn't in it," he said admiringly. 
 "He scorches; he makes the pace hot. And some 
 one's bound to fall out and die by the wayside. 
 That's nature. You can't make an omelette with- 
 out breaking eggs. Say, " he broke off. " Is that 
 omelette a fool affair or is it real good? They 
 think a sight of it in some quarters. " 
 
 " Oh, it's a daisy, " I said lightly, for his sophis- 
 try, his excuses, his ingenuous and scandalous 
 philosophy had tickled me. Mr. Butterfield 
 amused me. 
 
 "I guess I've got to learn how to make an
 
 i 3 o THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 omelette," he said thoughtfully, rubbing at his 
 jaw where the serviette had hurt him. 
 
 " Make me one to-morrow, " I said jocularly. 
 
 " I will, Lieutenant, " said he as he left me, as 
 cheerful and as alert and as composed as when he 
 entered. As for me, I had one point gained, and 
 I went over to the window and looked out on the 
 afternoon sky. I still was without a plan, but 
 I was no longer without a weapon. As I stared, 
 I was aware of a movement nearby that arrested 
 my semi-conscious eyes. The grille of the iron 
 bars prevented me from obtruding my head more 
 than a foot beyond the level of the window ; but 
 from my position I could see part of the wall of 
 the house, and even a floor above me, but a little 
 to the left was another grille such as my window. 
 It was here I observed the movement. An arm 
 emerged bare to the wrist and was lifted twice or 
 thrice in the air. Above I noticed some fluttering 
 timid birds. Someone was feeding them. I kept 
 my gaze on the grille, and again the arm pro- 
 truded. It was slimly rounded and white, and 
 the cap of the sleeve above the elbow was of 
 muslin. 
 
 It was the arm of a woman, the arm rather of 
 a girl.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 BREAKING OUT OF CHATEAU CABRIAC 
 
 I KNOW that where sexual matters are con- 
 cerned, imagination is a diligent and impetuous 
 usher. Our minds romantically go forward with- 
 out due reason; we guess instinctively and are 
 most generally wrong. We take a swallow to 
 represent summer, and the part for the whole. 
 Indeed in the matter of woman's beauty the part 
 is too often greater than the whole. The texture, 
 the symmetry, the general address of that slim 
 arm, demonstrated to me youth and beauty. I 
 stared, but it came not forth again. It was as if 
 its mission had been completed with that single 
 exposure. I was an idle man, and my wits were 
 in despair; they fastened curiously on the new 
 event a girl's white arm through the embra- 
 sured window. 
 
 At that my pulse jumped. I looked seaward, 
 whence the yacht had vanished, and then upwards 
 at the grille. Was it another prisoner? Was 
 it ? 
 
 Rudgwick had secured this chateau, probably 
 for a summer month or two. It belonged, to
 
 I 3 2 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 judge from the one room I had seen, to an im- 
 poverished family. And now for the first time 
 I realised that this house could not have been 
 taken after my interception. It must have been 
 in readiness. It was not taken for me. Was it 
 taken for Alston? That, of course, was possible; 
 but the slim white arm vanishing into the white 
 muslin frill about the elbow made me wonder. 
 Where was Miss Lovell? She might be aboard 
 the yacht. Indeed Rudgwick had indicated that 
 this was so by his offer to me, but I had not ac- 
 cepted his offer, and he might have changed his 
 mind. Would he indeed have run the risk of 
 keeping his yacht in the bay for several days with 
 that precious prize aboard while Alston, the 
 disappointed bridegroom was at large and afoot? 
 And if she were not in the Mermaid she must 
 be 
 
 I fancied I caught the flash of that beautiful 
 arm even through the murk of the prison-bars. 
 I could no longer doubt; at least it stirred me to 
 believe, and I would believe it. I had faith in 
 my dreams, then, faith in my destiny; faith, too, 
 in the efflorescence of that Morning Glory. Sylvia 
 Lovell was a prisoner in the chateau like myself. 
 
 When Butterfield entered he found me pre- 
 occupied. "Come, Captain," said he, "we 
 mustn't have you dull." 
 
 Although he had thus promoted me it did not
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 133 
 
 cheer me. " I don't like to see you pining, Cap- 
 tain," he added, and I really do not believe he 
 did. 
 
 "You can make me rejoice," said I. 
 
 " Say, if there's any way I can do it, save one 
 way, I'll do it," he declared. 
 
 He was so serious that I could have laughed, 
 particularly as the idea came to me in that very 
 moment. I smiled instead. 
 
 "Say," he resumed earnestly. "What's the 
 matter with your fixing it up with the boss? 
 He's all right. I'd a durn sight sooner earn a dime 
 working with him than a dollar against him. 
 Can't you fix things up?" 
 
 "To say the truth," I replied, "that idea has 
 been in my head for some little time. It seems 
 inevitable." 
 
 "That's so. It ain't worth it," he assured me. 
 "There's no money in it, knocking up against the 
 boss. I reckon he has a fancy to you, and he'll 
 make it easy for you to climb down. You can 
 settle on par terms, I'll go bail; yes, Sir." 
 
 "When I see him again " I began, and he 
 
 interrupted cheerily. 
 
 "You'll see him to-morrow, I reckon." 
 
 Here was some news which perhaps was not 
 intended to reach me, for I could see from the ex- 
 pression that Butterfield's face took on that he 
 regretted his slip. I was glad to know the date
 
 134 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 of his master's return, for I had that idea in my 
 head to nourish, and to embody in fact. 
 
 "I'll treat," I said with decision. "There's no 
 fun in this anyway." 
 
 This resolution affected him sensibly. He 
 nodded approval, and grew more friendly. I am 
 certain he regarded me as one who had been 
 worsted in a deal with Rudgwick, as Alston should 
 be worsted. It was a mere matter of business, 
 and there was no room for an ounce of sentiment 
 in it on either side. The greatest rivals, when 
 once peace is made, incline to co-operation. It 
 is the swing of the pendulum, a natural re-action 
 perhaps. So I believe Butterfield almost con- 
 templated me as a possible ally. He explained 
 the boss more fully to me in an amiable way, 
 and offered no objection to answering some of 
 my questions, one of which concerned the house 
 in which we were. 
 
 " Well, it won't hurt you to know, Lieutenant," 
 he replied, "and it don't damage us. Chateau 
 Cabriac's what they call it." 
 
 Chateau Cabriac! Well, that piece of informa- 
 tion also might be of use. 
 
 " Say," said he, when this trend of the conver- 
 sation ended. "Say, I've learned how to cook 
 an omelette, Lieutenant a real French omelette. 
 It's bully not too dry and not too greasy. I'd 
 like to do one for you."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 135 
 
 "You are very kind, Butterfield," I said in- 
 differently. 
 
 He was taken up with the notion, as pleased as 
 a hen with a chicken, and danced off to the 
 kitchen, I imagine, there to make a test of his 
 newly acquired culinary skill. 
 
 When he returned, his queer sallow face was 
 gone to a savage and ignoble redness, but it 
 beamed on me, and he carried a plate in the midst 
 of which lollopped, if I may put it in that way, a 
 monstrous omelette aux fines herbes. The reckless 
 creature in his enthusiasm had obviously broken 
 all his eggs into the pan, and here was a dish I 
 could not eat in a week. I told him so, and he 
 seemed downcast at the news, patiently doubting 
 my faith in his cooking. However I set those fears 
 at ease by falling to at once, and for an early essay 
 the mess was as good as needs be. The information 
 brought him once more to the grin complacent. 
 
 " I said there was no dish I couldn't catch on to, 
 if I saw it made," he declared. "I always was a 
 natural hand at cooking, from a boy, when I used 
 to watch my mother making picked-up cod-fish 
 and such truck." 
 
 " I could eat it all in perhaps two days, Butter- 
 field," I said with a sigh. "But more's beyond 
 me now. Isn't there anyone to whom it would 
 be a treat ? It's a pity to waste a dish cooked 
 with the art of a connoisseur."
 
 136 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I said it deliberately, for I wanted some con- 
 firmation of my astonishing guess earlier in the 
 afternoon. I was "fishing" at random; but 
 the bait was taken. Butterfield's eyes lighted 
 suddenly. 
 
 "Why, yes," he said. "I reckon I can raise 
 another customer somehow." He lifted the dish, 
 and then was struck by a thought. "Reckon 
 I'll get another plate," he muttered, and hurried 
 away. 
 
 I had had, as I have said, but the hope of a 
 possible confirmation of my thoughts. Now I 
 saw a chance for more than confirmation. I took 
 my pocket book, wrote on it, tore out the leaf, 
 and folded it in a small roll. The omelette like 
 a huge yellow pudding lay in collapse on the plate. 
 I lifted one end gently and slipped the note well 
 into the mess. 
 
 What I had written was this : 
 
 // you are Miss Lovell wave hand thrice at win- 
 dow. Courage. Kerslake. 
 
 Butterfield, on his re-entrance, came forward 
 to the table, plate in hand, and made an adjust- 
 ment of the omelette on the larger dish. He was 
 in high spirits, as if he had made a big deal in 
 stocks, and departed with alacrity. I listened 
 to his steps along the stone corridor, and then 
 there was silence. I had thrown a card at a ven-
 
 'I lifted one end gently and slipped the note well 
 into the mess"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 137 
 
 ture, and it was of no consequence to me even if 
 it should fall into the enemy's hands. 
 
 I crossed to the window and waited for quite 
 half an hour, but there was no appearance at the 
 grille above. Then Butter-field entered, and I 
 was reluctantly withdrawn from my post. 
 
 "Was it approved?" I asked. 
 
 "Well, I think it will be," he said confidently. 
 " It was better than the last I made, and only my 
 second attempt." 
 
 It was all right then, and whoever had the 
 precious omelette had not yet tasted it. I re- 
 sumed my place of observation when he was gone 
 and stood there half an hour longer. At the close 
 of that time I started, for a soft arm, clothed in 
 white muslin, mystic, beautiful, flashed three 
 times through the embrasure and disappeared. 
 I breathed deeply. I had almost given up hope. 
 And now I must do what I had set myself to do, 
 for the motive was doubled, nay quadrupled. 
 
 I took the pinfire revolver from my pocket and 
 extracted two of the cartridges with the ramrod. 
 These I carefully took to pieces, and secured the 
 bullets. It was by now nearing dusk, and Butter- 
 field would be bringing my supper at nine. I 
 had to wait for that visit. 
 
 It was darkling when he came, unlocking the 
 door, and carrying in my tray. 
 
 " I guess you want a light," he remarked.
 
 138 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I agreed, and setting the tray down he went 
 towards the lamp in the further corner of the 
 room. I moved silently towards the door, which 
 he had, as usual, shut behind him. His back was 
 towards me, as he attended to the lamp, and 
 moreover the darkness of the room obscured my 
 action. Outside I knew the puffy-faced ruffian 
 stood sentry. I slipped the two bullets into the 
 keyhole swiftly, and turned about just as Butter- 
 field struck his match. He chatted in his cus- 
 tomary way as he adjusted the wick, and then he 
 went out. I listened. 
 
 The key turned in the wards a certain distance 
 and then grated, I heard it being turned back, 
 and again Butterfield tried to lock it, but un- 
 successfully. After that it was wrenched out, 
 and I heard the colloquy of voices outside. Pres- 
 ently the key was rumbling once more in the lock ; 
 and then there was silence. No doubt it occurred 
 to Butterfield's shrewd mind that the noise might 
 draw my attention to the defect in the lock. I 
 knew the door was locked every time he went out, 
 and might be concluded to suppose it was locked 
 this time. The voices were in conversation with- 
 out for a little longer and then there was silence. 
 Butterfield had gone. I ate my supper with 
 alacrity and appetite, and with a rising heart; 
 and that done threw myself on the bed to rest 
 and think. This deliverance of the supper was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 139 
 
 always Butterfield's last appearance for the night, 
 as he was wont to leave me to my solitude and 
 my books until bed-time. The way was open 
 now to me as far as Rudgwick's satellite in the 
 corridor, and I must plan now to circumvent him. 
 I cut one sheet into strong strips with my knife, 
 and also tore a rag off the blanket; then I tied 
 the strips together to form a long linen rope and 
 hid it under my coat. I lay down on the bed 
 once more and took up a book. I do not think 
 I even was conscious of the title, for my thoughts 
 were flying busily elsewhere. Outside the black 
 bat night had settled on land and sea. 
 
 It must have been after eleven when I set 
 forth on my venture. With the revolver 
 lightly held in my fingers, I stole softly to the 
 door, and listened. Nothing was audible. I 
 seized the handle and turned it point by point, 
 almost imperceptibly round; and when it had 
 reached its limit of roll I pulled firmly in to- 
 wards myself. The big door gave, but it gave 
 with a low jar that sounded loudly in the still- 
 ness. I threw it wide instantly and was in the 
 corridor at a bound. 
 
 The sentry was taken by surprise, and I had a 
 grip of his right arm, and my weapon was at his 
 forehead ere he could recover himself. 
 
 "I'll shoot," I breathed in his face, "if you 
 struggle. Keep still."
 
 i 4 o THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He made no answer, but he made no movement 
 to resist, and I managed to find his head and his 
 pistol. 
 
 "Drop it," I commended, the cold muzzle of 
 my revolver pressed against his eyebrow. The 
 weapon fell into my hand. I put it in my pocket, 
 and drew out my linen rope and the blanket rag. 
 The latter I used as a gag, inserting it in his mouth 
 and tying it round his head; and that accom- 
 plished I proceeded to tie him up with the sheet, 
 his arms behind his back and his legs together at 
 knee and ankle. When I had finished he was 
 trussed very successfully, and I think I never 
 made better use of some sailors' knots I had 
 learned in my midshipman days. I had him 
 secure, at least until someone should discover 
 him. And now the third stage of my adventure 
 was before me. 
 
 I took the box of matches, and striking one 
 looked about me. The corridor ran for some 
 distance and then ended in a stone staircase to 
 the upper floor. This I mounted and reached a 
 landing off which several rooms opened. The 
 room I wanted could not, however, be just here, 
 seeing that this was immediately above my cell; 
 and so I opened a door at random, and groped my 
 way in. A little faint light from the stairs crept 
 through a window and showed me a bare chamber 
 falling into decay, that witnessed to the receding
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 141 
 
 fortunes of that house. At the further end was 
 another door, and crossing the room I turned the 
 handle. The door would not budge, and I struck 
 a match and examined it. A key was in it, and 
 I unlocked it gently, opened it, and passed in. 
 
 The sound of regular breathing reached me, 
 acquainting me that this chamber at least was 
 tenanted, but I could see nothing for the starlight 
 was occluded by heavy curtains across the window. 
 
 For a moment I hesitated, revolving alterna- 
 tives hastily in my mind, but I was armed, and 
 to take chances is often the wisest course. So I 
 struck another match swiftly, and the room 
 sprang at once into relief. A cry came to my 
 ears, and in the dimness of the light I saw Miss 
 Lovell, sitting up in her bed, her face aghast, 
 newly come out of her sleep. 
 
 "H'st! It's I," I whispered. "Can you get 
 ready quickly? We've no time to lose, if we're 
 to getaway." 
 
 The girl had pluck and spirit. Amidst all the 
 confusion of her position, startled, as she must 
 have been, by my appearance, and heavy with 
 her somnolence she said, "Yes," at once. 
 
 There was a sound from below, as of feet on the 
 bare corridor. 
 
 "They've discovered. We must go now," I 
 said, and there being no time for ceremony, I 
 went quickly forward. " We must get away from
 
 I 4 2 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 here at any risk. Can you wrap something round 
 you? I will take anything you may require 
 afterwards." 
 
 The match went out, leaving us in darkness, but 
 in that darkness I had her answer. I could hear 
 she was afoot and she passed me with a rustle of 
 her night-robes. 
 
 " I'm ready," she said in a low voice, almost at 
 once, and I lit a match. She was standing a 
 little away, her face pale in the yellow light, clad 
 in a long black cloak that reached her ankles; 
 and her feet were in slippers. 
 
 "Your dress!" I asked; and obeying the direc- 
 tions of her glance, seized in my arms a bundle 
 that was set on a chair nearby; for that room 
 like mine was bare of comforts and conveniences. 
 
 The sound of feet in the corridors was growing, 
 and with a gesture of invitation to her I glided to 
 the door, and went out. Someone was mounting 
 the stairs hurriedly. I looked about me, and then 
 faint and friendly stars shone on a door to my 
 right. I opened it, and a long gallery was before 
 me. Miss Lovell and I passed through as the 
 advancing feet reached the landing. But with 
 the closing of the door all light vanished and we 
 moved in a profound darkness. I put out my 
 disengaged hand and took hers, and we went for- 
 ward in a gingerly tentative fashion not knowing 
 what awaited us, or would befall us. So black
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 143 
 
 was our passage that we knew not where we were 
 treading, and we might easily have walked into 
 the chasm of an open staircase. 
 
 Presently I knocked against a wall, which 
 barred our way, and leaving my hold of Miss 
 Lovell, began to grope along it. I discovered 
 now that a flight of stairs descended to the floor 
 below, and these we took cautiously, thus gaining 
 once more the level of my prison cell. But where 
 we were in relation to that I could not guess. 
 The house was by this time alive with sound, and 
 footsteps were audible everywhere. It was quite 
 clear that our escape had been discovered, but 
 as yet there was no one on our immediate track. 
 If I were only able to determine one of the en- 
 trances I felt I should have no fears, what with 
 the assistance of the night and of my revolver. 
 A window gave light to the stone passage in which 
 we now found ourselves, and fell upon a doorway 
 opposite. As I noticed this I was aware of foot- 
 steps hurrying from my right, and pushing the 
 door open, pulled Miss Lovell in after me. I had 
 not time to close the door before the pursuers were 
 in the corridor, and then I dared not. I heard 
 Butterfield's voice. 
 
 "I guess they're below; we've been most other 
 places." Had they been here then? I glanced 
 round, and behold I had taken refuge in my own 
 prison! No wonder they had not thought of
 
 144 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 looking for us there. The feet trailed off down- 
 stairs and we were left to our luck. I ran to the 
 window and looked out. This story was about 
 twenty feet from the ground. 
 
 "There's one chance for us," I said to my com- 
 panion. "We must go by the windows on this 
 floor. Will you trust me?" 
 
 She clutched my arm impulsively. "Yes," 
 she breathed. How I blessed her for her confi- 
 dence and her sensibility! Had she shown signs 
 of hysteria or fear we should have been undone. 
 My window, of course, was guarded by the iron 
 bars, but it was not likely that all the windows 
 were in the same case. We ventured out cau- 
 tiously and I explored the further end of the 
 corridor. On the right and left were doors, and 
 dismissing the thought of the right-hand room 
 as one facing the front of the house and therefore 
 undesirable, I opened the other door. It was an 
 irregular stone chamber, not quite so large as 
 mine, furnished with a bed, and from my cursory 
 glance I judged it to be occupied by one of Rudg- 
 wick's men, possibly by Butterfield himself. Be- 
 yond a further door led into a further room, an 
 antechamber, full of mouldy curtains, worm- 
 eaten carpets and broken boxes. But here, 
 unattractive as the scene was, hope first truly 
 dawned upon me; for a window lay open from 
 this room into the ulterior night, and looking out,
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 145 
 
 I descried the dim stack of a building beyond. 
 There was urgent need of haste, for I knew not 
 when Butterfield and his gang might return 
 when they found we were not below; and so, 
 whispering an instruction to Miss Lovell, I threw 
 the bundle I carried out of the window, leaped 
 over the sill and dropped. 
 
 I fell on the hard ground, and my feet were 
 stung and numb, but I held out my hands. 
 
 "Now," I said. "Don't fear." 
 
 It was, as I said, no time for scruples and un- 
 necessary embarrassments, and she knew it. 
 She crawled over the edge, hung a moment by 
 her hands and then let go. I caught her in my 
 arms, so that her slippered feet barely touched 
 the earth, and I could feel the soft lines of her 
 beautiful body through her investing cloak. 
 Even in that moment my heart beat fast and I 
 would have held her still. But I let her go at last 
 and in my ears resounded the groaning of a big 
 door opening. It was the house-door giving on 
 the yard and rolling on creaking and neglected 
 hinges. I pulled her into the environing shadows 
 of the buildings. 
 
 Voices emerged to us, and I drew closer among 
 the darkness. This was some annex to the house 
 proper, and the stars had no chance in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of that mass of buildings. 
 We crept softly along the wall, anxiously groping 
 for a way of escape, until at last it ceased, and I
 
 146 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 guessed we must be at the entrance to some shed. 
 So much the better; they would hardly suspect 
 us of harbouring so near the house, and at least 
 there were probably opportunities of defence 
 within. I drew Miss Lovell in and there we waited 
 in silence. Feet were flying about the house, 
 and lights were flashing. Shouts reached us but 
 we could not make them out; and then momen- 
 tarily there was silence, as the searchers streamed 
 towards the front of the house on the suspicion 
 of a clue. I seized the opportunity to strike a 
 light, to examine our refuge. It proved to be a 
 sort of stable, and of ample size. A broken down 
 cart in one corner together with some decaying 
 harness, with the straw showing, gave the shed 
 the air of a charnel house of dead things. A litter 
 of remnants, of things off-cast, of rags, of discarded 
 utensils, added to the melancholy aspect. But 
 in the very centre was that which made my heart 
 sing, -Alston's motor tricycle. 
 
 I ran towards it, almost forgetful of the hazards 
 I risked, and made a cursory inspection of it by 
 matchlight. Nothing seemed askew, save the 
 spokes of the front wheels which were twisted, 
 doubtless in the accident contrived for me. I 
 switched on the current, and started the engine, 
 and with an initiatory hiss and gasp it began to 
 beat. Here was our chance providentially hap- 
 pened upon. I made Miss Lovell mount in the 
 fore-seat, and myself bestrode the bar behind.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 147 
 
 The engine thumped heavily; my last match 
 went out. 
 
 And now from the other side of the houses 
 poured the voices in some new excitement. The 
 hunt was returning to the rear, and doubtless an 
 examination of the out-buildings would follow. 
 There was no time to lose, and I pulled the lever. 
 
 The tri-car groaned, and puffed out through 
 the wide doorway, just as a figure came round the 
 corner of the house. The noise of the engine Was 
 unmistakable and a loud cry arose on the air. 
 The car, gathering power, swept along, passed the 
 figure like the wind, and, narrowly shaving the 
 house in the darkness, slipped into the drive 
 beyond. Now many voices mingled in the air. 
 But I kept the car as straight as I could, with her 
 nose, so to speak, to the ground. She wobbled 
 on and off the road, now half on the grass, with 
 one wheel in the air, and now half toppled over 
 to starboard. Yet unless she came absolutely 
 to a wreck, and we were injured, I had no fear of 
 the pursuit. Presently the report of a gun 
 sounded in the night, and something rattled under 
 me. Here was evidence that this desperate party 
 would stick at little to compass its ends, or rather 
 the ends of its master. The shot had been fired 
 low with the hope probably of disabling the car; 
 for answer she continued to bound along in the 
 subdued darkness.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE OSIER SWAMP 
 
 WE were by this time, as I estimated, out of 
 gunshot, and so, fearful of an upset in the darkness 
 and on that unknown track, I slackened speed. 
 Miss Lovell sat before me, vaguely determined 
 against the open starlight, but she made no 
 sound, and preserved the stillness of a mouse. 
 The cool night air struck my face pleasantly 
 with a savour of the sea in it, but I was too anxious 
 to make any vivid observations. I did not know 
 when the grounds of the Chateau Cabriac ended, 
 nor what came after. French roads were, I knew 
 as a rule admirable, but were they so in this remote 
 corner of Brittany? However, I had no alterna- 
 tive but to trust to luck and my own wits, and so 
 we drove on at a prudent speed through a tangle 
 of overgrown trees. 
 
 The road presently took a turn, and I saw dimly 
 that we had gone through a gap in the wall, 
 probably the original gateway of that ancient 
 and impoverished domain. If so now we were 
 upon a highway, and must be content to follow 
 whither it led. Clear of the park of trees the 
 
 148
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 149 
 
 road lay more manifest under the luminous 
 heaven, and I increased the pace. The car, 
 humming cheerfully, began to climb a hill. The 
 absence of hedgerows on each side improved the 
 light, and I thought I could see vaguely outlined 
 and distant the pile of the gloomy chateau. 
 Then we entered a sunken lane, and it disappeared. 
 We ascended and descended alternately for some 
 time, and now the prospect of the sea had sunk 
 behind us, and we seemed destined to go inland. 
 Probably, I reflected, that was safest for us, 
 though by this time, if Alston's telegram had 
 been obeyed, the yawl would be somewhere in 
 the bay. However, whether I wished to go to the 
 shore or to the hills it was all one; I must obey 
 the road submissively, and so I let the car run 
 passively and without any demonstration of 
 volition on my part. 
 
 I avoided side ways as likely to prove illusive, 
 and kept to what I conceived to be the main road. 
 Yet I may not have succeeded in this aim, owing 
 to the obscurity in which we were wrapped. All 
 I know is that we had been going some twenty 
 minutes when a stack of buildings on my left 
 which had emerged blackly into view, took my 
 eye suddenly and stood forth revealed as the 
 chateau itself. We had taken a complete circle. 
 Coming to this conclusion I did not hesitate at 
 the next turning to leave the road, and follow a
 
 150 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 by-way, which curved along exiguously for some 
 time, and passed full in view of the chateau. 
 And now though we were not discernible for any 
 distance it began to fret me that we were audible. 
 The rhythmic beat of the engine pulsed out in 
 the night, not loudly, but unmistakable for any- 
 thing but what it was. I began to get anxious, 
 for I could see a light flashing across a field, and 
 still the engine throbbed and sobbed through the 
 darkness. On one side of us lay what appeared 
 to be an open moor; on the other meadows, and 
 across those meadows a light dawned ; while along 
 the road in front of us came another. I recalled 
 my own "accident;" and I was in no humour for 
 another with that unscrupulous gang in the offing; 
 and so I deliberately turned the car off the road 
 and out upon the empty rugged heath. 
 
 She moved gallantly, jerking and kicking on 
 the rude track, but, alas, her voice could still be 
 heard, and I had no doubt that the pursuit, which 
 had been thus picked up again, had been directed 
 to the moor. It was an amazingly discomfort- 
 able ride, across rough and broken ground, over 
 boulders, through furze and bracken, and in the 
 trough of ancient ruts. And soon we passed out 
 of the open into a region of pines through which 
 we careered blindly, now unable to tell the track 
 from the uncertain heath. Bad as the track was 
 it was yet some sort of guide, and now it had van-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 151 
 
 ished. It was at this period that I began to de- 
 spair for the first time of our breaking away from 
 that accursed chateau. For our speed had 
 dwindled greatly, so that the enemy could not be 
 far away, and they were persistently advertised 
 of our whereabouts by the noise of the engine. I 
 was divided in my mind as to our best course 
 when of a sudden the car tripped, toppled and 
 rolled over on itself and us down a steep slope. 
 
 Luckily the fall was broken by sand and furze, 
 and the car, which had been rocking and crawling, 
 had only just touched my leg. Otherwise we 
 might have been seriously injured. As it was I 
 rose quickly, extricating myself, and hastened to 
 Miss Lovell. She had been thrown clear of the 
 car, but her head had come in contact with the 
 root of a gorse-bush and she was dazed. I sat her 
 up and attended to her, heard her long little sigh, 
 and was aware she had come to herself ; and then 
 the sound of hoofs padded in my ears. I looked 
 up from the hollow into which we had fallen, and 
 the starlight gleamed on Butterfield astride a 
 mule, to which he was clinging with both hands. 
 I could have put a pistol shot into him or his 
 mount as it laboured by, and I would have done 
 so if there had been any object in it. It was war 
 between us ; and I had no scruple in war. But it 
 was wiser to keep quiet and so I let him go and 
 devoted myself once again to Miss Lovell.
 
 152 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 She declared she was all right now, and was fit 
 to travel, asking eagerly whither we were bound. 
 If I had only known myself I might have answered 
 her with better assurance. As it was I feigned 
 confidence as to our destination, telling her that 
 we were set for the shore, and that Alston was 
 no doubt off that coast with a yacht. 
 
 "Mr. Alston!" she said, tremulously, and 
 paused ; and then : " Did he send you to find me? " 
 
 I denied this, for to my own mind I would not 
 admit that Alston was responsible for my position 
 in that strange story. The boat was mine, and 
 mine was the intention. I would have sailed on 
 the mission of rescue without Alston, in despite of 
 Alston. 
 
 "What made you come?" she asked, wistfully. 
 
 " I found you were gone ; you were said to have 
 been abducted and and you were my country- 
 woman," I ended vaguely. 
 
 She was silent. " I don't understand anything," 
 she said. "I seem to be the shuttlecock of of 
 fortune. It was very generous of you to come to 
 rescue me unless " she paused. 
 
 "Unless what?" I asked, curiously. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know, " she answered sadly. " I'm 
 all at sea. Why should I be kidnapped like this 
 and treated so barbarously, as if it were the middle 
 ages? Think of it, Mr. Kerslake. I met you 
 only a week ago and this man, Rudgwick, less
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 153 
 
 than that, and here you are both mixed up Oh, 
 I can't understand," she broke off piteously. 
 
 I thought I saw, and it went to my heart. Yet 
 after all why should she not be suspicious, who 
 had been the rough sport of gamblers? She 
 feared that I too who had come into her life almost 
 simultaneously with Rudgwick was only taking 
 a hand in the game with him. I could not be 
 angry with her, but I was deeply mortified. 
 
 " I want you to understand one thing only," I 
 said earnestly, "and that is that I came to save 
 you. I don't know anything more than you do, 
 Miss Lovell. I strayed into the strange events of 
 the last week. Accident (perhaps it was more 
 than accident) brought me into them." 
 
 "Why did you follow me here?" she asked 
 quickly. 
 
 I dared not tell her the truth that was on my 
 tongue, that I loved her. " Who ever loved that 
 loved not at first sight?" But it was unfair if 
 not to Alston, then to her, at least just then. 
 
 " I hope I should always come to the help of a 
 woman in distress," I said. 
 
 " Thank you," she said simply, but impulsively. 
 "Oh thank you!" 
 
 But there was no time to discuss or explain 
 there, for at any moment we might be discovered. 
 The very silence of the car might betray us. It 
 had vanished in the moor, and they would realise
 
 154 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 that we had stopped and would be encouraged in 
 the hunt. We had fallen into a cleft in the 
 heath, some ten feet deep, grown with gorse and 
 bracken, and as this natural gully sloped away 
 it seemed wise to follow its course downwards. 
 Consequently we resumed our flight, as silently as 
 might be, stumbling in the darkness at times in 
 the rugged path. After we had been walking 
 for half an hour my companion came to a halt. 
 
 " Must we is it much farther?" she asked. 
 
 I saw she was worn out and was struck with 
 remorse. 
 
 "No," I said, after a moment's reflection. 
 " I think we can find a hiding place now. " 
 
 The light of the promised dawn was already 
 suffusing the sky, and we could see more clearly. 
 My eyes went round in search of a refuge. 
 
 " I would have gone on if I don't think you 
 see," she said plaintively, "Fve_only got slippers 
 on." 
 
 I remembered now. How cruel I had been! 
 
 "Poor child!" I said. "You shall rest," and 
 I led the way towards a mass of furze. With the 
 aid of a stick I succeeded in making a breach in 
 this, and within was an ample space dominated 
 by the withered spines and thorns of the lower 
 branches. 
 
 But the difficulty was not insuperable, and 
 with the aid of plenty of bracken I made the hoi-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 155 
 
 low fairly comfortable. That done I introduced 
 her to it, and persuaded her to lie down and sleep. 
 She obeyed me like a child, and, closing the en- 
 trance to this improvised dwelling, I seated myself 
 on the fern to keep watch against the coming of 
 the dawn. 
 
 "Mr. Kerslake," a small voice interrupted me. 
 
 I was alert in a moment. Was it not com- 
 fortable? Oh, yes, it was quite snug, but there 
 was something 
 
 " Would you would you mind letting me have 
 what you brought," she said. 
 
 " What I ' ' suddenly it came home to me. 
 
 I had snatched up her dress and carried it, all the 
 way for her, and now it was gone. "I'm so 
 sorry," I stammered. "It was tied on to the 
 car. I will go back and get it." 
 
 "Oh," she said in dismay. 
 
 " I will go back, " I said, but her voice came to 
 me troubled but firm. 
 
 "No, you couldn't. It was not your fault. 
 You had other things to think of. Please don't 
 think of it. I shall be all right. Thank you so 
 much for all your kindness," and the furze 
 rustled and was still. 
 
 It was an hour later, when the dawn was on 
 the hills, that I parted the bushes and looked in. 
 She lay asleep, curled up among the great fronds 
 of the bracken, her lips parted slightly, and the
 
 156 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 thin coat to her ankles above the slippered foot. 
 It was that hour at which human life is at its 
 lowest, when dreams come, and the chill of the 
 night strikes deep. I took off my coat and laid 
 it softly over her body, and when I had resumed 
 my post as sentry, I declare that the edge of that 
 nocturnal air, so far from being chill to me, 
 warmed me like wine. For my thoughts were like 
 fire, and under my coat rose and fell the bosom 
 of my love. 
 
 The sun called us over the hills, and Sylvia 
 Lovell stirred in her thorny bower about four of 
 the clock. She parted the furze and came for- 
 ward into a world of dew and sunshine. 
 
 "You gave me your coat," she burst forth 
 precipitately. "You mustn't." 
 
 And then, as she met my eye her girlish im- 
 petuosity gave way to embarrassment; she col- 
 oured and drew back. 
 
 "Did you sleep soundly?" I asked. 
 
 "I feel stiff," she said with a little smile. 
 
 " You see, however deeply covered, the earth 
 does not give way," I explained. "It is a re- 
 luctant bed." 
 
 I looked beyond her across the blue-green firs, 
 to where the sea was sparkling in the bay, and 
 there was the black schooner. Rudgwick was 
 back then, and back in time to hear of our escape. 
 I wondered with a grim satisfaction how he would
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 157 
 
 take it ; if I had properly interpreted him, hardly, 
 and in a most businesslike way. It was time we 
 were gone. 
 
 The hollow in the moor led away in a gentle 
 slope through broken land towards the sea, and 
 for the sake of better security we held to that 
 cover. The sun was warm, and the dew was 
 drying on the herbage, yet we went in a pleasant 
 wetness which was refreshing to the imagination; 
 for the new day had a threat of great heat in it. 
 After the exertions of the night, I will confess 
 that I felt very hungry, but I saw no prospect 
 of breakfast, and indeed was but vague in my 
 plans. I was for the sea at any rate, and doubt- 
 less we should come upon either village or cottage 
 where we might get food and shelter until I got 
 a little deeper glance into the future. 
 
 The track we were following gradually stole 
 down the heights and became a little sandy path 
 betwixt two rises ; a little further we were upon a 
 green flat through which a stream purled. We were 
 now deep in a valley, and had lost sight of the 
 sea; but clearly this brook would carry us to it, 
 and so we made our way along the bank com- 
 fortably enough. Presently, however, our con- 
 fidence was rudely broken, for some distance away 
 on the slope to our left I caught sight of a mounted 
 figure, and upon the further side of the little valley 
 another. As I made this discovery the riders
 
 158 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 increased their speed, and I knew that our pack 
 of hounds had not yet given up the chase. Here 
 alas, the scent was hot. 
 
 At this moment there was a cry behind us, 
 and I turned only to make out scarcely a quarter 
 of a mile away a third pursuer. There was no 
 time to spare; we were taken on each flank and 
 in our rear, and only one direction remained to 
 us. We must go forward. If it came to the 
 worst I had my revolver, but I was unwilling to 
 make use of that, outrageous as the conduct of 
 this unscrupulous gang had been. Firearms 
 would make trouble for us, nor did I credit Rudg- 
 wick with a desire to bring bloodshed into his 
 piratical game. I took Miss Lovell by the arm. 
 
 "Can you go faster?" I asked. "They are on 
 our trail again. 
 
 "Yes, yes," she cried, with one scared glance 
 behind, and she began to run. 
 
 She ran like a girl, hampered by her cloak, and 
 the way was uneven. Here and there the stream 
 spread out into little marshes through which we 
 ploughed ankle deep in mud and water, and occa- 
 sionally was the bole of a fallen tree to surmount, 
 or some other obstacle to compass. And all the 
 time our pack was gaining on us. 
 
 The stream slipped round a bend in the widen- 
 ing valley, as if here it was in flight like ourselves, 
 and would escape into the sea; but when we
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 159 
 
 reached the corner we saw not the sea before us, 
 but a forest of reeds and red osiers, into which 
 the water disappeared. Behind us pressed the 
 three men, but one was in difficulties in a boggy 
 part of the valley, into which his mule had sunk 
 above the hocks. I could now recognise Butter- 
 field with his uncomfortable seat on his mule, 
 and with him an unknown man, who struck and 
 lashed his animal ruthlessly. What lay before 
 us I could not guess, indeed I had hardly time 
 to consider. I acted almost on the impulse, and, 
 taking a firm hold of my companion, I ran head- 
 long into the osiers. 
 
 The ground oozed with slush, but I limped on, 
 dragging heavy feet out of the mud, and support- 
 ing the girl, until we must have gone some thirty 
 yards into the osiers, and then I must perforce 
 rest, being breathless. I listened, but I could 
 not hear anything. One thing was certain, 
 that the pursuit could not be carried into that 
 marish place on mules. Whoever ventured here 
 must venture afoot. We stood in water two feet 
 deep, and the slime below it sucked voraciously 
 at us, as though it would drag us bodily into the 
 morass. 
 
 "Can you go a little farther?" I whispered. 
 "We must reach firmer ground." 
 
 She nodded, for her breath was out, and, push- 
 ing the osiers aside, I resumed our progress. In
 
 160 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 this way we penetrated a hundred yards or more 
 without finding ourselves free of the marsh. But 
 here there were now patches of firm earth, and 
 open spaces. The osier bed, as I conjectured, 
 occupied the spreading fan which marked the 
 issue of that stream upon the shore. If therefore 
 we pushed on we should reach the sea, which 
 could not be more than a mile away. But ere 
 we did so food and rest were necessities, and I 
 saw no chance of securing the former. The latter 
 we took when we felt comparatively safe, and 
 occupied the time in endeavouring to scrape some 
 of the thick coating of mud from our garments. 
 
 "Exhausted?" I asked. 
 
 "A a little," she answered with a deprecating 
 smile, and added bravely, " I'm rather hungry. " 
 
 I told her we should get our dejeuner presently, 
 and we passed some poor but comforting jests 
 about early rolls and coffee. 
 
 "Was it was it that man Rudgwick?" she 
 asked next. 
 
 "No," said I. "I recognised only Butterfield, 
 but I have no doubt that Rudgwick has inspired 
 the hunt. His schooner came into the bay during 
 the night, and he must know of our escape." 
 
 "Oh, why does he want me?" she cried tear- 
 fully. 
 
 I put my hand on hers. "Don't bother your 
 head with problems and questions. You're being
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 161 
 
 used as a pawn in a game to checkmate Mr. Alston. 
 Don't let anything worry you, except how to get 
 away; and don't let that worry you either, for 
 I'll look after that." 
 
 I spoke lightly, and even jocularly, and I could 
 see that I had reassured her. The poor girl was 
 terribly bewildered by the transactions of the 
 last week, and I did not wonder that they should 
 have appeared to her as a nightmare in which 
 she moved. 
 
 As we talked I heard a sound which seemed to 
 bespeak the approach of a body through the 
 osiers. We were on dry ground, well-hidden by 
 an environing circle of reeds, and I held up my 
 hand to enjoin silence. The noise drew nearer, 
 and now was unmistakable, nearer still, and we 
 caught our breath. Would it blunder our way? 
 If so, a conflict seemed inevitable. I fingered 
 the weapon in my pocket. .No, the noise seemed 
 to be going round us, as it were the clumsy 
 traffic of an animal that had wandered into the 
 osier forest. Branches cracked, and then there 
 was silence. 
 
 We said no word to each other, but waited. 
 The noise had entirely ceased, and I came to the 
 conclusion that the person or animal had gone 
 off into the distance. We resumed our way as 
 soon as we had recovered, and pushed along the 
 firmer ground which we had reached with more
 
 162 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 comfort. I was in front making the path easier 
 for Miss Lovell, and, as I turned to address her 
 with some word of caution, I was aware of a man 
 a dozen paces away. He was standing in the 
 reeds, and an open space of slime separated us. 
 I put my hand instinctively into my pocket, and 
 a rough voice broke out: 
 
 "I've got a sight on you." 
 
 His swarthy face was illumined with a grin. 
 Beyond question here was one of Rudgwick's 
 pirates, and he had me at his mercy. Resistance 
 would do no good, with that long and level re- 
 volver at my head. 
 
 "I reckon marshes don't tell no tales," any 
 more'n the dead, " he chuckled. " They wouldn't 
 find nothing here till the day o' judgment, hey?" 
 
 "What do you want?" I asked sharply. 
 
 "Oh, you're innocent, boss, ain't you?" said 
 the ruffian with a leer. " What do I want ? Why 
 I take it that bit of molasses by your side's what 
 I want. I don't take no stock in you, but I got 
 to." 
 
 "Very well," said I coolly. "Come over and 
 take us." 
 
 "Precisely," he returned with a wink. "I 
 like the look of that place of yourn better'n 
 mine. " 
 
 As he spoke he pushed aside the reeds, with 
 the revolver at cock, and edged round towards
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 163 
 
 the path along the margin of the pool of slime. 
 Sylvia stood by my side, and I felt her tremble; 
 she had seized my arm, and her gaze was upon 
 the swarthy thickset scoundrel who crept delib- 
 erately closer to us. He was within six feet now, 
 but the bog of ooze parted us still. 
 
 "Seems to me, mister, you take it with your 
 hair oiled," said the fellow with his malevolent 
 grin, and then, as if suddenly perturbed in mind, 
 he stopped and frowned. " Now, I wonder what 
 the hell's your game," he remarked. 
 
 I gave him no answer, but my arm was about 
 Sylvia Lovell, and I was hardly conscious of the 
 fact; nor I think, was she. 
 
 " I kin draw a bead on you, " he observed with 
 a scowl, and his finger was on his trigger. 
 
 Miss Lovell gave a little hysterical cry, and 
 bringing her face on my breast, clung to me. 
 A grin dissolved his scowl. "Right," he said. 
 "Thar's no painter there, I reckon, only a tame 
 cat," and he began once more to sidle along. 
 The girl's weight was upon me; she sobbed on 
 my heart, out-worn by the stress and dangers of 
 the night. My free hand pressed my pinfire 
 revolver. He had reminded me: the marshes 
 were as secret as the grave. 
 
 "Hands up, by God!" he thundered, with his 
 eyes on my pocket. "Hands up, or " 
 
 Ere he could finish his foot slipped on the
 
 164 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 rough and slithering earth, and after an ineffect- 
 ual attempt to recover his balance he fell out- 
 wards headlong into the slime, while the report 
 of his revolver rang out sharply. The bog opened 
 its ravening maw and closed over him. 
 
 Sylvia hung desperately about my neck, and 
 even if I had desired to assist the ruffian I should 
 have been too late. He sank like a stone, and 
 the slime sucked and rocked above his body, as 
 though it licked its lips and awaited the next 
 victim. I shuddered and turned away, the girl 
 still in my arms. The marsh would tell no tales. 
 He had spoken his own epitaph. 
 
 When the momentary qualm was over I turned 
 my thoughts to our own plight, for the horror of 
 that sudden tragedy had made me sick with fear. 
 Here we were in the centre of a terrible marsh* 
 with death on all sides, and with no knowledge 
 of the proper direction to take, nor any certainty 
 indeed that there was a proper direction. Miss 
 Lovell came to herself with a sigh. 
 
 "Where is he?" she asked in frightened tones. 
 
 "He has gone, child," I said. "You will not 
 be troubled by him more." 
 
 "Did you shoot him?" she asked fearfully. 
 
 I shook my head. I shrank from explaining. 
 Apart from the horrid fact of that ugly death 
 the newly realised peril of our situation would 
 appal her.
 
 'After &n ineffectual attempt to recover his balance, he fell headlong 
 into the slime "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 165 
 
 "He is gone," I repeated. 
 
 " But but I heard a shot, " she said tragically. 
 
 I displayed myself with a gesture, as it were, 
 smilingly offering myself for examination. 
 
 "He missed, and is gone." 
 
 " Oh ! " she shuddered. " Let us go, " she said ; 
 and nothing loath I led the way deeper into that 
 osier wilderness.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE AFFRAY ON THE SANDS 
 
 ALTHOUGH I was attended by anxious fears as 
 to the outcome of our journey, it seemed clear to 
 me that in a little we had accidentally hit upon 
 a pathway. It was a narrow ridge of earth grown 
 with reeds and withies, somewhat above the ele- 
 vation of the water, and winding tortuously I 
 trusted for firm ground. No doubt this was a 
 road through the swamp which was used by the 
 inhabitants of the sparsely peopled region. There 
 were marks of the passage of feet, although from 
 the look of it few travellers went that way. How- 
 ever, the mere fact that we were upon a sort of 
 highway through the marsh inspirited me. 
 
 It was now well on in the morning, and we had 
 had no food. At the rate we were making it did 
 not seem as if we should break our fast for some 
 hours, for when once we were clear of the marsh 
 we had no assurance that we should be near any 
 human habitation. The sea undoubtedly lay be- 
 fore us somewhere, and if we succeeded in reaching 
 the shore we should be in the way to strike a 
 village. At times it became difficult to push 
 
 166
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 167 
 
 through the vegetation, and we must have been 
 afoot quite half an hour before we were surprised 
 by the sudden disappearance of osiers, and reeds. 
 The path conducted us out upon a clearing of 
 moss and grass, and in the centre was a wooden 
 hut, that looked out upon a tiny sheet of 
 water. 
 
 I had not expected to find human life in that 
 desolate and forbidding spot, but the explanation 
 obtruded itself from the bundles of withies that 
 lay about. It was evidently the hut of an osier- 
 cutter, an assumption which was borne out when 
 we reached the door. This stood open to the 
 miniature lake with its fringing forest of reeds, 
 and the blue sky sparkled in the water. Alto- 
 gether the place took on a cheerful aspect despite 
 its loneliness and remoteness, which was incon- 
 gruous with the experiences through which we 
 had just gone. Our association with the marsh 
 was one of tragedy, of fear; but this oasis wore 
 a bright face and Nature actually smiled. 
 
 A girl's face stared at us from the interior of 
 the hut, with mingling alarm and curiosity; and 
 I went up to the entrance, and saluted her. She 
 dropped the sewing she held and shook her head. 
 She spoke only Breton, I supposed, and I had 
 only French. I made certain signs which en- 
 deavoured to acquaint her with our condition and 
 plight, emphasising more particularly our hunger.
 
 i68 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 This she seemed to understand, nodded cheer- 
 fully, and, with a look of interest at Miss Lovell, 
 got off her chair. It was then I perceived that 
 she was crippled, for she caught up a crutch 
 briskly and hobbled to the fire. In a quarter of 
 an hour we were feasting on good bread, eggs 
 and the remains of boiled poulet, and I think I 
 never ate with better appetite in my life. My 
 companion also did justice to the food, and seemed 
 to recover something of her spirit with the meal. 
 The girl sat, crutch to hand, and watched us 
 with absorbed interest, but particularly was she 
 engrossed with Miss Lovell, whom she surveyed 
 with frank curiosity not a little disconcerting in 
 the circumstances. I found she was not wholly 
 deaf to French, but was conversant with a few 
 words, so that by the aid of this common ground 
 and by dint of signs I secured such information 
 as I needed. Her grandfather lived here, but 
 was absent cutting osiers, and would not return 
 till evening. She lived alone with him, and had 
 done so since childhood and her mother's death. 
 Apparently she saw no strangeness in it, and was 
 not alarmed by the solitude, which she accepted 
 as a matter of course. There was a way across 
 the marsh to the meadows by which we had ar- 
 rived; and a path led also from this clearing to 
 the sea-shore. But that her grandfather knew, 
 and he would be able to conduct us. As for
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 169 
 
 herself she glanced at her leg and a slight colour 
 emerged in her face. 
 
 It seemed then that we were destined to re- 
 main there, prisoners of the marsh, until nightfall, 
 and there was nothing for it but to put a good 
 face on the situation. I will confess I was de- 
 voured by impatience, for I knew not what delay 
 might bring forth. I wondered if it would be 
 possible to follow the path to the shore without 
 guidance, but the Breton girl shook her head, 
 indicating that it was full of dangers. I went 
 out to explore, and spent some time questing for 
 the outlet. When I returned the door was shut, 
 and I rapped on it before entering. At the table 
 a girl faced me, in the Breton costume, her hair 
 in a blue coif, and a blue neckerchief about her 
 bosom. To my astonishment I recognised Miss 
 Lovell, who greeted me with a blushing smile. 
 She stood up in her short skirts, and she was 
 Breton to the very clogs upon her feet. A giggle 
 came from the cripple, and she came out of the 
 corner in which she had been harbouring. I saw 
 what had happened. My charge had adroitly 
 seized the opportunity of my absence to change 
 her dress. She had the air of awaiting my ap- 
 proval and I gave it to the full. 
 
 "You are like one to the habit born," I told 
 her, and made her turn so that no detail of the 
 picturesque costume should escape my notice.
 
 i;o THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "She is very kind, Mr. Kerslake, and oh so 
 quick to understand," she explained. "She 
 seemed to guess at once that we were being pur- 
 sued. And," she paused, exhibiting some em- 
 barrassment. " Will you would you I have no 
 money with me. Could you lend me something 
 to pay her with?" 
 
 It was delightful to feel her dependent on me, 
 and to realise that she came to me so confidently. 
 That precious intimacy thrilled me through and 
 through. The girl seemed astonished at what I 
 gave her, and laughed her pleasure. She put her 
 head to one side, and scrutinised Miss Lovell 
 critically. Then she nodded, and put one hand 
 on her own breast and one on Miss Lo veil's. 
 Evidently she wished to approve the resemblance 
 in the costumes. 
 
 But for all I was glad that my companion 
 should have a rest, the interruption of our flight 
 irked me. It wanted many hours to the return 
 of the grandfather, and I could not guess what 
 was happening to the other principals in this 
 adventure. Where was Alston? And was Rudg- 
 wick idle? 
 
 I succeeded in tracing the trail some distance 
 through the marsh, but found myself at a loss 
 when it branched, and reluctantly returned to 
 the clearing. When I arrived I caught the sound 
 of voices, one of which was clearly a man's : and
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 171 
 
 so instead of going straight to the hut I wandered 
 round to the back, and glanced in at a window. 
 What I saw was a short dark lean man in gestic- 
 ulation with the Breton girl. The savour of the 
 sea clung about him, and I could have sworn he 
 was a Dago; of a certainty he was an emissary 
 from Rudgwick or Butterfield. I kept in hiding 
 and awaited developments, ready for any emer- 
 gency. It was at once obvious that the girl and 
 he were not making any progress in their lingual 
 communication. He spoke what seemed to be 
 Italian, and dropped occasionally into broken 
 English, which fact added to my conviction, as to 
 his identity. Sylvia Lovell was in a chair near- 
 by, and it pleased my heart to see how she took 
 this incursion, she who must have guessed at the 
 character of the visitor. She had the Breton 
 girl's sewing in her hands, and made an admir- 
 able feint of working on it, now and then casting 
 an interested glance at the spy. 
 
 His patience at last appeared to have reached 
 its end, or he had determined on bold courses, 
 for he stepped forward and touched Miss Lovell 
 roughly on the arm. She rose and indignantly 
 uttered a few sentences, and they were nothing 
 but gibberish. With her brisk intelligence and 
 courage she was playing the part of Breton. 
 
 The man had evidently doubts, for he stepped 
 back, and I heard his broken English.
 
 i;2 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Mees, escape runaway from school." 
 
 Sylvia shook her head, glanced at the Breton 
 girl, and smiled. She walked across to the girl, 
 and linked her arm in hers. 
 
 "S&urs!" she said. "Ma sceur!" 
 
 The Breton girl smiled back and patted her 
 shoulder affectionately entering into the play; 
 and the Dago looked crestfallen. The cripple 
 made a motion as of one cutting down bushes, 
 and then of one binding withies into bundles, 
 and at that his rout was apparent. After all 
 what real reason would he have to suspect either 
 of two Breton girls domestically engaged in an 
 osier cutter's cottage, when he was on the search 
 for a fugitive English girl in deshabille and an 
 attendant squire? 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders, spread out his hands 
 by way of apology, and left the hut. I saw him 
 go by the path on which we had come, and the 
 reeds closed about him. 
 
 The grandfather arrived about six o'clock, a 
 withered berry of a man, and conducted us across 
 the swamp with mechanical fidelity. It was no 
 great way, we found, to the sea-shore, but the 
 path he took was more protracted, leading as it 
 did towards a hamlet on the outskirts. This lay 
 a little back from the shore, badly placed on 
 rising ground, and commanding a prospect of 
 the Bay. Yet we were not destined to make
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 173 
 
 acquaintance with that village, as you shall 
 hear. 
 
 We came out of the plantation of osiers into a 
 marish stretch of sand and quagmire, and below 
 us was the great green water of the Atlantic, 
 breaking on the beach. A little distance away 
 my expert eye recognised a small craft low-down 
 as a yawl, and I could swear it was no other 
 than my boat come round from Cherbourg in 
 obedience to Alston's orders. In that case our 
 course was clear; she had arrived in the nick of 
 time, and we had only to hail her to reach se- 
 curity. As I gazed in this vein of speculation, 
 with a rising heart, my glance was intercepted 
 by something in the middle distance, and I was 
 aware of a figure coming along the shore at a 
 quick rate. The old man, laden with our unin- 
 telligible thanks and something more material, 
 had left us and re-entered the swamp, and we had 
 set out along the foreshore. The figure now 
 broke into a run toward us. 
 
 I had no longer suspicions merely; I knew now 
 that here was Rudgwick again, Rudgwick the 
 inevitable, the ineluctable. Well, if his emissary 
 ventured he ventured at his peril, for the revolver 
 rested, pregnant with doom, in my coat-pocket. 
 Nevertheless it was no part of my design to be 
 involved in an unnecessary conflict, however 
 much these ruffians deserved a violent end, and
 
 i 7 4 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 so I quickened my pace, and we began to go 
 towards the sea in a fine rush of sea-wind. Miss 
 Lovell, now a veritable Breton girl, flashed along 
 beside me gallantly, the sun lending colour to the 
 blue of her coif and bodice. The man behind 
 came on running. 
 
 The yawl rose and dipped in the swell, and I 
 thought I could pick out a figure or two aboard. 
 I shouted, waved my cap and endeavoured in 
 other ways to attract the attention of the crew. 
 Presently we happened upon a stick on the beach, 
 and on this I placed my coat and let it flap dramati- 
 cally in the air for some moments . It seemed to me 
 that one of the forms aboard the yawl had come to 
 a pause, and was staring. I renewed my efforts. 
 
 The man behind had now dropped to a walk, 
 and was less than a hundred paces away. I 
 turned and gave him my attention. It was the 
 tall, lean, cadaverous, pock-marked fellow with 
 gaps in his teeth who had shadowed me on that 
 first evening from Bembridge, and who, I could 
 swear, had been involved in the abduction of the 
 girl beside me. 
 
 " Do you see that man, " I asked. " Have you 
 seen him before?" 
 
 She looked and shook her head. "No," said 
 she. "Why?" and then her fears renewed. "Is 
 it oh, is it one of that man's creatures?" she 
 said piteously.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 175 
 
 " Never fear, " said I grimly. " He's not going 
 to interfere with you, whoever he may be. He 
 has a gallows look, has he not? What do you 
 think of him?" 
 
 The fellow was now but twenty paces away, 
 and came on deliberately with his hands in his 
 trouser pockets, and a cold fishy eye upon us. 
 We had stopped as if to await him, and that 
 appeared to disconcert him. I stared at him as 
 if he were an animal rather than a human being, 
 and continued my remarks overtly. 
 
 " In our country, Miss Lovell, they'd hang such 
 men on sight," I said. "But over yonder they 
 turn 'em loose on simple citizens. Mark you his 
 sinister eyebrows, and the set of those huge ears. 
 His complexion is perfect gallows." 
 
 The man, who must have heard, displayed 
 signs of embarrassment at this usage, and moved 
 along the beach away from us slowly. It was 
 evident that he had orders only to follow us, not 
 to molest us. We resumed our way, and I tied 
 a white handkerchief to the stick, and as we pro- 
 ceeded made signals according to the naval code. 
 I knew that if it were the yawl and the master 
 were aboard he would, as an old quartermaster, 
 recognise them. So we marched on slowly wav- 
 ing, and our spy at a parallel with us, but nearer 
 the water's edge. 
 
 My attention now was engrossed by the yawl,
 
 176 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 on which I detected some movement, and it was 
 a cry from my companion that gave me the alarm. 
 
 "Look, oh look!" she cried, clutching my arm, 
 and I turned about towards the swamp from 
 which we had emerged to see a party of several 
 men advancing from it swiftly. The Dago, then 
 had not been deceived, or, if he had, someone 
 with more intelligence and imagination had un- 
 derstood. The danger was imminent, and it was 
 no occasion for dignified appearances. I seized 
 Miss Lovell's hand and began to run. 
 
 Tall, slim and lithe-limbed she sped like Atalanta 
 along the yellow sands; we ran like two children 
 together, hand in hand, and with all the abandon 
 and precipitation of the young. Away on my 
 left the cadaverous spy also had started to run. 
 I was making for the turn of the coast which 
 gave access, according to our recent guide, to 
 the group of cottages. It was our only chance, 
 if I expected actual fighting, of which I did 
 not yet know the possibilities. These were soon 
 to be revealed to me. There was no noise in 
 the pursuit, nor did we waste our breath on our 
 voices; so that the whole affair was conducted 
 in silence, until the final and unexpected out- 
 break. 
 
 It was not until we had been running some 
 time that I perceived a boat tossing on the water 
 half way between shore and yawl, and now I
 
 'The figure in the bow raised his arm and the magazine rifle 
 answered to his finger"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 1177 
 
 knew that my signals had been interpreted. The 
 pursuers also saw the boat, and redoubled their 
 exertions to catch up with us, gaining on us con- 
 siderably. The girl was fleet of foot, but the pace 
 was too fast to endure. She breathed heavily 
 and faltered. The lank spy was loping along the 
 margin of the water, and then, of a sudden he 
 too espied the boat. It was close in now, and a 
 man was standing in the bows. 
 
 Crack! The unexpected report of a rifle rever- 
 berated and came up the flat shore. The spy 
 ducked and turned, and dashed vehemently away 
 from the sea's edge inland. Crack! the rifle 
 spoke again, and the sand went up in a spray at 
 the foot of the foremost of the pursuers. He 
 paused, and then a voice shouted. Crack! Again 
 the smoke of the sand arose, and the figure in the 
 bow of the boat dropped the weapon from his 
 shoulder to watch. The whole party had now 
 come to a standstill, and the spy had joined 
 them. They seemed to take counsel together, 
 and then made another advance as the boat 
 beached with a rasping sound. The figure in 
 the bows raised his arm and the magazine rifle 
 answered to his finger. The foremost of the men 
 clapped his hand to his shoulder with an oath, 
 and once more they came to a pause. 
 
 Miss Lovell and I were still running, but slowly 
 now, across the intervening space of sand towards
 
 178 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 the boat. Behind us arose an outcry, and glanc- 
 ing over my shoulder I recognised the figure of 
 Rudgwick and I thought I could hear his sharp 
 dominant voice, with the edge of decision. 
 
 A volley of shots ensued from our hunters, and 
 pattered against the boat. Alston, tall, cool, 
 and debonair as ever, raised his arm once again, 
 without a word. The rifle barked twice, and one 
 of Rudgwick' s pirates staggered and swung 
 round. Miss Lovell and I reached the boat 
 breathlessly and were helped aboard. I looked 
 back. A hundred yards away was the group on 
 the shore, staring after us infuriate and sullen, 
 but helpless. Only Rudgwick had moved; and 
 it was to snatch a pistol from one of his followers. 
 He aimed it towards us. Alston smiled. 
 
 "Wilson," he observed pleasantly, "couldn't 
 hit a man o' war at a hundred yards. He's bully 
 on a deal, but he's no good at the trigger end of 
 a gun." 
 
 Rudgwick must have realised this himself, for 
 he suddenly threw down the weapon contempt- 
 uously and walked down to the shore. We were 
 fifty yards out, being pulled against a fresh sea. 
 Clad in a blue reefer suit, with nautical brass 
 buttons, he gazed after us coolly enough. He had 
 lost, but he was not going to make a fuss about 
 it ; he was a good gambler, was Wilson Rudgwick. 
 
 " Say, Fordyce, " he called across the water and
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 179 
 
 through the wind. "That second curtain's fine; 
 it's a real spicy second act, come to think of it. 
 But this piece ain't finished, Fordyce, and don't 
 you mistake. It's up to me now." 
 
 Alston smiled from his place in the bow, and 
 looked at me smiling. It struck me oddly that 
 he had not looked at Miss Lovell since we had 
 been bundled unceremoniously into the boat.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 THE MIST 
 
 BUT with the relaxation of the tension his 
 thoughts turned, and no doubt converged upon 
 her. He put out his arm and made her comfort- 
 able where she sat. 
 
 "That better?" he asked in his sympathetic 
 way, and as if he addressed a child, with a certain 
 humourous tenderness, "little Bo-beep has lost 
 her sleep, I can see from those large eyes. Never 
 mind, Sylvia girl, we've got the laugh on him 
 now. " 
 
 Once more he turned his smiling eyes land- 
 ward, to where Rudgwick was walking back to his 
 men. It was a queer way of expressing himself, 
 but I was becoming inured to such locutions. 
 And after all we had "the laugh" on Rudgwick, 
 if we felt in a mood to laugh. I did not; nor, I 
 fancy, did Miss Lovell. Excitement had not died 
 out of her face ; she threw out her hand eventually, 
 and seized his arm. 
 
 " Shall we escape? " she asked eagerly. 
 
 "We're going to have a good try," he replied 
 complacently. I do not think it occurred to her 
 
 i So
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 181 
 
 to doubt him, for he had that masterful air of 
 which I have spoken, and it was enhanced in some 
 mysterious way by his general air of being a dandy 
 out for a holiday. Alston gave me his attention 
 again. 
 
 " I was much obliged for that note, Kerslake, " 
 said he. "It wouldn't have suited me to run 
 against Rudgwick then. I acknowledge that was 
 a good notion of his, to spread his net right away 
 for us, and it would have come off if it hadn't been 
 for you. I waited until I calculated you were 
 overdue, and then returned along the road, but 
 when I came upon the car's track and saw it wheel 
 about, I guessed it was all up. Our name's mud, 
 said I, and mud it was for a time. " 
 
 " What have you been doing? " I asked. 
 
 "Oh, I lay low enough. What was I to do 
 with no boat? Only sit and crack my fingers on 
 the rocks, and wish the yawl was a turbine steamer. 
 I tell you, Kerslake, I was done when I saw the 
 schooner clear out to sea, but why Wilson came 
 back to-day is more than I can assimilate. " 
 
 "The yawl has only just turned up?" I in- 
 quired. 
 
 "That's so; she's not exactly blood stock, but 
 she'll serve; and since yachts don't disappear into 
 space I reckoned we'd got a chance of running 
 down Wilson." 
 
 We had reached the yawl by this time, and he
 
 182 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 assisted Miss Lovell aboard; and presently we 
 three were together in the comfortable little cabin. 
 
 "Say, Sylvia, but this is smaller quarters than 
 the Mermaid, remarked Alston smiling. 
 
 She shuddered. " I hate all ships, " she said. 
 
 "Oh, well, we'll move her along," said Alston 
 agreeably. "She won't take such a long time 
 to make Plymouth, Kerslake? This man of yours 
 McCulloch seems a cloudy sort of fellow. " 
 
 " He's as honest as the skin between his brows, " 
 I said 
 
 "That may be," he assented. "But I reckon 
 he's got a lot to learn. He's full of difficulties 
 he's a conventionalist, like a damn sea-lawyer, 
 who thinks you hire him to point out that you 
 can't do things. You'll have just to sweep his 
 mind up a bit." 
 
 At that moment there was a rap on the door, 
 which opened to admit McCulloch himself, an 
 elderly stiff and somewhat dour figure of a man. 
 
 "You will excuse me, Sir," said he. "But do 
 I understand previous orders to hold? " 
 
 "No, I guess not," answered Alston, "and I 
 think you might have cudgelled that out for your- 
 self, Captain, without doing any harm to speak of 
 to your brains. We've got what we want, aboard, 
 and we make tracks for Plymouth. Let her go, 
 Mr. McCulloch ; spread her wings ; let's see her for 
 a high flyer."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 183 
 
 McCulloch saluted, and then stood to attention. 
 
 " Excuse me, Sir, are you aware that one of the 
 hands came aboard wounded?" he asked austerely. 
 
 " Damned if I didn't think Wilson bagged some- 
 one, " said Alston pleasantly. " Say, who's it, and 
 what's it, Captain?" 
 
 " John Hellish, in the fore-arm, Sir. " 
 
 "That isn't hurting much," commented Alston 
 musingly. "That's not going to scare us any. 
 Send him along and I'll doctor him, Captain. 
 Smacks of old Montana times, " he remarked with 
 his winning smile at us. 
 
 McCulloch, looking as if he had something else 
 to impart, went reluctantly, and Alston continued : 
 
 "I dropped one of Wilson's in response, and 
 there was more than one scared; so we'll call it 
 even. I didn't want to go to extremes, but they 
 pushed me. I thought the dust would have 
 stopped 'em, and so it would if it hadn't been for 
 Wilson. Sylvia, I guess you want some refresh- 
 ment." His gaze comprehensively took her in. 
 " If it hadn't been for Kerslake's signals, I should 
 have let you pass. How should I recognise you 
 in that fig? Gracious, Sylvia, you're handsomer 
 than any they raise as real Bretons; and you 
 look like a fancy-dress queen." 
 
 The colour flowed into her cheeks, for she was 
 fast recovering her composure, and beginning to 
 resume, as it were, a normal life; and Alston's
 
 184 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 very matter-of-fact manner and his easy talka- 
 tiveness helped her to regain assurance. He 
 brought out a bottle of wine and some food, and 
 we made a brief repast, for it was by now moving 
 towards dusk. The yawl was under weigh, and 
 marched very well through the big seas, headed 
 for the northern waters of the Bay. When Alston 
 had dressed the wounded man's arm he came aft 
 to us and sat down against the bulwarks and 
 smoked lazily. He was in a contented mood, as be- 
 came the victor, and he was disposed to be rumi- 
 nantly reminiscent. 
 
 "What I don't understand is Wilson's return," 
 he said. "I took it that he was making for the 
 Mediterranean to give you folks a little yachting ; 
 and I was figuring out to run across to Mar- 
 seilles as soon as I'd put the yawl on the trail. 
 Wilson gave me the direct office about the Medi- 
 terranean, and I know when he's talking straight. " 
 
 "Neither Miss Lovell nor myself was in the 
 schooner, " I told him, and he stared in surprise. 
 
 "Say, now where?" he demanded. 
 
 I related our story, and he listened with interest. 
 When I had done he put a hand soothingly on 
 Miss Lovell's arm in just a nice reassuring way. 
 I am perfectly aware that it was that, but I hated 
 it, and my heart leapt when she winced. Once 
 more in my heart flowed the glory of the morning, 
 that dawn when I had made my wonderful dis-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 185 
 
 covery. And I came out of my ecstasy to hear 
 Alston's level voice. 
 
 "Wilson gave away nothing. When he came 
 tome " 
 
 " He came to you?" I interrupted. 
 
 "Well, yes. I lay low in the village yonder, 
 with my wits about me, you may be sure. And 
 Wilson came along the day after you were taken. 
 He invited me to a conference; said he didn't 
 want fighting much, that he was for peace, and 
 offered his terms." Alston gave me a glance in 
 the falling dusk and paused. "But I wasn't 
 bartering any about a woman, let alone a woman 
 I love, and so we didn't deal. " 
 
 " He offered to surrender Miss Lovell on certain 
 terms?" I asked. 
 
 "That's so," said he indifferently as to ex- 
 pression, but I could see even in the growing gloom 
 the glint of his resolute eyes . ' ' Terms , " he added , 
 "which Miss Lovell would have repudiated in- 
 dignantly, if I know anything of her spirit. " 
 
 He glanced at her affectionately. "Yes, yes," 
 she cried quickly. " I would not trust that man 
 at all." 
 
 The remark was not quite relevant, and certain- 
 ly did not cover the situation; but, poor girl, she 
 was impulsive, and as illogical as her sex is ever, 
 and she had been through a trying time. All 
 that emerged to me in that conversation was that
 
 186 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Alston had refused to make concessions in his 
 Montana mines which would have released Sylvia 
 Lovell. I had already appreciated his stubborn 
 character, but to sacrifice a girl to business ! 
 I experienced a sense of indignation; so much so 
 that I got up and went forward where the sail was 
 drawing freely. McCulloch stood in the waist 
 directing operations; and gave me a brief ques- 
 tioning glance. 
 
 "McCulloch," said I presently. "When can 
 you fetch Plymouth ? " 
 
 He turned the matter over before replying, 
 and then said, 
 
 " I wouldn't like to enter into a contract about 
 it, Sir, but the question is, shall we fetch Plym- 
 outh?" he ended abruptly and drily. 
 
 " What do you mean? " 
 
 He nodded towards the stern. "As we came 
 round the corner that schooner was setting her sails . 
 Now, Mr. Kerslake, I don't know your secrets, 
 and I don't want to. But seems to me pretty 
 evident that there's something between you and 
 that schooner. I can't shut my eyes, and one 
 of my men's shot. Also there's a wounded man, 
 I hear, on the beach there. That's nothing to do 
 with me except to do my duty and report injury 
 to one of my hands in obeying owner's orders. 
 That's for Mr. Alston to explain. But when I see 
 you running away from a schooner, and that
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 187 
 
 schooner clothing herself fore and aft with all 
 speed, I can put two and two together, and I 
 ask are we going to get to Plymouth?" 
 
 "It is true," I answered. "The owner of the 
 schooner kidnapped this young lady on the eve of 
 her marriage. You cannot wonder that Mr. 
 Alston has exhibited violence." 
 
 " Seemed a nice-spoken mild gentleman coming 
 along," observed McCulloch dryly. 
 
 "We don't always show what we feel, Mc- 
 Culloch," I replied. "And as regards your fears, 
 you forget the darkness. The schooner has no 
 chance of finding us by night, not knowing our 
 destination." 
 
 "That may be, Sir, and again it mayn't. But 
 that schooner is a small craft that sails two foot to 
 our one, and I've no fancy to be on a dark road 
 with a pistol at my back." 
 
 Alston joined us just at this point, and inquired 
 what interested us. 
 
 "Well," said he, on learning from me. "I pat 
 Mr. McCulloch on the back for a good guesser. We 
 don't want that pistol you talk of, and we're not 
 going to have it. No doubt Rudgwick will look 
 up his map and he'll find Quiberon or Quimper 
 there, and a rail-head. Well, if he's shrewd he'll 
 guess we go there, but he won't know for certain. 
 Suppose the yawl lands us there, and stands off, 
 eh? Wilson's got to put a party ashore at
 
 1 88 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Quiberon to make certain, and to stand along 
 after the yawl. That'll make him sick. And per- 
 haps we'll be in neither yawl nor Quiberon nor 
 Quimper." He laughed. "Let her go, Captain. 
 We'll fix that up." 
 
 When I got back to the stern Miss Lovell was 
 still there. A beautiful night was developing 
 about us. The yawl breasted the sea quietly, and 
 the water was awash below the sprit in a lather of 
 foam. The bay was full of rough water, though 
 the sky was clear, scattered only with wisps of 
 cloud under the falling breeze. Yet we footed it 
 at a good pace, and the air enwrapped us with 
 delicious coolness. The stars shone in the sea, 
 broken into shivers of light. 
 
 " Comfortable ?" I asked her. 
 
 "Yes, and oh so tired," she answered; and then 
 sat up against the bulwarks, as if by an effort she 
 pulled herself together. "Mr. Kerslake, I must 
 thank you more than I can say for all your good- 
 ness to me," she began quickly. "Although I'm 
 a although I have no claim on you you have gone 
 to no end of trouble for me, and run dangers. I 
 do feel grateful, believe me." 
 
 "My reward is your release," I said somewhat 
 awkwardly. 
 
 "It is so good of you to think so," she replied 
 firmly. 
 
 " But I know how inadequate it is and and "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 189 
 
 she paused. "I'm very sorry for being so un- 
 gracious to you at Bessenton." 
 
 My thoughts swung back over what seemed a 
 life-time. She was all but a stranger to me when 
 I had made my impertinent suggestion, and now I 
 seemed to know her familiarly, with sweet in- 
 timacy, arid it was only a week ago. 
 
 "You were not ungracious," I said; "it was I 
 who was abominably meddlesome." 
 
 After a moment she said in a low voice: "You 
 have meddled to good purpose." 
 
 "Had I had any hint from Mr. Alston of the 
 situation between him and Rudgwick I might 
 have interfered earlier and to better advantage," 
 I said. She looked her question. " I saw Rudg- 
 wick' s ruffians about the Manor when I called and 
 saw you." 
 
 " You could not guess," she said, " nor I, nor any- 
 one. Oh I don't understand it. Mr. Alston says 
 it's something about mines, but they don't do such 
 things, do they, Mr.Kerslake?" she asked pitifully. 
 " What have I got to do with their mines?" 
 
 " I take it that you were stolen as a hostage," I 
 explained ; "you were to be the lever used to bring 
 pressure to bear on Mr. Alston. It's a queer idea 
 of business, I must confess, and I don't think it 
 would stand any chance of flourishing over here. 
 It's taking a leaf out of the brigand's book. You 
 were practically held to ransom."
 
 IQO THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " I've heard of that being done in America," she 
 said, "but I thought it was only ruffians and 
 thieves who stole people in that way." 
 
 "That's what we call them," I said, "but we've 
 a good deal to learn from America apparently." 
 
 "Oh!" she cried. "I can see that dreadful 
 man's face now, as he came into the room." She 
 shuddered. " I had no time; they just seized me, 
 without ceremony, or saying a word; and what 
 could I do? Not even cry out in those lonely 
 roads with any hope of being heard." 
 
 Certainly Rudgwick had managed well, and 
 that by the directest means, which was in keeping 
 with his blunt, arrogant character. He wanted 
 his hostage, and he went the shortest way to get 
 her, which consisted of open kidnapping from a 
 lonely hill-side. His yacht lay off the shore, and 
 an hour would suffice to carry out his whole plan. 
 It was simplicity itself. As I turned the matter 
 over in my mind Miss Lovell's head fell back a 
 little, and her dress rustled into silence. She was 
 dead tired, and had fallen asleep ; and there I sat 
 within a few feet of her listening to the rip of the 
 waves and the wind in the canvas, and watching 
 her fair face emerge from the shadows in the light 
 of the rising moon. Presently Alston approached 
 from his conference with McCulloch, and ere he 
 reached her began on the tender pitch of his voice 
 " Well, Sylvia, do you think you could do with a "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 191 
 
 Then seeing that she slept he stopped, and look- 
 ed down on her. Her face was beautiful, and took 
 on even a greater beauty from the pallor of the 
 moonshine. But Alston gazed without any ex- 
 pression on his face. From where I lay quiet I 
 could see his handsome features, the square 
 shoulders, the luxuriant moustache; and those 
 smiling and elusive eyes were silent now, signifi- 
 cant of nothing. At least that is how they ap- 
 peared to me, but it may be that the nocturnal 
 light was too meagre to reveal all the truth. He 
 turned away after some moments of observation 
 and crossed to me. 
 
 "Awake?" he asked, and on hearing plumped 
 down beside me. "I reckon this is better than 
 the cabin," he remarked. "I think I'll leave 
 Miss Lovell where she is." He went on without 
 waiting for an answer. "Know this part any, 
 Kerslake?" 
 
 I said I had a slight acquaintance with the 
 coast about Brest. 
 
 "Oh well, maybe that'll come in useful a bit 
 later, but I'd like to know what sort of figure the 
 land cuts about here. Say, that schooner Mc- 
 Culloch says can beat us two to one." 
 
 " I should trust to his estimate, " I answered. 
 
 "If that's so," said he reflectively "we've got to 
 fix up something in a little. This blamed moon's 
 up against us."
 
 192 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Instinctively we looked over the taffrail to the 
 crescent in the sky. The yawl left a wake of 
 dancing gold behind us, which melted into a 
 horizon of luminous darkness. 
 
 "See that?" he inquired, touching my shoulder. 
 
 "Yes; she's on our trail," I assented; "what 
 else did you expect?" 
 
 "Knowing Wilson Rudgwick, nothing," he 
 declared musingly; "he's a bulldog on his fancy, 
 is Wilson, and he has the bulge of us now, or ought 
 to ha ve . Ho w' s the wind ? " 
 
 " Dropping," said I. 
 
 Alston rose quickly and peered out towards 
 the land on our port starboard. "I guess we'll 
 keep in a bit," he said, and went forward to the 
 master. 
 
 The yawl made her board wider and crept 
 towards the rocks, but she had small way on her 
 now in the falling wind. Alston came back and 
 sat down. 
 
 "Seem's cheerful on the whole," he observed; 
 " suggests a garrulous circle of tale-spouters. Fire 
 away, Kerslake." 
 
 I paid no heed to this, for I was watching the 
 speck on the twilit sea which was the schooner, 
 and Alston followed my example. When I 
 shifted my gaze, his was bent on the deck, and 
 his lower jaw protruded, as one sunk in profound 
 thought. The cold moon was full upon the still
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 193 
 
 face of the girl at rest upon her unpromising 
 couch. 
 
 Alston got up and went forward again and 
 presently I heard my name. I followed him, 
 joining company with McCulloch and himself in 
 the bows. 
 
 "Say, Kerslake, " he greeted me in a brusque 
 voice of contempt, " this fool man says he won't 
 put in yonder." 
 
 "It's more than I dare," said the honest sailor 
 sullenly, " I've no charts to this coast. I'll take 
 her in anywhere 'twixt the Lizard and the Fore- 
 land, and 'twixt Hull and Thames estuary. But 
 I will be damned if I run her on an unknown 
 coast. It's not worth my neck, nor no one's." 
 
 "He's right," said I to Alston. "It's a great 
 risk." 
 
 Alston made a gesture of impatience. "God's 
 sakes, man we're taking risks all the time on this 
 cruise; we're bound to take risks. There she 
 comes beating along up, for us, and, by the Lord, 
 she'll have us in two turns if we keep on this lay. 
 We've got to go in, Captain, and that's an end of 
 it." 
 
 McCulloch was obstinately and perhaps wisely 
 silent, and in that silence the sail flapped. An 
 idea came to me. 
 
 "McCulloch," said I, "what'll she do in light 
 airs?"
 
 194 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Keep on leeway," said he bluntly. 
 
 "Which is all the schooner will do, I've a no- 
 tion," I said. "And it looks to me not so much 
 light airs as a dead calm we're going to have." 
 
 Both men started, and McCulloch bent over 
 the bow-sprit. 
 
 " You're about right, sir," he said. " She's not 
 making a foot." 
 
 "Well," said I, "then where's the schooner?" 
 
 Alston clapped my shoulder cheerfully. "By 
 gum, we'll see it through at that," he declared. 
 "We'll keep her at her distance till dawn, and 
 who's afraid by day. This coast's too populous 
 for hazards in daylight." 
 
 Thus our spirits rose in the calm, and we all 
 went about with better heart. Even the hands, 
 who had necessarily become acquainted with the 
 vendetta between the two Americans, entered 
 into the relief. After all it is human nature to 
 take part in a conflict, even if it be not your own, 
 with zest and our jocund red-faced sailor ventured 
 to offer me his congratulations and his encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 " They're done, Sir ; that's what they are. This 
 was their only chance, and now they've lost it. 
 They won't get no other; you can bet on that." 
 
 Here then again we were winning, and once 
 more Rudgwick failed with his very ringer on his 
 prey. But after all no one of us knew Rudgwick
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 195 
 
 as Alston knew him and confessed that he knew 
 him. There was a certain frank admiration of 
 Rudgwick in Alston's genial criticism of the Chi- 
 cago operator. 
 
 It might have been half an hour after midnight 
 when I, who had fallen into an uneasy doze, was 
 awakened by the burly sailor. 
 
 " Excuse me, Sir," there's a rowing boat coming 
 up yonder," his hoarse voice muttered. 
 
 I started up, and instantly shook Alston, who 
 responded with a stare, and sat a hand to his 
 pocket instinctively. 
 
 "A boat!" 
 
 He scrambled to his feet. "A boat! By 
 Heaven, Wilson's got the crawl on me after all." 
 His voice was like the explosion of a bleak wind. 
 He ran to the taffrail ; and in the glooming trail 
 of the yawl's lights, at a distance of some half a 
 mile could be plainly discerned a boat tossing on 
 the lessening seas. 
 
 Alston stood for a moment impassive in all but 
 his features which worked vaguely in the dark. 
 Then his suave voice had come back to him. 
 
 " When Wilson's in for a corner he don't go to 
 sleep. I did, and my name's mud. But it's some 
 time since I had a go with him, and so maybe I 
 can be excused." He turned. "Mr. Kerslake, 
 would you be so good as to help get out a boat. 
 We'll play pawn for pawn."
 
 196 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He walked to where Miss Lovell lay and bent 
 over to wake her. I hastened to obey his direc- 
 tions, and McCulloch, the big sailor, Drake, and 
 I set out the boat. In two minutes Alston 
 appeared at the side with Miss Lovell, looking 
 alarmed and still mazed with sleep, and within 
 two minutes we were launched in the twilight, 
 and were pulling for the loom of the land, which 
 was here some two miles away. 
 
 Drake, Alston, another hand and myself were 
 at the oars, and Miss Lovell sat in the stern, a 
 tiller in her hand which she was too frightened 
 as yet to use. We had not got a quarter of a 
 mile away when a shout over the water informed 
 us that we were seen. 
 
 "Pull Devil pull tailor," said Alston with a 
 laugh. " We're tailors for the nonce." 
 
 We bent to the sculls, and the little skiff lurched 
 along the face of the waters. The sea had gone 
 down, and now came only in a long oily swell 
 which had the appearance of carrying us into the 
 shore. But Rudgwick's boat, we might be sure, 
 was more heavily manned, and it was clear that 
 we should be hard put to it to reach land first ; and 
 even if we succeeded in the feat I wondered what 
 would then befall. Would that obstinate and 
 unscrupulous pursuer consent to stop short of his 
 quarry? Certainly there was the prospect of 
 bloodshed in our immediate purview. I felt for
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 197 
 
 my revolver, as I came up to the stroke. Alston's 
 back was just before me, and his broad shoulders 
 swung to the rhythm of the pull. 
 
 "A strong pull, boys," said he. "We're not 
 done yet." 
 
 "Are you armed?" I asked across his shoulder. 
 
 "You bet," he threw back jauntily, even reck- 
 lessly. " It may come to a brush yet, Kerslake." 
 
 It had every appearance of that, and I do not 
 know that I was reluctant. Indignation at the 
 cowardly expedient by which a young girl had 
 been dragged into this intrigue as a pawn made 
 my blood boil at the thought of Rudgwick. If 
 it came to bloodshed I swore I would answer for 
 him ; and from what I had seen of Alston, I could 
 depend on his nerve and his marksmanship. 
 
 We had made over half a mile, and the shore 
 was still a long way off, while the enemy was gain- 
 ing slowly. This we could only gather from the 
 sounds, for the surface of the sea at a little dis- 
 tance was veiled in a film of mist. Suddenly 
 Drake, who was behind me, leaned forward and 
 whispered with his great unruly voice in my ears, 
 and his whisper was audible through the boat. 
 
 "This'll trick 'em, Sir. Look over yonder." 
 
 I looked, and saw what he meant. The black 
 cape of the land which had been visible when we 
 started was now involved in mere obscurity. 
 Blackness had picked itself out before, whereas
 
 198 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 now it was lost in the mass of lesser darkness that 
 marked the horizon landwards. I looked up, and 
 the multitude of the stars had vanished. Only 
 the crescent shone weakly through a pale gold 
 dust. The mist was settling down. 
 
 And now it descended fast enough, dropping on 
 the water like a pall ; so much so that by a com- 
 mon impulse we ceased rowing. The sound of the 
 other boat reached us faintly. 
 
 "Whew!" said Drake, mopping his wet fore- 
 head. Alston sat motionless, listening, and then : 
 "We can take it easy, I reckon," he remarked 
 coolly. " But let's get along.'* 
 
 We dipped and continued our course, and for 
 the next ten minutes there was silence. The fog 
 drew in. 
 
 "This is a little bit too much," I said. "We 
 could do with half this." 
 
 "Do you reckon we're going right?" asked 
 Alston. 
 
 " I think it's guess-work," I said. 
 
 He paused on his oar, as did we all, and in the 
 pause the noise of other oars was audible. 
 
 " They're adrift then," said I. " We're making 
 much the same course, if it's any satisfaction." 
 
 I don't know but I'd sooner get away from 
 them," said Alston dryly. "Let's shove her 
 along again." 
 
 Our voices must have carried in the fog, for
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 199 
 
 there was evidently an increase of effort on the 
 part of the pursuers. We could hear the sculls 
 dip more quickly, and a voice which I could rec- 
 ognise as Rudgwick's spoke curtly in command. 
 
 We redoubled our exertions, from time to time 
 pausing to listen, and presently we heard no more 
 nothing save the wash and roll of the sea about 
 us. 
 
 "It's time we struck the shore somewheres, 
 Sir," said Drake into my ear. 
 
 "The point is, did we keep her nose straight. 
 If only we could see the stars!" 
 
 "Say, Kerslake," said Alston briskly. "Are 
 you certain about this course?" 
 
 "I have as much notion as you," I answered. 
 " It's all a chance. We've thrown 'em off, that's 
 all our luck. But if we kept right we should be 
 near in. Whose ears are sharpest? Does any- 
 one hear any breakers? The noise of waves 
 tumbling ashore is quite different from the wash 
 at sea." 
 
 We all strained our ears, but could hear nothing 
 beyond the under-droning of the ocean. 
 
 " We can only go on," I told Alston. 
 
 "That's all right," said he cheerfully. "We'll 
 go on; and the first man that hears the shore 
 speak up." 
 
 We rowed on for twenty minutes longer, by 
 which time it was certain that we had deviated
 
 200 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 from our course. The fog lay grosser than ever, 
 and Alston's back had almost faded from my view. 
 Miss Lovell was still in the stern, tiller in hand, 
 but she said no word, and she was swallowed in 
 the darkness. 
 
 Drake suddenly checked his oar. "I hear 
 something, Sir," he whispered. I listened. Cer- 
 tainly there was a new sound, but it was not the 
 shore speaking. What was it? 
 
 As we waited, wondering, a voice pierced the 
 gloom, but we could not hear the words. 
 
 "We've run into them," exclaimed Alston. 
 
 " No, by Jove !" I said. " It's no boat. I know 
 it now. It's the water on the hull. We must be 
 quite close up." 
 
 "The yawl!" cried Alston. "Lay her along. 
 Damme, we'll have the laugh of them yet. We 
 get back home, and the Lord he knows where 
 they are. I'll drink Wilson's health." 
 
 He chuckled, and the men dipped their oars. 
 Two strokes fetched us alongside, and we pitched 
 in the darkness against a black hull. But at the 
 first sight I saw our mistake. This was not the 
 yawl. It was 
 
 "Hush, man, hush," I said as Drake began his 
 loud whisper. "It's the Mermaid!" and I com- 
 municated my news to Alston. 
 
 "Say, that so?" he whispered back eagerly, 
 and was silent.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 201 
 
 And now a voice came from the darkness be- 
 yond. 
 
 " I heard the boat plain, over yonder." 
 
 "Anyone there?" called a second voice, which 
 I recognised. It was Butterfield's. We kept 
 silence; then Alston leaned back to me. 
 
 "There's a light aft; they're coming this way. 
 How many do you reckon as being aboard?" 
 
 "He may have as many as ten," said I. 
 
 "Do they keep watches?" said he. 
 
 "Yes." ' 
 
 "Say, Kerslake, we're going to take this 
 schooner," he remarked in his even voice. 
 
 "Take it!" I echoed in a whisper. 
 
 " Yes. I guess we can surprise 'em in this dark- 
 ness. They won't know where we are, nor where 
 they are themselves. Here comes the light." 
 
 "It will reach us," I said. "If you're game 
 then, I'm with you!" 
 
 I rose in the boat, whispered to Drake, and 
 pulled myself up over the bulwarks on to the deck. 
 I made the painter fast as the man with the light 
 reached me. He moved along the bul works, 
 throwing his lantern seawards at each step, and 
 as he made his last step I caught him. The light 
 went down with a crash, and I had one hand over 
 his mouth ere he could shout or cry. The resist- 
 ance he made was feeble, and I felt in my mind 
 that it was Butterfield.
 
 202 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Got him? Bully!" said Alston in my ears, 
 setting the lantern up. " We'll secure him first, 
 and then go on to the others." 
 
 Drake and the other hand had by now reached 
 the deck, leaving Miss Lovell in the boat, which 
 was safely made fast to the schooner. We gave 
 our pursuer into their custody, and armed with 
 the lantern proceeded to investigate. 
 
 It was difficult to find one's way in the fog, but 
 we scrambled aft clumsily, after running into 
 several obstacles, and were brought up by a hail. 
 
 "That you, Mr. Butterfield?" asked a coarse 
 voice. "Located that boat?" 
 
 For answer I handed the lantern to Alston who 
 was close behind us, and took a step in the direc- 
 tion of the speaker. I caught him round the neck 
 at the second try, and threw him. I had imagined 
 the job would be easy, but I was disagreeably sur- 
 prised. It seemed a fat and bloated body be- 
 neath me, but it wriggled and turned and struggled 
 like an octopus. With the utmost difficulty did 
 I keep my position of vantage, for I was several 
 times in danger of being rolled round by the sheer 
 force of this porpoise. At last he ceased to resist, 
 and breathed heavily. 
 
 "Right," said he. "You're top dog I rec- 
 ognise who the Devil may you be?" 
 
 "How many men are aboard?" I growled into 
 his ear.
 
 'With the utmost difficulty did I Keep my position of vantage"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 203 
 
 He puffed. ' 'You Alston ?' ' he gasped. " Well, 
 it's not my night out. All right. Top-dog has 
 it. Nine all told." 
 
 "The rest?" I questioned. 
 
 "The boss has got a boat load, and there's some 
 went by land to Quimper or somewhere." 
 
 Alston whistled. " Wilson's got his cards out," 
 he commented. " Say, take your knee out of my 
 insides," suggested the fellow. I relaxed my 
 pressure. "Two on you," he went on, "I reckon 
 I'm done this round. All serene, sonny." 
 
 "How many below?" I asked. 
 
 He considered. "Seven," he returned. 
 
 If that were so we had accounted for the others, 
 and our risk diminished. Alston and I exchanged 
 whispers, and then we lifted our captive to his 
 feet and made him march. We handed him over 
 to the sentries, and returned. Within fifteen 
 minutes of our boarding, we had the hatches 
 clapped on, and the Mermaid was ours.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 THE MERMAID 
 
 I HAVE said we clapped the hatches on, but that 
 is to speak in something of a figure. We must 
 first secure the crew forward, which was effected 
 by closing the entrance to the forecastle cabins 
 and placing a sentry over it. But there remained 
 the captain who, we gathered, had kept to his 
 ship. She rode at anchor in the fog, like a wise 
 vessel, and her lights broached the darkness, port, 
 centre and stern. The skipper was evidently a 
 prudent seaman ; and he was now on our minds. 
 
 I had a full recollection of the after deck, and 
 the luxurious little suite of cabins, and here no 
 doubt the captain was berthed. We made our 
 way cautiously to the wheel and began a system- 
 atic and silent search. The fog impeded this, 
 but once we had the deck buildings under our 
 hands we stuck to them. There was a small 
 companion ladder which led, I remembered, into 
 a saloon in miniature, but we had no use for that. 
 It was the staterooms we wanted. I opened a 
 door furtively and peered in while Alston flashed 
 the lantern over my head. It was a bed-room, 
 
 204
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 205 
 
 and it was unoccupied. The next door I opened 
 gave access to a small office; and a cabin, fur- 
 nished as a bedroom also, opened off it. Un- 
 doubtedly these were Rudgwick's apartments. 
 On this side there were no more cabins, and so we 
 crept round to port. As the vague and misty 
 light of the lantern streamed on a closed door 
 here, I felt Alston's hand on my shoulder. 
 
 " Say, " said he, " what's the matter with leaving 
 things alone? If he's here he don't realise 
 anything, and anyway he's only one man. Let's 
 let up a bit, and consider. " 
 
 "Very well," I whispered back after a pause, 
 " I don't see why we shouldn't. " 
 
 We retraced our steps, and got to where Drake 
 and his companion guarded the prisoners. 
 
 "We must get Miss Lovell aboard," I said. 
 " I suppose you mean taking this schooner along. 
 That's your game? " 
 
 "I'll run her into Plymouth, by gosh," he said 
 with a laugh. " Yes, let's get the little girl in. " 
 
 I drew up the painter, and we assisted her on to 
 the deck; after which I conducted her to the 
 empty bedroom we had discovered on the star- 
 board side. 
 
 "Rest now," said I encouragingly. "You'll be 
 quite safe here. " 
 
 "What are we going to do?" she asked in 
 bewilderment.
 
 206 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "We've chartered a bigger vessel to sail home in ; 
 that's all," I said smilingly. "You'll soon see the 
 Island again. " 
 
 She sighed. "Thank you," she said simply, 
 and sat down on the bunk. She seemed still in a 
 maze and I saw that the best thing to do was to 
 leave her to recover. 
 
 Outside I got a glimpse of a figure passing in the 
 mist. It was Alston, and I knew by that the fog 
 was thinning. I told him so. A distinct breath 
 of air streamed out of the night. 
 
 "Can you lend a hand at the anchor?" I asked, 
 and we went forward. 
 
 We got it up without much difficulty, and I was 
 conscious that the nose of the schooner went 
 about on the moving water. Her sails were 
 spread on the foremast, and I braced the sheets. 
 Then I took the wheel. She had a little way on 
 her by now. 
 
 The fog was scattering fast, and I could see the 
 deck house from where I stood. Suddenly a 
 figure came round the corner, short and square 
 and authoritative. 
 
 "Tilling," roared a voice. "She's under way. 
 What the devil's this? Whose orders " 
 
 I whistled shrilly, and Alston's tall figure 
 loomed up. The mist slowly dissolving wreathed 
 between the two forms . The shorter one vanished . 
 Overhead I could see the stars, and the Mer-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 207 
 
 maid keeled over on the port tack. Alston's 
 face, white in the ethereal mist, was turned for a 
 moment to me, and then he walked towards the 
 deck house. 
 
 The whole deck now blew clear of the fog, and 
 we stood stark in the eye of the dawn. I could see 
 the mass of the land to starboard. The deck house 
 glistened and Alston's athletic figure lurked 
 behind it. 
 
 Round the corner again came the short form, 
 and a revolver was in its hand. The light of 
 dawn showed us the red face, up-turned nose and 
 ferocious moustache of the skipper. 
 
 "Pirates is it, by God!" he bellowed, and 
 raised his hand. 
 
 "That you, Jude?" said Alston coolly. 
 "Damned if I mightn't have expected it. I've a 
 bead on you." 
 
 Two reports sounded simultaneously ; there was 
 a rattling on the bulwarks behind Alston. 
 
 "Hands up, Jude," said Alston. "That was 
 mere cave, the wind on your cheek. You know 
 what to expect. " 
 
 The skipper uttered an oath, and once more the 
 two reports rang out, but Alston's, I judged, a 
 little in advance. The weapon dropped from the 
 captain's hand, and he seized his left wrist in his 
 right hand. 
 
 "Damnation!" he roared like a bull with pain
 
 208 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 and fury; the blood dripped from his trigger 
 finger. 
 
 "I didn't want to bite," explained Alston 
 calmly. "You ought to have known me, Jude. " 
 He walked up to the man, and took his hand, the 
 smoke still issuing from his revolver, held negli- 
 gently. "I'm a bit of a surgeon, Jude. I'll fix 
 that. Damn it, man, why did you bring it on 
 yourself? I've wrecked that knuckle." 
 
 At this stage my attention was diverted from the 
 strange scene by the apparition of Miss Lovell who 
 bore down on me wildly. No doubt she thought 
 we were involved in a wholesale engagement. 
 
 " What is it? Oh, what is it ? " she cried. 
 
 The wheel flew out of my hand, and I took her 
 arm. 
 
 "It's over," I soothed her; "come back with 
 me . It's really nothing. ' ' 
 
 Her gaze went to the bloody hand of the captain, 
 where he stood, with a frown of rage and pain, and 
 his storm of oaths ; and she clung round my neck. 
 
 "Take me away, oh, take me away. I cannot 
 bear it ! " she entreated sobbing. " Take me away 
 from this horrible " She choked on the con- 
 clusion of her petition, and I led her gently back 
 to the cabin, placing her on the bed. 
 
 "Rest assured, child," said I earnestly, "that 
 nothing shall happen to you. I will not let any- 
 thing happen to you."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 209 
 
 She wept audibly, and I could do no more. I 
 stroked her hair, and went back to the wheel 
 which was kicking in idleness. Alston and the 
 captain had vanished. Before me the blue-grey 
 water of the Bay was illumined by the imminent 
 dawn. A mile away was the yawl tossing at 
 anchor. Our way would take us past her. 
 
 Alston made his appearance presently with 
 Drake. "I've reasoned like a father with Jude, " 
 he said, " but his finger smarts ; he won't listen to 
 argument. Anyway, I've fixed him up with the 
 other two in his cabin, and mounted guard. That 
 saves us one, and we've got to get to Plymouth 
 mighty short-handed ! " 
 
 "Oh, we'll manage at a pinch," I remarked, 
 giving a twist to the wheel, ere I gave it into 
 Drake's hands. 
 
 "There's the yawl," I pointed out. 
 
 "Um .... yes," he considered; "we 
 might make up a man or two more, but to say the 
 truth I don't like your McCulloch. He's too blamed 
 conscientious; he's got too many scruples to go. " 
 
 "I imagine we're in for it anyhow, " I observed 
 grimly. 
 
 He looked at me. "Well, I don't know. I 
 wouldn't lay a lot on it. This is Wilson's funeral. 
 He's got to square the accounts. " 
 
 "Good Lord, man," said I. "There's one life 
 gone, if not two, and some bloodshed. "
 
 210 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " Wilson's got to foot the bill, " he said calmly. 
 "It's his order. I guess he's bought this crew, 
 and they're just his. They've signed on, and 
 can't go back on it. " 
 
 " No, but the authorities may," I said 
 dryly. 
 
 " I don't exactly know any authorities that are 
 looking on, " he returned as dryly. " This might 
 be under the Jolly Roger for all the writ that runs 
 here. Ah, you're Britisher, and that's why. 
 Your King's writ runs everywhere, eh? Well, we 
 don't take account of that our way. If we don't 
 want a writ to run it doesn't. It stops dead, out 
 of breath, or with a stitch, or something. I 
 reckon," he added comfortably, "that Wilson's 
 fixed it all up. " 
 
 It was amazing to me, but then so much had 
 been amazing that I had almost ceased to be 
 staggered. 
 
 "Anyhow," I said, "our business is to get to 
 Plymouth, where things can't happen, and where 
 writs do run. " 
 
 "That's so," he said, "as I've been explaining 
 to Jude. But he's one of Wilson's toughs. Not 
 the first time by a long way they've been in it 
 together. Told me to go to Hell for company, 
 but I'm not going before Jude or Wilson either. " 
 He smiled blandly and lit a cigar. " I guess we 
 can pull it off, Kerslake," he continued. "I
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 211 
 
 look to you for seamanship. I don't know these 
 sea things. The land's good enough for me. " 
 
 " And a rifle too, I should say, " I could not help 
 adding. 
 
 "Yes," he said meditatively, and modestly, 
 "I'm a fair shot. I learned that out Montana 
 way. I flicked the locks of his hair to give him a 
 hint, but he was too mad to take it. Jude was a 
 fool. He knows me of old, but he was like a bull 
 of Bashan. He lost his head ; so I had to rap his 
 knuckles. I guess that finger's gone. He won't 
 bury it under his tombstone. " 
 
 He smoked placidly while I digested this, and 
 studied him. His glance was towards the yawl 
 which we were rapidly approaching. It was not 
 moving, for I could perceive what McCulloch's 
 attitude would be. He would take us for Rudg- 
 wick's party, and in his honest and mulish 
 British way would defy us to break the law. I do 
 not believe that McCulloch thought that was 
 possible, and if it should happen I am quite sure 
 he confidently trusted to the visitations of the 
 outraged law to restore the balance. 
 
 We had got within a quarter of a mile of the 
 yawl when I made out a rowing boat hovering 
 about it. Alston saw it also, and nudged me. 
 
 "I guess it's Wilson," he said and laughed. 
 " He's had a wet night and a weary one. I'm in 
 the mind to give him a signal."
 
 212 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He bade Drake put the schooner a point nearer, 
 and went to the side. As we approached he took 
 off his hat and waved it to the boat which was 
 dancing towards us a hundred yards away. It 
 was clear that Rudgwick thought his captain was 
 come in search of him. 
 
 " Say, Wilson," shouted Alston in high feather, 
 "say, can we give you a tow along?" The oars 
 on the boat stopped confusedly, as if abruptly 
 disconcerted by this astonishing discovery. 
 "She's got pretty feet, this craft, Wilson," 
 shouted Alston. 
 
 The blow must have fallen heavily, but to my 
 eyes Rudgwick showed no signs of discomposure. 
 His compact figure and square face were visible in 
 the stern, and his gaze was directed on us steadily. 
 The schooner swerved like a gull in response to 
 the wheel, and passed within thirty yards of the 
 tossing boat. The faces of the men were plain 
 in their anger and amazement. They were 
 marooned! Rudgwick opened his mouth at last. 
 His prize had gone from him, and now his yacht 
 was cut out under his nose. He was left, a figure 
 of ridicule, in an open boat off a remote shore. If 
 I had not any pity for him, which I certainly had 
 not, I had a certain admiration for the way he met 
 disaster. 
 
 " Well, you might trail a line, Fordyce, if you're 
 not going far, " said he ; "I fixed up for a business
 
 "He was left, a figure of ridicule, in an open boat"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 213 
 
 cruise, but I'm not saying no to a little pleasure. " 
 Our schooner went by, Alston laughing. "Say, 
 if you don't pile her up somewhere, you can hold 
 her in trust for me, along with the girl," cried 
 Rudgwick. Alston's teeth showed in a smile 
 under his big moustache. 
 
 But in that exchange of stupid sallies I had 
 other work to do. The hands were on the deck of 
 the yawl, in evident excitement, and I ran to the 
 deck-house for flags. As I did so I saw that the 
 window of the Captain's cabin was thrust open, 
 and Butterfield's head appeared through it. The 
 attention of his guard was withdrawn to the boat 
 and the sea, and Butterfield extended a hand and 
 opened it three times. His dull sallow face 
 glowed till it shone like silver. Rudgwick had 
 not budged from his seat in the stern and was 
 looking hard. This was all I saw as I went; and, 
 having secured my flags, I made my signals. I 
 had merely appointed a rendezvous for McCulloch 
 in case of accidents. The significance of Butter- 
 field's signals was to come. 
 
 Alston turned lightly to me as the boat receded 
 into the distance. 
 
 "I guess that dishes Wilson," he remarked 
 amiably, "that brings me even with him. And 
 now we'll go along and get some food. " 
 
 We investigated the schooner's larder and soon 
 discovered provisions, together with a bottle of
 
 214 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 wine. Rudgwick had fitted his yacht with all the 
 necessaries and many of the extravagances of a 
 millionaire; and for its tonnage the Mermaid 
 was a model. We ate and drank a little, and then 
 I took a trick at the wheel, and Alston mounted 
 guard, while Drake and the other man, Stephenson, 
 refreshed themselves. After that I looked into 
 the cabin and found Miss Lovell sleeping, at 
 length upon the bunk, in her pretty Breton dress, 
 evidently worn out by her experiences and 
 exhausted by her fears. Alston in his tireless way 
 occupied himself with the papers in Rudgwick' s 
 office. He was in essence extremely restless, but 
 he had acquired the art of outward composure, 
 and I discovered him reading, sorting and re- 
 arranging, with an expression that conveyed 
 nothing save the indifference of routine. It was 
 not Rudgwick's sort of face; for that to me 
 always suggested something sphinxine, something 
 grim and saturnine. Alston's was the face of a 
 very civil and agreeable gentleman. 
 
 Alston looked up pleasantly from his business- 
 like employment. "We're through," he ob- 
 served. 
 
 "You know your man," I answered,"! don't. 
 But he seems very capable. " 
 
 He interrupted his work of fingering the 
 papers. "Oh, he's capable; he's more than that. 
 He's got genius in a way. Here's the workings of
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 215 
 
 a brilliant operation I've just come upon." He 
 tapped the papers under his hand. " Wilson gets to 
 the horizon sometimes," he said approvingly. "I 
 didn't think he'd got dash enough for this, but it 
 appears he has. " 
 
 Scruples had no place in the strange transactions 
 between these men. The one stole the other's 
 fiancee, and the other was willing to turn over his 
 antagonist's private portfolio. I supposed that if 
 they understood each other, and agreed that all 
 was fair in this warfare, it was all right. But I 
 confess it went to my marrows to see him, seated 
 there in cool possession and rifling the owner's 
 property like a pirate. I left him, and took a turn 
 on deck to see that all was well. We were only 
 four besides Miss Lovell, and we should have our 
 hands full to bring the Mermaid into Plymouth. 
 One must mount guard on the prisoners, and 
 there were then but three to navigate the schooner. 
 Alston's knowledge of the sea amounted to 
 nothing, but I had a sincere respect for his powers 
 as a shot, and the task of sentry would amply 
 suit him. When his time came he took Stephen- 
 son's place before the cabin door, but soon wearied 
 of the inaction, and went inside. How his 
 prisoners received him I do not know, but his 
 visit cannot have been wholly unwelcome, for he 
 emerged a little later to ask me to have a bottle 
 and some food sent in. Alston was a very
 
 216 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 abstemious man, but it was more than likely the 
 others were not. At any rate Alston seemed to 
 have enjoyed his chat. 
 
 "I planed Jude down a bit," he told me. "He 
 was all angles and kinks, and his finger's mighty 
 bad. He felt mad, but I got him in a cinch, and 
 the old man'll rear up less, I guess. Fact is, 
 Kerslake, I'd sooner by heaps have willing 
 passengers. " 
 
 So would I. There, of course, was our trouble, 
 but we had to make the best of it. There were 
 several unwilling passengers under the hatches 
 forward, and we had to reckon with them. A 
 little later they were supplied with food, and got 
 their instructions; it behooved them to play 
 a merely passive part for the next two days. 
 Whether or no they would was another matter. 
 In our favour was the fact that they were ignorant 
 of our paucity of numbers. Otherwise would 
 seven or eight able-bodied men allow four to hold 
 them under without a struggle? 
 
 I carried Miss Lovell her breakfast when she 
 woke, which she did in a very different mood from 
 that to which she had given way through sheer 
 exhaustion of nerves and nature. Her sleep had 
 refreshed her, and the air was invigorating across 
 a bright blue sea and out of a bright blue heaven. 
 She thanked me prettily and inquired eagerly 
 where we were, and when we should reach Plym-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 217 
 
 outh. Seeming satisfied with my answers she 
 went to the cabin door and looked out at the 
 tumbling waste of water. The air was salt and 
 fine with a little morning chill in it, and the colour 
 leapt in her face like a rose. She looked more 
 beautiful than ever in her new Breton pictur- 
 esqueness, and with that fair English com- 
 plexion. 
 
 Alston paid her a visit a little later, and, I have 
 no doubt, exhibited his customary courtesy, but I 
 did not observe in him any of the ardour of the 
 lover. I concluded that his conduct was regulated 
 by other conventions than exist with us, and that 
 the American man is taught to use women with a 
 better respect, which, being interpreted, should 
 signify more ceremony, and less intimacy. I 
 could not tell from Alston's manner how he felt, 
 but I had an inkling of Miss Lovell's feelings. She 
 had no capacity of concealment; her nature was 
 too impulsive ; and, having occasion to visit her a 
 little after Alston, I found her silent and anxious. 
 Life had no right to mark those troubles on that 
 pretty brow. I was moved to comfort her, as one 
 should comfort a child, for she was little 
 more than a child, and I wondered if she un- 
 derstood anything of life. Her feet were upon 
 the threshold, but she had not crossed it; beyond 
 the portals was the unknown, an unknown to 
 which she was being hurried by the exigencies of
 
 218 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 her mother, to which she was drawing near with 
 every foot the schooner made. It seemed to me 
 that I recognised that troubled look. Had I not 
 seen it once before, and had I not been constrained 
 by it to speak? I had spoken then for her sake, 
 and with nothing to gain ; and I had been rebuffed. 
 Now I was to speak for myself and with everything 
 at stake for me. What should I receive at her 
 hands ? I passed swiftly from mere commonplaces 
 about the voyage and our position. 
 
 " We shall reach Plymouth within two days, we 
 hope, and then you will be free free from the 
 persecutions of Rudgwick, and free in every way 
 that you choose. " 
 
 She looked at me quickly, and then with a 
 certain wistfulness. 
 
 "Yes; it has been a nightmare," she said with 
 a sigh. 
 
 " It's my hope and my ambition to restore you 
 to your mother's hands, " I said. 
 
 " You are very kind, " she said dully. 
 
 The iron was eating into her soul, the iron of 
 doubt, of wonder, of dismay. Was it that? 
 
 "But I should like to know one thing, Miss 
 Lovell, " I continued firmly, " and that is, whether 
 that restoration will be making wholly for your 
 happiness." 
 
 She looked up again at me, and then away. 
 " How can you doubt that?" she asked slowly.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 219 
 
 "To be free from that horrible man, and home 
 again !" 
 
 "You shall not mistake me," I said, "I'm not 
 going to mince matters. Mr. Alston and I joined 
 forces to rescue you. But I am nothing to him 
 otherwise, nor he to me. What I have done, I 
 have done not for him, but for you. " 
 
 " I shall never thank you enough for all you did 
 in the marsh," she shuddered "everywhere, 
 always." 
 
 I took her hand. "You shall not mistake," I 
 said. She looked at me startled, and her eyes 
 were full of fear. She tried to release her trem- 
 bling hand . "The circumstances are exceptional , ' ' 
 I went on speaking now very fast on the swelling 
 tide of my emotions. "Even if they weren't I 
 think I should speak. I think there has been a 
 mistake with Mr. Alston. Don't think me 
 presumptuous. But I have guessed things. I 
 think Oh " I broke off suddenly, "Sylvia, I 
 want you, I want you. Sylvia, give me yourself. " 
 
 Slowly the fear had died out of her beautiful 
 eyes, which filled with some other emotion, I 
 could not tell what ; and then I was aware that a 
 cold light animated them, and she shrank from me. 
 
 " How dare you?" she asked in a low fluttering 
 voice. "Oh, how could you? How hateful of 
 you to " she uttered a little sob; and tore her 
 hand from mine. "And you thought I Please
 
 220 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 go away. Oh, go away, if you have any honour. 
 You have made me feel Oh how could you? " she 
 said plaintively. 
 
 "I I am very sorry," I stammered lamely; 
 and she took hold of herself in the curious way she 
 had, drawing herself up tighter, her firm little chin 
 definite; she looked infinitely girlish and proud 
 and angry, and there was shame in the background 
 of her poise and manner. 
 
 "Will you be good enough to leave me," she 
 said coldly but nervously, "and I shall be glad if 
 you will send Mr. Alston to me. " 
 
 My heart fell. I had had my second rebuff, and 
 it was the greater that my hopes had been great. 
 I had had no reason to suppose she cared for 
 me ; I had only conjectured that she did not care 
 for Alston. Yet was there not a terrible bitterness 
 in the thought that she sent for him as for her 
 natural protector, for consolation and comfort? I 
 had not insulted her in my offer of honest love, 
 unless it was that she took an expression of love to 
 a woman engaged to another man to be an insult. 
 To me it had not that aspect. I could not bring 
 myself to regard an engagement as equivalent to a 
 marriage in its bindingness, for it has always 
 seemed to me that the period of the former is a 
 period of probation, during which both parties, so 
 to speak, test themselves for the veil they are to 
 take. If Sylvia Lovell loved the man to whom
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 221 
 
 she was betrothed it was no insult on my part to 
 acquaint her with my feelings towards her; and 
 still less was it derogatory if she did not love him. 
 In the whirl of my mingled feelings I had a sense 
 of bewilderment, of not having been treated quite 
 fairly. My heart was raw with its wounds. 
 
 I left her without any further word. I made no 
 apology; I offered no plea. And I took her 
 message to Alston. He nodded, finished his work, 
 and rose. As for me, I went forward into the bow 
 and gazed into the sea,
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE RISING 
 
 I TOOK the wheel from Drake at eight bells, 
 with the sun broad on our beam, and the big 
 blue water afield. Alston took his turn at sentry- 
 go before the cabin. Forward there was no 
 sound from the imprisoned hands, whom we had 
 supplied again with food. Alston came to the 
 corner of the deck house and watched me for a 
 time in silence. 
 
 "We should make Plymouth pretty soon at 
 this rate," he observed. "She's going free." 
 
 The breeze had rattled up behind us, and the 
 schooner dipped and skimmed like a gull; she 
 was afoot to please the heart of a sailor. The 
 earlier she was in Plymouth the better I should 
 be pleased, for I had made up my mind to leave 
 her there, and to walk out of her life and the 
 lives of Alston and Miss Lovell. After all I had 
 achieved what I had initially designed to achieve, 
 the rescue of the girl and the discomfiture of an 
 unscrupulous American magnate. 
 
 Alston met me, after my trick, and after I had 
 adjusted a topsail, invited me into his rooms, or
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 223 
 
 rather into Rudgwick's. Papers neatly docketed, 
 with memoranda, were set out on the table. 
 
 "It's to-night of course, we'll have our real 
 ordeal," he remarked casually. 
 
 It had been on my mind all day. "Yes, to- 
 night," I assented indifferently. 
 
 "Think they'll make any attempt?" he asked. 
 
 "Well, the skipper and Butterfield know by 
 this that we've four and no more, and that's one 
 more than they. But the imprisoned hands are 
 probably under the impression that we're a crew. " 
 
 "That was my idea, " he remarked with a nod. 
 
 "So," I concluded, "our condition's not des- 
 perate, if we can keep the hatches sealed." 
 
 "Oh, we'll do that," said Alston confidently. 
 He glanced across the taffrail. " Look here ; don't 
 go, man," he said. "Have a whiskey. I want 
 a talk. You sit down, Lieutenant." I declined 
 the whiskey, but sat down, and he leaned back 
 in his chair, eyeing me. "Your position in this 
 affair is what's troubling me, " said he. "I want 
 to know where you come in." 
 
 "It's rather late to think of that, isn't it?" I 
 asked. 
 
 He looked at his cigar. "There's got to be 
 a beginning to all things," he said sententiously, 
 "and I don't know but what this is just begin- 
 ning." 
 
 "What do you mean?" I asked sharply. I
 
 224 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 did not know, and I never knew, what passed 
 in that interview between Alston and Miss Lovell. 
 But his words were enough to inflame me in my 
 state. 
 
 "Well, say you came into this for the sheer 
 love of the game," he remarked, still observing 
 his cigar. "That's not a bad notion." 
 
 "There's a little more in it than that," I said 
 rather dryly. 
 
 "As how?" He looked at me. 
 
 " You forget that a countrywoman of mine had 
 been abducted by a friend of yours. " 
 
 I put it in that offensive way on purpose, but 
 he took no offence. His eyes twinkled. 
 
 "I see," he remarked. "Let us put it in this 
 way then, Kerslake. You wanted your bellyfull 
 of adventure, and you liked the role of knight 
 errant, of Paladin, say." 
 
 "You may put it in that way, if you like," I 
 replied. "It's not of much consequence how 
 it's put. The incident's all but over, and I've 
 nearly done with it." 
 
 He pondered. "Is it?" he asked slowly. "I 
 wish I knew. See, you don't know Rudgwick. 
 Well, anyway, I'm much obliged to you, Mr. 
 Kerslake, for your help. I guess I've pulled 
 through on that. But all the same," and again 
 his eyes twinkled, "I can't say you've acted 
 on the square to me."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 225 
 
 I jumped to my feet. "Damn it, sir " I 
 
 was beginning when he stopped me. 
 
 "Don't fuss any," he enjoined soothingly. 
 "There's none too many of us for the work. 
 Say, let's have it out, if you will, only sensibly. 
 I like you, and you've done well by me, but 
 you've played on the crook a bit." 
 
 By this time I was master of my impetuous 
 temper. "You are referring to Miss Lovell," I 
 said as deliberately as he. He nodded, waiting, 
 and watching with bright eyes. 
 
 "I proposed to her this afternoon," I said 
 bluntly. 
 
 Again he nodded. "I guessed that." Then 
 he had not been told. I was glad; I was more 
 than glad. 
 
 " I am quite frank, and I was quite frank. I 
 suggested to Miss Lovell that she had no feeling 
 for you, and I invited her to care for me." 
 
 He put his head to one side, his long legs 
 crossed before him, as he tilted his chair. "That 
 sounds fair as a whole," he said complacently. 
 "I don't know that I've any particular fault to 
 find with that." 
 
 "That is all," I said curtly. 
 
 "I reckon you should have known your own 
 blood better," he observed. "English girl spells 
 loyalty, a damn sight more than with us. I 
 recollect an old story of yours I heard that seems
 
 226 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 to kind of come in, about a stout old marquis 
 comforting himself on this matter, that Basing 
 House was called Loyalty. Well, I don't exactly 
 mark you out for blame, seeing who it was; but 
 you might have waited until we got to Plymouth 
 and taken your conge there rather than have it 
 happen on my boat, so to speak. It would have 
 looked prettier, Kerslake ; you can take it from me. ' ' 
 
 His smile was amiable enough, and was prob- 
 ably designed to take the sting out of his words ; 
 but his manner, his air of overlordship galled me. 
 I cannot say that he had taken the episode with 
 an ill grace, but I would far sooner that he had 
 broken out in anger than have used me with such 
 patronizing tolerance. 
 
 "Pardon me," I said with suppressed fury. 
 "The Esperance is mine." He stared. "It is 
 in my name, and I have discharged the ex- 
 penses. The expedition's mine." 
 
 His eyes gleamed. "So," he said at last. 
 "Then that's why you put me off with a tale of 
 after-payment. You had the notion of this all 
 along. Well, it begins to look like a deep-laid 
 plot, Kerslake," he said with an easy laugh. 
 
 "That about hits it," I agreed. 
 
 "Well," he said. "I guess we'll deal for this 
 charter when we get to Plymouth, and will call 
 it square. I don't make any bones about it." 
 He put out his hand. I hesitated.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 227 
 
 "I wish you to know," I said, "that I am of 
 the same opinion still." 
 
 "Bless you, I don't blame you, dear man," 
 he interjected. 
 
 "I'm out of it, but I'm not necessarily done," 
 I said. "If I were sure you had Miss Lovell's 
 sincere affection I would say nothing." 
 
 He smiled. " You are an infidel, Kerslake, " he 
 said, "a real unbeliever. Well, this looks like 
 a determined assault. I guess I've got to take 
 you on. As I've got Wilson on me, I guess it 
 won't make much odds taking you on too." 
 He patted my back in a friendly way, and I 
 freely admit he cut the better figure. To an 
 onlooker there must have seemed a largeness 
 about his motives and his actions, but I was 
 not sure. If not, he could stage-manage won- 
 derfully. 
 
 I was passing out when he said, 
 
 "Say, Kerslake, what's the matter with a little 
 dinner to-night in company? We can fix up 
 with Wilson's stores, and I'm a fair hand with 
 pots and pans. I'll give you a genuine Amer- 
 ican dinner, barring pop-corn, and Miss Lovell 
 shall join us." 
 
 I had perhaps been ungracious enough, and I 
 smiled back in answer "Always provided you 
 take me on my terms I shall be delighted." 
 
 "Oh, we've got to take each other on terms,"
 
 228 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 he said cheerfully, "and I'd take you on any 
 terms. That's fixed then." 
 
 In my acceptance I had not thought of Miss 
 Lovell, but only of Alston and myself; but later 
 I had some misgivings about facing her, and the 
 event proved that I was right. It was a singular 
 and uncomfortable meal. Constraint possessed 
 Miss Lovell, and I was ill at ease in my heart. 
 It was Alston who carried it through. He talked 
 even more than usual, as if he were aware of the 
 difficulty of the situation, and were resolved to 
 smooth it out. He was fluent to a degree, and 
 excelled himself in his address. He recommended 
 this dish or that, dwelled on its points, and gave 
 us its history. Miss Lovell ate very sparingly, 
 and was silent. Her face was pale, which did 
 but lend accent to its youthful beauty. I think 
 I did what was requisite in supporting the burden 
 of conversation, but I did it by an effort, which 
 must have been obvious. And whenever a pause 
 opened Alston stepped gallantly into the breach 
 with some anecdote, or jest, or reminiscence. 
 He had a flow of small stories calculated for after 
 dinner conversation. Particularly did he talk of 
 Rudgwick and his associates. 
 
 "There's Jude now, that little red-faced, tip- 
 nosed dead-head we've got boxed up. He ran 
 a boat on the Erie once, and got into trouble 
 with the Canadian authorities. It was Wilson
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 229 
 
 brought him out of that. Wilson fixed him for 
 a useful man, and he's been useful to him beyond 
 denying. Jude and a crew got into a mess over 
 some job of Wilson's away down East, and Jude 
 and his mate found themselves in the dock 
 mighty quick. Well, first Wilson tries to buy 
 them out indirectly, but it wouldn't go. So he 
 goes to work otherwise. He primes all the wit- 
 nesses, that is the crew, with drink so that they 
 come into the box dead drunk, and thus he gets 
 the trial postponed. Then when it came on 
 again, every blessed witness was absent. They 
 were being kept away down South on one of 
 Wilson's ranches, kept like fatted calves, and no 
 letters delivered to them, and no addresses known. 
 So there being no evidence forthcoming against 
 Jude, he and his mate were discharged. Wilson's 
 the man for seeing a thing through." 
 
 "It's to be hoped he won't see this thing 
 through," I could not help saying. 
 
 Alston glanced at Miss Lovell. "He'll see it 
 through in a way," he answered, "and when he 
 gets to the end and finds a dead wall, he won't 
 run his head against it. That's not his way. 
 He'll go home and order a good dinner at Sherry's. 
 I guess Wilson's a philosopher. He's a good 
 loser." He paused, listening; and above the 
 wash of the sea against the schooner I could hear 
 voices. Alston jumped up, and I followed his
 
 2 3 o THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 example. He opened the cabin-door tnat gave 
 on the deck. 
 
 "What's the game?" he demanded. "Oh, a 
 prisoner wants something, does he? Wants to 
 make a communication. Who is it? My friend 
 Jude? No, Butterfield. Come along Mr. But- 
 terfield; we'll talk right away.'* 
 
 He stepped out upon the deck, leaving me with 
 Miss Lovell, and the door closed behind him. 
 At once my embarrassment increased, and I too 
 was for departure. She had sat watching us 
 with a growing expression of suspicion and alarm, 
 and now it was those alone that I saw in her 
 face ; and oddly as it may sound, they re-assured 
 me. 
 
 "Is it " she hesitated. 
 
 "No; it is nothing," I answered, "only a re- 
 quest from one of the prisoners Butterfield, I 
 think." 
 
 She sighed her relief, and then unexpectedly 
 after a moment's pause broke out: "Mr. Ker- 
 slake, I do thank you with all my heart for your 
 goodness to me, at the chateau and in the swamp, 
 and all through. You mustn't believe me un- 
 grateful. " 
 
 "I could never have done that," I said 
 lamely. 
 
 "Oh but " she looked distress at me, but 
 
 Alston re-entered ere she could go on. He was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 231 
 
 laughing silently, as if in appreciation of a rich 
 joke. 
 
 "Say, did you like that dinner any?" he in- 
 quired. 
 
 We both answered civilly in the affirmative. 
 "Well, if it's not complete, we can add a dish 
 to the menu. Personally I've rather a fancy to 
 do it. Here's Mr. Butterfield anxious to oblige. " 
 
 "Butterfield!" said I. 
 
 "Yes tells me that I can apply to you for a 
 testimonial for his omelettes. Dear Sir, I have 
 tasted your omelette, since which I have eat no 
 other. That sort of thing. Sylvia, what do you 
 say? Can you eat omelette?" 
 
 Swiftly her glance met mine, and I knew why. 
 We both recalled simultaneously the part played 
 by that previous omelette. She shook her head. 
 
 "I couldn't eat anything more." 
 
 "Well, I guess we'll have it anyway," said 
 Alston cheerfully, "if you'll pass it, Kerslake. " 
 
 "Oh, I have eaten Butterfield's omelettes," 
 said I. " But I don't know why he should take 
 such thought for our palates." 
 
 " No ; I was wondering that, " said Alston easily. 
 "That's why I want him in." He went to the 
 door and shouted an order to the sentry; and 
 then came back. " Butterfield complains of dull- 
 ness. Well, I've been in places that were duller 
 than Jude's company. Jude and the blear-eyed
 
 232 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 bos'un play cards I gave 'em, Jude with his 
 bloody finger in a rag; and Jude smokes and chews 
 and the bos'un smokes and chews; and that 
 cabin's a rarity. It turns Butter-field's stomach, 
 he says. Well, I'm not wondering. He can't 
 play cards, which he disapproves of, and he don't 
 drink, and the smell of tobacco makes him queasy. 
 Butterfield wants airing, and says so." 
 
 As he spoke the little man entered, his sallow 
 ugly face distorted in a grin. 
 
 "I've given you my parole, Mr. Alston, not 
 to escape. I guess now it's real good of you to 
 hang me up to dry like this. I can't get the 
 smell out of my face. I hope you're well, Miss. 
 Lieutenant, how are you?" 
 
 "I have heard of your powers, Butterfield," 
 began Alston solemnly, "in culinary affairs from 
 Mr. Kerslake here, and the sense of this company 
 has been taken to invite you to a performance. 
 We should prefer to see you in one of your more 
 eccentric acts, but we leave the turn to you con- 
 fidently, as an artist and a master." 
 
 "I thank you, gentlemen, for your consider- 
 ation, and the compliment it implies, " said But- 
 terfield as gravely, "and, if it's all one to the 
 company, I'll take the omelette feat. Say, have 
 you got fixtures here?" 
 
 Alston's face carried a broad smile, as he leaned 
 back in his chair.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 233 
 
 " If it will not interfere with the turn, Mr. But- 
 terfield, " he said, "I should like a cigar, if Miss 
 Lovell has no objection." 
 
 Miss Lovell murmured a negative, and kept 
 her eyes on Butterfield. 
 
 "It's chewing I object to," he explained, as 
 he explored in a cupboard behind Alston. He 
 re -appeared with a chafing-dish, and set it on 
 the table before Miss Lovell. "You can do 
 pretty well what you will with a chafing-dish," 
 he went on with pride. "And now with your 
 leave, Mr. Alston, I'll be seeing what about the 
 materials. Butter and eggs are all I want I 
 guess." 
 
 "There's butter in the cupboard," said Alston. 
 
 "Eggs?" he queried. "No; I guess they're in 
 cook's quarters." 
 
 Alston rose. " Let's get 'em out of the galley, " 
 said he, and out he went accompanied by the 
 factotum. 
 
 When they returned Butterfield was supplied 
 with eggs, and set to work. He had something 
 between the air of a music-hall juggler, and that 
 of a cheap-jack, exhibiting his wares. He rattled 
 on glibly, with the same solemn countenance, 
 occasionally illuminated by a smile. 
 
 "I guess this dish takes a deal of doing prop- 
 erly," he declared, and there's some points in it 
 that I can add. It'll beat Paris cookery when
 
 234 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 1 I've done with it. It's no great shakes as it is 
 kind of lacks bif ! Lieutenant, you did me proud 
 over that omelette, but it wasn't a nice mess, 
 Sir, no. But I took it kindly, as I did from the 
 lady." 
 
 The omelette smoked in the pan, and Alston 
 looked on with interested eyes. 
 
 "I'm just wondering, Butterfield, " said he, 
 "why you took a notion to play chef to us." 
 
 "You spend twelve hours on end in atmos- 
 phere like that yonder, and you'd take a notion to 
 do any blamed thing that would help you out," 
 said he. " I reckon I'm a monkey earning my 
 airing. " 
 
 There was something farcical in the situation, 
 and yet the recurrence of this culinary feat 
 seemed to be a little ominous. When he had 
 treated me to an omelette before it had been the 
 signal for his discomfiture. Of that he knew 
 nothing, yet irony could go no farther than to 
 retort upon us in this second dish. I got up un- 
 easily and touched Alston on the shoulder. 
 
 "I don't like this," I whispered. 
 
 He drew his level brows at me, " I'm wonder- 
 ing," he returned. "We'll have the farce over. 
 Say Butterfield, you're a mighty fine hand at a 
 dish, and the banquet's just lovely. But I don't 
 feel that gnawing appetite which I reckoned on. 
 What's the matter with taking that steaming
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 235 
 
 handsome and odorous mess into Jude and Co. 
 in a lordly dish?" 
 
 "Well," Butterfield dubitated, as if crestfallen. 
 "If you really mean it, " 
 
 "What's that?" said I. A sound, a disturb- 
 ing sound, came from without. Butterfield 
 smoothed his mess lovingly. 
 
 "I don't mind if I do," he drawled loudly. 
 
 I sprang to the door, as a crash reached my 
 ears, and then it burst open and dark figures 
 filled the open space. 
 
 "This is you, Butterfield," cried Alston of a 
 sudden infuriate. " By God, you're a done man," 
 and there was a report of a revolver in the cabin. 
 Butterfield had flung himself to the floor right 
 against Alston's legs to which he clung like an 
 imp. 
 
 "We're ten to two," cried a voice from the 
 doorway. We've nabbed you, man." Alston 
 let the butt of his weapon fall viciously on Butter- 
 field's head, and pointed and fired at the speaker. 
 
 There was a laugh and an oath, as the door 
 banged. " Reckon we won't spoil sport, " shouted 
 a deep voice. " Glad for you to have the cabin. 
 So long." 
 
 "Jude, by heavens!" exclaimed Alston, and 
 suddenly disentangled the shrimp from his foot 
 with a twist. He was his own master again, 
 after that one fell flash of diabolic frenzy.
 
 236 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " So you had me, old man, " he remarked coolly. 
 "Get on your legs, and I'll knock the sawdust 
 out of you." 
 
 Butterfield wriggled in his grasp, ineffectually, 
 but regarded him quietly enough, with as much 
 self-possession as his captor. 
 
 "Reckon this is war, but I didn't break my 
 parole," he remarked puffing. 
 
 "I guess it is," said Alston with significance, 
 " and war according to Montana rules. It's shoot 
 on sight, Butterfield, and you chew that sonny. 
 You're smart, and earn your dime a day, I dare- 
 say, but Wilson Rudgwick's going to go short 
 of a man, when you tumble up against me. You 
 got a family, sonny?" 
 
 "I got a girl in Philadelphia," said Butter- 
 field. 
 
 " Wilson'U have to put up masses for the father- 
 less then, I guess. I'm not going to be jockeyed 
 out of this. There's been too much monkeying 
 about. We've been sort of playing see-saw, and 
 I'm tired. No, git." 
 
 "What do you mean?" asked Butterfield, for 
 he had jerked a pistolled hand at the door. 
 
 " Oh, I wasn't going to shoot you ; never fear. 
 I've got more use than that for you. It's some- 
 one else is going to do that, " he said deliberately. 
 He strode to the door, a masterful man, and 
 opened it slightly. The stars in heaven peeped
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 237 
 
 in by that aperture, and revealed a figure close 
 by. The released crew had taken a leaf out of 
 our book. The tables were indeed turned. Al- 
 ston closed the door softly. 
 
 " It stands to reason that if I'm potted I lose 
 the game," he said. "Consequently I'm not 
 going to be potted. If anyone is to be potted 
 it's you. See, Butterfield? Kerslake, get your 
 pinfire. Now, Butterfield, open that door and 
 git, but git slowly. Stay, I'll have a cinch on 
 you." 
 
 So saying he opened a drawer, took out a ball 
 of twine, and cut off a long piece, which he pro- 
 ceeded to tie about his victim's arms. I now 
 began to see his drift, but I did not like it. He 
 designed to make an attack upon the enemy, 
 using Butterfield as a shield and buckler. It 
 was a dashing idea, but it was foolhardy. They 
 were ten in number, and some of them no doubt 
 were armed. They were not particular in their 
 methods, as we had already proof. What chance 
 had we against them? 
 
 Butterfield hesitated. He had plenty of cour- 
 age in that withered little unhealthy frame, 
 but he shrank from the ignominy of that 
 vicarious death. Alston's blue eyes were like 
 steel. He tapped his man meaningly on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 "They will shoot," said Miss Lovell in dis-
 
 238 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 tress. Her face in the electric light was dead 
 white, and her eyes were full of terror. "Oh, 
 will they shoot?" 
 
 "We're not going to be troubled much," said 
 Alston. 
 
 "It won't do," said I. "We've no chance." 
 
 "See here, Kerslake, " he replied sharply. 
 "What's this fool nonsense about chances? I 
 haven't but a hair of a chance anyway. She's 
 putting round, I guess, for Rudgwick, and you'll 
 see me sailing right up to Wilson like a dandy 
 boy, will you?" he sneered. " 'Come aboard, 
 sir, to take my gruel.' No; I'll be damned if I 
 will. If I've got no chance I'm going to make a 
 chance, and I'm making it right now. Buck up, 
 sonny," he addressed Butterfield. "You're go- 
 ing to your friends, and can call out and tell 
 'em so, if you're inclined." 
 
 Butterfield made no protest; he cast a measur- 
 ing glance askew at me, his dark face fallen into 
 corrugations, and his eyes in nests of wrinkles; 
 and then he obeyed his taskmaster. Alston 
 gently turned the handle of the cabin door, and 
 pushed his prisoner to the fore. 
 
 "Say, boys, it's me, and there's pistols behind 
 me," cried Butterfield suddenly. 
 
 "That's all right," said Alston, and drew a 
 sight over the little man's shoulder. "I've cor- 
 nered you, Jude," he called. 'Guess you better
 
 "Fire belched across Butterfield's shoulder"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 239 
 
 go back to your cabin and take it easy. This 
 here strenuous life's up against you." 
 
 For answer a revolver cracked, and Alston 
 uttered an oath. 
 
 "That's not bad, Jude, a daisy-cutter through 
 my curls. It makes up for the finger-joint. 
 Well, how's that?" 
 
 Fire belched across Butterfield's shoulder, and 
 there was a noise of a fall in the darkness. " Three 
 inches above the ankle, that should be," he 
 added cheerfully. 
 
 There was a gruff short laugh out of the dark- 
 ness which had thickened perceptibly. The sa- 
 vour of approaching rain was in the nostrils. As 
 for me I stood like a fool by Alston resolved to 
 take no foolish risks, such as he seemed bent on 
 taking, but equally determined to use my weapon 
 if I were attacked. 
 
 Butterfield, projected in an undignified ad- 
 vance, served as a buckler to my companion, who 
 was now silent, as were the enemy. He moved amid- 
 ships, and I followed. Butterfield alone broke the 
 stillness, talking volubly, clearly with the design 
 to acquaint his friends with our whereabouts. 
 
 "Drop that, little man, or I'll fling you over- 
 board," threatened Alston at last. 
 
 "We're not pinning much on Nathaniel But- 
 terfield," exclaimed the skipper's voice. "We'll 
 let her go on chance."
 
 240 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 My head struck the boom of the foresail at 
 that moment, and I put out an arm, clutched 
 Alston and dragged him down; and all three of 
 us fell in a coil on the deck. Simultaneously 
 reports rang out, but nothing touched us. 
 
 "They mean business," whispered Alston." 
 "Where the devil's that little skunk?" But 
 Butterfield was gone, having wriggled himself 
 free. " I've a mind to try a pot shot, " went on 
 Alston in the same undertone. " But I won't. 
 He's served his purpose. Do you know the hang 
 of this blamed boat?" 
 
 I whispered back where we lay, and he began 
 to crawl noiselessly forward. I followed him. 
 A small rain now had begun to fall.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 THE FIGHT IN THE DARK 
 
 THE schooner was enveloped in darkness and 
 silence, and we made our way without interfer- 
 ence towards the foremast, taking shelter by the 
 high pole. The boom creaked and a full wind 
 occupied the canvas overhead. 
 
 " Got any cartridges?" whispered Alston. 
 
 "Four," I returned. 
 
 " Good !" said he. " Let's await events." 
 
 The rain drizzled steadily for ten minutes or 
 more and we were getting uncomfortably wet, 
 before we heard any news of the enemy. Then 
 we observed a light going about on the after 
 deck. 
 
 " Someone, like Diogenes, looking for an honest 
 man, " remarked Alston. " He won't find much 
 in this crew of Wilson's unless he finds us, and 
 we've got to stop him." The lantern went down 
 the port side, and disappeared behind the fore- 
 sail, leaving only a glimmer through the canvas 
 Then it emerged to the bows. 
 
 Alston nudged me. The man with the lantern 
 stopped and approached the mast. Alston's re- 
 
 241
 
 242 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 volver cracked, and the lantern went out with a 
 crash. 
 
 "Damn it, I thought I'd got Jude, " he whis- 
 pered to me, "but he's as large as life and twice as 
 nasty." I put my hand to silence him, for the 
 loom of a figure rose against the night and the 
 bulwarks. 
 
 " Gosh, we'll have him, anyway," he said, and 
 suddenly leapt like a panther. 
 
 The man went down without a sound, for the 
 rain was roaring loud in the sails now, and filled 
 the ears with noise. I felt my way to Alston, and 
 he set his mouth to my face. 
 
 "Aren't we close by the hatchway?" he called. 
 " Shove him down." 
 
 The hatch of the forecastle, indeed, was near 
 at hand, and we bundled the unfortunate captive 
 forthright through the opening, drawing the cov- 
 ering tight, and securing it. 
 
 One!" said Alston to my ear; and began to 
 scramble off towards the stern like a black spider. 
 The rain drummed, and the sea spurned over the 
 side of the schooner as she dipped in the rising 
 sea; and we were both of us drenched. There 
 was something grotesque in the situation. Here 
 we were, two prisoners on a hostile boat with ten 
 or twelve hands, and we designed to capture them 
 and seize it. Our only ally was the black night, 
 unless to that be added the beat of the rain which
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 243 
 
 drowned other noises, and prevented them from 
 discovering our whereabouts. 
 
 About midships the boom came slowly across 
 and grazed my shoulder, and at the same time 
 Alston grappled someone. I was aware of the 
 struggle that went on beside me, but I could be of 
 no assistance owing to the darkness and the im- 
 possibility of determining friend from enemy. 
 But presently I heard his voice. 
 
 "Two!" he cried, and triumph and breathless- 
 ness rang in his voice. "Say, Kerslake, this is 
 better than the first act, eh? Get a hold of him. 
 We'll fling him after his companion." He had 
 hardly spoken before something out of the rigging 
 struck him to the deck. It fell heavy and black, 
 but as it were misshapen an imp, a monkey. I 
 put out my arms and grabbed it, and it struggled 
 with me with ferocity, astride of Alston, who in 
 his turn pinned his victim under his weight. 
 
 " Hutchins, man get a move on you!" shrilled 
 a voice, and it was a voice I recognised. "Say, 
 work up, man." 
 
 It was Butterfield, the shrimp, Butterfield the 
 devoted, at work for his "boss." Underneath 
 Alston the man, Hutchins, was reviving his strug- 
 gles, but I had Butterfield by the middle and was 
 squeezing him. 
 
 "I'll look after him, if you'll keep your man," 
 I shouted to Alston, and he understood, for,
 
 244 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 abandoning any attempt to get rid of the monkey 
 on his back he devoted his attention to the man 
 under him. 
 
 My muscles from long apprenticeship were in 
 full training, and they contracted on Butterfield's 
 ribs. He stood it as long as it was in human 
 nature to stand the terrible constriction, and then 
 made a feeble movement of surrender. I relaxed 
 and drew him off Alston whose victim was once 
 more quiet. 
 
 " I guess you can crack nuts " panted Butter- 
 field. 
 
 "I can crack monkey-nuts at all events," I 
 replied in a flight of whimsy. 
 
 It was all so mad ; it was preposterous ; and yet 
 we had three men of that crew now. 
 
 "Seems like old times," laughed Alston as we 
 stole along the side of the schooner with our 
 prisoners. We secured them with the other, and 
 started out again. I knew we were marching on 
 doom, but Alston was fey. The lust of battle 
 possessed him. A light flashed half a dozen yards 
 away, and almost with the first flash it was out 
 and the glass was splintering on the deck. 
 
 " She showed flame, so we'd better move, " said 
 Alston, putting up his revolver. " I guess that's 
 Jude again. It's only Jude that would dare that. 
 I shot him once, and I'll shoot him again if need be, 
 but I guess his lantern's a better mark."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 245 
 
 He was in high spirits, and it almost seemed 
 that his monstrous audacity and confidence would 
 carry us through. We crept aft again, and then 
 of a sudden a rush of feet, pounding on the deck, 
 sounded even above the rain. They came at us 
 in a body, and Alston put his back to the deck- 
 house which we had reached. 
 
 "It's real suicide, Jude," he shouted; and even 
 as he would have shot (and I cannot guess with 
 what results) he staggered backwards, and clutched 
 at me. Taken by surprise I too yielded and went 
 backwards. I had a vague impression of striking 
 against something several times, and of pain and 
 confusion. When I was at rest and had fully re- 
 covered I found I was at the bottom of the com- 
 panion ladder, lying on Alston, with an aching 
 head. I got to my feet with difficulty, and groped 
 about in the darkness. I poked Alston in the 
 body, and he groaned. Then I extracted a match 
 from my pocket and struck it. It flared feebly 
 on the small saloon into which we had fallen, and 
 which in my early survey of the schooner I had 
 noted as additional to the staterooms on deck. 
 Alston came to in the flicker of the light, and sat 
 up. 
 
 " I never guessed Jude was as mighty quick as 
 that, " he observed. 
 
 " It wasn't Jude, " said I. " You fell down the 
 companion ladder and pulled me with you."
 
 246 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Oh!" he remarked, taking this in, and then 
 slowly rose to his feet. " There should be a light 
 somewhere about. Wilson fitted out his yacht 
 as smart as he knew. Guess there's electric 
 fittings somewhere." 
 
 I struck another match, and looked about. A 
 switch caught my eye and I put it down ; instantly 
 a bright point of light illuminated the saloon. I 
 pressed another switch, and we were in full 
 radiance." 
 
 " Let's see the amount of damage," said Alston, 
 seating himself. He passed his hands over his 
 legs and body. " Not even a rib gone. We fell 
 pretty easy, Kerslake, though seems to me you 
 had the better berth. " He laughed. " How's your 
 head? Mine's like hot iron." He got up and 
 went to the foot of the stairway and slowly climbed 
 to the top, when he was confronted by the shut 
 door. He tried the handle, but the door would 
 not give. It had been locked. 
 
 Alston came back. "That came mighty near 
 coming off, but it didn't," he observed. "And 
 like so many good things an accident bungled it. 
 I guess that fixes us." He stared at me with 
 unseeing eyes, a frown on his forehead, and re- 
 peated his words presently. " I guess that fixes 
 us," with a short laugh. His fingers worked 
 nervously in a clenched fist, and he was oblivious 
 of my pressure. From first to last Herbert
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 247 
 
 Pordyce Alston was the most self-centred man I 
 have ever encountered. He sat for ten minutes, 
 wrapped in thought, and hardly changing his 
 expression; nor did he move when I rose and be- 
 gan an examination of the saloon and the cabins 
 that opened off it. I had just made a discovery 
 in a larder when I heard Alston's voice behind me. 
 It rang out quite cheerfully, and as if he had not 
 made his last cast and lost. 
 
 "What you got there, Kerslake? Gosh, that's 
 good hearing." I guess I'm an hungered and I 
 shouldn't mind something to drink. I've a 
 drowth on, now I come to think of it. Say, does 
 your head ache any?" 
 
 I extracted from the larder some cold food and 
 a bottle of whiskey. " I think we've both earned 
 a drink," I remarked. He nodded, poured a little 
 spirit into the glass I had fetched and diluted it 
 with plenty of water. 
 
 "Here's now," he remarked genially. 
 
 His cheerfulness was unabashed even in that 
 great downfall of his fortunes, and I will confess 
 that I marvelled at the man. I drank in recog- 
 nition of his toast, and we ate a little of the food. 
 
 "I guess we're fixed, Lieutenant," he said once 
 more. "We're part of Wilson's cargo now, only 
 they don't pay freight on us. Come to think of 
 it Wilson's paid himself." He showed his even 
 white teeth in a pleasant smile, and took another
 
 248 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 sip of his whiskey. He glanced about him. "He 
 does himself well. Wilson's a sybarite out of 
 business hours, but he'll sit on a high stool from 
 nine till five. If he'd had imagination and could 
 see things that wasn't there he'd have gone far. 
 But he can only see things under his nose, and 
 then he goes for them like a bull-dog. You see, 
 he's a sort of Britisher, and you do lay hold when 
 you bite. Still I'm not going to promise that 
 Wilson Rudgwick isn't going to get left someday. " 
 His face sank into thought, from which he was 
 disturbed only by my rising. I opened one of 
 the port-holes, and the sea broke in our ears. I 
 became conscious of my soaked clothes, and then 
 I thought of Sylvia Lovell above. 
 
 She was safe; she would have remained in her 
 cabin in complete security, for the issues of this 
 fight did not concern her, although it raged about 
 her. Alston spoke at last. 
 
 "I'm going to turn in," said he. "I reckon 
 I've fairly earned my sleep." 
 
 "We both have," I replied, "and I'll follow 
 your example." 
 
 It was not ten minutes before he was snugly en- 
 sconced in one of the bunks. I do not know if he 
 slept soon or well, but I did, and the last in my 
 thoughts ere I slept was the girl who, I hoped, 
 slumbered peacefully on deck. 
 
 The summer dawn came soon, but it was about
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 249 
 
 six o'clock when I awoke, and I only awoke then 
 because of an unwonted noise. Getting out of 
 my bunk I pushed my head out of the door and 
 looked into the cabin. Butterfield stood on the 
 stairway, and was calling. 
 
 "Mr. Alston! Mr. Alston!" 
 
 I threw my clothes on and emerged to find 
 Alston already there. 
 
 "Well, my dandy boy," he said cheerfully to 
 Butterfield. " Now, what's to prevent my putting 
 a hole through you," and he brought out his 
 revolver.- " I must say you have brass standing 
 there in that inviting, not to say provocative, 
 attitude." 
 
 Little Butterfield did not display alarm. "All 
 right, boss," he said. " Only make it after break- 
 fast. Say, would you gentlemen like breakfast? 
 Maybe you're hungry after the exercise of last 
 night." 
 
 "Maybe we are. I could do with something 
 hot, and there's only cold stuff in this larder," said 
 Alston. "Say, my dandy, what's the matter 
 with Jude inviting us to breakfast?" 
 
 Butterfield looked doubtful. "Oh," went on 
 Alston reassuringly. " We won't make any fuss. 
 See, we're willing to give our parole, eh, Mr. 
 Kerslake, and as an earnest of that here's my 
 barker, Butterfield. You take it along to Jude. 
 It's peace, d'ye see. We've tried and we let up
 
 250 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 on it. See? Now make tracks and tell Jude 
 I'd like to have a talk with him. He's got the 
 bulge on us. Let's talk." 
 
 Butterneld nodded, and left us, taking Alston's 
 revolver, and locking the door at the top of the 
 staircase. During his absence Alston went about 
 whistling, and jesting, and making small talk for 
 all the world like a man who has got what he 
 wanted and is indifferent to what the future may 
 have in store. 
 
 Presently Butterneld returned and flung wide 
 the door. 
 
 "Mr. Alston!" he called out in an usher-like 
 way, and Alston stepped briskly forward, not by 
 any means as one going to execution, not even as 
 one on his way to see the doctor. It struck me as 
 a little odd that I was so completely ignored in 
 these interchanges, and yet it was perhaps natural 
 that so self-centred and masterful a person as 
 Alston should dominate the situation. If anyone 
 were to arrange the terms of a peace, or a truce, 
 it was certainly he that should do so ; but here 
 was I left out of the parole, so to speak, and re- 
 volver in hand, though I admit that it was by now 
 not a very formidable weapon. 
 
 He was absent a good hour, and in the mean- 
 time Butterneld served me with breakfast in 
 his friendly manner. 
 
 " Say, Lieutenant," he volunteered. " You got
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 251 
 
 mighty strong arms. I guess I'm pretty well bit 
 through like a wasp. Gosh, I feel sore." He 
 meditatively felt himself, after putting a dish on 
 the table. 
 
 "I'm sorry, Butterfield," said I. "But you 
 would ask for it, and I'm an obliging man." 
 
 He felt my biceps admiringly. " Gosh, it's hard. 
 Guess I'd have thought twice before I would have 
 come on you if I'd known." 
 
 "You cannot respect my physical powers," I 
 said politely, "as vastly as I respect your mental 
 powers. I understand it is to you we owe this 
 revolution." 
 
 Butterfield looked modest. "I reckon it 
 might be considered so in a kind of way," he 
 admitted. 
 
 "Come, I'm anxious to know how you managed 
 it , " I asked . His alert eyes flashed on me humour- 
 ously. "Guess. I'd like to know how you man- 
 aged at the chateau," he said. 
 
 "It's a bargain," said I. 
 
 Butterfield trimmed his nails, for in spite of his 
 ugliness he was a man of neat mind. "It was 
 just luck," he asserted. "Maybe we would have 
 gone a fortnight and the chance never come. But 
 it just did come. I fixed up to do that omelette 
 for you, Lieutenant, same as I did before, and I 
 guessed I'd have to make tracks for the eggs. 
 That took me forward. See? Well, there was the
 
 252 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 luck. Alston was too mighty confident that 
 time, and he wasn't thinking too much of Nathan- 
 iel Butterfield. According to his move then I 
 guess Nathaniel Butterfield didn't amount to 
 much. And so I got the chance. I passed down 
 the hatchway a bit of paper, just setting out the 
 facts. They fancied they were seized by a full 
 sized crew. Eight ablebodied men are not going 
 to knuckle under when they learn there's only 
 two on sentry-go, and four in all. So that fixed 
 the rising. And as I'd named a time, when that 
 uproar broke out your sentry took a flurry, and 
 I guess he lost his nerves and forgot the skipper 
 and Taylor. And that's pretty much all." 
 
 It sounded very simple, and I wondered that 
 we had not anticipated such a rising. But it was 
 the ingenious detail that took my attention, 
 and the irony of the fact that both Butterfield 
 and I on our respective occasions, owed a debt 
 to his omelette. It was with a certain satisfaction 
 that I told him so. He stared. 
 
 "Now, that's very very interesting," he pro- 
 nounced. "Gosh! To think of you getting the 
 bulge on me with my own omelette! Well, 
 Lieutenant, I guess we can shake on that and 
 cry quits." 
 
 When Alston returned he was in a subdued 
 mood, but still fairly cheerful. 
 
 "I've given parole," he informed me, "and you
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 253 
 
 can do likewise, if you feel so disposed. We've 
 played our trumps and got left; and it's no use 
 making bones about it." 
 
 What was he going to do? He had appeared 
 so determined, and now was he to resign himself 
 to Rudgwick? It did not seem consistent with 
 his character. 
 
 "Perhaps, you'll be good enough, then, to ac- 
 quaint me with the programme," I said bluntly. 
 
 He glanced at me. " We've played pretty hard 
 to win," he said, "and we deserved to win, but 
 Fate's up against us. It's now a case of a deal 
 with Rudgwick." 
 
 " Oh," said I. " You will come to terms." 
 
 "That's about the size of it," he answered re- 
 flectively. "I don't carry enough guns on this 
 trip, as you can see. I guess I'll settle." 
 
 "Oh, very well," said I, feeling somehow very 
 chagrined, yet aware that he had reason on his 
 side. 
 
 "And that being so," he pursued, taking a seat 
 and speaking very amiably, "all that I can do 
 is to return thanks to you for all you've done, 
 and " 
 
 "And take the ship out of commission," I put 
 in dryly. 
 
 " That's a technical way of putting it," he smiled 
 at me. "Though nothing I can say would carry 
 my appreciation of your assistance far enough."
 
 254 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "You must not forget," I told him, "exactly 
 with what motives I have assisted." 
 
 "No," he said deliberately. "But I'm not 
 pinning much on them. I'm treating it from my 
 point of view." 
 
 "As long as we understand each other's points 
 of view, we shan't blunder," I said firmly, "and 
 I want you to understand mine. You're going 
 to make a concession to Rudgwick to overcome 
 his let me say opposition to your marriage. It 
 looks as if I should have you both on my hands." 
 
 He looked positively startled. "How so?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "At present he and I both object to this mar- 
 riage," I said, "and you're going to convert him." 
 
 He laughed. "Oh, we'll get along, together, 
 you and I, Kerslake," he said. "You'll be best 
 man for me, before we're done." 
 
 "I won't make any prophecies," I answered 
 as pleasantly as he. " Only it appears tome that 
 we're beginning the third act now." 
 
 He pondered. "And last," he added. 
 
 " There are usually four acts in a serious drama," 
 I reminded him. 
 
 " But three in a farce," said he lightly. " May- 
 be this is a farce." 
 
 "It's a queer piece, at any rate," said I, "and 
 has involved tragedy." 
 
 "Oh, I guess Wilson's fixed up weeds for the
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 255 
 
 widows," he remarked indifferently, rising to go. 
 At the foot of the stairs he paused. "If I were 
 you I'd give my parole, Kerslake. It will be 
 more comfortable." 
 
 " Certainly," I said. "I'm not a fool, and shall 
 get no good of the sulks. I'm with you." 
 
 I accompanied him to the deck, where my 
 blear-eyed friend was in waiting. I held out my 
 revolver. "Take this to the captain with my 
 compliments," I said cheerfully. 
 
 The man grinned as he took it, and I strode 
 after Alston, who went to the deck house. 
 
 "Well, here's two of us, Jude," he called out. 
 " Fetch her along, smart now. Time's valuable." 
 
 The skipper's red face was thrust out of a door, 
 grave and observant. 
 
 "Come along, gentlemen," he thundered in his 
 big bass voice. "Come in and have a tot of 
 rum." 
 
 We buried the hatchet under that tot, and then 
 I left the two, and went out. The schooner 
 spread all her canvas, and was footing it merrily. 
 At this rate we should soon be at Quiberon or 
 wherever it was on that coast we were bound for. 
 The door of the state-rooms stood secured ajar, 
 and I knocked on it, in obedience to an impulse. 
 As I did so I remembered that Sylvia Lovell's 
 name had not been mentioned in our conver- 
 sation in the saloon.
 
 256 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Her face appeared in the aperture, and she 
 opened the door, a flash of something I could not 
 interpret in her expression. 
 
 "You were not hurt then?" she asked quickly. 
 
 "No, we are both unharmed, " I said, "which 
 perhaps is more than we deserve. It was smart 
 business." 
 
 " It was very brave, " she answered quickly. " 
 
 "Mr. Alston is nothing if not courageous," I 
 replied, and I asked how she had fared. Beyond 
 the alarm and excitement incidental to the 
 struggle she was all right. No one had molested 
 her. 
 
 There fell a pause between us, and a pause of 
 some embarrassment. Trouble was in the eyes 
 that she dropped, for I suppose we both were 
 thinking of my outbreak to her. 
 
 " Mr. Alston will have told you that everything 
 is over now," I began awkwardly. 
 
 "Everything over?" she stammered. "No, I 
 have not seen him. I was wondering " 
 
 " That he had not come. He has been very 
 busy, doubtless, settling matters with the cap- 
 tain." I said this, though in private I was 
 amazed that he had not made time to see her. 
 That would have been my first consideration. 
 
 " I meant I was wondering what you were doing 
 how you were free," she explained. 
 
 " Oh!" I told her. " Mr. Alston is to make his
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 257 
 
 peace with Rudgwick, and you will be free from 
 persecution." 
 
 41 He has given in?" she asked wondering. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Her face wondered still. She looked seaward; 
 and then Alston's voice issued from behind me. 
 
 "Say, Sylvia, it would be very nice if you 
 would ask us both in." 
 
 I turned and encountered his quizzical look. 
 He never forgot his manners. 
 
 " Of of course," stammered the girl. " Won't 
 you come in?"
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 AT THE "PETITS OlSEAUX" 
 
 WE made the land late in the afternoon after a 
 brisk voyage. Alston vanished from the state- 
 rooms very shortly after lunch, and I think he was 
 closeted with the skipper. The latter was a 
 formidable sort of man, who possessed in addition 
 to his big voice a twinkle in his eye, and a thirsty 
 throat. His drink affected him not at all, as far 
 as I could see, but I knew that he resorted con- 
 stantly to the bottle, and was glad of a crony. 
 Alston and he visited the cabin several times, and 
 once or twice in passing the door I caught the 
 clink of glasses. Alston I had discovered to be 
 the most temperate of men, and so I attributed the 
 sound to the captain. I spent the best of the 
 afternoon on deck, although I used the saloon on 
 occasions, finding there a book or a magazine 
 with which to while away the time. The prospect 
 discontented me, for it seemed to presage an 
 abrupt termination of my adventure. Indeed 
 the events of the day put me, as it were, out of the 
 reckoning, exiled me from the considerations 
 
 258
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 259 
 
 involving the remaining three of the chief person- 
 ages in our drama. 
 
 The loom of the coast was apparent about 
 four o'clock when I stood in the forecastle, busy 
 with my thoughts; and here Butterfield came 
 across me. 
 
 "Guess you'll be glad to get back home, 
 Lieutenant, " said he. 
 
 "Why," said I shortly, "do you think you're 
 going to be rid of me easily? " 
 
 "Oh, I can't say it's been easy," he rejoined. 
 
 " Anyway, " I said, " you may be able to tell me 
 where we fetch up. ' ' 
 
 " I calculate we should strike the boss at 
 Quiberon. " 
 
 " And why Quiberon? " I asked. 
 
 "Well, I couldn't fix it nearer," he replied, 
 "when you got away I was just about to signal 
 him that maybe something would be turning up ; 
 and so I guess he's left his tracks about the coast 
 somewhere. " 
 
 " Oh!" said I feeling an increased respect for so 
 far-seeing and successful a plotter. "So we've 
 broken on you. " 
 
 He modestly disclaimed the compliment. " It 
 was my fault you got away, and I had to make up 
 for it. I've just pulled through. " 
 
 However it was looked at he had won the 
 trick, and the thought was not pleasant, nor was it
 
 260 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 even pleasant to reflect that Alston was talcing 
 it, as the phrase runs, "lying down." It was 
 uncanny. Miss Lovell surprised me deep in these 
 musings. 
 
 "Are you are we near land?" she asked 
 timidly. I pointed to the far horizon. "Brit- 
 tany's there," I said. She contemplated the 
 distance in silence, and then, 
 
 " Shall we be there soon? " she inquired. 
 
 " In a couple of hours if we keep on this course. 
 But I'm not in the secrets of the captain or even 
 of Mr. Alston." 
 
 She glanced at me with a puzzled expression, 
 and bit her lip. "You say that " she began 
 and stopped. "Why do you say that?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " Because, " I replied, " Mr. Alston has changed 
 his plans. He has refused to yield to the exac- 
 tions of a pirate, which meant practical blackmail, 
 for more than a week, and now he is beaten to his 
 knees and yields with a smile. " 
 
 " He yields for my sake, " she said indignantly. 
 
 "He should have done that sooner then," I 
 said, " and saved you all this pain and distress. " 
 
 She was silent, and, feeling a little ashamed of 
 myself, I went on : " One thing we must do on 
 landing, and that is at once send a cable to Mrs. 
 Lovell, letting her know you are safe. " 
 
 "Oh yes," she said eagerly, "Oh please do. I
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 261 
 
 have some money, at least I shall have when I get 
 back." 
 
 "No doubt Mr. Alston will settle all that," I 
 remarked. 
 
 She was silent again, and presently said in 
 another voice, " Oh, I wish all this bartering about 
 me was over. I hate it. I hate it. Why should 
 I be dragged into it? I have nothing to do with 
 their Montana mines. " 
 
 The outbreak surprised me, and I will admit it 
 warmed me. " I gather it is all over now, " I said 
 soothingly. 
 
 " It should never have been, " she said passion- 
 ately and turned away. The child had a glimpse 
 of the woman, and stood on that dignity of 
 muliebrity. She was outraged in her feelings, and 
 she claimed her sex's right of resentment. I 
 could not be sorry that she took it that way, 
 though I had nothing to say. 
 
 The schooner arrived at Quiberon before seven, 
 and almost ere she dropped anchor a boat put out 
 from the port. 
 
 " I guess that's the boss, " remarked Butterfield, 
 as we leaned over the side. " Weeds don't grow 
 under him." He was right in his conjecture, for 
 so soon as the boat drew near enough, manned by 
 Breton hands, I recognised the sturdy form of 
 Rudgwick in the stern. He ascended to the deck 
 without a word, and nodded to Butterfield.
 
 262 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Got back, Nathaniel?" he said cavalierly. 
 ' ' Glad to see you Lieutenant. That you Fordyce ? 
 Well, how do we stand? " 
 
 " Wilson, I reckon I'm going to hitch up a team 
 with you," said Alston smiling, "We're too good 
 to pull different ways. " 
 
 "If you call time, Fordyce, I've no doubt we 
 can fix it," said the pirate imperturbably. He 
 took his cigar from his teeth, and nodded to the 
 captain. 
 
 "You're a pretty blamed fool, Jude, at your 
 time of life, to be shanghaied," he remarked 
 bluntly, and passed on without waiting an answer. 
 
 I saw Alston's blue eyes agleam, and his white 
 teeth showed under his moustache. "Never you 
 mind the old man, Jude, " he said. " He's raw. " 
 
 The skipper grunted but made no intelligible 
 answer, and Alston followed his adversary aft 
 where Butterfield was talking to him. 
 
 "Say, Fordyce, how's the young lady?" called 
 out Rudgwick. "I'd like to pay my respects to 
 her." 
 
 Alston went to the door of the state-room, and 
 opened it. "Sylvia," he called, "here's Mr. 
 Rudgwick would like to see you. He's all right. " 
 
 Rudgwick' s thick frame blocked the doorway 
 as Miss Lovell appeared. He took off his cap. 
 " I hope they've made you as comfortable, Miss 
 Lovell, as I did, " he said. " If they haven't
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 263 
 
 they'll smart. I'll put an extra screw on 
 Fordyce. The only thing I regret is that you 
 didn't get the pleasure trip in the Mediterranean 
 I promised you. " 
 
 The girl threw at him a sharp glance of scorn and 
 fury, which would have stabbed anyone of more 
 sensitive fibre than Rudgwick; and then she 
 passed out on deck and moved away without a 
 word of answer. Rudgwick replaced his cigar 
 grimly. 
 
 "Wilson, you know a lot, but you don't know 
 women," said Alston. "See, what's the matter 
 with our doing business now? " 
 
 "My son, I'm waiting for you," said the arch- 
 enemy, and the two passed into the cabin. 
 
 I came upon Miss Lovell leaning over the 
 schooner's side, her rich brown hair taking the 
 gold of the setting sun. She started up and her 
 eyes were bright with rage. 
 
 "How dare that man address me?" she asked. 
 "How dare he? I wish he were dead. He has 
 put me to every indignity. I wish I had never 
 seen " she broke off. 
 
 " It is his idea of business, I suppose. And now 
 he's won he is willing to be friendly. " 
 
 "Friendly," she laughed furiously. "And 
 they're talking business now, I suppose. That's 
 all Americans ever seem to care about. Thank 
 God " again she broke off.
 
 264 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "I'm going ashore to send a cable to Mrs. 
 Lovell, " I said. 
 
 " Thank you, " she said, throwing off her mood, 
 "and I shall be glad, Mr. Kerslake, if you'll make 
 inquiries about the way of getting back. I 
 suppose I can get to Cherbourg, and thence to 
 Southampton. " 
 
 "I will certainly inquire," I told her, "but 
 doubtless Mr. Alston will make all arrangements. " 
 
 She said nothing, and Alston at the moment 
 came up. His business with Rudgwick had not 
 taken him long, and he was in a state of mellowed 
 satisfaction. 
 
 "That concludes the act," he observed. 
 " Sylvia, old girl, you'll be landed in the Island 
 in no time. Kerslake, we stand your debtors. " 
 
 I explained what Miss Lovell wanted, and he 
 nodded. "I'll fix that for you directly we get 
 ashore, and also the trains. We can get a car 
 through, I believe. But we can't go to-night. 
 Rudgwick wants to give a little dinner in cele- 
 bration of the terms of peace and ' ' 
 
 But she broke out, " I will not. How can you 
 think of it? I will have nothing to do with that 
 infamous man." 
 
 "Now, my dear girl," said he, listening pa- 
 tiently to her, "I'm not going to say there isn't 
 reason in what you feel about Rudgwick. Be- 
 cause there is. It was right down rascally of him
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 265 
 
 to drag you into this. But look at it from my 
 point of view, Sylvia; and I think that's worth 
 considering. It's I too who ought to cut up 
 rough over this. I had a safe thing on, and he 
 came in and tried to spoil it. I fought and I lost. 
 I could have carried it on to the end, but that 
 would have been to sacrifice you, my dear, and 
 that wouldn't work. So I'm ceding a point to 
 Wilson for your sake and if I can afford to smile, 
 I reckon you can, Sylvia. Not but what I'll get 
 home on him some day. I'm not forgetting any 
 of this not I by a sight. " 
 
 She answered nothing, and I wondered if she 
 felt, as I did, that his plea was unworthy. It 
 seemed to me once more to smell of money, and 
 as if he was not conscious of the tremendous 
 disparity between commercial considerations and 
 pure sentiment. 
 
 ' ' What do you say, Kerslake ? " he appealed to me . 
 
 "I am content to let Miss Lovell judge for 
 herself, " I said quietly. 
 
 She turned suddenly to him. "Very well," she 
 said quietly. " It shall be as you wish. " 
 
 "That's right. And now, don't think I'm 
 going to let you be guest in the place where you've 
 been prisoner. No ; I've fixed up with Rudgwick 
 that he's to give us dinner in Quiberon. He can 
 fix it at his inn." The man himself emerged 
 slowly and strolled towards us.
 
 266 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " Eight sharp, Fordyce, " he called. " I've sent 
 Butterfield ashore with the word. " 
 
 "Butterfield?" said Alston, and then with 
 a smile, "Now, I wonder if he'll make us an 
 omelette." 
 
 What was there in the word and in the smile 
 that made me wonder? "You can't make an 
 omelette without breaking eggs" the old saw 
 came to my mind. There was something surely 
 ominous in Butterfield's omelettes. But this 
 was the last. 
 
 At eight we dined in the Petits Oiseaux, by which 
 time I found that Miss Lovell had been able to 
 effect a change in her toilette. She still wore the 
 Breton dress, but it had been refurbished and 
 decorated with the aid of a good deal of taste and 
 (I found later) of a little money. The dinner was 
 rather more of a success than that to which she, 
 Alston and I had sat down on the previous 
 evening, for here at least were two diners quite at 
 their ease and very friendly. Rudgwick went out 
 of his way to be very entertaining and very 
 attentive. Now that peace was signed he was an 
 ally, an ally at any rate of Alston, whose prowess 
 at large he celebrated. 
 
 "There's no man who would have put up a 
 fight such as you did, Fordyce," he remarked, 
 "and I say it before Miss Lovell. You had me 
 fairly cornered once, and I knew it, and I guess
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 267 
 
 you knew it? Well, it's over now, and you can 
 fix me up as best man, if you're not going to take 
 on Mr. Kerslake here. " 
 
 Miss Lo veil's embarrassment showed in her 
 face, and I felt myself glowing with unreasonable 
 indignation. Only Alston was imperturbed, 
 though he cast two quick glances at the girl and 
 myself. 
 
 " It's time you had a holiday, Wilson, " he said 
 easily. " You've been on the strain too long. I 
 guess we won't keep you in Europe any more. " 
 
 Rudgwick laughed. " I'm going for a holiday, 
 you bet," he said. "I'm going for that Mediter- 
 ranean trip which I wanted to give Miss Lovell. 
 Say," he interrupted himself suddenly, "will you 
 take the yacht, Fordyce, for your honeymoon? 
 I'll lay her up in Nice for you any day you name, 
 while I go along to New York. I've got to get 
 back to Chicago next month anyway. " 
 
 Again Miss Lovell's cheeks flew her signals of 
 distress and I broke in on this inopportune 
 conversation with some violence. 
 
 "The memories of your schooner, Sir," said I, 
 "are hardly likely to commend themselves to 
 Miss Lovell." 
 
 "No," he considered. "Never struck me that 
 way; though you're right. Anyway, the offer's 
 on, Fordyce, if you want it." He rang the bell. 
 "We can do with some wine, pop, I reckon.
 
 268 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Fordyce, empty that glass. You're not a tee- 
 totaller to-day." He had drunk a good deal of 
 champagne himself, and was far more talkative 
 than usual, while Alston made but a feint of 
 drinking. Miss Lovell took nothing, and sat 
 almost silent, resenting the situation, as I saw. 
 It was beyond doubt that, while she had impul- 
 sively given in to Alston's request, he had made 
 a mistake in pressing her. I met her eyes once 
 as Rudgwick related some commercial deal of his 
 experience, and they had raked his face with 
 contempt, a contempt which had scarcely died 
 out of them when our glances encountered. She 
 flushed and then paled. I would have given much 
 to have been able to release her from that dis- 
 agreeable situation. Alston, if I read him aright, 
 was a better judge of men than women. His 
 glances began to visit her face from time to time, 
 but he did not appear to be conscious of her 
 feelings, although he displayed a little anxiety 
 towards the end of the dinner. For the most 
 part, however, he exchanged jest and memory 
 with Rudgwick. 
 
 " Where's Butterfield? " he demanded presently. 
 
 " He's gone aboard, " said Rudgwick, " I've not 
 had him to valet my affairs for some little time, 
 and I've missed him. " 
 
 "Oh!" said Alston, staring hard at him, and 
 then : " Guess you find him useful. "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 269 
 
 "He's my mental valet," said he other. "He 
 goes all right. " 
 
 "Well," said Alston after a pause, "that 
 means we must go without that omelette, I 
 suppose." His even teeth showed handsomely, 
 and his blue eyes shone, as he glanced round the 
 table, as if inviting us to be amused. 
 
 Yet Alston had not been so blind to Miss 
 Lo veil's sentiments as I had imagined; which I 
 discovered through overhearing some words be- 
 tween them later. Rudgwick, who had got to the 
 stage of coffee and cognac, meditated drowsily 
 over an illustrated French journal, and I had gone 
 to discover my bedroom. As I came into the 
 dark passage through the low doorway I caught 
 the sound of Alston's voice from an adjoining 
 room in bad French. 
 
 "Mademoiselle desired to see her room, Ma- 
 dame. " There was a moment's silence, and then 
 he spoke again, this time in English. 
 
 " Sylvia girl, I'm afraid you didn't enjoy your 
 dinner." 
 
 " How could I ? " she asked in a low voice, which 
 nevertheless penetrated the thin boarding. 
 
 "Well, I'm real sorry. I'd a notion you'd 
 work into it. But see, I've done with Rudgwick 
 now. This squares us, and we start again. 
 This last week has been a busy week, and I don't 
 think it would have been more exciting in Wall
 
 270 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Street. But it's over now, and we're quits ; and 
 I've got you. " 
 
 His voice was caressing, and hers in reply was 
 agitated. " It has been good of you. I have cost 
 you too much. I haven't really thanked you. I 
 know you've done heroic things for me and made 
 great sacrifices. I have cost you too much. " 
 
 " I would purchase you at ten times the cost, 
 Sylvia," he said softly; and at that, for all my 
 heart was sore, and my blood pulsing, I knew I 
 was eavesdropping, and I passed on. 
 
 Rudgwick, cigar between his teeth, was con- 
 templating the ceiling in the room in which we had 
 dined. His expression was calm and peaceful, as 
 of a man who has attempted and achieved some- 
 thing, and thus earned his night's repose. He 
 took his cigar from his mouth and addressed me 
 when I entered. 
 
 "This has been an amusing little interlude, 
 Mr. Kerslake, and I'm indebted to it for your 
 acquaintance. If you ever come across the way, 
 you look up Wilson Rudgwick, and you'll have a 
 good time. I like a good fighter. Seems to me, " 
 he went on reflectively, "seems to me very much 
 as how Fordyce wouldn't have had a show but for 
 you. But I guess I'll let him down lightly, as he's 
 taken it well. " 
 
 Peace and good-will apparently reigned in the 
 theatre of this extraordinary struggle, and in the
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 271 
 
 hearts of these remarkable men. I could not 
 pretend to understand them, nor do I know that 
 I much wanted to. At least it was not of them 
 that I thought as I turned in that night. It was 
 twelve o'clock, and the stars were in the Bay. In 
 the room next to mine, separated from me by but 
 a match-board partition, slept Sylvia Lovell. The 
 game seemed to be drawing to its close, and it was 
 not I who was the winner. Alston had behaved 
 admirably in his defeat, and had made a good 
 impression on me, and (I could not avoid seeing) 
 on Miss Lovell also. However much she dis- 
 tasted his characteristic devotion to "business" 
 she must have been impressed by his hard 
 struggle for her and his generous and good- 
 tempered surrender. I felt that night that I had 
 lost my chances, and looking out on the lapping 
 water, was disconsolate. The dawn was not far 
 distant, and the breeze came off the sea cool and 
 refreshing. It did not refresh my spirits. My 
 mind went back to that dawn in the Island, when 
 I had been fired to exalted hopes, and I saw again 
 that springing tender plant in the garden by the 
 pergola. If seed had been sown there in my heart 
 it was destined to shoot, but to decay and die. 
 The sound of her breathing might almost have 
 reached me in the silence of the night, but she was 
 parted from me by destiny, by the implacable 
 turn of Fate.
 
 272 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 As I looked out in this mood I was aware of a 
 noise without. It caught my ear, held it, and 
 then passed. I turned again to the window, and 
 pulling the curtains crept into bed. 
 
 But I did not sleep for a long time. The stairs 
 creaked with the feet of guests no doubt retiring 
 to their rooms, or I reflected, it might be the 
 landlord and his wife seeking their chamber after 
 the labours of the day. I tossed under a single 
 sheet, for the night was warm, and at last got up 
 in my restlessness and gazed out again at the 
 prospect. The light was grey on the water, and 
 a little way from the shore a boat moved without 
 sound into the Bay. I thought I could recognise 
 the dim bulk of the schooner further out. I went 
 to bed once more, and at last I slept. 
 
 I was awakened, as it seemed to me, unduly 
 early by someone moving in the room, and I sat 
 up. 
 
 " So you are here, " said Rudgwick's voice more 
 than ordinarily brusque. "Damned if I didn't 
 think you were in it. But I guess you're left. " 
 
 " What is it ? " I asked stupidly. 
 
 His face, thin-lipped, black-avised, and grim 
 was turned on me with a sort of leer ; it was a pulp 
 of indeterminable expression. 
 
 "Where did Miss Lovell sleep last night?" he 
 asked harshly. I indicated the wall. 
 
 " The room on the right, " I said.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 273 
 
 He strode out, and I heard him turn a handle. 
 I leapt out of bed and began to dress hastily, not 
 knowing what had upset him, and in a tangle of 
 anxiety. Rudgwick came back. 
 
 "He's right!" he said. "He's cleared sure 
 enough, and the girl with him. Damn his eyes. " 
 
 I was staggered, but I recaptured my common- 
 sense. " No doubt it was settled between them, " 
 I said. " It may even be that they were tired of 
 you 1 ," 
 
 It was an obvious sarcasm, and his half grin 
 appeared. 
 
 " And of you? " he said interrogatively. " Well, 
 you'd better take both barrels. It's worse for me. 
 The schooner's gone. " 
 
 "What!" I said, and sprang to the window. 
 It was true. I turned a bewildered questioning 
 gaze on him. "You see," he said slowly, "For- 
 dyce Alston's a very clever man, and he's tried 
 euchre on me. But I don't think it will work. " 
 
 " But how ? " said I. " Do you mean he has run 
 off with the schooner? " 
 
 "And the girl," he added, and more abruptly: 
 " Look here, we've got to talk. Get your clothes 
 on and come along down. I'll order dejeuner, or 
 whatever they call their damned breakfast. 
 Smart's the word. " 
 
 With that he left me, a prey to the most 
 elusive emotions.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 THE A. K. U. 
 
 IT was not many minutes before I descended, 
 and found Rudgwick seated at the table writing. 
 A figure stood in the window in a dejected attitude 
 which I immediately recognised as Butterfield's. 
 
 " Cable that and that, " commanded Rudgwick, 
 tossing over a paper. " Let that New York one go 
 first. Get a move on you. Well, Lieutenant, 
 what can I do for you? " 
 
 " I can't get the hang of this or of you, " I said 
 bluntly. " Perhaps you'll admit me to the ex- 
 planation." 
 
 "Explanation!" he said, as Butterfield left the 
 room. "Well, I guess it's about time. You're 
 right. Fordyce has broken out of the ring, damn 
 him. We've got to get to explanations. ' ' 
 
 "You say he has gone off with your yacht. 
 What does that mean, and why should he do it, 
 when he had all he wanted ? " 
 
 " You think he had, " said this intriguer, rolling 
 a cigar between his fingers. "Well, he didn't 
 seem to think so . What do you make of tha t ? " 
 
 274
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 275 
 
 He threw me a piece of paper, which I picked tip 
 and read . It ran as follows : 
 
 "I'm sending this by a faithful hand, Wilson, 
 same hand as you did yours. Guess I came 
 up fresh in the last round. No doubt we'll 
 meet in New York . So long. ' ' 
 
 I read it aloud still in perplexity, but Rudgwick 's 
 face blazed, and his voice thundered. 
 
 " Last round ! By God, he broke the ropes, and 
 it ain't the last round. I'll chase him round the 
 ring, and make him beg for mercy; by God, I 
 will." 
 
 I stared. " Butterfield brought that to me half 
 an hour since," he said, returning to his normal 
 tone. "He was caught and tied aboard the 
 schooner the only faithful hound left 'among 
 the faithless faithful only he.' Isn't that how 
 she goes? Alston put him ashore. He's bought 
 Jude, by Heaven, Jude that I raised from Hell, 
 Jude that's sold me, and Jude that earns his own 
 damnable name. Thirty pieces of silver! They 
 were always on sale for that, every man of the 
 kidney. Well, I might have known Jude. By 
 gosh ! " he actually smiled. " Fordyce must have 
 paid heavy for that. " 
 
 His yacht had been stolen, as he had stolen the 
 bride of his adversary. That was all it came to 
 in my eyes, and I saw no undue dipping of the
 
 276 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 balance. The scales returned. I considered him 
 with some anxiety that was right on the surface 
 of more disturbing emotions. I wondered at the 
 outbreak of a grim silent man for inconsiderable 
 reasons. 
 
 "Well, you can easily get your yacht back," 
 I said without sympathy, "and no doubt your 
 skipper has given himself away. He is quite at 
 your mercy. " 
 
 Rudgwick contemplated me with a dispassion- 
 ate scrutiny, and apparently came to the same 
 conclusion. 
 
 " No ; I had my doubts about you, Lieutenant, " 
 said he, " but I was a fool. I might have guessed 
 at Alston better. He always used people, and the 
 less he paid the better it tickled him. There's 
 some blamed coffee somewhere. Sit down and 
 have some. We got to talk. " 
 
 I obeyed, though I could not in the least 
 understand at what he was driving. 
 
 " I begin to see where you come in, my friend, " 
 he pursued, puckering his forehead. " You're the 
 jeune premier of the piece, so to speak." He 
 laughed. " Well, I don't mind that. It's not a 
 part I hanker after, but I'm not saying it isn't 
 showy. However > the main thing is to clear the 
 track, and I suspicion where you stand. All 
 right. Now we'll go into this, my son. Fordyce 
 Alston has gone back on our agreement, and that
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 277 
 
 absolves me. I go back on mine. The contract's 
 off, for good and all. " 
 
 I stared. "You mean the Montana mine?" I 
 asked. 
 
 A grim smile distorted his face. "I take no 
 stock in mines. That was the bluff. Say, ever 
 hear of the A. K.U?" 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 " Well, there's more than you that's never heard 
 of it, but I guess it's well enough known on your 
 Stock Exchange," he said with some evident 
 contempt for my ignorance. "The A. K. 
 Union's a road with a future, and that future is to 
 be marked out by prudent management and a 
 head. It isn't a booby that can run the A. K. 
 U." 
 
 My head began to swim. Was he out of his 
 senses, or was I? What was all this ineffectual 
 nonsense about A. K. U? His voice went on 
 evenly : 
 
 " Then I take it you never heard of the president 
 either ? Never heard of President Lo veil ? ' ' 
 
 Suddenly my head cleared. What was that 
 name? My eyes and ears were attention. I 
 stared. 
 
 " J. P. Lovell, " he went on, " has been president 
 for the last ten years. He and I had some deals 
 together long since, way back when I was raw, and 
 he got the better of me. And I won't say we
 
 278 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 haven't worked together since, and made a tidy 
 pile. But the old man's petered out before his 
 time. I guess he's about 65 but he's at the end of 
 his tether. " He knocked the ash from his cigar. 
 "I don't say," he resumed meditatively, "that I 
 couldn't have worked the old man, if he'd been in 
 proper health and senses, but he isn't; and so I 
 had to go about it other ways. I operate in rail- 
 way stocks, Mr. Kerslake, more than's good for 
 me, perhaps. But I like it, and it's a recreation 
 from wheat in Chicago. And besides it works in. 
 There's the South Western road that comes in 
 mighty useful in that wheat business, and it would 
 come in more mighty useful if we could get it 
 improved. "That depends," he looked at me 
 squarely, "on the A. K. U. I guess you begin to 
 see now. " 
 
 I didn't; I was still in a maze; but what had 
 dawned upon me was that there was a profounder 
 mystery behind the abduction and the prolonged 
 hostilities of these two men than I had hitherto 
 imagined. 
 
 " Well, no, you haven't got hold of the real key 
 yet. I'll come along to that presently," said 
 Rudgwick. " Anyway, keep fixed on to this, that 
 I wanted a hold on the A. K. U. in the interests of 
 the South Western. See? I'm taking off the 
 mask, and appearing naked now. The time's 
 come for that. Well, the old man holds the
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 279 
 
 controlling interest in the A. K. U. and I dickered 
 with him, but he wouldn't. I don't say I couldn't 
 have pulled it off in time if I'd had time. But his 
 lease is out, his sands are at the last ebb, and the 
 plain fact is that he can't do business, compos 
 mentis. That's what's depressed the stock. 
 Know what the fall's been? No, you wouldn't. 
 It's packed away in financial corners which no 
 gentleman reads, only poor operators and such 
 hang-dogs. A. K. U's flat on the illness of 
 President J. P. Lovell. It's no concern to you, 
 but it means something to us. Anyway, J. P. 
 Lovell being incompetent for a deal, it had to be 
 done another way. And here's where we get 
 warm, and where your friend and ally, Fordyce 
 Alston, comes in. 
 
 " Old man Lovell came from England, same as 
 me, and like me, I guess he's been over there long 
 enough to know better. But he's gotten in his 
 dotage a belated affection for his English re- 
 lations, and he's made a will in favour of them. " 
 
 Rudgwick paused almost with a dramatic 
 instinct. I was aware that he was watching me 
 shrewdly. 
 
 " Go on, " I said quickly. 
 
 "At least his will is in favour of his niece, 
 Sylvia Rosamund Lovell, daughter of his brother, 
 Captain Richard Lovell. And he has no kith or 
 kin of his own in America. "
 
 280 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Again he paused, as if to let the meaning of his 
 words and their significance sink into my mind. 
 
 "Miss Lovell is heiress to President Lovell of 
 the A. K. U., " I summed up. 
 
 "Precisely, and she don't know it, nor her 
 mother, nor anyone but me and Fordyce 
 Alston. " 
 
 I sat upright. Alston ! 
 
 " Who is Alston ? " I demanded. 
 
 "Fordyce," said Rudgwick, examining the top 
 of his cigar, "is a plunger who has made two or 
 three fortunes and lost 'em. Fordyce is the 
 nephew of the late Mrs. J. P. Lovell. " 
 
 "Oh!" I exclaimed, and of a sudden the light 
 broke upon me fully. 
 
 " You see, Fordyce and I got to know about the 
 will pretty much the same time, only he bluffed me 
 off about knowing. Anyway he made a quicker 
 bee-line than I did, and that's how he got in first. " 
 
 I remembered the wind on the downs, and the 
 blown skirts of Sylvia Lovell with her bright and 
 beautiful eyes ; I recalled the meeting with the tall 
 stranger from America with his debonair and easy 
 manner ; and there came back to me the memory 
 of my surprise at that precipitate engagement, 
 engineered, as I saw now, by an unscrupulous 
 rascal with the tacit assistance of a foolish and 
 anxious mother. The mists that had enshrouded 
 this adventure up till now dispersed of a sudden,
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 281 
 
 and the whole affair emerged to me in the light of 
 a sordid struggle between these two men for the 
 possession of the heiress's millions. I recalled now 
 that scrap of paper I had found in the fireplace, 
 and the tenor of its contents. I was angry, I was 
 furious, and I showed it. 
 
 " My obvious duty, " I said, " is to cable to Mr. 
 J. P. Lovell putting him in possession of all the 
 facts." 
 
 " Too late, my son, " he responded indifferently, 
 "J. P's never going to put pen to paper again. 
 He's beyond it. Besides, what good would it do 
 with Fordyce married to the girl? I take it that's 
 what you don't want. " 
 
 He was right. I wanted it, if it were possible, 
 a thousand times less than ever. I wanted to be 
 up and about. I longed for action. But Rudg- 
 wick sat there coolly, " sizing me up, " as it were. 
 
 "I guess he's got a pull on you," he observed. 
 " He's been set up for hers by all this. That's me, 
 like a blamed fool, that I was to put faith in him. 
 But I didn't know he would go so far as this and, 
 damn him, I'll break him for it. " 
 
 His voice rose in a volume of anger as he made 
 this asseveration, but as rapidly subsided. 
 
 " Now, I'm going to make a move, Lieutenant. 
 In fact I've begun to move. I cabled to New 
 York, to be sure, some inquiries about the old man. 
 Well, if you're coming in, I'll take you along. I
 
 282 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 don't deny, you will be very handy to me, seeing 
 how you stand. " 
 
 "That is," said I, "you want me to rake your 
 chestnuts out of the fire. " 
 
 He laughed. " I ' ve not been in business twenty 
 years for nothing," he returned, "and I'm not 
 looking upon you as a born fool. I know how the 
 wind blows with you, and I'm reckoning on your 
 co-operation. But I tell you frankly, I don't 
 give a damn cent if I don't get it. I'm going to 
 crucify Fordyce anyway. See here, " he went on 
 as I made no reply, "I want you to see the 
 worst, and that's why I've told you all this. I'll 
 tell you some more, and you'll probably be hotter 
 against me than you are. That's all right. 
 This isn't a show game or a bluff; it's real war. 
 There's one or two things maybe are puzzling you. 
 Here's one. What was I after in the Island? 
 Well, I reckon I'm not a beauty, but I have my 
 chances, and I'm a bachelor. There was a sport 
 over your way by name of Wilkes who backed 
 himself to marry any woman if he'd half an hour's 
 start. That's me. But you see I didn't get that 
 start. Alston got it, and he'd won ere I toed the 
 mark. That left me at the post as you may say. 
 So I did the best I could. I took the stakes away. 
 Stands to reason Fordyce couldn't marry the girl 
 if she wasn't there, and by God I'd have held her 
 till he gave in, and did. "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 283 
 
 He frowned. "Ah, you came to terms," said 
 I dryly. 
 
 " That's so. He gave in. Smart man, Fordyce. 
 Conceded like a lamb. I ought to have smelt a 
 rat, but I didn't. I reckon I was too complacent. 
 He offered me the A. K. U. voting block, and an 
 option at prices which were pretty right. Prac- 
 tically I made my own terms. And now, mud's 
 my name, eh?" 
 
 " But you have the agreement, " I said. 
 
 ''Mud's my name," he repeated sardonically. 
 "Fordyce is away with the schooner and my 
 private bureau including the agreement. Simple, 
 isn't it? I'm left on the shore. Now, what say? 
 Are vou coming in ? " 
 
 I laughed. " I am to assist one scoundrel with 
 my eyes open after having been made a tool of by 
 another, " I said bitterly. 
 
 "Well, you can put it that way, if you're 
 scrupulous," he assented without taking offence. 
 "Only you're playing with a straight man this 
 time. You can look before you leap, only we've 
 got to leap soon. I'm putting all in your hands. 
 I size you up, Lieutenant. I want to get back on 
 the man who's broken the ropes. I don't say 
 anything about the A. K. U. But maybe when 
 it comes to be a bit later we can make a deal over 
 that. Anyway, I'm going to break Fordyce, if 
 I lose over it. "
 
 284 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 For a moment I sat considering, and then I 
 knew that I could not refuse. This man was 
 offering me his assistance to keep Sylvia Lovell 
 from marriage with an unscrupulous adventurer. 
 
 "I agree," I said. "But I will make no 
 conditions, even if I were in the position to do so. " 
 
 " That's all right, " he nodded. " I reckon the 
 conditions will make themselves as we go along. " 
 
 Here Butterfield entered, restless and perturbed, 
 but watchful of his master. 
 
 "Get those off?" inquired the latter. "Well, 
 you've got to hustle, Nathaniel. I'm not going to 
 be beat, and Mr. Kerslake stands in to prevent it. " 
 He grinned at us. " Get a move on you. What 
 time's that train ? " Butterfield told him. " Just 
 as we are we've got to start, Mr. Kerslake. " 
 
 "Where will you go?" I asked, curious to learn 
 his plans. 
 
 "I guess we'll try London for a change," he 
 observed. 
 
 " London!" I echoed. " But surely Alston will 
 not venture to England in the circumstances. " 
 
 "My dear sir," said he dryly, "when I wanted 
 to get outside the law I came away here. If I'd 
 wanted to stay inside the law I would have been 
 in England. I guess Alston wants the inside of 
 the law now. " 
 
 " But he has stolen your yacht, " I said. 
 
 Rudgwick shook his head. " My son, we're not
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 285 
 
 arguing before a judge now. We're talking sense. 
 How do you suppose I'm going to see this thing 
 placarded over Europe, and looking at me from 
 scare-heads in New York? No; this affair's 
 going to be pulled off quite privately, as furtively 
 as you like, by your leave. I abduct and go 
 abroad; Alston wants to marry, so he goes to 
 civilisation. I've got a certain respect for the old 
 laws left myself. I've got a limit somewhere 
 inside my waistcoat. " 
 
 "Very well," I said. "You know your kind 
 best. I'll act under you for the present. But the 
 time may come when I take first hand. I'm 
 warning you." 
 
 He glanced at me critically. " I daresay that'll 
 suit me," he said. "Anyway we'll start it at 
 that." 
 
 It was thus decided forthright that we should go 
 to London to begin our operations in revenge on 
 his part, in remedy on mine. Butterfield faith- 
 fully followed "the boss," and proved astonish- 
 ingly helpful. He was always at hand with some 
 suggestion, or anticipating some need. If ever 
 there was a better handy man I have never seen 
 him. As was his custom he talked a good deal, 
 which was in contrast with his "boss." I think 
 he had despaired at the first shock of the news, and 
 perhaps he regarded himself as in some degree 
 responsible for the disaster. He had not the
 
 286 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 sturdy vitality of more confident people, and was 
 easily affected. He responded to reverses like a 
 thermometer, but to success also; and with the 
 solid assurance of Rudgwick before him he took 
 heart and rose buoyantly to the occasion. 
 
 "I'll bet the boss pulls this off, " he told me as 
 we crossed from St. Malo. "If he grits his teeth 
 he's not going to be under dog; and Alston's 
 riled him, by gum, riled him pretty badly. It was 
 a mean trick of Alston's to play on us, right down 
 shabby. But I never took much stock in him. 
 Not but what he's clever enough. " 
 
 I had almost grown accustomed to this re- 
 markable way of looking at things, and sometimes 
 I saw its amusing side. They were narrow, these 
 singular people, narrow by the very apparent 
 breadth and tolerance of their views. They saw 
 life in a circumscribed vista, one thing and no 
 more, and they set their actions by it. They 
 played a game with certain rules, and an infraction 
 of these rules was penalised; but provided the 
 protagonists kept the terms of the conflict, all that 
 ensued was right and proper. It was war; and 
 after all it had its counterpart on our own Stock 
 Exchange. It was only that in America it was 
 more obvious, and more frankly acknowledged. 
 Even piracy may be conditioned into a systematic 
 game if you are prepared to pay the penalties 
 which civilisation will necessarily exact.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 287 
 
 Alston and Rudgwick were not pirates, but in 
 a sense they were privateers. They were in 
 commission against one another, and they re- 
 spected the rules. At least they had done so, until 
 this treacherous departure of Alston. And for 
 the time being I was sailing under the privateer's 
 flag. 
 
 I had discharged the yawl at Quiberon, for 
 whatever might befall we had no likelihood of 
 requiring that impotent boat. Indeed at first 
 sight it seemed that we had abandoned the sea 
 altogether. Rudgwick, I concluded, was probably 
 right in his conjecture that Alston would come to 
 England to be married, but the task was where to 
 find him? It was formidable, but was attacked 
 by the two Americans with characteristic vigour 
 and haste. Money was no object, in the familiar 
 phrase. Telegrams were dispatched in dozens to 
 every port in England, and agents were provided 
 everywhere. Rudgwick, within four and twenty 
 hours of his arrival in London, had all the re- 
 sources of civilisation at his back. He was in a 
 black mood all that first day, and would hardly 
 throw me a word. He ate very little, and drank 
 nothing, but sat and wrote, and thought and 
 smoked big cigars hour after hour, the grim lines 
 grimmer than ever on his saturnine face. Butter- 
 field was comparable only to Mercury, that god of 
 quick service. He came and went, he talked,
 
 288 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 when he got the opportunity, and he remained as 
 cheerful as his " boss " was sombre. 
 
 In the meantime, if you please, we stayed at the 
 Carlton, as if we were enjoying ourselves. For 
 myself I will admit that I was far from doing that. 
 I had no part to play at this juncture ; I was only 
 under orders, to await orders; and I got none. 
 Probably Rudgwick considered me of no use to 
 him. I do not know. All I do know is that I 
 grew very restive and impatient at the inaction, 
 and that I dared not think of the event which I 
 was aware even at that moment might have 
 already closed my adventure and rendered my 
 mission vain. 
 
 On the second day Butterfield vanished, and 
 Rudgwick relaxed. He drank a small bottle of 
 champagne at lunch, and took interest in the 
 people at the tables. 
 
 "This is pretty fair," he remarked critically. 
 " But it ain't up to Delmonico's. " Being English- 
 born, as he had already explained, he allowed 
 himself the privileges of a candid friend. "And 
 I guess it's our people who mostly make this 
 smart. There's a pretty girl for you, Kerslake. 
 But I suppose there's only one for you, and she's 
 not hereabouts. Well," he turned a whimsical 
 gaze on me. "It's about time we got tracks of 
 her." 
 
 It seemed almost as if it had been manipulated
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 289 
 
 with a dramatic intent, but I believe it was mere 
 coincidence. Coincidence, as Rudgwick told me 
 on our journey that night, had usually favoured 
 him. The gods fight with the heavy battalions. 
 At any rate the messenger arrived opportunely, 
 almost to the word, and Rudgwick took the 
 brown envelope deliberately, opened it and read 
 the telegram. 
 
 "We pick up the trail at St. Ives," he re- 
 marked, his accent emerging thick and heavy. 
 He tossed the paper to me, and I read eagerly. 
 
 "Schooner reported off Sennen, working north. 
 Come St. Ives, BUTTERFIELD. " 
 
 Energy and money had once more triumphed, 
 but how far would that triumph extend? There 
 was no answer to that interesting question yet.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 
 
 IT was in the train that Rudgwick aired his 
 views on coincidence. "Providence," he put it, 
 " serves with the eagles, and you'll find its banners 
 along with the standards of the strong. Other- 
 wise there wouldn't be any top-dog at all, and I 
 reckon the world's built on other people's adver- 
 sities and necessities. What do you and I live on ? 
 Life. We're predatory; and what do the sheep 
 and the bullock live on? Life again. We're 
 predatory all round. Dog eats dog, and the 
 battle's to might not right, though it's not always 
 to the strong. Curious, when you come to tick 
 it up, how prejudiced morality is. You can do 
 wholesale what you can't do retail. I reckon 
 there's stupidity in it and custom. Now, they'll 
 let me quite comfortably, if I wanted to, go on 
 selling low-flash oil here and killing and maim- 
 ing a lot, but they wouldn't get over this kid- 
 napping business. I can poison a score of men with 
 bad canned food and forty-rod whiskey, and none 
 will hiss at me when I walk to church on Sundays, 
 but let me draw on an enemy openly at twenty 
 
 3QO
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 291 
 
 paces, and they put a rope round my neck. A 
 damned odd world! Providence," he concluded 
 reflectively, as he lay back in his corner, "works 
 a lot of coincidences. It's a coincidence you're 
 here. What the devil have we to do with each 
 other?" 
 
 It was not civil, but it was so true that I over- 
 looked the brusqueness of it. What had we in 
 common, we who had one end in common? 
 
 Rudgwick slept and I pondered, and won- 
 dered, and forecast and hoped and thrilled 
 all through the night. 
 
 Arrived at St. Ives with the sun well in heaven 
 we were met by a messenger from Butterfield, who 
 had gone up the coast, and left word for us to 
 that effect. The schooner had passed in the offing 
 without making the little harbour as he had 
 thought possible ; and so he had gone on to Perran- 
 porth. 
 
 We reached Perranporth by carriage an hour 
 or two later and made at once for the little inn 
 that stands on the foreshore. The blue waters of 
 the Atlantic broke upon the segment of beach with 
 a sonorous tumult. It was a bright morning and 
 the breath of June was in the air. At the inn we 
 found Butterfield who welcomed his "boss" with 
 an account of his adventures. Reports from Fal- 
 mouth had been the inspiration of his journey to 
 the west and he had arrived to discover the
 
 292 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Mermaid signalled off Land's End. Thence he 
 traced her to St. Ives. 
 
 "She's northering, " said Butterfield, pointing 
 seaward, " but she ain't in a hurry any." 
 
 We looked through the windows of the inn and 
 lo, there was a black-hulled schooner standing 
 lazily out. 
 
 "I reckon Alston's got a riddle to solve," 
 chuckled the factotum. 
 
 "How so?" asked Rudgwick. 
 
 " Well, he fixed it up to land at St. Ives, and he 
 pretty near did so, only I put up a danger signal." 
 
 "Eh?" said Rudgwick sharply. 
 
 " Why yes, boss, " said the other explanatorily 
 but with independence of tone. "You see, he 
 calculated to land there, and conclude the busi- 
 ness. I couldn't interfere if he did, and so I 
 gave him a fright." Rudgwick was listening 
 intently. "He came ashore in a boat, and the 
 first face he saw there was mine. Oh Alston's a 
 polite man, and he's a clever one. He never 
 turned a hair, though I had thrust myself through 
 the fishermen and stood full in his optics. " 
 
 " 'Well, isn't it real nice meeting old friends, 
 Butterfield, ' says he, as cool as you like, and he 
 shows his teeth pleasantly. By gosh, I wouldn't 
 like them just fastened in me. ' Friend Nathan- 
 iel, ' said he, ' is this France or England, and what 
 the hell's the language for damn?' Oh, he's
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 293 
 
 smart. He stepped ashore and took me up to the 
 hotel, and didn't ask any questions. He took 
 it all for granted. ' Where the jackal is,' he said, 
 ' there ought to be big game. I wish I'd brought 
 my rifle. ' I gave him no answer but a laugh, 
 and he laughed. 'Tell Wilson,' says he, 'that 
 he's a gem in his way, but I'm going to get the 
 curtain down on me in a proper fashion. So 
 long,' says he, and off he went, back to the 
 schooner." 
 
 Rudgwick was pondering; it was I who spoke. 
 
 " Butterfield was right. The man has a special 
 licence and could be married out of hand. He 
 would have been had Butterfield not shown 
 himself." 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," agreed Rudgwick, 
 "He was afraid of pushing things too far." 
 
 "I guess he didn't know you weren't here," 
 remarked his man. 
 
 "And yet what use could we be against his 
 designs?" I asked despondently. "You a man 
 discredited by your previous conduct, and I a 
 a stranger?" 
 
 "You might come in handy, seeing your pre- 
 vious record of chivalrous conduct," said Rudg- 
 wick in the sneer which was merely the state- 
 ment of facts, "and I don't go into a fight without 
 arms. See here." He pulled some papers from 
 his jacket. "Did you think I was having a nice
 
 294 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 little holiday in London? No, my son, here's 
 documentary evidence cabled from America, first 
 regarding Lovell's will, second as to the affairs 
 of Mr. H. Fordyce Alston, and third well, 
 some other little matters which we needn't go 
 into. Anyway, they'd wreck Fordyce, wreck 
 him in a brace of shakes with any decent- 
 minded girl. Reckon he's broke through the 
 ropes and I'm going to wipe the floor with him. 
 I'll knock him out, anyway." 
 
 He folded the papers carefully and replaced 
 them in his pocket. "Say, Butterfield," he said 
 sharply, "where's she going? You, Lieutenant, 
 this is your shop. Where's she bound for?" 
 He stared out of the window at the distant 
 schooner which was making poor way in a light 
 breeze. 
 
 "She might be going anywhere from here to 
 John O' Groats," I answered. 
 
 "That so? What about a Scotch marriage?" 
 he asked. 
 
 I shook my head. "Residence for a certain 
 number of days is now exacted, and besides he 
 holds a special licence which runs in England only." , 
 
 "Then he won't go to Scotland, and we've 
 circumscribed him between here and the 
 Cheviots," said Rudgwick briskly. "That's to 
 the good. We must track 'em along, boys." 
 
 There was no other course, and we started
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 295 
 
 shortly after lunch along the coast towards 
 New Quay. The schooner made way very slowly, 
 but all fear that we should lose her was dissipa- 
 ted by the fact that she was ill-provisioned. 
 
 "I provisioned her for a month or more," said 
 Rudgwick, "and I reckon she's been five weeks 
 out. So, Master Alston's got to keep in touch 
 with shore. There's no ocean sailing for him." 
 
 In the circumstances there was no immediate 
 cause for anxiety, and we took our way leisurely 
 up the coast towards Devon. It was not the day 
 that mattered ; it was the night, and we all knew 
 it. Rudgwick was inclined to be irritably sar- 
 castic towards dusk, and when we dined at 
 Padstow, he was frankly sour and malignant. 
 
 "How's the wind?" he demanded. "Guess she 
 can double in this, can't she, Kerslake? Damn 
 Fordyce ; I wish I had his head in a vice. This 
 suits him. This just suits his book. I shouldn't 
 wonder if he had his spy-glass on us and was 
 chuckling." 
 
 "It's practically a blockade he's running," I 
 said, "and night's his best time." 
 
 "Damnation! don't I know that?" he snapped. 
 "Tell me something else. Here, what's the use 
 of you naval people if you don't know enough to 
 meet an emergency? I'll run the whole show 
 myself." 
 
 His impatient ill-temper served no purpose,
 
 296 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 unless it were to bring out a latent side of his 
 strange temperament. He bullied, he was in 
 effect, a slave-driver, if things went wrong; but 
 all the time his brains were seethingly active, and 
 he cast about for expedients. At one time he 
 thought of chartering the whole coast, but I 
 pointed out the impossibility of such a scheme. 
 
 "This is not America," I told him, ["this is 
 Cornwall, and the fishermen have their rigid 
 codes; they obey the law." 
 
 "Well," said he, with a grin, and a revulsion 
 characteristic of him, "I reckon I'm better in 
 Wall Street. The game's yours now. That's 
 what you're for. I didn't take you in out of 
 love. It's your turn." 
 
 "You took me in," I replied coolly, "as a useful 
 counter, and I'm content to play that part so 
 long as it fits in with my scheme. I warned you of 
 that." He grunted. "And, now, if you please, 
 I'll take command." 
 
 "Right, my son," he said, lighting his cigar, 
 "Give me Fordyce's head on a charger, and you 
 can name your price." 
 
 "It shall not be asked of you," I said. "Sim- 
 plicity is the soul of every great invention. We 
 want to prevent Alston from landing, or, if he 
 lands, keep on his track. We can watch him in 
 the daylight, but in an hour's time he will be 
 able to elude us, unless "
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 297 
 
 "Go on," he said shortly. 
 
 "Unless we get near enough to watch him still." 
 
 He did not speak immediately and then, 
 "Scott!" he exclaimed, "what a blamed fool you 
 were not to think of that before! And as for 
 you, Nathaniel Butterfield, if you were a nigger 
 I'd tan the skin off you. Say, get away and 
 secure a boat." 
 
 He spoke in great good-humor, for his quick 
 mind had at once grasped the idea; and we had 
 engaged a sailing boat ere half an hour was out. 
 
 The long ripple of the sea took us out in the 
 dusk in the company of a stolid boatman who, 
 from the ignorance of my comrades, was necessary 
 to me in working the craft. The Mermaid stood 
 some three miles out heading nor-nor-west, and 
 we could not hope to overtake her if Alston 
 intended to go farther. But if he did it would 
 serve our purpose equally well, for it would mean 
 that he had no design to land at Padstow or Bude 
 that night. Yet I felt certain he would make 
 the attempt. Indeed, I seemed to see ourselves in 
 the role of Tantalus. He knew we were on the 
 look-out for him, and he had probably kept in 
 sight of land out of sheer wantonness. He 
 could keep us on edge all day, and then 
 slip in at night. The idea from what I knew of 
 him would appeal to his pleasant sense of humor. 
 I laid the boat's nose on her course and we moved
 
 298 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 out on a growing breeze until we must have been 
 two miles off shore, and were then in full darkness. 
 The night was cloudy, and was only relieved by 
 dotted lights in the distance that witnessed to 
 the passage of ships or to some miscellany of 
 houses on the coast. 
 
 One of the former brightened visibly as time 
 went on, and presently we were able to make out 
 a looming shape that noiselessly emerged from the 
 greater darkness that invested the sea. We 
 carried no light ourselves, greatly to the pertur- 
 bation of our man, nor can I defend the omission 
 save on the ground that it was absolutely neces- 
 sary to our purpose. 
 
 As the shape went by I put my hand on Rudg- 
 wick's arm. 
 
 "It's the schooner!" I whispered. 
 
 "Is it?" he ejaculated, staring into the night, 
 "Put her about, man." 
 
 "No; no; not yet," said I. "Leave it to me." 
 
 We ran a little longer on the tack and then came 
 round. The light in the rigging of the Mermaid 
 made a little dancing line of radiance in the water, 
 and that we followed. 
 
 "She's not going for Padstow," I said, "or 
 she would be on the other board." 
 
 "I don't care where she goes as long as we get 
 there," remarked Rudgwick grimly. 
 
 We could not keep her pace and fell to the rear,
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 299 
 
 which made him mightily impatient, but I was 
 not alarmed myself, for I knew I could stick to 
 her and trace her, now I had once got her. There 
 were not too many ports on that coast for a sailing 
 vessel to make, and I should be able to give a good 
 guess directly at her destination. 
 
 Presently the light obviously increased, and I 
 wondered if she had come round, but in ten min- 
 utes it was clear what had happened. She was 
 hanging in stays while a boat was put off. We 
 had now the secret in our possession. Alston 
 was to land by boat from the yacht in the dead of 
 night, and we could not but come to the conclu- 
 sion that he would not be alone. Sylvia Lovell 
 would go with him! 
 
 I put the tiller over and we went about into 
 the darkness, in which that eye of light still 
 opened. I guessed we were within half a mile of 
 the shore, and the breeze had stiffened so that 
 we could soon cover that distance in the wake of 
 the fugitive. The little noises of the quiet sea 
 did not prevail to drown the sound of voices 
 which reached us, and presently I was aware that 
 the schooner was moving. She had launched 
 her boat. 
 
 I, therefore, came over and took a board in the 
 direction in which I conceived Alston was lying. 
 So far as we could determine, his boat also carried 
 no lights, but I did not mind that, for I could not
 
 300 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 miss him now. He had given himself into my 
 hands. I knew nothing of finance, of operations, 
 or of Stock Exchange trickery ; but if I knew any- 
 thing I knew the sea, and I no more considered a 
 leeshore in the dark with a freshening sou'wester 
 than I would a game of football. There were risks 
 but I knew where they lay, and I was confident 
 of my ability to avoid them. Besides, that coast 
 was familiar to me from several visits. 
 
 For some time we ripped through a swelling sea 
 without event, and without news of our neighbours ; 
 and Butterfield began to display signs of uneasi- 
 ness. He whispered to me, demanded if I was 
 sure we were on the right course, and fidgetted 
 in his seat. Rudgwick, on the contrary, was 
 silent, and had recovered all his native calm. 
 Once he spoke, and once only, which was to re- 
 buke his subordinate curtly. 
 
 "Leave him alone, man. Can't you see he's 
 at home? Buy the best man and trust him. 
 That's the game ; you're as restless as a cat. Cur] 
 up and go to sleep, and purr. We've got no use 
 for you just now." 
 
 That settled Butterfield, if I may put it in that 
 way, and I justified his master's faith very shortly 
 afterwards by almost running down a boat. 
 
 "Steady!" sang out a voice. "Where the blazes 
 is your light?" 
 
 "Where the blazes is yours ?" shouted Rudgwick
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 301 
 
 with a chuckle. "Now, we lay on to them, Kerslake. 
 That's Jude's bellow. I'd know it anywhere." 
 
 Silence had fallen after that exchange, but the 
 boat was visible, dimly a shadow falling and rising 
 on the sea. It seemed to hesitate, to have come 
 to a pause ; and then I heard a voice, which it was 
 impossible to doubt, of pleasant quality even in its 
 loudness. 
 
 "Rudgwick, that you?" 
 
 "I guess that curtain's near, Fordyce," shouted 
 back Rudgwick. There was a pause again, and 
 then the voice again. 
 
 "Kerslake there?" 
 
 "Guessed it in once," cried Rudgwick. 
 
 "Good. That's all I want to know," said 
 Alston, and spoke in a lower voice. Imme- 
 diately the blot that was his boat vanished; the 
 shadow passed off the face of the sea. I hauled 
 in the sheet to get nearer to the wind, and we 
 ambled gently after her. 
 
 "Come to think of it," observed Rudgwick, 
 "why did Fordyce want to know? I guess he 
 guessed." 
 
 It was almost certain that he had done, yet he 
 had advertised his knowledge to the night. Well, 
 he had some reason which was not merely humour- 
 ous; of that I was positive. Rudgwick was in 
 high spirits. 
 
 "He's tantalised us a bit too much. He's run
 
 302 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 it too fine," he said. "There's no margin, and 
 that's a fact." 
 
 It seemed so, and yet nothing is beyond the 
 possibility of accident and an accident came to 
 his assistance. There was light enough to go by 
 now from a breach in the clouds through which 
 stars were shining, and we could see distinctly 
 the schooner's boat, heavily rigged, making for 
 the beach. The roar of the sea pounding on the 
 sand was uppermost in the ears. We were but a 
 hundred yards away, and our fugitive was gliding 
 into the encompassing darkness halfway betwixt 
 us and the shore. At that juncture one would 
 have been sure of hitting them blindfold, and we 
 were faster than they. I had given the tiller to 
 our boatman with precise instructions, and had 
 gone forward to the bows. We were near upon 
 them in a stride, and then Jude (if it were he) 
 coolly put his craft broadside to the rollers, and 
 rode off to the north, rocking and floundering 
 in the water. 
 
 It was a rash stratagem, but it succeeded so 
 far as we were concerned. I would have followed 
 him, but our cautious fisherman kept her nose 
 straight. The result was that we grounded 
 heavily at least thirty yards from them. 
 
 I was out on the sands in a moment, with the 
 agile Butterfield at my heels, and we ran for the 
 enemy.
 
 "I was out on the sands in a moment, with the agile Butterfield at 
 my heels"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 303 
 
 "Miss Lovell!" I shouted. 
 
 "Damn it, you've missed them!" thundered 
 Rudgwick. 
 
 The group of dim figures scattered, and when we 
 reached the spot I could determine only the short 
 sturdy form of the schooner's captain. The 
 clamour of the sea was in my ears, and I could hear 
 nothing else. Yet I carried in my mind a vague 
 recollection of something flying along the sands. 
 .... I dashed off for the cliffs which reared them- 
 selves a hundred yards away. 
 
 The bare scarp of the cliff was precipitous and 
 broken, and though I tried half a dozen places I 
 could find no means of scaling them. Butterfield 
 had followed me, and we consulted hurriedly. 
 
 "No girl could climb this," said he. "They 
 must have gone one way or the other along the 
 beach." 
 
 "You go south, and I'll take the north," I 
 answered. "They mustn't get away, or we're 
 done." 
 
 We parted at that without more words, and I 
 hastily followed the line of the cliffs northwards, 
 ever keeping an eye to the possibility of ascent. 
 What first gave me pause was a gaping cavern in 
 the rocks which yawned blackly at me. Was it 
 possible that the fugitives had concealed them- 
 selves in this ? I was still wondering when a slight 
 noise caught my ear, and I thought an elusive
 
 304 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 figure flitted into the twilight of the beach. I 
 darted after it, and, gaming a little, descried it 
 definitely. It turned a corner of road and vanish- 
 ed. I followed, and found the cliff here leaning 
 landwards at an angle; also I heard noises above 
 me. I set to work at once to climb. 
 
 It was hard work, groping in the darkness for 
 edges of rock, and surrounding the interposing 
 obstacles, but in a quarter of an hour I had gained 
 the top, and heard the sound of voices in the 
 distance. There was then more than one person, 
 and I thought I knew who the other was. 
 She fled from Rudgwick, and it dawned upon me, 
 suddenly in the thrill of my pursuit from me! 
 That was the explanation of Alston's questions; 
 that was his abominable cunning. Sylvia had 
 every reason to dread re-capture by Rudgwick, 
 the man who had abducted her so ruthlessly; 
 and she found me now in association with him. 
 She had no key to the secret, and it must have 
 appeared to her that I had inexplicably joined her 
 arch-enemy. She fled from me. 
 
 The thought infuriated me with Alston, and I 
 redoubled my efforts to overtake them. The way 
 lay across a series of grassy dunes, and was now 
 plunged again in night. I moved swiftly, but 
 uncertainly, stopping from time to time to listen. 
 The dull roar of the water came to me now out of the 
 distance from under the beetling cliffs, and some-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 305 
 
 times I thought I heard a voice or the sound of 
 feet. Once or twice it seemed to me that I caught 
 sight of a figure, but it might have been the tus- 
 sock-grass against the lighter sky. All I knew 
 was that I blundered on in what I conjectured 
 to be the track of the American, too full of the 
 frenzy of the chase to turn back or despair. 
 
 It was after about an hour of wandering 
 that I emerged upon a road, and ran into a stone 
 fence. A point of light arrested my attention, and 
 I groped my way towards it. It came, as I made 
 out, from a cottage by the roadside, and I suc- 
 ceeded in stumbling to the doorway and knocked. 
 The time must have been midnight or later, but 
 the light showed that some one was about. I 
 had by this time given Alston up, and the only 
 thing left me was to get back to the shore and the 
 boat. 
 
 The door was pulled ajar, and a candle flared 
 on my face. 
 
 "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" asked 
 a familiar voice. 
 
 It was Alston.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 THE COMING OF THE TIDE 
 
 HE held the candle over his head, and I saw 
 behind him a rough cottager who stared at me 
 stupidly. 
 
 "Come in, Kerslake, " went on Alston, "Come 
 in. Our friend will doubtless make two com- 
 fortable as easily as one. I guess I'm thirsty 
 after that run. So are you, I bet. I've been 
 enquiring into the commissariat, and find there's 
 home-brewed beer anyway if not cyder. How's 
 that?" 
 
 I entered almost mechanically, amazed at this 
 apparition, and he closed the door. 
 
 "Say, this is real good of you," he said, ad- 
 dressing the labourer, "to take in two poor 
 homeless strangers. And my friend and I feel 
 very grateful." He put a piece of silver on the 
 table. " But there's no need to keep you up. I 
 reckon we can get along quite easy, if you'll point 
 out the cyder. We'll just have a chat and a 
 snooze in our chairs. This, Kerslake, is wayside 
 hospitality in the old country. " 
 
 In some wonder and with some reluctance our 
 306
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 307 
 
 host took himself off to his chamber, and Alston, 
 after pouring out a glass of cyder for each of us, 
 sat down on the other side of the table from me. 
 His eyes twinkled at me, as if he enjoyed a joke 
 hugely. 
 
 " Where is Miss Lovell? " I demanded. 
 
 His eyes opened wider. "Do you suppose 
 she'd be here?" he asked in surprise, "Do you 
 reckon I'm going to run about the country with a 
 delicate young girl at this time of night? Where 
 do you suppose she is ? " 
 
 " She landed with you, " I declared. 
 
 " That so ? " he said coolly. "' Well, you ought to 
 know best anyway. I was under the impression 
 that Miss Lovell was comfortably aboard the 
 Mermaid, the yacht so kindly placed at my 
 disposal by my old friend, Wilson Rudgwick. " 
 
 I gazed at him. His face was a mask, but I had 
 more than once seen passion bubble up in it, as I 
 was destined to do yet again ere we were finished. 
 Now that he put it in that way, bluntly, I had no 
 proof, I had no evidence whatever, that Sylvia 
 Lovell had come ashore. He saw that he had 
 dumfounded me, and a smile played about his 
 eyes. 
 
 " I don't disguise the fact that you and I are at 
 loggerheads, Kerslake, " he said. "You gave me to 
 understand that some time ago. That's all right. 
 I'm not blaming you any; and I reckoned when
 
 308 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I took French leave that you and Wilson would 
 throw in your lots together. But all the same I 
 don't see why we shouldn't come to an agree- 
 ment. " 
 
 "Your idea of life is one of barter," I said 
 contemptuously. 
 
 "Compromise," he corrected; "life is all 
 compromise, and there's no such thing as yea or 
 nay, or black or white. There's mostly 'probab- 
 lies' and greys. It don't do to criticise life too 
 roughly. You can't put it under the microscope 
 en bloc. Say, you're in this for sentiment; well 
 so am I." 
 
 My disbelief appeared in my derisive smile. 
 " You forget that I know the whole history of the 
 affair from Rudgwick, " I said. 
 
 " I hopped on to that. I know Wilson. He's 
 mad as an old bear, isn't he? It won't do him 
 any harm much. He's got to freeze me out yet, 
 and he hasn't begun. " 
 
 "You'll find it pretty difficult," I suggested. 
 " You're marked. " 
 
 He laughed, "Oh, I know Wilson. Got the 
 whole apparatus at work, hasn't he? Spies in 
 every port. He's a rare hand with the mechanism 
 but he don't begin to use the spirit of the thing. 
 Say, Kerslake, what are you going to do ? " 
 
 "I'm going to prevent this marriage," I said 
 firmly.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 309 
 
 He mused. "You can do that for a time, " he 
 said, "but you won't pull it off altogether. 
 Where's Wilson? and where's my friend Butter- 
 field ? Not waiting outside, eh ?'' 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders. He smiled. "Well, 
 I'm going to have a little rest in this chair. You 
 can please yourself. I don't mind your company. 
 In fact I'll take it friendly if you'll come up with 
 me to London in the morning. " 
 
 " London!" I ejaculated, taken by surprise. 
 
 "London it is. I'm on business, and it's not 
 unconnected with this little game, but I don't 
 mind your company. It will while away the 
 journey." 
 
 What did this mean? Was his offer genuine, 
 and did he really desire me to leave the place ? It 
 sounded so offhand, for it would be awkward for 
 him to travel with one professing open hostility 
 and thus able to spy upon his actions. Then he 
 must have a good reason for wishing me away 
 from the coast. But on the other hand his plans 
 were never simple, and he might have made the 
 suggestion in the hope that I would suspect him, 
 and refuse. Was Miss Lovell really aboard the 
 schooner? 
 
 Suddenly, as he watched me, an idea possessed 
 me. I think I gathered it from his brooding eyes. 
 How was it that we had so surprisingly met there 
 in that wayside cottage? Was it sheer coinci-
 
 310 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 dence? I had chased him blindly in a blind 
 night over the downs for an hour and we en- 
 countered fortuitously. No; there was some- 
 thing else in it to account for our meeting. Was 
 it possible that he had left a trail all the way? 
 Did he want to draw me aside? The truth 
 flashed upon me, I say. He was the decoy. He 
 had brought me here on purpose to fool me, as he 
 had nearly succeeded in doing. There was the 
 memory of two dim figures that fled in the 
 night. 
 
 "I've come to the conclusion, Alston, that 
 you're a very clever person, " I said, " and I doubt 
 my capacity to deal with you. I think on the 
 whole, Rudgwick ought to play you, on the 
 principle of setting a thief to catch a thief. " 
 
 "You're not mighty thick then, you and 
 Wilson, " he said with a laugh. 
 
 "We are allies for the moment, and no more, 
 in that we have the same object. But he's 
 more of a kidney with you, and I think 111 leave 
 you to him. If you had me, you'd trick me, and 
 I think, moreover, I'm better at sea than on 
 land." 
 
 He scrutinised me carefully. "Well, it don't 
 make any odds," he said at last. "You can 
 follow your own game. As for me, I'm going to 
 enjoy a snooze." 
 
 He lay back in his chair, and I rose.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 311 
 
 " I have no time for pleasure, " I said, " I'm on 
 the road." 
 
 " Going to look up Wilson?" he asked " Give 
 him my best regards . So long. ' ' 
 
 I opened the door of the cottage and went out. 
 Night still reigned, but the horizon was murky 
 blue. I walked along the road for a mile, and 
 then, assuring myself that I was not followed, I 
 turned across the dunes and struck out for the 
 coast. I was bent now upon regaining the cove in 
 which we had landed, for I felt that the solution of 
 the riddle was to be found there. If not, at least 
 I should be able to get on the track of my com- 
 panions, and hear what their news was and 
 communicate mine. I had no interest now in 
 Alston. I distrusted him utterly, and I did not 
 care whether he went to London or remained 
 where he was. My business did not concern him, 
 but Sylvia Lovell. 
 
 It was the best part of an hour before I reached 
 the cliffs, and by that time the sky was lightening 
 greyly in the east. The sea, a grey and restless 
 mass below me, moaned in the ears. I walked 
 along the cliffs for some time until I thought I 
 recognised the scene of our disembarkment, and 
 here I descended the precipitous face to the 
 sands. It was half tide, and the waves came in 
 with an increasing roar, breaking on the outlying 
 point of rock that formed one limit of the little
 
 312 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 bay. I made search from end to end but found 
 no sign of living being. Butterfield and his 
 master had vanished. 
 
 In the course of the third or fourth perambu- 
 lation of the bay my eye was caught by a flicker of 
 light, which seemed to be artificial, and I ap- 
 proached the spot cautiously. The sea covered 
 the noise of my footsteps, and thus I was able to 
 enter the mouth of a cavern without attracting 
 attention. In a corner of the cave, retired from 
 the outward view, sat Miss Lovell, a dull lantern 
 burning by her side. 
 
 I knew her at once, though I could not see her 
 face. Something in her leapt towards me and 
 told me that it was she. My heart bounded. I 
 had been right. I ran forward. 
 
 "Miss Lovell!" I shouted. 
 
 She got quickly to her feet and threw a fright- 
 ened glance at me. 
 
 " You! " she said with a sob. " Oh, why do you 
 persecute me so?" and dropping the lantern she 
 fled into the interior of the cavern. 
 
 I followed, calling on her: "Miss Lovell! Miss 
 Lovell!" 
 
 No sound issued. The place was in profound 
 blackness, and seemed to be of vast size. I ran 
 and groped my way, stumbling occasionally on 
 unseen surfaces, and barking my shins on pro- 
 jecting points of rock. The cavern narrowed, so
 
 "I ran forward. 'Miss Lovelll' I shouted'
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 313 
 
 that I was forced to walk, and then seemed to 
 open out again. I struck a match, and found 
 myself in a vault of considerable size with pas- 
 sages leading out of it. One or two of these I 
 explored with the assistance of my matches, but 
 at last my supply gave out, and I was obliged to 
 feel my way back towards the outer air. I 
 stopped to listen at intervals, but heard nothing. 
 It was as if she had passed into the realms of the 
 dead and silence ; only the hollow murmur of the 
 sea filled the empty cavern. 
 
 I emerged and sat outside sick at heart in the 
 dispersing night. I cursed the iniquitous cun- 
 ning of Alston which had poisoned her mind 
 against me, and sapped her faith. But cursing 
 was of no use. I had no option but to wait 
 events. And then to me waiting came an under- 
 standing of the design, and a little better hope. 
 Alston, finding he was pressed, and seeing it was 
 impossible to get Miss Lovell away, had left her in 
 the cave, and lured me away. That meant that 
 he was to return, and his demeanour at the 
 cottage had been merely "bluff." Doubtless he 
 had hoped to obtain from me some information as 
 to the whereabouts of my companions, for a guide 
 to his actions. When he did come I sat, buoyed 
 up by a new confidence, making many plans. 
 
 I was roused from them by a louder roar of the 
 sea, and a dash of spray which drenched me. I
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 got up, and in the grey light saw that the tide was 
 swiftly advancing. Smitten by a sudden terror I 
 went a little way along the dwindling slip of beach, 
 and discovered that the water was right up 
 against the cliffs. Only before the cave was there 
 any space left. The crags overhead were sheer 
 and formidable, but a little to one side they sloped 
 inwards and a foothold was possible. There was 
 no time to lose. 
 
 I rushed back into the cave and called, "Miss 
 Lovell! Miss Lovell! The tide is coming in fast. 
 There is danger. Miss Lovell ! ' ' 
 
 No answer came back to me. The boom of the 
 water filled the cavern, and a flood of spume 
 dispersed from a broken wave into the entrance. 
 The tide was racing in. I plunged deeper into the 
 darkness, calling, calling. 
 
 I entreated. 
 
 "Miss Lovell! Miss Lovell!" 
 
 Outside the sea bellowed; and still there was 
 silence within. I ran into the interior cave, 
 knocking my temple against the wall, and was 
 just conscious of the warm blood that trickled 
 down my face. The tide stormed the cavern like 
 thunder. 
 
 " Sylvia ! Sylvia ! " I called. " For God's sake, 
 Sylvia, my darling. Come to me, Sylvia ! " 
 
 And then I was aware of a pitiful little cry, as 
 it were a puppy that whimpered, and something
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 315 
 
 living and warm was against me. Something 
 citing to me, weeping, and sobbing hysterically. 
 Something cried against me, imploring me : 
 
 "Take me away! Save me! Oh take me 
 away!' 
 
 I put my arms about her and half-dragged, 
 half -carried her towards the mouth of the cavern, 
 which was now alive with the sea. There was 
 after each receding wave but a thin margin of wet 
 sand on which we might stand; and the waves 
 rolled in and buffeted us every moment. Access 
 to the slope I had noticed was now cut off com- 
 pletely. We were doomed unless a miracle 
 should happen. 
 
 Yet even in that anxious misery I could not be 
 unhappy. Sylvia's light warm body clung to me. 
 
 " Save me ! ' ' she cried. 
 
 "My darling! my darling!" I cried back. 
 "Why did you not trust me, me who would die 
 for you?" 
 
 " Oh , it is cold ," she whispered . "Save me ! ' * 
 
 " Kiss me, dearest, " I said, and my lips pressed 
 hers, hers unresisting. She hung heavily on my 
 arms; she had fainted. 
 
 The sea was gathering fresh strength every 
 minute, and the assault on the land would be 
 presently catastrophic. The dawn was come, 
 but the light gave me no hope. The cliff rose like 
 a wall, unscalable, and above the height a seagull
 
 316 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 was crying. I sheltered my love as well as I could 
 from the infuriate waves. Then, of a sudden, I 
 heard my name, and craning my neck saw a figure 
 on the cliff above. 
 
 "Keep a hold, Kerslake," said Alston's voice. 
 " I've got a rope, and I'll let it down. Hear?" 
 
 "Yes, "I shouted. 
 
 " I'll loop it with a hitch, and pull her up. " 
 
 "Right," I shouted back, and waited with my 
 back to the frenzied sea. 
 
 The foam was breaking over us now, and the 
 tide had gathered about our knees, and poured 
 through the mouth of the cavern with the noise of 
 artillery; but presently, straining my eyes anx- 
 iously upwards, I perceived a small grey rope 
 descending the face of the precipice, and my heart 
 bounded in relief. The girl hung a dead weight on 
 my arms. 
 
 When the rope reached me I secured her with 
 some difficulty in the swing, tying her round the 
 arms, and over the bosom for additional safety; 
 and then I made a signal to Alston above, whilst 
 all the time the sea leapt at me and lashed and 
 blinded me. The rope with its precious burden 
 went up slowly, too slowly for my impatient eyes ; 
 but at least it went surely. The man at the end of 
 it was strong, of iron nerve, and of a determination 
 I could not doubt. I would sooner have had him 
 at that moment at the end of the rope than anyone
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 317 
 
 I knew. Sylvia Lovell, still unconscious, receded 
 into safety, a dwindling bundle against the 
 heights, swinging in her improvised cradle, now 
 spinning round, now hesitating, and then again 
 striking at an angle of rock, and being skillfully 
 eased away and steered free of difficult places by 
 the ingenious hand that controlled her destinies. 
 
 Controlled her destinies ! Even as she faded up- 
 wards the spasm of fear which I had so often felt 
 in connection with Alston recurred. He was once 
 more in control of her fate, and all my contrivance 
 and plotting and work had been for nothing. 
 Under the flail of the sea I stood there, looking up- 
 wards, doubting, fearing, wondering, and for the 
 time being all unconscious of my position. But 
 to that I was recalled, and in the same moment I 
 had the answer to my doubts. Sylvia Lovell's in- 
 animate body disappeared over the cliff-top, and 
 with it Alston also disappeared. His head was 
 visible for a time as he put out his arm and dragged 
 her into safety. But that was all. It did not re- 
 appear. He never came back. 
 
 Ten minutes later the waves were breaking 
 about my waist, and hurling me against the rocks, 
 and overhead in the full light of dawn there was 
 no human being, nor any sound of life. Nothing 
 reigned there save the savage elements, the 
 screeching, howling, turbulent sea. 
 
 I shouted till my voice was hoarse. I called to
 
 3i8 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 Alston by name. But no answer came to me and 
 I knew the truth. I had been abandoned ruth- 
 lessly, as ruthlessly as he had sacrificed the hap- 
 piness of Sylvia Lovell, as ruthlessly as he would 
 sacrifice any human creature that stood between 
 him and his end. 
 
 I became aware now of the outward drag of the 
 sea. The water pressed upon me in rapidly suc- 
 ceeding waves, and after each blow the undertow 
 sucked at me; as if some giant had endeavoured 
 to strike me senseless and then bear off my un- 
 conscious body into the wastes and deeps of the 
 ocean. But so far I had resisted the assault, 
 though my chances of continuing to do so with the 
 inroad of the tide were poor indeed. As the tide 
 rose it would overwhelm me ; it reached my heart 
 now, and I staggered under it. Several times I 
 went down in the mellay of surf and spume and 
 rock. The time would come when I should not be 
 able to recover my footing, and then I should be 
 the helpless prey of the undertow. To me, buf- 
 feted about at the foot of the cliff, the incoming 
 water, which was but little under the level of my 
 eyes, seemed a surging, rolling, terrific green plain, 
 ever restless, ever menacing. Its irresistibility was 
 the most significant thing about it, its irresistibility 
 and its continualness. It always was; it moved 
 always; it threatened always. It was a thing 
 alive, a crawling, roaring monster with a ravening
 
 
 'My eyes went hopelessly towards the cliff top 1
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 319 
 
 maw. Seen from the cliff above, as I had seen it 
 lately, and seen from a ship, as I had seen it in all 
 my life, there was something majestical in the 
 march and mien of the ocean. To me, there, like 
 a fettered slave awaiting the approach of the de- 
 vouring monster, there was nothing high or 
 dignified about it; it was merely sordidly tragic. 
 
 I clung to a point of rock and gazed out upon the 
 charging field, with its irregular surface of falling 
 water ; and from that my eyes went hopelessly to- 
 wards the cliff top. Was it a figure that moved 
 there, or was it merely the hallucination of a tired 
 mind, beaten into disorder by a struggle with the 
 sea? I stared clinging, and, when the spray of a 
 ferocious billow had dispersed from about my 
 head, I saw the shape move. My voice poured its 
 full volume to the sky, but was drowned in the 
 clamour of the water. Here was the means of 
 rescue at hand, and yet I should die without 
 being heard, suffering the pangs of Tantalus. Was 
 it Alston returned and repentant, I vaguely 
 wondered in the tumult? Was.it perchance a 
 coast-guard on his early round ? Yet whosoever it 
 might be, it mattered not to me, an atom, clinging 
 to a diminutive rock at the unseen base of wild 
 cliffs buried under the tramplings of a wild sea. 
 
 The water beat about me, and strangely enough 
 now I was not even cold, but rather of a pleasant 
 warmth. Yet I knew my hands would presently
 
 320 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 relax, and that I should slip off, and be at one with 
 the sea, moving whither it went, without will or 
 resistance. And in the thought I did not feel un- 
 happy. I had reconciled myself to fate, and I had 
 no room in my mind for other considerations save 
 of the practicability of keeping my hold, and of the 
 effort to do so. That alone seemed of importance ; 
 it occupied my mind to the exclusion of all else. I 
 did not think of Alston or of Rudgwick, nor of my 
 past life ; and though, God knows, it was the only 
 time in my waking life since I had known her 
 that I did not do so, I did not then think of Sylvia 
 Lovell. 
 
 In the midst of this I was aware somehow I 
 could not say why that something was dangling 
 near me, and I was aware too that I had put out 
 one hand to take it. This must have been mere 
 instinct, for I had no reasoning mind by that time ; 
 it had been dinned out of being by the deafening 
 clamour and confusion. Yet I know that I had 
 fingers on the rope, and then I know that I grasped 
 it in two hands. There was a noose into which 
 somehow, and for some reason which I could not 
 have determined, I put my foot ; and I remember 
 vaguely clinging to the rope, and abandoning my 
 rock. 
 
 I drifted away away from the rock, away from 
 the water, which leaped after me as if to tear me 
 down and reclaim me. I noted the grey sands of
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 321 
 
 the cliff -face pass me very slowly, sands in which the 
 grass grew, and in which large masses of rock were 
 intercalated. It seemed a long time, but I did 
 not mind ; for the sensation of rising was pleasant, 
 and away below me growled the immeasurable and 
 moving sea. 
 
 At last I got to the top, and I heard a voice say 
 in unmistakable accents : 
 
 " Guess, I was just in time." 
 
 " Butterfield!" I said, and got to my feet, and 
 dizzily stumbled. 
 
 He caught my arm. "Steady, boss," he said. 
 " You're qualifying now for an infant in a go-cart. 
 We'll be safe, I reckon, at a little distance from the 
 edge. I don't like it much myself." 
 
 We moved away, I leaning on his arm, for the 
 violence of the sea had rendered me quite in- 
 capable of conducting myself like a reasonable 
 being for the time. I was more or less stunned, 
 I suppose, mentally and physically. But I soon 
 came to, and over the inland hills my eyes saluted 
 the rising sun. The dunes were in fresh light, and 
 the glory of the morning was about me. 
 
 "How'd you get down there?" asked Butter- 
 field presently. 
 
 "It's more interesting to me," I said freely, as I 
 smiled, "to know how you got up here." 
 
 "That's easy enough," he explained. "I had 
 an inspiration. Seemed to me those runaways
 
 322 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 ran away too fast, and I took a suspicion that they 
 didn't run away. So I came back. And I was 
 wandering about, getting my head clear, and learn- 
 ing the bearings, when I hit upon a rope hitched 
 on a rock. Well, that looked funny, didn't it? 
 And I said to myself, ' Where there's a rope there's 
 a man ' ; and so I just looked over, and sure enough 
 there was a man." He grinned. "Though I'm 
 blamed if I know what you were doing fooling 
 round there with the rope on the wrong side of the 
 cliff." 
 
 " It wasn't my rope," I said. 
 
 " Not?" he asked in surprise. 
 
 " No," I said ; and then I told him all. 
 
 Butterfield pursed his ugly face into a whistling 
 condition, and emitted a long "Phew!" 
 
 "Say, this is getting pretty hot, ain't it?" he 
 remarked. "This is getting down to bed rock 
 right away. I thought we shouldn't find it all as 
 easy as smiling when we brushed up against 
 Alston for good and all." He leaned over the 
 cliff, contemplating the welter below. " Can't say 
 I like the look of it. Land's good enough for me. 
 Anyway, you're square now. The boss'll take it 
 pretty badly, Alston getting away with the last 
 trick. Say, how long ago?" 
 
 I had no very definite opinion on this point, but 
 made a guess at the time for twenty minutes. 
 
 He puckered his brow, and stared disconsolately
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 323 
 
 over the dunes. " Might as well look for a needle 
 in a stack," he observed. 
 
 With each minute I was becoming myself, and 
 increasingly able to take stock of the situation. 
 
 "It's clear," I said, "that Alston was bluffing, 
 when he talked of going to London. He was 
 waiting his chance to get back to the cave, and he 
 almost arrived too late He knew he was running 
 it close; hence the rope. And you may depend 
 upon it in the meantime he had made his plans. 
 His object is to get married, after which he can 
 defy us all." 
 
 "The boss'll be mad," repeated poor Butter- 
 field. 
 
 " You must remember he is encumbered with a 
 fainting girl," I said. "Also," I added grimly; 
 " he's not aware that we two are discussing him 
 here. I'm dead to him." 
 
 " Blame me if it isn't getting mighty hot," said 
 the factotum again. " Rare hot, and it'll be hotter 
 before we've finished, if the boss knows how." 
 
 "We've got to follow the trail," I said, moving 
 away, and then, on a sudden thought, paused. 
 " Butterfield, you're a man of your wits and hands, 
 and by this you've wiped out a precious lot. I 
 thank you." 
 
 " Oh, that's all right," said he. " We're work- 
 ing in together. Besides," he added. " You're a 
 white man."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 IN THE PINE-WOOD 
 
 "WHERE'S Rudgwick?" I asked presently. 
 
 Butterfield looked up from the ground he had 
 been examining for tracks of feet, and his nose 
 crinkled up in a way he had. 
 
 "The boss's at Padstow by this, I reckon. He 
 made tracks there soon as ever he saw how." 
 
 "What! Given it up?" I ejaculated in as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 "Not much," said the faithful jackal. "He's 
 laying low for a purpose, I shouldn't be surprised. 
 So soon as he saw you on the bender he hailed me. 
 " 'That you, Nathaniel?' says he. 'Well, I 
 reckon I'm going home to a comfortable bed. See 
 here, Butterfield!' he says. 'That lieutenant's 
 smart enough. I guess he's a better hound than 
 I am. I'm going to leave him on the scent.' ' 
 
 "I am complimented," said I, "but he is too 
 sanguine. You see what a mess I made of it." 
 
 Butterfield considered it critically. "No; not 
 much of a mess anyway," he pronounced. "You 
 ran the fox to the earth, and that's business." 
 
 324
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 325 
 
 " It was, I suspect, as much the fox's doing as 
 mine." 
 
 " Well, you found the girl, and that counts," he 
 declared. 
 
 " And you saved me, and that counts," I added. 
 "And now we've got to pick up the scent again. 
 See; rain fell yesterday and laid the sand; we 
 ought to find footmarks." 
 
 We reached the margin where the sandy tract 
 began and cast about us in all directions. An ex- 
 clamation from Butterfield brought me to him 
 and his discovery. There were the unmistakable 
 marks of a man's boots, large, clean and deep- 
 sunk, as if he carried a burden. They pointed 
 away from the cliff. 
 
 "Here we are then," I said briskly. "Let us 
 follow. If I've not a nose I've eyes ; and yours are 
 worth a fortune." 
 
 Butterfield who paid no attention to this, was 
 scrutinising me. " Say, you feeling all right?" he 
 asked kindly. 
 
 "As fit as a fiddle," I replied promptly. " I'm 
 going into action." 
 
 " That's all right," he nodded, " Thought that 
 drenching " 
 
 "Sea water will never harm a sea-dog," I said. 
 
 "Well, I've no fancy for it myself," said he. 
 "Personally I don't hanker after a wetting. It 
 would get on my chest, and I couldn't stand it.
 
 326 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I'd run a fair chance of pegging out," and he 
 buttoned his coat in the cool air closer about his 
 meagre person. 
 
 "Come on," said I impatiently. 
 
 We trailed Alston across the dunes for half a 
 mile, and then we lost the scent, owing to the con- 
 vergence of other footmarks. It was only after 
 traversing the ground covered by one of these 
 that we disentangled the right from the wrong. 
 Here, we conjectured, from the prints, Miss 
 Lovell had begun to walk independently. 
 
 Hitherto her foot-marks had been irregular and 
 in proximity to Alston's indicating that she had 
 not fully recovered and probably had leaned on 
 him. But henceforth they moved in detachment, 
 as if with a will of their own. 
 
 We followed hotly now, and it was not long 
 before the dunes ceased, and we emerged on a 
 level road, bordered on the farther side by a stone 
 fence and fields. 
 
 " I guess we lose it here," said Butterfield. 
 
 I pointed to a building some distance away, and 
 we advanced towards it. When we got nearer I 
 perceived that it was a wayside inn, with white- 
 washed walls, and there was a little stir about it 
 for all that the hour was so early. This was ac- 
 counted for by the presence of a motor-car in the 
 road without, the beat of whose engine we could 
 hear as we came up.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 327 
 
 I entered the small bar-room, and ordered a 
 glass of ale, of which indeed I was glad. Then I 
 put my queries. Had a tall man with a big 
 moustache been seen there in company with a 
 young lady wet from the sea? 
 
 The woman looked at me with evident interest. 
 Yes; an hour ago or less. The lady had had an 
 accident, had been caught by the tide; and the 
 gentleman had rescued her. 
 
 "Exactly what did happen," I said gravely. 
 " We were very anxious, and now we are relieved. 
 Which way did they go? Was it to Padstow?" 
 
 Unfortunately the landlady did not know. 
 They had driven southwards. That was the 
 limit of her knowledge. 
 
 ' ' Driven ! " I echoed . 
 
 Yes; the gentleman had arrived with a car- 
 riage, and had gone down to the bay. Then he had 
 rescued the lady from her plight, and then they 
 had driven away. 
 
 It was very simple, particularly to this good 
 soul who never asked questions of Fate. I looked 
 at Butterfield, who made a grimace that was 
 designed for a communication. We hastily 
 treated. 
 
 "Alston to a %'"said Mr. Butterfield. "I 
 guess he's gone to Padstow." 
 
 "Padstow!" I said. " Why on earth should he 
 go to Padstow?"
 
 328 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Well," said the factotum deliberately. "It 
 would be a great satisfaction to Alston to crowd 
 out the boss in his own theatre. You see, he 
 reckon's the boss's beat, and it looks very like it. 
 It would be a blamed good notion to marry under 
 the boss's nose." 
 
 " But that would be taking too great a risk," I 
 said incredulously. 
 
 "If I were playing up against the boss," said 
 Butterfield obstinately, " I would ask myself, 
 what'd make him smart most in defeat, and I 
 reckon I'd fix it up to do it under his nose. I bet 
 Alston's gone Padstow way." 
 
 "I don't agree with you," I said. "The man 
 would be a fool to take the risk. I don't interpret 
 Alston that way." 
 
 "Well, that's m notion," said the little man 
 mulishly. 
 
 I began to see his limitations, and I ~ost 
 patience. 
 
 "Well, I'm going to try the railway," I said. 
 " He can get a train from Wadebridge without 
 danger, and marry in leisured haste. Besides, at 
 the stations he would leave his mark." 
 
 Butterfield was quite agreeable to parting with 
 me, having this fixed idea regarding Padstow. I 
 believe he thought that the devil, having defeated 
 his master, would exult in impish tricks. Anyway 
 he left me, hurrying for Padstow, and with the in-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 329 
 
 tention of getting a trap of some kind at the 
 neighbouring farm. 
 
 But a trap was of no use to me, who was nearly 
 an hour behind my enemy, if I was to forestall 
 him at the railway station. Alston did nothing 
 for show ; he took the lines of least resistance ; of 
 that I was sure. He would then go to the nearest 
 railway station which was Wadebridge, and take 
 train to the nearest safe town. My travelled eye 
 fell on the lounging figure of the chauffeur in his 
 leather suit. The beat of the engine was in my 
 head. The man was looking at us with uninter- 
 ested curiosity, thin of face, ratlike, with keen and 
 tricky eyes. He lolled luxuriously glass in hand. 
 
 " Roads good?" I ejaculated. 
 
 "Pretty fair, Sir. I had a puncture a dozen 
 miles back." 
 
 "What is she?" 
 
 "Mercedes she's getting old now, but she's 
 had a splendid life." 
 
 "A little complicated in machinery?" I 
 suggested. 
 
 He admitted it, adding that one cylinder had 
 broken down last evening, and he had had to put 
 up on the road. 
 
 "My gentleman went on by train; and I'm on 
 the way to join him," he added. 
 
 Here was some news. "Early starting," I 
 remarked.
 
 330 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " I'm in no hurry," he replied with a smile at his 
 glass. 
 
 " That's all right," said I. " Have another, and 
 then come out and have a chat." 
 
 He acceded willingly enough. I thought I 
 knew greedy eyes when I saw them, and here they 
 were coupled with good nature. 
 
 " It's a matter of vital importance for me to get 
 to Wadebridge at once," I explained outside in the 
 road. "I'm already late. Three guineas if I 
 have a lift on your car." 
 
 He hardly hesitated. "Right, Sir," he said, 
 and jumped into the car. His every action was 
 businesslike; he was chauffeur now, not a way- 
 side conversationalist, and I was his master. The 
 engine had been running free ; now he put on the 
 clutches and the car moved out. In ten minutes 
 she was making at a rate between twenty and 
 thirty miles an hour. 
 
 I sat in the tonneau enjoying the stream of 
 good morning air as we flew down the miles, and 
 at the same time I had much to pre-occupy me. 
 If I were wrong in my guess about Alston I had 
 lost him for good and all. Everything hung on 
 this chance, and I admitted to myself that it was 
 but a chance. Still, in the conduct of life it is only 
 possible for us to make the best theory and act 
 upon it. I had plumbed Alston's mind, and I 
 thought he would take the shortest course out of
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 331 
 
 his difficulties. If he did that he would go to 
 Wadebridge. But if he did not he had won and I 
 had lost. That was the issue. 
 
 We left the seaboard and turned inland at the 
 same pace, and we were not five minutes in our 
 new course when my hopes flowered triumphantly ; 
 for the Mercedes swept up towards a farmer's cart, 
 which was jogging comfortably along the road, 
 as if it had been to market' and the occupants 
 were a man and a girl. 
 
 I recognized Alston even before I knew it was 
 Sylvia Lovell, and I lay back in the tonneau 
 humped against the side of the car, until my head 
 was below the level. There flashed past an auto- 
 mobile with a reckless chauffeur and emptiness 
 behind him; such was the impression that must 
 have been made upon Alston in the second or two 
 of time in which we hung in the way. I did not 
 rise until we were well in the distance, and when I 
 did so I allowed the car to run a mile farther. 
 Then I stopped the man. 
 
 "I won't go any farther," I said. "You've 
 earned your money." I paid him. "Goodbye." 
 
 He must have considered me insane, as I leapt 
 swiftly out of the car and ran along the road. 
 Farm gates opened nearby, but I did not enter 
 these. I kept on my course, and looking back 
 saw the car wheeling about, and then saw it start- 
 ing, and then again it was a vanishing flash in the
 
 332 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 prospect. I came to a pause at that, and went 
 back. Alston would be there within ten minutes, 
 and I had time to prepare. What would he do? 
 Would he hesitate to doom to death this ap- 
 parition from the dead whom he had already 
 doomed? I opened the revolver with which I had 
 supplied myself in London, and loaded it care- 
 f ully. The sea-water had not penetrated into my 
 little tin boxes. I replaced the weapon in my 
 coat, and waited. I had been drenched an hour 
 back; I was now dry; nay more, I was hot and 
 burning. 
 
 I passed the farm gates and walked into the 
 solitude of the winding road. On one side 
 stretched a stone fence, and beyond it the fields, 
 bare of trees but summer-ripe with green, an 
 undulating country somewhat monotonous to the 
 eye. Seaward the land was more broken, and 
 at a little distance was an open pine-wood. Be- 
 tween the barren narrows of the road came 
 Alston's farmer's cart jogging as for market. 
 
 I stopped him by blocking his path, and he 
 first shouted in anger, and then was silent, staring. 
 If I could credit my eyes, there was a little pallor 
 i n his face and his nostrils worked. 
 
 " You're right down smart, Lieutenant," he said 
 at last. " I suppose you want a chat with me." 
 
 "That's exactly it," I said, and I looked at his 
 companion. Her gaze was upon me, eager, fright-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 333 
 
 ened, and bewildered all in one. She was as pale 
 as a lily, and her hands were clutched upon the 
 side of the cart. She no longer wore her Breton 
 dress, as I had noted amid the alarms of that ter- 
 rible dawn, but I did not learn till long afterwards 
 how she had been furnished with new garments of 
 her place and age. Nor did I think of so trivial 
 a matter at that moment. She only created upon 
 me an impression of white and terrified beauty 
 against the green setting of the morning. 
 
 Alston put the reins slowly into her hands, and 
 began to descend. Then he paused, as if some- 
 thing had occurred to him. He was taking it very 
 wonderfully. Here was the man he had believed 
 dead and done for come, so to speak, as an ap- 
 parition in judgment against him. He must have 
 thought he had lost on the very last cast of the die, 
 and as he made that motion to climb down I doubt 
 not his heart was bitter indeed. There was mur- 
 der in his even pale face, as his looks met mine, or 
 I am no judge of man and manner. But that was 
 only for an instant. Violence was impracticable 
 there. He knew that, and I think he framed his 
 plans that instant as he paused. How much 
 Sylvia Lovell knew of his baseness in leaving me 
 to die I could not say. She had been unconscious 
 when I made her fast to the rope, and she had ar- 
 rived at the top of the cliff still unconscious. It 
 w r as certain that she had not been aware of his
 
 334 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 actual desertion of me, and his glib tongue might 
 explain away much. It was surprise that I read 
 in her expression ; amazement and other emotions 
 which I did not analyse then, which I might not 
 have dared to analyse. Assuredly there was no 
 horror in it, as one might anticipate for a resur- 
 rection. 
 
 Alston descended after his pause. 
 
 "We'll get along to the farm yonder," he said. 
 " Sylvia girl, take a hold of the reins. It's a prime 
 day, Kerslake." 
 
 "An excellent morning to be alive," I said 
 slowly. 
 
 " That's so. I'm in no hurry to die, and I guess 
 you're the same," he remarked, as we proceeded 
 slowly along the road, Alston leading the horse. 
 
 There was between us the awkwardness of the 
 girl's presence. She was white and silent, wonder- 
 ing, maybe fearing; for she could not understand. 
 She had left us working as apparent friends ; she 
 found us open enemies. In all that had puzzled 
 and harassed her throughout that period of per- 
 secution, this fact must have been the supreme 
 bewilderment. She glanced pitifully at me, and 
 then away; she spoke no word; her underlip, 
 sucked in, quivered in an unheard sob. My heart 
 bled for her, and I could have taken her in my arms 
 and comforted her. I had held her to my breast 
 in the dripping sea ; I longed to repeat that tender
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 335 
 
 encouragement on land. But I had to dispose of 
 Alston, and Alston, I knew well enough, spelt 
 black danger. All my nerves and wits must be in 
 train for that coming encounter. 
 
 "We'll ask the farm people to put you up, 
 Sylvia," he said, "while Mr. Kerslake and I have 
 our business talk," and he took the cart through 
 the gates. 
 
 A man lifted a head inquiringly over the byre 
 walls and stared. Alston approached him. 
 
 "Can we leave this young lady here for ten 
 minutes, while we have a look around?" he asked 
 in his pleasant way. "She's not interested any 
 in what we're after ; so if you don't mind the cart 
 putting up in your yard for a little, I should take 
 it as a favour." 
 
 There was no objection offered by the farmer 
 who civilly informed us we were welcome, and 
 Alston turned after a nod of thanks. 
 
 "Now Sylvia, just you amuse yourself a while, 
 and I'll be back presently. Come along, Ker- 
 slake." 
 
 I took off my hat in formal greeting to the girl, 
 and walked away with him. In the circumstances 
 it was an odd parting, as odd as the friendly way 
 in which he and I went out of the gates together. 
 There was nothing dramatic in our exit; it was 
 just commonplace and even rather awkward. 
 
 Once on the road I spoke, sharply enough.
 
 336 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " You know what's got to come. We've got to 
 settle." 
 
 "Yes," he drawled. "I guess we've got to 
 settle, Lieutenant. We'll fix that up so soon as 
 we get some privacy of our own." 
 
 The solitude was privacy enough for me, but not 
 for Alston, the hard glitter of whose eyes was 
 frosty on me. But he was suave as ever, as we 
 walked we might have been two friends on a 
 morning walk admiring the country. He wheeled 
 off the road upon a piece of common which har- 
 boured the dark pine-wood, penetrated this some 
 distance and presently came to a pause, and faced 
 me. 
 
 "You've got some remarks to make I take it," 
 he began. "I'd like to begin with a question, if 
 I've got priority; and that's how you got out of 
 that fix down there by the cliffs?" 
 
 "An old acquaintance of yours," I replied 
 quickly. " Butterfield." 
 
 " Say!" he commented. " Well, that was prov- 
 idential. I'd like to know a thing or two more for 
 my private edification, but I guess there isn't time, 
 so we'll let it slide." 
 
 "I too," I said, "should like to express my 
 opinion pretty strongly about you and your ways, 
 but as you say there isn't time, and so " 
 
 "Oh, quit, quit," he interrupted impatiently. 
 
 "Very well," I said. "The explanation is
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 337 
 
 merely this. I know your story, and I'm going to 
 communicate it to Miss Lovell." He mused, 
 considering me. 
 
 "Do you think she'll credit it or you?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "There's plenty of documentary evidence," I 
 put in. 
 
 " Wilson's seen to that, eh? Well, you got it?" 
 he asked. 
 
 " No ; but my word's sufficient. I have seen it." 
 
 "You're almighty sure of your powers of per- 
 suasion and attraction. You fancy yourself, 
 Lieutenant." 
 
 " A man," said I, " expects to be believed in this 
 country when he pledges his word." 
 
 "This is an almighty number one country," 
 said Alston with sarcasm. " It contains a heap of 
 smart men, some of whom are in His Majesty's 
 Navy, I shouldn't wonder. So you're going to 
 Miss Lovell with a cock-and-bull tale about me 
 and some millions." 
 
 " It's my intention to do so at once," I answered. 
 
 " And you look to receive the reward of virtue," 
 he said smiling, but I did not like the smile. 
 
 " You are aware that virtue is the only reward," 
 I retorted in his own voice. 
 
 "You'll come along with repartee presently," 
 he said. " But I guess we don't want to spend the 
 day in these sallies. We've got to settle, and
 
 338 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 there's only one way to settle. If you were to go 
 to Miss Lovell with your information it wouldn't 
 serve you much. Suppose you try." 
 
 He nodded as if dismissing me, and walked a 
 yard or two away through the pines. I too 
 moved, but in another direction to regain the 
 open ground, and the road. A report caught my 
 ear, and, swiftly turning, I saw Alston with a re- 
 volver in his hand. He was as cool and un- 
 disturbed as if he were playing billiards. A bullet 
 had broken a twig in the fir between us. I slid 
 behind the red bole of the tree, and put my hand 
 in my breast pocket to secure my own weapon. 
 He had determined to silence me. It was a de- 
 cision worthy of him, and I might have expected 
 something remarkable, but I had not anticipated 
 exactly that. It was a duel between us ; for I knew 
 he would have no mercy. He had taken me there, 
 had compassed that "privacy" for that very 
 purpose. We were out of earshot of the farm, and 
 the road was empty. Whatever might befall 
 within the forest of firs would not be known at 
 least not then, nor for some time afterwards. 
 
 Alston's second shot singed the bark on the tree 
 behind which I had taken refuge. He himself had 
 got behind a fir and it was merely the glint of his 
 barrel I caught. I respected his marksmanship 
 to such a degree that I would not risk breaking 
 cover; and yet I could not remain there forever.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 339 
 
 I must take the hazard, and get out of range. I 
 dashed from my shelter for another fir, and in- 
 stantly I heard the crack of his revolver. The 
 whizz and whirr of the bullet was in my ears as it 
 went past. It had been a very " close shave," and I 
 did not like the idea of repeating it. His hand 
 was just visible twenty yards away, and I thrust 
 my own weapon round the bole and fired, hoping 
 to disable his fingers. But I saw the bullet knock 
 a splinter from the tree. I was hampered, as was 
 he, by inability to get the eye on its proper plane. 
 To do that would have been too desperate a 
 venture. We must aim more or less by guess- 
 work. That, I suppose, accounted for his failure 
 for so long. As I found that he was thus em- 
 barrassed by his posture I took more liberties, and 
 I moved from tree to tree without mishap. Once 
 or twice his shot came uncomfortably near me, but 
 I escaped without a hit. Seeing the success of my 
 manoeuvres, and fearing lest he should lose me, 
 Alston now adopted my tactics. He advanced as 
 I retreated by the same methods, and it was thus 
 that, in growing anger and recklessness, I had my 
 better chance at hint. 
 
 The scene was more suitable for a Western 
 state than for civilized and humane England. 
 The morning was still young, and the sun shone 
 bright and high, throwing a chequer of shade 
 and light on the ground where it penetrated. The
 
 340 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 firs grew thickly but with absolutely no under- 
 growth between the stems, nor did any grass 
 clothe the earth, which was invested with a thick 
 mantle of withered pine-needles that were as 
 silent to the tread as the pile of a rich carpet. Un- 
 der the spreading canopy of the pines was a long, 
 broad, shadowed stillness, stem rising after stem, 
 in picturesque redness, until they vanished over 
 a rise at the back. 
 
 It was this stillness that our pistols broke, as in 
 this strange duel that had been forced upon me 
 we moved and counter-moved and fired and re- 
 loaded and fired again. 
 
 It was my aim all along to disable his shooting 
 arm, but I will confess that after some time I was 
 not particular as to where I should hit the ruffian. 
 He had shown himself as callous as I could have 
 deemed any human being to be. He had left me 
 to an ugly death, had welcomed me on my escape 
 with a cool jest, and was now bent on my ex- 
 tinction in another way. I was a menace to him, 
 and he would be rid of me by any means. That 
 was how things stood between us. 
 
 It struck me suddenly in the course of this re- 
 markable exhibition that there was no practical 
 term to it except in the exhaustion of our car- 
 tridges. To seek the open was to court disaster, 
 and if I were to escape the assassin, I was con- 
 demned to move around the mazes of the pine-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 341 
 
 wood until Alston was pleased or forced to abandon 
 his attempt. The thought was not cheering, but 
 the instant business of life was to avoid his shots 
 and wing him if I could. We were rarely more 
 than twenty paces apart, but very often the boles 
 of intervening firs rendered the aim difficult. It 
 was a ricochet that at last got him, the bullet turn- 
 ing off a tree nearby, and lodging as I conjectured 
 in his shoulder. He uttered a curse, stepped out 
 deliberately from cover and gave his answer. 
 
 That reckless act, carefully calculated, I made 
 no doubt, as was his recklessness ever, brought 
 me into the line of his fire. My revolver spoke 
 too late; I felt a thud and a prodding pain in 
 my leg, and went down unsteadily on my knees. 
 
 Alston stood a moment gazing at me, and then 
 raised his weapon again as if he would make sure, 
 hesitated, and put it back, seeing me weakly throw 
 my arm forward in a wild aim. He turned and 
 without a word glided swiftly through the trees. 
 As I have said, he was not the man to take un- 
 necessary risks. He was not thirsty of blood. If 
 I had perished off the coast he would have been 
 easily rid of me, and would not have given me a 
 second thought. Here, it was enough for his pur- 
 pose that he should disable me. Dead men tel 1 
 tales, but a limping cripple in a silent wood would 
 tell none. I limped, tried to get on my feet, and 
 rolled over with the pain.
 
 CHAPTER XX ' 
 THE QUARRY DOUBLES 
 
 THE bullet had struck the ankle, and bruised 
 it, which was why I suffered so acutely at the 
 time. That it had been devilishly designed for 
 me in that precise place I could not doubt, knowing 
 Alston's powers, and he had calculated to a nicety ; 
 it was five minutes before I recovered sufficiently 
 to make another attempt to walk, and then at the 
 cost of much pain. I only succeeded in " hirpling' ' 
 along a few yards at a time. It was ten minutes 
 before I reached the border of the wood, and that 
 was some distance from the farm. By the time 
 I got so far Alston would have vanished, and I 
 should have been checkmated once and for all. 
 
 I managed at last to hobble to the farm, hitting 
 upon a gait which reduced the discomfort to 
 a minimum; and of course found the cart gone. 
 The civil farmer was not visible, but a knock on 
 the door brought out his wife, who gave me the 
 information I wanted. Alston had been gone 
 fifteen minutes or more. That was what I had 
 anticipated ; but what she added I had not looked 
 
 342
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 343 
 
 for and it at once amazed me and filled me with 
 new hope. The gentleman had had a horse 
 harnessed and gone after the lady! 
 
 There was the surprise, and I digested it with 
 exultation. It appeared that almost directly 
 our backs were turned Miss Lovell announced her 
 intention of going on, and, none being of an author- 
 ity to stay her, she had driven off, " looking " (said 
 my informant) "as if she was afraid she'd lose a 
 train." I could understand it now. She had 
 been tossed about from battledore to battledore 
 on the intrigues of these men, and, seeing her 
 chance for escape, had taken it and fled. Whither 
 could she flee? Well, she knew no harm of 
 Alston save that he had involuntarily brought her 
 this untoward persecution, but she was weary 
 and heartsore and would rest. She had probably 
 designed to go home to her mother. In that case 
 she would go to a railway station. But had she 
 the means to get back to the Island? If not, 
 would she go ? 
 
 But these speculations, which buzzed in my 
 head, were futile then. The farmer's wife did 
 not know her destination, but of Alstons', angry 
 and masterful as he had displayed himself on 
 learning of the flight, she had a notion. 
 
 "He drove off fast on the Wadebridge road, 
 fast as he could with the pony." 
 
 Wadebridge, of course, being the railway ter-
 
 344 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 minus, would probably be the objective, and 
 Wadebridge, then, was my destination also; for 
 so long as I had one of them under my eyes so 
 long was their separation practicable. I could 
 not hobble into Wadebridge, but if there was 
 another pony I might follow Alston's example. 
 I explained that I had hurt my ankle, and was 
 reassured about the horse. The woman must 
 have set us all down as mad, engaged as we were 
 suddenly now in this chase "in canon." But I 
 was thinking nothing of appearances. I only 
 wanted a vehicle, and at last I got it. 
 
 A farm-hand drove me with what speed we 
 might get up into Wadebridge, where I at once 
 made researches at the station. And there I got 
 on the trail of one of the fugitives, for a man 
 answering to Alston's description had recently 
 been making inquiries like myself, and had gone 
 off in extreme haste. Evidently then Miss Lovell 
 had not taken the train at Wadebridge, and I 
 began to fear she was not equipped for the journey. 
 She had long since exhausted what little money 
 she had with her, as I knew ; it was not likely that 
 she had come into the possession of more. I 
 hated to think of her receiving money from Alston, 
 and for some reason in my mind I was sure she had 
 not. Destitute of means then to travel, whither 
 would she take refuge? I learned from a porter 
 that the man he had described had turned his trap
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 345 
 
 abruptly and driven off, through the town. That 
 could only mean that he was bound for Padstow. 
 Well, if Padstow suited Alston it would suit me. 
 So long as he was not with Miss Lovell I cared not. 
 
 We scrambled into Padstow with our rustic 
 chaise, and almost the first person I met in the 
 little town was Butterfield. In my anxiety to 
 hear what his news was I got out of the cart heed- 
 lessly and, my wounded leg giving away, came 
 down in a heap. 
 
 "What's the matter?" he inquired, helping 
 me up. 
 
 He was darkly melancholy, as was his habit in 
 a reverse. I told him I had a bad ankle, for I 
 wanted no explanations just then, and I was 
 rushing on an eager question when he said gloomily : 
 
 " Well, I guess, it don't matter now, not a corn 
 cob. I guess we're left " 
 
 "Why?" I asked. 
 
 "They're married and fixed up," he said in his 
 dejected voice. "They've gone off hone-moon- 
 ing on the yacht." 
 
 ' ' What? ' ' I demanded in bewilderment, think- 
 ing he had taken leave of his senses. 
 
 "Say, I was smart enough to guess Alston' d 
 come to Padstow. So he did. He thought he'd 
 give the boss a treat, and he's done it. Stole the 
 girl from under our noses. I guess I feel pretty 
 mean about it."
 
 346 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "You're talking abject nonsense, man," I said 
 angrily. "They're not married. On the con- 
 trary, Miss Lovell has run away from Alston. 
 I've followed them all over the country." 
 
 He stared at me. " One of us is a blamed liar 
 or a fool," he remarked. "I saw Alston and 
 Miss Lovell standing out in a fishing boat in the 
 harbor not half an hour ago, and I guess he meant 
 us to see him, too. I wonder he didn't wave a 
 flag or a handkerchief at us by way of playful 
 greeting. Oh, he's gone off with her safe enough." 
 
 I slapped his shoulder. "You're right there, 
 but you're wrong in your assumption," I said. 
 "I see it now. I've been mixed up in it, and 
 there's a bullet in my ankle to tell the tale. Miss 
 Lovell bolted from Alston while we were having 
 a considerable scrap. And he went after her, 
 missed her at Wadebridge, but evidently over- 
 took her here, and persuaded her to join him 
 again. The man's equal to anything, by the 
 Lord, he is. Damn him for a smooth-faced rogue ! " 
 
 "That so?" said Butterfield in astonishment; 
 and his face lightened. "Come right along then, 
 let's tell the boss. He's been right down sick 
 about it, being euchred in that way. This'll 
 cheer him up some." 
 
 I dismissed my trap, and we found Rudgwick 
 in his inn glowering on the water. 
 
 "Well, Lieutenant," he said sarcastically when
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 347 
 
 I entered. " I congratulate you on your entrance. 
 You came on the boards in time for the curtain 
 the back of it." 
 
 "Boss, they're not hitched up," burst forth 
 Butterfield. 
 
 "That so?" said Rudgwick, looking from one 
 to the other of us. "Well, if you say it, you've 
 got some reason for saying it, I suppose." 
 
 I told him, and as he listened his face relaxed 
 in a grim smile. 
 
 "Sorry for your foot, Kerslake, " he said at 
 last. "But you've done good service this trip. 
 I knew I was right in leaving you plenty of rope. 
 There's the value of coincidence. There's no 
 such thing as real coincidence; take it from me. 
 When you're dealing in human factors you ar- 
 range the coincidences yourself. I guess you 
 made those coincidences. Anyway we're going 
 to fix up something for Fordyce to amuse him, 
 this time. Look here; there's no possibility of 
 any marriage having come off?" 
 
 "Absolutely impossible," I said, "and if you 
 doubt you have only to make inquiry at the 
 churches. " 
 
 "Why, I'd just forgotten all about that," he 
 said cheerfully. "I'd got a notion that any house 
 would do, same as in the United States, where we 
 can fix these things up without any trouble. But 
 I remember now. Well, that fool business is
 
 348 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 going to be good for us. Nathaniel, take a look 
 round at the churches with a roll of notes, and 
 come back in half an hour. I'll wait for you. ' ' 
 The factotum went obediently. "And now we're 
 going to talk business, Kerslake, " he continued 
 briskly. " Man, I was mad when I saw that boat 
 slipping out, and thought all was up. I reckoned 
 I ought to make Fordyce a present of the schooner 
 as a wedding offering and go back to America. 
 I was mighty sick, and I wouldn't have shown 
 up for a million dollars. But now we'll freeze 
 him out. Pity that leg of yours is game. Guess 
 we'll come to something pretty warm this time. 
 Oh, we're not done yet. This is the last act, and it 
 ought to be a lively one. Say, ring that bell, 
 and we'll have a whiskey and soda on this. We're 
 going to start right away. The chase will be 
 hotter than ever." 
 
 He drank his whiskey, drew his face into a 
 mask, and sat silent. Then he looked up. 
 
 " Can you get a boat of any size here? One of 
 those big smacks that can sail anyway?" 
 
 "Yes, I have no doubt I can hire a lugger or 
 a ketch or something of the sort." 
 
 "Well, get along then, Lieutenant, and have 
 her ready" he pulled out his watch "by two 
 o'clock. Oh, there's your leg." 
 
 "That can go hang," said I, limping to the 
 door, "if we're going into action."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 349 
 
 "Take it from me, my son, we are," he said 
 solemnly. 
 
 I was able to secure a lugger in the estuary 
 which I hoped would serve our purpose, though 
 naturally she could not be ready as early as Rudg- 
 wick wanted. She was a big clumsy thing, but 
 she looked as if she would have pace with a good 
 wind such as was now kindling foamheads over 
 the sea. And that done I put my ankle in a doc- 
 tor's hands, with some tale of an accident which 
 he never questioned. The injury was immaterial 
 and he promised me I should be quite recovered 
 in a week ; but it sufficed still to keep me in a cer- 
 tain amount of pain and to impede my move- 
 ments. However I hobbled through the neces- 
 sary work, and returned to Rudgwick, who had 
 already received Butterfield's report. 
 
 "This has been your show so far, Kerslake, " 
 he said to me, "and I'm going to give you a free 
 hand. I'll back you for all I'm worth, and that's 
 not nix. You've only got to go ahead." 
 
 "Very well," I said. "You shall have a run 
 for your money, and we start at three." 
 
 We started to the minute, running out with a 
 good breeze behind us, and a capable crew of 
 several hands. The probable destination of Al- 
 ston had been exercising my mind, and I had 
 formed conclusions of my own, which I put before 
 Rudgwick.
 
 350 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "He ran the blockade, and it didn't come off, 
 and he's put out again. The question is, where's 
 he for? It seems to me that there's been a hitch 
 with Miss Lovell." Ah, it delighted me to think 
 that, and to say that, but surely I was justified 
 after what I had seen, and after her flight. " My 
 theory is that Alston overtook Miss Lovell in 
 Padstow, but that she refused to marry him. 
 She had reason. A girl might very justly shrink 
 from so grave a step in the midst of these unin- 
 telligible events. She has been buffeted about, 
 and knows no more why than a child in arms. 
 It has been a gross shame, an indelible in- 
 famy." 
 
 I spoke hotly, moved by my indignation. 
 Rudgwick listened equably. 
 
 "Get along," he said. 
 
 "She would decline to be hurried into bonds, 
 and as it is evident he could not constrain her, 
 he has done the next best thing from his point 
 of view. He has carried her off to renew the 
 attempt. He wants to give her breathing-time, to 
 let her recover, and then he will repeat his feat." 
 
 "Or try to," interjected Rudgwick dryly. 
 " You've got to stop him. That's your business." 
 
 He spoke as if I were a clerk or agent engaged 
 by him, but I had come to know his ways, and 
 I did not mind. He knew on what footing we
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 351 
 
 were, and I was content to work with him for 
 the time being. 
 
 "Alston," I continued, "may even have per- 
 suaded her that he would go round to the Isle 
 of Wight, and restore her to her mother. I think 
 she's wanted that badly. Anyway he's got hold 
 of her, and is on the whole in no worse a position 
 than he was before his attempt. Indeed he 
 probably thinks he is in a better, as he may not 
 have known of your presence here; and me he 
 considers hors de combat." 
 
 "That's good logic," approved Rudgwick. 
 " But it don't get us to where he is, or what he's 
 going for." 
 
 "The ground's cleared a bit by these conclu- 
 sions at any rate," I said, "and I think we can 
 go a little farther with safety. The schooner's 
 somewhere nearby for he's off to it in a small 
 smack. He expects to strike her soon, probably 
 this evening. Alston isn't a sailor, and he doesn't 
 like the water, but he's got to get to the Mer- 
 maid. That means she might be up or down 
 the coast anywhere; but that isn't likely in the 
 circumstances. She put off, and is waiting. 
 That looks to me like Lundy Island." 
 
 "You think she's fixed up at Lundy Island?" 
 he inquired. 
 
 " Yes ; that's the size of it. Anyway I'm going 
 to make the island for a try."
 
 352 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He nodded, and said nothing. He was a mere 
 passenger on the lugger now, and sat abaft smok- 
 ing his cigars and eyeing the operations, without 
 comment, his yachting cap tilted back on his 
 head, and his broad clean-shaven face set be- 
 tween grimness and coolness. 
 
 We made good way, and got in the neighbour- 
 hood of Lundy towards dusk. The fishing smack 
 had had several hours start of us, and conse- 
 quently should already have arrived at her des- 
 tination, if the island was her destination. Of 
 that we were by no means certain. Yet I had 
 additional reasons for supposing it to be. Had 
 the Mermaid been lying off the coast either 
 of North Cornwall or Devon, Alston would not 
 have taken to the sea, which he disliked, at Pad- 
 stow, but would have driven northwards or 
 southwards to an easier point of departure. And 
 after all, Lundy was a likely place of rendezvous. 
 So I headed for Lundy in the hope of finding my 
 calculations accurate. The first thing that gave 
 me confidence was the sight of a single fishing- 
 smack in the gloaming, tacking for the mainland. 
 Neither Butterfield nor Rudgwick could say if 
 this were the boat in which Alston had sailed, 
 having no instinct of the sea, but I was convinced 
 in my heart that it was so. The fugitives had 
 been transhipped, and the smack was returning 
 to Padstow.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 353 
 
 We sighted the island in the growing darkness, 
 but I fetched up towards the north, leaving it on 
 my port. A few lights rode in the offing, and 
 betrayed the presence of shipping, but there was 
 no sign of the schooner. 
 
 "You're in the ditch now," remarked Rudg- 
 wick, when this was apparent. 
 
 "No," said I, "not yet, and don't mean to be. 
 What's Alston going to do, when he meets the 
 Mermaid f He can't set his sails for America; 
 I doubt if he can even venture on Ireland, if what 
 you say about the provisioning holds. He's got 
 to get to land somewhere on this coast, and 
 Lundy's a good jumping-off place. If he thinks 
 he's given you the slip (and he very well may) 
 he won't take great pains to hide his movements. 
 Why should he ? He can make a dash for it, and 
 bring off what he wants almost anywhere. That's 
 how he will look at it. He'll pick up the schooner, 
 and go well, north maybe, certainly not back to 
 Padstow. " 
 
 "That sounds sense," observed Rudgwick. 
 "But that doesn't bring us on to him." 
 
 "A sailor would see it as plain as a mast," I 
 said sarcastically. "But you only own sailors." 
 
 " No, by God, I don't, " he said good-humouredly 
 enough. "They own my vessel." 
 
 I justified myself to him before long by picking 
 up the trail, mainly by accident. I was fully
 
 354 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 confident that I could bring up at the same port 
 as the schooner sooner or later, but chance fa- 
 voured me, and it was sooner. The rake of her 
 masts was unmistakable in the luminous night, 
 and I guessed that she was making for the land 
 as fast as her heels would carry her. Of course 
 we were safe from detection, as our lugger was 
 unknown, and Alston would be all unconscious 
 that he was still followed. Yet it would not do 
 to take risks, and so I kept the boat on a parallel 
 course at a good distance ; and we both raced for 
 harbour, but for what harbour I knew not. 
 
 A moon broke out a little later, and I was 
 able presently to conjecture whither we were 
 bound. 
 
 The schooner, trim and graceful with her dandy 
 airs, was cantering under a brisk wind, all frills 
 on, and our lubberly lugger ploughed after her, 
 like a cart-horse, but a cart-horse with speed. 
 There was no question by this time that Alston 
 designed to enter the Severn estuary and utilise 
 one of the innumerable refuges on the shores, 
 from Cardiff, it might be, to Bristol. The range 
 was ample. I told Rudgwick so, and he pon- 
 dered. 
 
 "Can we hold him?" he asked. 
 
 "In this wind, yes," I said. "But not in 
 beating up." 
 
 "Well, this wind's got to go on," was all he
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 355 
 
 remarked, as if he had authority over the ele- 
 ments, and could operate them as he operated 
 a stock. 
 
 Yet the wind did hold, at least, for a time, as 
 you shall hear ; and, parted by scarcely a mile of 
 heaving water, schooner and lugger, quarry and 
 hound, swung into the open estuary.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 ALSTON AT BAY 
 
 THE wind held till dawn and then died away, 
 leaving us to struggle along in an unequal en- 
 counter. Rudgwick, understanding none of the 
 details of seamanship, looked on indifferently, 
 and it was I who fumed at heart. I know that 
 if he had recognised how things were going he 
 would have shown his ugly side ; but he had faith 
 in me, and that and ignorance kept him cheerful. 
 I never did see Rudgwick really "nasty," but 
 one was always conscious that he could be, and 
 I have no doubt he had often been. While en- 
 gaged in his fight, and while that fight hung in 
 the balance he kept an equable temper ; but I did 
 not know how he would lose. He would certainly 
 be restrained in defeat neither by justice nor 
 generosity. 
 
 But luckily he had not to discover the weak- 
 ness of the lugger in that light wind; for before 
 my astounded eyes the schooner made a board 
 unexpectedly, and began to draw in to shore. 
 We were off the rocky cliffs by Minehead, and it 
 was apparent from the new move that Alston 
 
 356
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 357 
 
 desired to land there. So much the better for 
 us; our unsuspected lugger could safely harbour 
 there also. Rudgwick, who had retired for sleep, 
 was awake by the time we anchored, and was 
 greatly astonished. 
 
 "Got 'em cornered right away, Kerslake, " he 
 said, and then, staring at the schooner blackly, 
 added, "Now, we'll talk." 
 
 I shall certainly never forget the scene which 
 ensued between the two men and to which I 
 come at once. 
 
 At six Rudgwick announced his intention of 
 boarding the yacht and of giving Alston a sur- 
 prise. The schooner lay anchored off the shore, 
 like the lugger, and at half a mile's distance ; and 
 the sun shone on the smooth water between us. 
 Rudgwick, Butterfield and myself were pulled 
 across by two of our hands, and as we came up, 
 the figure of a man was stooped over the taffrail. 
 The glare from the sea was in my eyes, so that I 
 could not recognise him, but I was aware that he 
 had suddenly stood up and walked hurriedly away. 
 Then we ran alongside, and scrambled on deck. 
 
 Alston himself met us, and, if it were not too 
 preposterous a phrase in the circumstances, I 
 should say welcomed us. Someone had hastily 
 warned him of the approach, and he was able 
 to pull himself together, and take it this way. 
 The man was amazing.
 
 358 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "I take it very friendly of you, Wilson," he 
 remarked with his even smile, "coming aboard 
 like this. Guess it reminds me of a surprise 
 party away home. Lieutenant, I don't forget to 
 ask after your leg." 
 
 "That's all right," said Rudgwick grimly. 
 " We'll push business through before we come to 
 compliments, if you don't mind, Fordyce. There's 
 a hell of a lot between us. Can't you manage a 
 little privacy on this yacht of yours?" 
 
 Alston hesitated for a moment, and then led 
 the way towards the deck-cabins which I remem- 
 bered so well. There was no other person visible 
 anywhere, save a man cleaning a lamp forward. 
 Rudgwick took a seat in the cabin that had been 
 his office, and grinned. 
 
 "Jude all right?" he asked, setting aside his 
 yachting cap. 
 
 " He don't enjoy bad health much," said Alston. 
 
 "That's all right, anyway, " pursued Rudgwick. 
 " I daresay I'll be seeing him later. In the mean- 
 time you'll do, Fordyce. I like to open with the 
 principal. Now, it's been a considerable long 
 chase, but we've come in on the winning-post, 
 and we'll be obliged to you for a chat with that 
 charming ward of yours, whose society you have 
 monopolised too long. At least that's my feeling, 
 and I think it's Mr. Kerslake's." 
 
 "You will recognise, Wilson," said Alston im-
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 359 
 
 perturbably, "that I can't coerce any lady. If 
 she likes to entertain you for an hour's chat, she's 
 welcome. " 
 
 "Then I reckon, we'll wait here until she 
 comes," said Rudgwick bluntly. 
 
 "I'll make a point of finding out," said Alston 
 rising, and he left the cabin. 
 
 "This is no good," said I to Rudgwick. "It 
 will get us no farther." 
 
 "My son, we're in a law-abiding country, as 
 you have several times reminded me, " said Rudg- 
 wick dryly, "and we've got proprieties to observe. 
 I may not handle a ship, but I know how to 
 operate, and I'm going to carry through these 
 negotiations, not you." 
 
 I made no remonstrance, for Alston returned 
 just then. 
 
 "I regret," he said amiably, "that Miss Lovell 
 is disinclined for society so early." 
 
 " Very well then ; we'll come along a little later," 
 declared Rudgwick. 
 
 Alston smiled in his face. I think he was 
 quite confident of himself now. 
 
 "I can't honestly say she will be able to see 
 anyone today," he remarked. 
 
 "Afternoon tea, Fordyce?" suggested Rudg- 
 wick. 
 
 "Miss Lovell's not up to the mark," replied 
 Alston with a detached air of sympathy, "and I
 
 360 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 guess she won't be taking afternoon tea to- 
 day." 
 
 "That so?" Rudgwick scratched a hand thought- 
 fully, and his jaw thickened. "Well, I'm sorry 
 the lady's indisposed, for she can't very well be 
 left out of these considerations." He was tired 
 of the preliminaries, as I could see. Alston was 
 of a nature to parley for a long time, and to enjoy 
 it. Rudgwick with his blunter ways broke out, 
 " I don't care if you keep that girl or not, Fordyce, 
 but we've got to see her right away." 
 
 The smile was still on Alston's face. " Really !" 
 he said. 
 
 " You don't seem to understand the position, " 
 went on Rudgwick slowly. "You're calculating 
 to marry this girl, and we're going to stop that. 
 We don't think you a suitable match, anyway; 
 and we're just going to tell the young lady so in 
 the hope that she'll take our view as disinterested 
 parties. " 
 
 " I don't think she would, " said Alston lightly. 
 " Women have prejudices and prepossessions ; and 
 she's not likely to feel any great trust in gentle- 
 men who have been persecuting her for days. 
 Still I'm open to conviction, and you can try." 
 
 "I think that try will come off, Fordyce," 
 said Rudgwick, gravely. "You think you've 
 got the bulge on me because you're in possession. 
 That tale about nine points of the law is damn
 
 'I don't care if you Keep that girl or not. Fordyce, but 
 we've got to see her right away'"
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 361 
 
 nonsense. You ought to be smart enough to 
 know that. The law ain't anything, anyway. 
 See; I'll let you know plain. I'm going to use 
 habeas corpus. You've got a young lady stowed 
 away, and you're going to produce her, and I'll 
 show you why. I needn't tell you my way, 
 Fordyce. I guess you know I don't talk through 
 my hat. Here's three affidavits that get you 
 two ways, my son. In the first place you stole 
 my yacht, and the lieutenant here and Butterfield 
 depose to that. That fixes you here, my son. 
 You know my ways, and what I can do on the 
 end of a wire. I'll undertake to fix it all up in 
 this tin-pot village yonder in an hour. That 
 freezes you here, Fordyce. You can't get away. 
 I guess you're waterlogged here." 
 
 Alston's smile was still a smile, and he glanced 
 at us all three. " This is getting mighty interest- 
 ing, " he said. "Wilson Rudgwick standing by 
 the law and invoking its aid." 
 
 "I'll invoke anything to get even, " said Rudg- 
 wick bluffly, "You're fastened, boy. You're 
 regularly nailed. If you make a bolt for it, we 
 can run you down." He nodded outwards as if 
 he would indicate the lugger. "We hold you." 
 
 Alston was no sailor, as I have said, and no 
 doubt he was taken in by this piece of bluff. The 
 smile for a moment lifted, and I wondered if it 
 had been real.
 
 362 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Well, say I'm anchored here. What's that 
 amount to?" 
 
 "It won't work, Fordyce, " said Rudgwick, 
 shaking his head. " You're at bay, but you can't 
 do anything. I guess a man may be dangerous 
 when he's at bay, but we hold you too tight. 
 Here's the next item in the menu. These affi- 
 davits witness that you have run away with a 
 young lady and hold her captive against her will." 
 
 "Pardon me, Wilson, with her own consent 
 the lady whom I rescued from a rascal of a kid- 
 napper, and who is to marry me." 
 
 "You may, if you like, demonstrate that," 
 said the other. "I'm taking no interest in events 
 so remote. All I want I get, and that is a little 
 talk with the lady. That move with the affida- 
 vits gives me that. See? By God, Fordyce 
 Alston, you played me false, and I'm going to 
 squelch you, crack you like a flea," and Rudg- 
 wick, black and hard of face, thundered on the 
 table with his fist. 
 
 "You make me tired, Wilson," said Alston, 
 recovering his smile. "You're not first hero in 
 a melodrama. Anyway, Miss Lovell's not well 
 enough to receive visitors. " He rose, and Rudg- 
 wick rose, all signs of his anger gone. 
 
 "Nice little crib of yours, Fordyce," he re- 
 marked. " I guess this runs you into something 
 like 300 dollars a day, don't it?" He went out.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 363 
 
 "If I was you, Fordyce," he threw over his 
 shoulder, " I'd make certain of Jude. He's nasty, 
 is Jude. I don't hand him overwith testimonials." 
 
 The deck was clear still, for Jude had not dared 
 to face the master whom he had betrayed. It 
 was Alston who showed us over the side, and who 
 watched us pull away in the morning sunlight. 
 He waved a hand in farewell. I wondered if he 
 were still as sure of himself and of his triumph. 
 
 Our game, as outlined forcibly by Rudgwick, 
 seemed safe enough. The only danger lay in the 
 inferior speed of the lugger in the prevailing wind, 
 for it was possible, even probable, that Jude 
 would undeceive Alston in regard to the practi- 
 cability of being overtaken. There was our weak 
 point, and it might prove fatal. But it did not 
 disturb Rudgwick who was in good humour from 
 his interview. 
 
 "If his crew had been mine I would have 
 forced it through," he said. "But these fellows 
 are no good for an affair of that sort. I've no 
 use for them." 
 
 Certainly force was out of the question; the 
 battle now was to diplomacy, and Rudgwick 
 went ashore at once to start his operations. 
 What he did I do not know, for I did not inquire 
 what he intended, and the subsequent turn of 
 events rendered it unnecessary. But he was a 
 magnate in command of agents everywhere, and
 
 364 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 able to say to this man " Go " and he would go, or 
 to that "Come" and he would come. I concluded 
 he set his machinery going. Both he and Alston 
 were ignorant of English methods, and I suppose 
 they imagined that a wealthy man could expedite 
 the processes of the law, and possibly have a sher- 
 iff to seize the Mermaid in the course of a few 
 hours. 
 
 Meanwhile I kept watch over the schooner, 
 lest Alston should make another attempt to get 
 away, such as almost had succeeded on the Cornish 
 coast. It must have been half-way through the 
 morning, when I descried a little boat putting off 
 from the yacht. It departed without ostenta- 
 tion, with an unobtrusive air which at once at- 
 tracted my attention. At once I had the lugger's 
 boat dropped, and was pulled ashore, landing 
 immediately in the wake of the party. Alston 
 hailed me, but nowhere was Miss Lovell visible. 
 Two of Jude's ruffianly hands grinned familiarly 
 at me, and I could not but feel that, were it not 
 for the implication of Miss Lovell in the plot, 
 Rudgwick was well served for employing such a 
 gang. They had been used to do his dirty work ; 
 and now they were doing Alston's. 
 
 " Well met on theRialto ! " cried Alston cheerily. 
 " We seem bound to knock up against each other. 
 How's Wilson?" 
 
 Without waiting for an answer, he ascended
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 365 
 
 the shore and began to walk briskly towards the 
 houses of the village. The sea rolled gently on 
 the sands of that small indentation, and some 
 cottages straggled down towards the flat of the 
 shore. But farther away the village straggled 
 upwards into the small valley at the back of which 
 rose the bleak uplands of Exmoor. Alston walked 
 in a business-like way to the chief inn, and after a 
 brief visit continued his way to the post-office. 
 Nearby he encountered Rudgwick, who had evi- 
 dently come from what he called "the end of the 
 wire." They exchanged salutations, Alston re- 
 marking on the warmth of the day, and Rudgwick 
 on the slowness of English telegraph operators. 
 He stood and watched Alston go towards the 
 post-office. 
 
 "He's all right," he observed casually to me. 
 "He's got something in his head; I can tell from 
 the way he wags it. But if he wants to cable 
 any, I've fixed him up a bit. I guess he won't 
 get on to the other end inside some time. I've 
 left that operator telegraphing the Book of Eccle- 
 siastes for me. That's a good old wheeze." 
 
 He turned, nodded to me, and then paused. 
 "You keeping an eye on him?" he inquired. 
 " Right my son, I'll go bail for you. Well, he can't 
 get away from the post-office yet awhile. Let's 
 have a drink." 
 
 We went back to the inn, and entered the bar-
 
 366 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 parlour, where the landlord attended us, a pleas- 
 ant-faced, cheerful, smiling fellow with a rustic 
 deliberation. He conceived there was some 
 deep-laid humour in Rudgwick's remarks, and 
 smiled increasingly and vaguely at them, but 
 was in his sphere and his depth when it came to 
 local inquiries. 
 
 It suited me to remain at the inn which com- 
 manded a view of the village street and the bay, 
 particularly as Alston also chose it as his head- 
 quarters. Rudgwick strolled about the place, 
 smoking cigars, extravagantly naval in appear- 
 ance and rig. Butterfield had been left aboard. 
 A Sabbatarian calm rested over the village, 
 though as a matter of fact it was Saturday. Cer- 
 tainly no one would have dreamed that these two 
 quiet and inoffensive American gentlemen were 
 sworn enemies, and engaged in a desperate duel 
 that might spell ruin to one at least. Alston 
 read a local paper, as if it interested him, but I 
 conceive that he was only waiting there to be 
 convenient to the telegraph office. He was 
 amiable as he always showed himself, talked a 
 little to me, and occasionally at me, as if it were 
 a joke which amused him, and yawned and con- 
 sulted his watch, and finally invited me to lunch 
 with him. 
 
 "It's a dreary business this hanging around," 
 he said. "Wilson's right about these post-offices
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 367 
 
 of yours. Say, that was a neat idea of his, 
 keeping the operator going. It was a bully idea. 
 It's made a difference." 
 
 He came to a pause abruptly, as a messenger 
 boy entered. He put out a hand and took the 
 telegram, opened it and read. 
 
 "No answer," he said to the boy, and then 
 looked across at me. "You can have a copy of 
 this if you like Kerslake. Wilson might find it 
 useful; save him trouble." 
 
 He handed it to me, and I read it. It was 
 signed Lovell, and stated that Mr. Fordyce Alston 
 was authorised by the signer to undertake the 
 guardianship of her daughter and to bring her 
 back to the Isle of Wight. 
 
 "That disposes of a good bit," said Alston, 
 nodding at it when he saw I had finished. "That 
 wipes some of Wilson out. " He folded the paper, 
 put it in his pocket, and strolled out carelessly. 
 I followed. It was necessary to keep in touch 
 with so bright a gentleman as this. He walked 
 up the village towards the church, and leaned 
 over the stone wall and contemplated it. 
 
 "Say, Kerslake," he called without looking 
 round. "What's the matter with being my best 
 man, eh?" 
 
 He walked up to the porch and studied the 
 notices on the door; then he turned off towards 
 the vicarage, which was entered from the church-
 
 3 68 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 yard. He disappeared within the gates, and I 
 waited outside. 
 
 A quarter of an hour elapsed before he returned, 
 when he approached me jauntily. 
 
 "This job don't really suit you, Kerslake. 
 You're not a born spy. You were cut out for 
 higher work; take my word for it. Still, it don't 
 nutter me much ; so come along and have lunch. " 
 
 That invitation, of course, I declined; I ate 
 with Butterfield, who had landed to bring news 
 of the schooner. She was lying leisurely at 
 anchor, but some boats had gone off to her, and 
 Butterfield was of opinion that she was being 
 provisioned. 
 
 "Never mind, we can't help that," I told him. 
 "As long as we've got the man under our hands 
 we're all right." 
 
 Butterfield, who was excited and ill at ease, 
 was anxious to get back, and left me with all 
 despatch, but he did not succeed in returning as 
 he expected, for he met Rudgwick, as you shall 
 hear, who sent him on an errand. Alston left 
 the inn about three, and set out up the valley, 
 as if to explore it after the fashion of an ordinary 
 tourist. I made after him. He recognised my 
 duty which was that of sentinel, a watch-dog. 
 There was no need of pretence or concealment. 
 
 Butterfield hove into view as I got to the 
 corner of the street, and I waited for him. It
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 369 
 
 was then I learned that Rudgwick had prevented 
 his return to the lugger, and I told him my news. 
 As we spoke together Rudgwick came up the 
 street, and we three conferred in the heart of the 
 little village. Rudgwick had of course, by this 
 time heard my news about the telegram. 
 
 "That leaves the other part of my scheme 
 more urgent," said he. "Blamed if these fools 
 can be hurried up." 
 
 "Well, we've got him safe for the present," 
 I said. " I don't know why he hangs about here, 
 instead of making a dash for it." 
 
 Rudgwick looked up the valley, where Alston's 
 tall figure was visible mounting the road. 
 
 "Your leg well enough for that game?" he 
 asked ; and I told him it was good enough to walk 
 down Alston even if he were to give me a lead 
 across Exmoor. I was always an admirable 
 walker, and I hardly felt any inconvenience from 
 the wound, save a little soreness. 
 
 Rudgwick pondered in his brooding way. 
 "Guess, you know Alston doesn't wear kid 
 gloves? "he said. "Best take Butterfield. " 
 
 " Oh, I'm not a fool, " I answered." I'm armed, 
 but if you'll spare Butterfield I'll take him along." 
 He nodded. "Look here, Butterfield," I said. 
 "I'll keep him in sight, and no more, and I want 
 you just to keep me in sight, and no more. Do 
 you see? Make believe you're spy on me. It
 
 370 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 may come in useful, that he should think I'm 
 the only one." 
 
 Rudgwick nodded again. "That's a great 
 scheme. Butterfield you mark that, and get a 
 move on you." 
 
 Thus it came about that we went up the valley, 
 in a queue, Alston leading by a good stretch, 
 myself in the middle and Butterfield bringing up 
 the rear. The way our leader took us lay along 
 a hillside, and soon began to climb out of the 
 inhabited regions of the valley. The heights 
 grew barren and wilder, and the prospect of the 
 sea widened below us. From time to time Alston 
 paused and looked around, as if he were admiring 
 the scenery. But I knew he knew I was behind 
 him, and it may have been that he wanted to be 
 sure of my whereabouts. He had probably 
 sighted me at times, but of that I could not be 
 sure. Presently, after one of his pauses he left 
 the road and began to go down the rough hillside 
 towards the bottom of the valley. In this direc- 
 tion there was arable land, green with corn, and 
 watered by a little stream that flowed through 
 it to the sea. 
 
 I turned off the road before I reached the spot 
 at which he had digressed, and so, with little at- 
 tempt now to hide myself, made down towards the 
 meadows and the cornlands. When I had reached 
 the bottom I looked back, but Butterfield, who
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 371 
 
 had been carefully following my instructions, was 
 not in sight. I continued, and traced Alston to 
 the stream. This he followed upwards again, 
 seemingly without purpose, until he had mounted 
 a rise at the head of the valley and was once more 
 at a considerable elevation above the sea. Here 
 off a lane with low hedges a windmill reared 
 itself. Alston entered the mill. 
 
 It stood silent, its arms motionless, in arrest, 
 though a brisk wind was blowing on the hill. I 
 remember remarking that, and rejoicing to think 
 that the lugger would now not be at such a dis- 
 advantage compared with the schooner. Alston 
 did not reappear. A little way off was a cottage, 
 but if the mill was still in use it had ceased work 
 on this Saturday afternoon. I wondered what 
 had brought Alston here, and concluded it might 
 even be mere deviltry, to make sport of me. But 
 that was hardly in keeping with his character, 
 which was that of a man who takes the shortest 
 cut to his end. I waited some time and then I 
 approached the windmill, for it had occurred to 
 me that there might be a backway out, and a 
 jumble of sheds behind might have concealed 
 Alston's retreat from it. I peered in through 
 the door which was reached by a flight of steps, 
 but could make out nothing; and so I mounted 
 slowly. 
 
 It may be that my very deliberation was my
 
 372 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 undoing, and that if I had taken the intervening 
 space at a run I should have escaped. The plain 
 fact is that ere I had reached the topmost rung 
 of the ladder I was suddenly conscious of a creak- 
 ing and then I was knocked senseless. 
 
 I came to, with a dizzy head, that ached beyond 
 bearing, and Alston was stooping over me. Only 
 vaguely conscious, I was aware that my limbs 
 were cramped and that I could not stir. 
 
 "It was a pretty hard hit," remarked Alston 
 in a professional way. 
 
 "What what was it?" I asked stupidly. 
 
 "Well, you see you were foolish enough to get 
 in the way of the sails," he said. "And so I've 
 brought you in to recover from the nasty knock 
 you got." 
 
 He opened the door as he spoke, nodded and 
 left me, closing it behind him. My heart sank. 
 He had worsted me again. Like a fool, and as 
 if I had had no experience of the man, I had 
 walked into his trap as mild as a lamb. He had 
 released the windsails when he saw me mounting, 
 and they had done his work for him effectually. 
 I wondered dully why they had not knocked me 
 clean out of life altogether. 
 
 But sensation flowed back on me slowly, and 
 I grew alive to the full environment of my posi- 
 tion; and immediately on that followed the 
 memory of Butterfield. How fortunate it was
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 373 
 
 that I had arranged for him to dog my steps! 
 Aching and sore as I was, there was still consola- 
 tion in the thought that my release was but the 
 affair of a few minutes. And then I realised how 
 I was confined. I was muffled to the neck in an 
 empty bag, which was tied securely about me 
 there and held me helpless. However, I was not 
 going to struggle, to kick futilely against the 
 pricks. I would await Butterfield's arrival with 
 what patience I might, and turn over the situa- 
 tion afresh in my mind. 
 
 It was clear that Alston had deliberately en- 
 trapped me, and in consequence he must have a 
 strong reason for wishing to throw me off his track. 
 
 Yet even rid of me he would have two others, 
 as implacable as I, to hunt him down, unless he 
 intended to isolate us and destroy our force in 
 detail. I puzzled my head, as I lay in that un- 
 dignified heap on the floor of the mill, as to what 
 the arch-enemy would be doing now. Had he 
 gone back to the schooner to bring Miss Lovell 
 ashore? Or was he plotting to dispose of Rudg- 
 wick as he had disposed of me? 
 
 In the midst of these reflections there came a 
 noise, and I recognised the sound of feet grating 
 on the ladder. A little after, Butterfield's face 
 appeared. 
 
 "By gosh!" he ejaculated. "He's done you 
 fair, he's fair done you."
 
 374 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 He stooped over me with a certain solicitous 
 kindness which was native to him, and examined 
 me. "He's a hell of a fellow, is Alston," he 
 observed. "He's a real hell of a fellow." 
 
 His deft fingers were plying about the cord 
 which bound the neck of the sack all the time. 
 
 "He's almost been too much for me," I said, 
 "and I've the most infernal backache." 
 
 "Almost," said Butterfield contemptuously. 
 "I guess you ain't a proper match for Fordyce 
 Alston. It takes the three of us. Not that the 
 boss couldn't manage himself, but he don't want 
 unnecessary trouble, and so he stays more or less 
 home and directs. Yes, I guess it takes all three 
 of us." 
 
 "I'm glad to hear it, " said Alston's voice coolly. 
 
 Butterfield turned sharply, and then made a 
 dive, but the man who darkened the doorway 
 stooped and caught him as one catches a strug- 
 gling child, and turning him over put a knee in 
 the small of his back. 
 
 "Don't wriggle any, for it might crack," said 
 he. "And I don't want to use more force than 
 is necessary. I guessed the lieutenant here might 
 have a confederate, and I'm damned if it was a 
 bad idea." 
 
 "All right," gasped Butterfield, giving up. 
 " Let be. I don't want to eat dirt more'n I can 
 help."
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 375 
 
 Alston turned him round deftly and groped at 
 a pile of empty sacks nearby. He had made use 
 of this for me, and I was squirming and struggling 
 in the mesh of my prison helplessly and vainly. 
 
 " I don't know but I ought to put you in wrong 
 way up, my son," said Alston humourously. 
 " But right way will do anyway, " and the mouth 
 of the sack yawned before the intended victim. 
 Butterfield renewed his efforts, kicking his feet 
 wide, but they were encased swiftly in a grip that 
 was a vice, and the sack reached his middle. 
 Then he almost vanished in it from his littleness. 
 Alston laughingly tied it about his neck. 
 
 "Calls to mind," said he, "a kind of fairy tale 
 I used to read. I don't right recollect it, but it 
 was this sort of thing." 
 
 "Spotted me?" inquired Butterfield ceasing to 
 struggle. 
 
 " Spotted you, Nathaniel, quite a long way off, 
 and laid for you, like Brer Fox." 
 
 " You're pretty smart, " admitted the little man 
 with a sigh. 
 
 Alston nodded. He had no time to waste in 
 conversations, compliments or ceremonies. We 
 heard his feet rattle down the ladder. 
 
 "This is up against me," said Butterfield. 
 " I'd knock my head if I could, but I can't. He 
 paused. "Guess the boss will do it for me," he 
 added pensively.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 THE LAST CHASE 
 
 TEN minutes passed ere Butterfield gave up his 
 attempts to disengage himself ; but the sack was a 
 secure prison, and resisted all assaults on it. It 
 gave with every movement of the limbs and met 
 attack by retiring. Alston had removed Butter- 
 field's knife from him, and I found he had done 
 the same by me; so that though our hands were 
 free we had nothing but bare fingers with which 
 to cut through the coarse texture of the sacking. 
 With foot and nail we fought, and gave up out of 
 sheer weariness, in order to gain strength to renew 
 the combat later. 
 
 " I got a bit of pencil which I'm figuring to work 
 on directly," said Butterfield, "and seems to me 
 there's a bit of a hole my heel has made. We'll 
 have another go directly. Gosh, I'm fair smoth- 
 ered with flour." 
 
 For the unfortunate little man had been encased 
 in an old sack, and his exertions had raised the 
 dust of the flour of ages from the web of it. He 
 breathed wearily and with difficulty. 
 
 376
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 377 
 
 "Blamed, if I don't think I'd sooner roll 
 myself to the door and down the steps, if it was 
 open." 
 
 It was open ; for at that moment it opened, and 
 in the half light I recognized the new-comer. It 
 was Rudgwick. 
 
 "This about finds your limit, Nathaniel," he 
 remarked, and stooping with a knife cut the cords 
 that confined both of us. Then he stood up, a 
 sardonic smile on his face. " Get a move on you, 
 now. There's no time to waste, boys. Fordyce 
 has got on his seven-league boots." 
 
 With difficulty I got to my feet, having extri- 
 cated myself from the bag, and I was amazingly 
 sore and stiff. Rudgwick noted it. 
 
 " You get most of the kicks, Kerslake," he said. 
 "You're not a lucky man." 
 
 " I am this minute," I answered, "for I'd given 
 up hope of freedom for some hours. How on 
 earth do you come here?" 
 
 " Why, your plan wasn't a bad one ; it showed 
 real statesmanship; but it didn't go far enough. 
 There was the making of a good idea there. So 
 I made it." 
 
 "How?" I inquired, not understanding. 
 
 "I followed Butterfield. I was the fourth 
 wheel. Fordyce knew you, and suspected a 
 second, but he wasn't fly enough to look for a 
 third."
 
 378 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 "Oh, the boss's all right," said Butterfield 
 admiringly. 
 
 " Well, get along now, ' ' urged Rudgwick. " For- 
 dyce is racing for the sea. I was in two minds to 
 follow him, but I guess this was your privilege," 
 and those words and that act of rescue coupled 
 with that renunciation were, and remain, the best 
 I knew of that remarkable man. He had run the 
 risk of losing that game to give us our chance. 
 
 The one satisfactory point was that Alston did 
 not know that Rudgwick was not on guard, either 
 aboard the lugger or in the village. What then 
 was his object in hurrying back? We could not 
 answer that question without hurrying back our- 
 selves ; and this we did, as fast as my enfeebled 
 state would allow us. Butterfield went on before 
 to make inquiries, and he had succeeded in learn- 
 ing one point ere Rudgwick and I joined him. 
 Alston had returned to the inn half an hour earlier, 
 and had then gone on to the vicarage. He had 
 seemed in great haste, and had given his orders 
 sharply. To that the affable but muddle-headed 
 inn-keeper could add nothing. He did not know 
 if Alston had gone aboard the schooner, which 
 lay in the offing, as impassive and idle as ever, with 
 no sign of life, only the American flag cracking in 
 the freshening breeze. Inquiries in the village 
 failed to produce any definite answer ; but on the 
 sands we learned more, namely that Alston had
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 379 
 
 put off to the yacht and must now be aboard. 
 This news was brought by Butterfield, and Rudg- 
 wick immediately hailed a boat and started for 
 the lugger, in his factotum's company, leaving 
 me to follow forthwith. There was just one rea- 
 son why I did not go with them. If Alston had 
 gone aboard to bring Miss Lovell ashore it was 
 well that one of us should be there to meet him, 
 when he landed. But I had another thought also. 
 Alston had visited the vicarage twice. Perhaps 
 there some light might be shed upon his move- 
 ments if I went in the guise of a friend. 
 
 It was at the vicarage I got my surprise. The 
 vicar was out, and, to my pressing inquiries on 
 the plea of urgency, came the remarkable state- 
 ment that he had left with a tall gentleman from 
 the yacht. Back I rushed in new excitement to 
 the shore, and discovered that Alston had had for 
 companion in the boat the parson, "a little fat 
 man," as an eye-witness volunteered. I did not 
 hesitate now a moment as to my course, but was 
 speedily being rowed for the lugger with my 
 startling news. 
 
 Half-way out I saw the schooner shaking out 
 her sails, and I urged my boatman to redouble his 
 exertions ; but the crew were deft and knew their 
 work, and by the time I reached the lugger the 
 Mermaid was under way. I knew it all now ; 
 I guessed at the last crafty plan of that crafty and
 
 380 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 elusive brain. As he found it impossible to marry 
 ashore, he would marry afloat ; and by persuasion, 
 no doubt, by the graces and arts of his address, or 
 by other means maybe, he had won over the 
 parson of the village to his ends. After all it was 
 a permissible and harmless whim for an American 
 millionaire to be married on his yacht by special 
 license. 
 
 The lugger was in a state of confusion when I 
 boarded her, for Rudgwick was furious at the 
 prospect of being defeated at last and was show- 
 ing his rough temper. 
 
 " He must have found I was ashore somehow, " 
 he said, " and thinks to catch me napping. No, 
 by God, he don't, if we run across the Atlantic 
 for it." 
 
 It was then that I told him my surmise, which 
 amounted to certainty, and he listened with an 
 ominous frown. 
 
 "See here," he declared. "You've got to get 
 every pound out of this boat. That's your affair. 
 I guess you're no good ashore with that game leg 
 and stuff. Push her along. " 
 
 There was no need for his stimulus: my incen- 
 tive was elsewhere. My small crew answered 
 gravely to my call and we had the boat moving as 
 the schooner with her swelling spread of canvas 
 turned the promontory. She was running out 
 for the Atlantic, and the wind was thrashing from
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 381 
 
 the northwest. We followed half a mile in her 
 rear. 
 
 But it was soon apparent that we were no match 
 for the runaway. The lugger spread a lot of 
 canvas, and made a good showing before the wind, 
 but the yacht outsailed her, and we fell slowly 
 astern. Fortunately Rudgwick had not built his 
 schooner for speed, but for comfort in the first 
 place, and so she was not very light of foot. The 
 point was, however, that she was too light for us. 
 The rest of the afternoon we struggled pluckily on, 
 the gloom settling upon us all. Rudgwick's face 
 relapsed into a marmoreal frown ; he smoked and 
 walked about and growled out a few exchanges 
 from time to time. Seeing this depression Butter- 
 field, if you please, came to the rescue. The wind 
 was stiffening behind, and the sea was high, and 
 he had turned a ghastly colour; but, sensitive in 
 mind and body as I knew him to be to these 
 coincidental evils, he played the part of comforter 
 gallantly. 
 
 "If she goes like this," said he, clinging in a 
 sickly way to the mast, "we'll soon be there, 
 anyway." 
 
 "Where?" demanded Rudgwick with a mono- 
 syllabic sarcasm. 
 
 "Oh, we'll be on top of them," said the 
 little man with cheerful fortitude. 
 
 Rudgwick snorted, and deigned no answer.
 
 382 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 This was he at his worst, in an intelligible, but an un- 
 just mood, the mood of a man who is accustomed 
 to get his own way, and who has no consideration 
 for his inferiors. I knew he could be a bully, and 
 I saw it now in him. He was openly rude and con- 
 temptuous to his creature and very bluff with me. 
 
 "Can't this blamed Noah's ark make another 
 foot, anyway?" he demanded angrily. 
 
 "No," said I as shortly as he, "unless maybe 
 we were to pitch a Jonah overboard." 
 
 He gave me a look, and then his face relaxed 
 slightly. 
 
 " We'd have to decide who is our Jonah. I've a 
 notion myself." 
 
 "So have I." We grinned at each other, and 
 he went off in a little better mood to rest in the 
 afterpart. 
 
 We had lost sight of the schooner for some time 
 ere dusk fell, and that seemed to be the signal for 
 an increase in the wind. It was blowing a gale 
 out of the north, and the sky was savage with 
 wrack, and ominous to a sailor. The water ran 
 higher every minute, and the lugger shipped seas 
 constantly. But she was stoutly built and 
 shouldered her way roughly and imperturbably 
 southwards. 
 
 "We're going to have a dirty night," Rudg- 
 wick remarked. Butterfield by this time was 
 prostrate below.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 383 
 
 "Yes," said I, "and I must keep her out. We 
 can't chance a lee shore in this gale." 
 
 "Alston will have to keep out too?" said he in- 
 quiringly. I nodded. "Well, it don't matter 
 where he goes now," said Rudgwick moodily. 
 " He can fix up all right." 
 
 This touched me on the raw. " Can he ?" I said 
 sharply. " You forget apparently that the Mer- 
 maid sails under the American flag, and in that 
 case I don't believe a marriage would be legal." 
 
 "I guess Fordyce would run up a Union Jack," 
 said he dryly. 
 
 " That would make no difference," I declared. 
 
 "It would persuade the parson," he replied in 
 the same tone, " and as for the legality of the mar- 
 riage, I guess the girl will think so, and that's all 
 that matters." 
 
 Our eyes met, and I knew what he meant. My 
 blood was hot within me. Could nothing save her? 
 In that moment I was like one possessed of a devil ; 
 I was in a bitter black mood, and I had the lugger 
 put a point nearer the coast. 
 
 Proximity to that rugged shore became danger- 
 ous on such a night. The gale rising to a hurricane 
 shrieked in the sheets, and roared upon the canvas 
 making all Heaven a pandemonium of sound ; and 
 the big water rolled and heaved threateningly as we 
 climbed it. The light kept coming and going ; for 
 the clouds in the sky, broken into flinders by the
 
 384 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 gale, were but rags that drove in a panic across the 
 face of the full moon, and alternated light and twi- 
 light. It was in one of the flashes of light that I 
 sighted the schooner. She was hull down, on our 
 port, and it was the rake of her masts that I rec- 
 ognized. I laid the lugger a little nearer, as near as 
 I dared, and called Rudgwick. His voice shouted 
 out of the contending elements, and when he 
 reached me, blown and clinging to the lugger's 
 side, I pointed out the Mermaid. 
 
 His shout was almost inaudible, but I caught the 
 sense of it. 
 
 " What the hell is she doing?" 
 
 The continuing moon gave us the secret. She 
 was in some trouble, for her bows came round to- 
 wards us as we gazed, and she lurched and tumbled. 
 
 " Something's wrong with therudder," I shouted. 
 "This looks serious. We must get closer. She'll 
 never live in this sea with her steering gear wrong." 
 
 My heart was a nest of fears, though I said little. 
 I took the wheel myself and in spite of the pro- 
 testation of the skipper, laid the lugger direct for 
 the helpless schooner. But our light did not serve 
 us long ; the sea was soon merged in profound dark- 
 ness, and a black pall covered the sky. Simul- 
 taneously rain began to drive, as cold as ice, across 
 the summer night. The lugger laboured on, as 
 clumsy and as steady as an old cart-horse. But we 
 were galloping blindly, now, and, had it not been
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 385 
 
 that all my terror was for Sylvia Lovell, I should 
 have felt anxiety for ourselves. 
 
 It was not until out of the blackness that sur- 
 rounded us a thin, small light suddenly emerged, 
 that I discovered we were upon the schooner ; and 
 instantaneously I altered our course. But the 
 heavy sea washed over the deck and buffeted us, 
 and the lugger groaned at the blow. I could not 
 say to this day exactly how it occurred, but it was 
 due to the crippled condition of the schooner. She 
 must have swung around. At any rate we fouled 
 her suddenly with a dull crash that was unheard 
 amid the tumult of the water, but which was 
 palpable to every other sense. 
 
 For some moments we rode together as it were 
 in an awful jumble, grinding bulwarks to match- 
 board; and overhead the moon gleamed forth 
 again, revealing to me Alston's figure, clutching 
 the deck-house. Rudgwick clung beside me, 
 making no movement or sound, and it was at this 
 moment that little Butterfield made his appear- 
 ance from below. He was sicklied o'er with 
 pallor, but a great light shone on his face to my 
 eyes; though it may have been the moon that 
 touched him with its unearthliness. He stretched 
 an arm towards Alston and shouted, and climbed 
 on the bulwarks. Simultaneously I had been 
 seized with a resolution. Sylvia Lovell should 
 not go down with the wreck to a merciless grave.
 
 386 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 I would make an effort to set her on board the 
 lugger, where at least we had a chance for our 
 lives, unless we had suffered too severely by the 
 collision. 
 
 I leaped over the side and down to the schoon- 
 er's deck, and Butterfield stood preparing to 
 follow. At that moment, in the full blaze of the 
 moon I saw Alston release one hand and put it 
 to his breast. A spurt of fire streamed from him, 
 but no report was audible. There was a whirr 
 in my face, and I started. Butterfield fell heavily 
 back on the lugger. 
 
 I ran across the slanting deck of the schooner 
 to the cabin. I had no thought of Alston, 
 only of Sylvia ; and I forced open the door, 
 but found no one. Then it struck me that 
 in such a sea Miss Lovell would have been 
 removed from the deck cabins to the saloon 
 below; and I made my way to the companion 
 ladder. The schooner pitched violently, and I 
 was conscious of several men who were gathered 
 on the deck, and of Jude shouting and gesticu- 
 lating. Vague indeterminate impressions floated 
 in my brain, but I had no general sense of the 
 whole scene ; it was just a nightmare, disturbed and 
 terrifying. 
 
 But I forgot that in that moment of bewildered 
 ecstasy when I descended, and in the centre of 
 the saloon Sylvia Lovell was faintly visible in
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 387 
 
 the moonlight. She ran into my arms with a 
 cry that I hoped was a cry of joy. Hastily pulling 
 her with me up the staircase, I cast my eyes 
 towards the lugger, and now beheld with dismay 
 that she was separated from us by a dozen paces 
 of tumultuous water. It was impossible to get 
 back. My fortunes now were the fortunes of that 
 doomed schooner. 
 
 I tore myself away from Sylvia and stumbled 
 over the deck to find Jude. He had kept his 
 head, and his bull voice roared his orders. The 
 rudder had jammed, and the schooner was help- 
 less. He thundered across the seas at the lugger 
 which could not hear, and then after a time 
 turned to me. 
 
 "I guess, we've got to stand the racket," he 
 shouted. 
 
 Back I went to the saloon, not seeing any sign 
 of Alston on my way; but by this time the light 
 was bad again. We were adrift in a wild sea, 
 and we knew not how near or far were the iron 
 cliffs that had been cruel stepmother to so many 
 tall and gallant ships. There was nothing to be 
 done save to keep up our hearts and be patient. 
 If the Mermaid were doomed we could not save 
 her ; but it might be that she would tumble about 
 the sea till the morning, or till the gale blew itself 
 out. 
 
 I found Sylvia awaiting me anxiously. She
 
 388 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 was worn and white and troubled with all the 
 misery she had undergone. I put my arms about 
 her and so drew her into that harbour of love. 
 " I love you, I love you, darling, " I cried in her 
 ear, and she clutched me tightly, answering 
 nothing. Yet that clutch was an answer. I 
 soothed her fears, and encouraged her. I made 
 her sit down, as well as she could in a ship that 
 was forever tossing like a cork. I seized her 
 hand, and examined and felt it. 
 
 "No ring!" I cried exultingly. "You are not 
 married!" 
 
 "No," she breathed deeply back, her face 
 against mine. " I would not I would not. He 
 was angry, but I would not I would not. I 
 
 would not ever since " she broke off, and 
 
 shuddered, and clung closer to me. 
 
 After a time as we sat there I judged from the 
 motion that the wind was abating ; but it was still 
 dark, and as there were no lights on the schooner 
 it was impossible to say definitely what was 
 happening. But I seemed to hear better now 
 amid the uproar, and the drub of the sea was 
 not so deafening. Then it was that I heard my 
 name in a shout, and looking up saw Alston 
 dimly at the bottom of the companion ladder. 
 
 ' ' Kerslake ! Kerslake ! Come out like a man ! ' ' 
 he called. He could not discern us in the gloom, 
 and he came forward a step or two.
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 389 
 
 "Sylvia! Sylvia!" he called. "Sylvia, girl!" 
 
 But we were silent. The man was desperate 
 now. He had blood on his hands, and his enter- 
 prise had failed. He was a ruined man, and he 
 knew it. Here he was broken out in his true 
 evil light, a desperado, a reckless man, a gambler 
 with life and death. 
 
 "Sylvia! Sylvia!" he called, and silence an- 
 swered; or rather the bellowing of the wind and 
 the roar of the waves that was that silence. 
 
 "Kerslake, you're a man, ain't you?" he 
 sneered. "Come out and show yourself." 
 
 Sylvia clung to me, as if she would hold me back. 
 We were like two children, crouching in the dark, 
 and silent lest we should be discovered. A tiny 
 pop of sound broke through the droning of the 
 gale. He laughed, and fired again. At bay with 
 Fate he made a good loser. He came down the 
 saloon, and paused before us, surveying us with 
 what feeling in his heart or eyes I could not tell. 
 I put Sylvia's trembling arms away from me and 
 stood up. 
 
 " You called. What do you want? " I asked. 
 
 "Damned if I don't believe you're grit, Ker- 
 slake," he shouted. "Anyway you're going to be 
 tested. I guess you've done me out of this, more 
 than Wilson. Where's Wilson in this, anyway? 
 He don't get what he wants. We're all booked, 
 Lieutenant."
 
 390 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 " That's not proved," I said. 
 
 " Anyway, I'm booked, and I figure out you are 
 too. Sylvia, girl, you go away. Go right into one 
 of those cabins there, with the fat parson for 
 company." 
 
 She rose and swiftly clung to me. " No ; no ; no ; 
 you must not, you cannot ! Oh, you shall not ! ' ' 
 
 " Get along, girl, and no fuss," said he abruptly. 
 " Kerslake, you're pretty tough, and you wriggled 
 out of two holes. This, you bet, is the third 
 and last and biggest." 
 
 He levelled his revolver, and Sylvia dashed 
 between us in the twilight. He dropped his hand. 
 
 "You'd never have done that for me, Sylvia, 
 girl," he remarked quite coolly. " The game's up. 
 Say, is that a noise up aloft? " He listened, and we 
 all listened. Then he put his weapon in his pocket 
 and went towards the companion ladder, cling- 
 ing to the rail as he mounted. I held Sylvia close 
 to my heart a moment and then followed. 
 
 It must have been midnight now, and the loom 
 of the land was on our port, to which we were 
 slowly drifting. The wind had undoubtedly gone 
 down, but the sea was as heavy as ever, and we 
 bobbed upon it like a piece of wood. The men 
 were engaged in firing rockets, which flared out 
 in the night, and disclosed the formidable cliffs 
 which we were approaching. There was not a rag 
 of canvas on the schooner, which was merely
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 391 
 
 spindrift in the ocean. Huge seas broke over her 
 and battered her; and in the course of this per- 
 sistent assault some of the hands had gone over- 
 board. But Jude stuck steadily to his post, a 
 figure not ignoble, short, bluff, and snub of nose, 
 but a man and a master. The rockets screamed 
 and flared and faded in the darkness. 
 
 And now we were conscious of a light abeam 
 and knew there was still hope. Voices hailed us 
 out of the night, and the flare of a succeeding 
 rocket showed us an approaching life-boat. 
 
 "We've stood the racket, by God," said Jude 
 with gleaming eyes. 
 
 But Alston who was nearby, said nothing. His 
 eyes were on the life-boat. 
 
 I went back to the saloon and prepared Sylvia 
 for the rescue; and when we got on deck again 
 it was crowded with hands, and a rope was being 
 made fast. By means of this she first of all 
 passed over a cradle into safety ; and, one by one, 
 the work of rescue was carried on. The sea was 
 now breaking persistently over the schooner, and 
 amidships she was continuously awash. One 
 man jumping from the forecastle into the waist, 
 in order to reach the after-deck where the life- 
 boat was at work, was caught in the flood and 
 swept away forever. Alston had now vanished ; 
 and when I myself reached the life-boat I looked 
 to see if he was there ; but in the confusion I could
 
 392 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 not discover. Jude came across last of all, and 
 the rest of the crew had perished in the ravening 
 sea. 
 
 As the life-boat put off, the moon broke out 
 again on a wild welter of water, and disclosed the 
 cliffs a hundred yards away. The nose of the 
 schooner was set towards these as though she 
 were bent on her own destruction, and this was 
 her goal. A cry arose from someone in the boat, 
 and we could see now a tall figure, plainly visible 
 in the prow, under the moonlight. 
 
 "Alston! "I called out. 
 
 But my voice couldn't reach him. He stood 
 contemplating, as it seemed, the cliffs on which 
 the schooner was now rapidly drifting. It did 
 not take many minutes. She went ashore softly, 
 quietly, inaudibly, just as if she slipped on the 
 rocks, and crumpled up and went under. And 
 then I saw nothing but the moon on the tumbling 
 white water. 
 
 The life-boat made its way with difficulty and 
 in bitter cold to St. Ives from which station she 
 had started. Sylvia Lovell lay in my arms with 
 my coat about her to keep her warm, just as she 
 had lain (so long ago it seemed!) on that first 
 night on the Breton moor. She was silent and I 
 knew not what thoughts ran in her head. Mine 
 were strangely mingled, and a sense of the tragic 
 blended with that wonderful romantic thrill
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 393 
 
 which her presence stirred in me. When we 
 landed we were taken to one of the hotels, and 
 hospitably treated. And here we were surprised 
 by Rudgwick, who, after making inquiries as to 
 our whereabouts, entered the room where we 
 were resting. 
 
 " Glad to see you out of it, Kerslake, " he said in 
 his matter-of-fact voice. " Glad to see Miss Lovell 
 too. Near shave? Where's Fordyce?" 
 
 "All that came ashore are in the hotel," I 
 replied. 
 
 He was silent a moment, and then, " Drowned?" 
 bluntly. 
 
 " He went ashore with the schooner. He could 
 have come off," I explained wearily. 
 
 "Say, Miss Lovell would be the better of a 
 brandy and soda," he suggested watching her; 
 but she broke down at that last straw. 
 
 " Oh, I want to go home ! " she cried hysterically ; 
 and then, throwing her arms about me: " I want 
 you to come. Oh, I want you to come ! " 
 
 Rudgwick himself poured out the brandy, and I 
 made her take a little. He contemplated her, 
 and his face went into a frown. 
 
 "I did the best I could in regard to you," he 
 said presently in a drawling voice. " I made your 
 man go as fast as he could for St. Ives; and he 
 didn't want much asking. And we let the author- 
 ities know your position. But I confess I hadn't
 
 394 THE PRIVATEERS 
 
 many hopes. I thought I'd seen the last of you, 
 Kerslake." He paused. 
 
 "You fixed that up all right?" he asked, with 
 eyes speculative on Sylvia. 
 
 "Yes," I said. 
 
 "Bully!" he replied. "By the Lord I'd given 
 you up, but you win on the post." He helped 
 himself to brandy. "Well, young lady, you'll 
 succeed in straightening out your kinks, thanks to 
 the lieutenant here; and I hope you bear no 
 animosity, and we'll be friends." 
 
 Sylvia's large eyes wondered. "She knows 
 nothing yet, " I said. 
 
 "Guess you'll have a pickle of explanations," 
 he said dryly. 
 
 " She shall learn in time, " I said. 
 
 Sylvia held my hand and pressed it convuls- 
 ively. She trusted me ; that was enough. Rudg- 
 wick went to the window and looked out on the 
 water where the dawn was showing. It came 
 with a falling wind and a plunging grey sea. 
 
 "I have loved you since first I saw you," 
 I whispered to her. She pressed my hand. 
 
 " I I think I loved you when we were in the 
 swamp, but I didn't know it. I only felt some- 
 thing strange." That was her return whisper. 
 
 Rudgwick came back. 
 
 " I guess Fordyce was a good sport. I liked a 
 scrap with him. But it was time he cleared his
 
 THE PRIVATEERS 395 
 
 account," he said thoughtfully. "That readiness 
 with his pistol comes of Montana and wouldn't 
 work hereabouts." He paused. "I'm sorry about 
 Nathaniel. I've only got this damned Jude left. 
 Didn't Butterfield say he had a child somewhere, 
 girl or boy? I forget anyway, I'll make it 
 square. Yes, it was time Fordyce went. He was 
 always in too much of a hurry." 
 
 He stopped, and his eyes twinkled slightly as 
 he looked at me. 
 
 "I guess, Kerslake, I'll have that voting 
 majority all right all the same." 
 
 I said nothing, for I had all that I wanted; I 
 had Sylvia. 
 
 THE END
 
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