CHAPTER XXXIV.THE UNSEEN SHADOW.
He left them there shivering in the launch with a sudden chill that came not wholly from the cool breath that crept in over the dark surface of the harbor. They watched his dark bulk as he mounted the steps from the float, nor did they speak until the sound of his feet died out upon the pier.
Lynch was the first to break the silence. He forced a laugh as he turned to Ditson.
“We’ve got something interesting to look for,” he observed, with an air of bravado. “Mr. Buckhart was very theatrical in his threats.”
“If I’d ever thought it would end this way——”
Mike checked his companion by suddenly gripping Dunc’s arm and hissing:
“Shut up! Don’t talk like that now! Of course we didn’t mean to drown either one of them.”
Berger stepped forward.
“There’s something coming to me, gents,” he said. “Don’t forget it. You made me a proposition to run down that boat.”
“And you want to forget all about that, my man!” remarked Mike. “You’ll get the money, all right, but you don’t want to tell any one that there was any understanding between us. The whole thing was an accident. Nobody saw the rowboat until just as we struck it. Say so and stick to it—unless you want to do a turn in the stone jug.”
“The money——”
Lynch stepped close to Du Boise, to whom he spoke in a low tone.
“Got to have some more money, Hal,” he said.
“We’ve got to put a plaster over that man’s mouth. Cough up.”
“Now, hold on,” protested Hal, after reaching into his pocket. “Seems to me you’re inclined to push this thing too far. I’ve coughed up enough already. I’ve been paying your bills for the last three days.”
“Ever since I caught you skinning a bunch of easy marks with marked cards,” said Mike. “I saved you from exposure by getting away with those cards and substituting another pack when I found two of the fellows were planning to make an investigation. You ought to be grateful, Du Boise. You’re not as clever as you were once. There was a time when you didn’t have to use ordinary markers to win at poker. The pace you’ve been hitting has proved too much for you. But you made a fine haul off those suckers, and when they insisted on examining the cards not a thing could be proved against you, thanks to me. It was lucky I had a pack in my pocket with backs almost exactly like those markers. The resemblance was sufficient to fool the most of those chaps. Why, you thought you were cornered yourself until you picked up one of the cards and examined it closely.”
“That’s right,” nodded Du Boise. “Even then I wondered if I wasn’t dreaming. I didn’t know how it happened until you got me alone and explained. I think I’ve shown my appreciation. It’s cost me over a hundred dollars already.”
“I tell you I’ll square with you when I’m flush again. I went broke on that Providence game, and I had to raise money by hook or crook. You came like a delivering angel, Hal. I’ve got to pay Berger twenty-five dollars before we leave him this evening. Hand it over, old chap.”
With a sigh, Du Boise drew forth his money, and,holding it close to his eyes, separated four bills from the roll, three fives and a ten.
Lynch took this money and gave it to Berger.
“There it is,” he said, in a low tone. “Now let that keep your tongue still. If you don’t, you’re liable to find yourself in a nasty scrape. You were doing the steering, and, therefore, you were the one most responsible.”
“That’s right,” agreed Ditson quickly. “If you think to get out of this business by turning State’s evidence, we’ll swear we were not in earnest when we suggested you should run that boat down. We’ll say we were only joking. We’ll deny we ever gave you a cent of money for that piece of work.”
“Now you’d better hold up right where you are,” growled the man, with an intonation of disgust. “I’m no fool.”
“I don’t know about that,” muttered Lynch. “If I’d been in your place, twenty-five dollars never would have tempted me to run down a rowboat containing two persons.”
“You heard the threat of the chap who escaped,” said Ditson. “He’s the kind of a fellow to make good. He talks a whole lot, but he means what he says. You want to stand on your guard all the while. Don’t let any one pump you. Of course you’ll be questioned about the affair.”
“I don’t have to have no advice from youngsters like you,” growled Berger, as he thrust the money deep into a safe pocket. “You take care of yourselves, and I’ll take care of myself. You want to look out that you don’t get tripped up. I reckon you’d better report this business to the authorities. I’m going to see the harbor master myself. Good night.”
Silently they mounted the steps from the float and paused, a shivering group, on the unlighted pier.The little launch, with lights set, swung out from the float and puffed away. Ditson stood gazing out over the inky harbor, a feeling of horror threatening to take possession of him and turn his blood to ice water.
“Bad! bad!” he muttered. “If I’d only thought what might happen! But I knew Merriwell could swim like a fish.”
“Oh, cut that out!” growled Mike. “It’s no use getting sloppy now. What I want is a drink, and I want it right away.”
Du Boise buttoned his light overcoat and shrugged his shoulders.
“I need a bracer myself,” he said. “Let’s get one quick.”
They patronized the first saloon they came to, which proved to be a rather disreputable-appearing sailors’ resort. Lynch and Ditson ordered whisky, but Hal called for absinthe.
“We don’t have none of dat here,” said the barkeeper. “Dem fancy drinks don’t go wit’ our customers.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to take the same as my friends,” murmured Du Boise.
The whisky was of the vilest sort, and he shuddered and gasped after it had passed down his throat.
“A man who can drink that can stand anything,” he said, as he paid the bill.
In spite of the fiery drink they had swallowed, their blood remained chill and sluggish, and a terrible load seemed weighting down their hearts. Ditson could not help thinking of Dick Merriwell lying beneath the dark waters of the harbor. The gruesome vision haunted him, and finally he fiercely exclaimed:
“Let’s go where we can get some decent whisky. Confound it all, I’m frozen clean to my marrow.”
“Where’ll we go?” inquired Du Boise.
“Let’s go to Fred’s.”
“And let’s get off this dark street,” said Lynch, who had been casting occasional glances over his shoulders. “I can’t shake off the feeling that some one is following us.”
“Perhaps some one is following us,” said Du Boise.
“Eh?” exclaimed Duncan, also glancing round. “I don’t see anybody. There’s no one behind us.”
“Perhaps there is,” said Hal. “Maybe you can’t see him even though he is there.”
“What do you mean? Who do you think is following us?”
“A ghost,” was the whispered answer. “I don’t dare to look round, fellows, but I can feel it. It’s right at our heels.”
“Oh, rats!” sneered Lynch, forcing a hoarse laugh. “If you believe in ghosts, you’re a big fool, Du Boise. There are no such things. I’m not the least bit superstitious myself.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Not a bit?”
“Not a bit.”
“Then what makes you look round? You know there’s no living thing behind you, yet you keep turning your head to peer over your shoulder. You don’t see anything, but you can feel it just the same as I can. Ditson feels it, too. We all know it’s there, fellows. I’m afraid the thing will follow us the rest of our lives. I’m afraid we’ll never be able to get away from it.”
“For Heaven’s sake, cut that out!” entreated Ditson. “Like Lynch, I’m not superstitious, but I swear you’ve got my teeth chattering by your silly talk. I agree with you, Mike. This street is too dark.”
Hasten their footsteps as they might, they could notescape from the uncanny conviction that something silent and ghostly and terrible was hovering at their very heels. Even the better-lighted streets did not banish that feeling, and by the time they reached Fred’s the three were in a terrible state of funk.