A HOT NIGHT IN YOKOHAMA.
Ned Nestor stood on the deck of the steamship, and the steamship was entering the harbor of Yokohama, which opens from Tokyo bay, the bay from the Sagani Sea, the sea from the Pacific ocean. In the cabin of the steamship were Frank Shaw, Jack Bosworth and Jimmie McGraw. While Ned looked over the city they were approaching the three boys came to his side.
None of them had ever looked upon a Japanese city before. The scene before them was one well calculated to excite their interest and appeal to their imagination. The fishing junks sailing over the glassy waters of the bay did not seem at all like any fishing boats they had ever seen before.
The colored wooden roofs of the town seemed to have been cut out from a picture book of fairy tales. The narrow streets in sight from the deck seemed steep and not too straight. The buildings seemed to lap over on each other. To the west, standing straight up in the sky, as it seemed, loomed the pile of Oyama mountain. To the north showed the roofs of Kanagawa.
Night fell while they gazed at the unfamiliar scene, and the lanterns on the sampans, bound for the customs hatoba, glistened over the bay like fireflies. The shampooer's whistles drifted out on the offshore breeze.
"Doesn't look much like coming into little old New York!" Frank exclaimed.
"Queer lookin' country!" Jimmie added.
"I'd rather be back in the Manhattan, among the islands north of Luzon," Jack observed. "I don't like this smell of the Orient they talk so much about."
"Not much Orient about this!" Ned said.
"I hope we'll get out of it before long," Jack went on. "I'm hungry for the wash of the China Sea."
"We'll have a little China Sea made for you, an' tuck it away in Central Park," Jimmie laughed.
"All right!" replied Jack. "I wonder why some one didn't think of that before! Fine scheme!"
On leaving the bay where such an eventful night had been passed, the boys had driven the Manhattan at full speed directly to Manila. The boat was rather small for such a trip, but it had behaved nobly, and the lads had enjoyed the trip immensely.
They had for a time been pursued by the launches which had anchored on the opposite side of the little island, but the chase had soon been abandoned, as the Manhattan was the fastest boat of the three.
On the way to Manila, Ned had held several long conversations with French, but had gained little information from him. He corroborated what little was known regarding the conspiracy for the establishing of a native government on the Philippines, but would not reveal what he knew of the interests interested or of the men at the head of the movement.
At Manila, French had been released on parole at the urgent request of Frank and Jack, who had formed a liking for the courteous gentleman who had treated them so kindly during the few hours he had been their jailer. French, however, had promised to remain at Manila and to report daily at military headquarters.
"I don't understand what his share in the plot is, or has been," Ned had explained, "but it is evident that he will be needed only as a witness."
At Manila Ned had held a long conference with Major John Ross, and that gentleman had seemed overjoyed at the report the boy had presented, especially as it made his return to the group of islands to the north unnecessary. After remaining in Manila one day and a night, Ned had been directed to continue his investigation of the case in his own way.
To tell the truth, Major John Ross and the military men with whom Ned conferred at Manila treated the employment of the boy by the authorities at Washington as a good deal of a joke, as a whim. They were not discourteous to Ned, but they took no interest in his suggestions. For some hours after his departure, his employment on the case was the subject of many sarcastic remarks.
However, those in charge had consented to hold the Manhattan subject to his orders, and had promised to give any communications received from him due attention. And this was the situation when the boy, following clues secured at the nipa hut and hints obtained from Pat, who had kept his ears open during his captivity, and from French, had sailed away for Japan with his chums on a steamer which was leaving Manila for Yokohama. Pat Mack, released from service by the effort of Major Ross, at his own request, had been left at Manila in charge of the Manhattan.
The boys landed shortly after dark and proceeded to a hotel where the English language or something like it was spoken. Everything was new and strange, the place being as unlike a Broadway hotel as it is possible to imagine. However, the meals were served in half-American fashion, and the rooms were tolerably comfortable.
"Now," Ned said, after their first meal in Yokohama was over, "we did not come here to visit the palaces of the wealthy, or to inspect the United States consulate. We've got to get down into the slums a bit if we find what I want. The man who led the party that captured Lieutenant Rowe was sent away as soon as he got to his masters. You doubtless understand why. They did not want him implicated in the plot."
"How do you know?" asked Jimmie. "You didn't see him go, did you?"
"Then he must be up some," Jack said.
"And he left Manila on a boat bound for Yokohama," Frank added. "I know about that, for French gave me a valuable tip. And he was accompanied by an American sailor with a thirst for strong drink."
"I guess you've got the idea, all right," Ned said, with a smile. "But I did not state the case exactly as it is. I said that the man who led the party against Lieutenant Rowe was sent away. I should have said that the man suspected of having been at the head of that expedition had mysteriously disappeared from Manila on the very day of his return there after an absence unaccounted for, and that it was believed he had taken a steamer for Yokohama. I stated my conclusions as facts."
"And there was an American sailor with him," insisted Frank.
"Yes, an, American sailor who evidently knew too much. At least, that is the way I figure it out. Now, we are not looking for this high-brow at this time, but for the American sailor."
"That makes it all the pleasanter!" Jack said. "We'll have a chance to see life in Japan as it is. I'd feel better about this little outing, though, if I knew just what has become of Lieutenant Rowe."
"I often wish we had tried to release him," Ned replied, "but we were lucky to get off with whole hides. Anyway, Pat says they were to release him in a short time, after the plot is perfected. All they wanted was his dispatches, and they will hold him captive only because his release might lead to the premature discovery of the meeting of chiefs on the island."
"Well, let us get busy with the underworld of Japan," Jack said. "I'll bet we find plenty of American sailors with thirsts."
On a dark night in Yokohama the houses in the section visited by the boys look very much alike. They are drygoods box affairs, two stories high, with peaked roofs, paper walls and narrow piazzas. All the shops are looking for the American sailor.
Ned secured an interpreter, and the boys strolled through a dozen or more cheap joints before they came to a halt and sat down. The places were all alike. There was split matting on the floors, always, and sailors drinking at little tables. There was always a fair grade of tea, always sake, always a wheezy graphophone.
One might also buy whiskey, ale and other intoxicating drinks. And there were also the geisha dances and the nesans running up stairs and down with their little white socks and flowery skirts, carrying refreshments. There were also men in kimonos and cowboy hats, the former to give the Japanese color and the latter to inform customers that the American trade was catered to!
"How you goin' to know this American sailor when you find him?" asked Jimmie, as the boys sat with steaming cups of tea before them.
"I have his photograph," laughed Ned.
"Let's see it!" cried Jack.
"I'll bet it's a mental photograph!" Jimmie went on. "That is the only kind Ned carries."
"What does he look like?" asked Frank.
"Yes; tell us. We may see him first!" urged Jimmie.
"He's short, and very broad across the shoulders, with one shoulder lower than the other. He is quite bald, and there is a cicatrice on his left cheek where a Malay cut him. There is a squint in one of his eyes, and there is a scar along the ball of his right thumb."
"Quit your kiddin'!" said Jimmie. "You never saw him."
"Pat saw him," was the reply, "and French and some of the military people at Manila saw him. He left with the man whose acquaintance I want to make, or just before him."
"Seems like looking for a needle in a haymow," Frank said, "but I'll wager my hat against a swipe in the jaw that we find him."
"'We!'" repeated Jimmie, with due scorn.
"For instance," Frank said, "what do you think of the fellow over there talking with the man in the kimono and the derby hat of the vintage of 1880?"
"He's short and broad, and one of his shoulders is higher than the other," Jimmie replied.
"Don't attract his attention," Ned warned. "He sat there when we came in, and does not seem to notice us."
"You goin' to geezle him?" asked Jimmie.
"If he were in Manila I certainly should," was the answer, "but it would never answer here. Look!" the lad added. "He seems to be having trouble with one of the waiters."
"He's gone broke, I guess," Jimmie said, "an' there's a kick on his bill."
"An American friend would look pretty good to him now," Ned said thoughtfully.
There was in the mind of the boy a thought that circumstances were favoring him. If he could only befriend the man!
"You don't suppose the fellow he came here with left him in the lurch, do you?" asked Jimmie, something like Ned's thought coming to him. "If he did, why—"
"That's what I've been thinking," Ned replied, "Anyway, I'm going over there and have a talk with him."
"Before you blow yourself on him," laughed Jimmie, "look at the ball of his right thumb an' see if there's a scar there!"
"If he's a sailorman from New York," Jack put in, "he'll eat corn out of your hand, like a billy goat! Go on and talk with him, Ned."
Ned arose to his feet and moved toward the table where the sailor sat. Then he turned back to the boys again.
"If I go away with him," he said, "don't attempt to follow us. Go back to the hotel and wait for me. You understand, now, Jimmie? No chasing out after me! This is not New York!"
"I'll be good!" replied the boy, with a wink at Jack.
"You bet you will!" replied Jack, seizing him by the sleeve. "You don't get away from me to-night. Too much trouble looking you up!"
"What are we to do with that blooming interpreter?" asked Frank, motioning to the Jap, who sat a short distance away, where he could not overhear the talk.
"Take him back to the hotel with you," was the reply, "and hold him there until I come."
There was no little excitement around the table where the sailor sat when Ned approached it. The sailor was talking in English, the waiter was talking in his native tongue, and the bystanders were trying to tell each one what the other was saying.
Ned made out from the pigeon English brought forth by the bystanders that the sailor had run up a large bill and was unable to pay it.
"P'lice come!" one of the officious ones said.
The sailor heard the words and stirred uneasily in his seat. After wiggling about for a moment he removed his cap and scratched a bald head thoughtfully. Ned advanced to his side and laid a hand on his arm, whereat the sailor squirmed as if he anticipated immediate arrest.
"What's the trouble, pard?" the boy asked.
The sailor sat back in his chair and regarded Ned with evident suspicion for a moment, then, observing that his interrogator was only a boy, he extended his hand, his bleary eyes showing the pleasure he felt at the meeting.
"You look mighty good to me!" he said, in the tone and manner of a man who had had educational advantages.
"What's the difficulty?" repeated Ned, taking the hard hand of the other. "I saw the commotion here and thought you might be in trouble. You're an American, I take it?"
"Proud to say yes to that!" replied the other.
"Well, what are they trying to do to you?" asked Ned, taking a chair by his side. "Americans must stand back to back when they meet in a place like this!"
"They don't all do that," was the reply. "My pardner got me here and shook me. I'm broke, and that's all there is to it. Kept buying after I had spent all my money. I guess it is the coop for mine!"
"Perhaps we can fix it up in some way," Ned said. "I'm not a millionaire, but I may be able to help you out. How much do you owe?"
"About two dollars in American money," was the reply. "It is a small sum, but I'm your slave for life if you get me out of this. Ever spend a day in a Japanese jail, waiting for the American consul to get you out?"
"Never did," was the reply. "How are you fixed for lodgings?"
"Got a room up over a tea house," was the reply. "I'm looking for a ship that will take me back to New York."
"Well," Ned said, "I'll pay this bill and go home with you for the night. I'll need free lodgings somewhere after I settle!"
"You'll be as welcome as the flowers of May!" the sailor said, and the boys, still sitting where Ned had left them, saw him hand the waiter some money and leave the place with the sailor.
A moment later, however, they saw a keen-eyed Jap come rushing through the door and up to the table where the sailor had been seated. He talked with the waiter a moment, speaking angrily at last, and darted out of the door again.
"That fellow came after the sailor," Frank said, "and will follow him. When he finds Ned working him for his story he won't do a thing to Ned!"
"An' we'll go back to the hotel, like good little boys, an' sit there knittin' while they pinch Ned an' chuck him into the bay! Not for your uncle!"
"We'd make a hit wandering about Yokohama in the night!" Jack said. "I reckon Ned can take care of himself. Anyway, he's had to go and find you every time you've gone out without him."
But before Jack had finished Jimmie had jerked away and was out in the street.