CHAPTER V.—THE BOY FROM PERU
What Alex really wanted to say was: “Not until you tell us whether our money is safe.” But he restrained his tongue and rattled the contents of the bag alluringly.
“That’s a funny thing to keep in a coffee-pot,” Jule exclaimed. “What did you make the coffee in to-night? What is in the bag?”
“Tell us!” insisted Clay.
“Well, after I saw you coming, down by the warehouse, you know,” began the boy, nodding at Clay and dropping into a chair, “I went on down to Madison street and got to Doctor Holcomb’s office without getting wet at all. The oilskins he sent me did the business—kept me dry as tinder in all that rain.”
“So he sent for you, did he, and supplied the oilskins?”
It was Clay who asked the question. There was hope in the lad’s breast now, for Jule would not be apt to go so far away without taking some precautions regarding the money.
“Oh, I told you all about that,” Jule went on, impatiently, as if reciting something already well known. “I remained here until I saw you coming, over there by the warehouse,” the boy continued, turning to Clay, “then I went out to meet you, so as to tell about my going away to see Dr. Holcomb. When I got to the end of the wharf you were not there, but in a moment I saw you at the corner of the building, and called out to you to watch the boat while I went to see the doctor.”
“Did you wait until I got into the cabin?” asked Clay, turning away so that the astonishment in his face might not be seen.
“Oh, yes, I made sure you were in the cabin before I went away,” was the disheartening reply. “I wasn’t going to leave the boat, not with all our money in it, alone for a minute,” he went on.
Case opened his lips to speak, but Clay gave his arm such a pinch of warning that he immediately closed them again without speaking a word of the hot sentence that was in his mind. The blow had fallen. There was nothing more to say!
Jule had mistaken some thief for Clay, had left the boat in his care, and the money had been stolen! There was nothing more to do except never to let the boy know what the mistake had cost—and to go about earning more!
The three boys took the matter calmly. Up to this minute they had all hoped and half believed that Jule had either taken the money away with him or hidden it in another spot. Now the last hope was gone. They gathered about the table, glad of something to engage their thoughts, exhibited the diamonds, and told how they came to be in their possession. Jule was enthusiastic over the find, as he called it.
“And now,” Clay said, after the story had been told and the boys had expressed various opinions as to the ownership of the stones, “we may as well hide the diamonds away and make more coffee. Where shall I put them?”
“Why, with the money, of course!” exclaimed Jule.
“Not if you——”
Alex stepped on Case’s toe and the remark was never completed.
“All right,” Clay grinned, “I’ll put them in the square box with the red cover, and put that into the round box. That is where the money was put, eh, Jule? You handled it last.”
“That’s where you’ll find it!” the boy answered, and again the three turned away their faces.
Clay put the diamonds in the box and laid it away. Then more coffee was made, and rolls and sausages brought out, and all four fell to with keen appetites, Alex explaining that the previous meal that night had not been satisfying because of the absence of Jule, and because of the excitement of the policeman’s visit and the arrest of the stranger.
There was no doubt in the minds of the three now that the boy who had been arrested had been the one Jule had seen by the warehouse, the one who had been seen to enter the cabin, the one who had taken the money!
The one thing in opposition to this theory was the fact that the boy had returned to the vicinity of the boat after taking the money—if, indeed, he had not remained about the warehouse during all the time which had intervened between the taking of the money and the arrival of the officer. Then, too, he had voluntarily entered the cabin, to escape from the officer. That did not look like the act of a guilty person.
“Who do you think this strange boy is?” asked Jule, at the conclusion of the story. “I like the way he spoke up to the policeman and said he had lied about belonging here. It is a sure thing he’s honest, and never stole the diamonds. What do you think?” he demanded, turning to his chums.
“He may be honest,” Clay answered.
“He’s a thief!” Case thundered.
“He’s all right!” insisted Alex.
“Anyway,” Jule continued, with a grin at the diverse opinions of the stranger so expressed, “it is certain he saw Clay pick up the brown leather bag, and the chances are that he knew where the stones were when the policeman took him away. You say someone looked in at the window. Well, that was this lad, and he saw the diamonds on the table, and saw you put them in the coffee-pot. If he’s honest he’ll wait until he finds the owner of the diamonds, and then tell him where they are. If he is a crook he’ll tell the police about seeing them here and get us all into trouble.”
“They were here when he was arrested,” Alex urged, “and he never said a word about them. If he knew about them, he would have told the officer, wouldn’t he? I don’t believe he knows anything about the diamonds or the mo——”
Clay gave the boy’s leg a pinch under the table.
“Or the manner in which they came here,” Alex concluded, trying to change “money” into “manner” and not succeeding very well.
While the boys talked, they were preparing their beds for the night There were two of these, And they were almost like hammocks let down from the low ceiling, being attached to strong rods by chains. When drawn up the bottoms of the beds looked exactly like the ceiling; when let down strong springs and soft mattresses were disclosed.
Case had already climbed into the one he occupied with Clay when a timid knock came on the door.
“Reception night!” gasped Alex.
“Perhaps it is the policeman come back after the diamonds,” suggested Case. “That little thief has told about seeing them here, and we’re all to be arrested!”
“Imagine one notch farther, and get us hanged for murdering the owner of the diamonds!” scorned Alex. “You certainly do let out the rankest prophecies! Shall I open the door, fellows?”
There was another knock, and the boy did not wait for an answer, but turned the key and threw the door half open. Then he dodged back, and the slender, black-eyed lad who had been taken away by the policeman entered the cabin. It was still raining, and his garments contributed tiny lakes and rivers to the damp spots already on the floor. He stood silent a moment, fumbling with his cap, wringing wet, and then found his voice.
“I thought,” he began.
He stopped and looked toward the coffee-pot, still steaming. Alex lifted it and poured out a cup of strong coffee, which, together with a plate of cold beans and a loaf of bread, he set before the wet boy.
“I guess you’re hungry,” he said, unconcernedly.
The stranger fell to, but there was a look of amazement in his face which no one there failed to observe. Case thought the look meant that he was astonished to find that the diamonds were not in the pot. Clay believed that the lad was upset by the courteous treatment he was receiving. Alex understood that it was because of Jule’s presence that the boy was so all at sea, mentally.
All the lads saw in the return of the boy some faint chance to solve the mystery of the loss of the money. “Perhaps,” hopeful Alex thought, “he has repented and brought the money back with him.” Clay watched the boy for a moment and said, tentatively:
“They didn’t keep you at the station very long?” “No,” was the confused reply. “I proved my innocence and they let me go. I came back here to let you know.”
“Why have you been hanging around the boat?” asked Case, leaning over the side of his bed. “You were out there by the warehouse a long time to-night, and someone from the boat called out to you.”
Jule looked up suspiciously, but Case went on:
“Then you came into the cabin.”
The stranger shook his head.
“You are mistaken,” he insisted.
“Let him alone!” Alex ordered. “Give him a chance to eat his supper, can’t you. What’s your name, kid?” he continued, forgetful of his own suggestion that the stranger be permitted to eat in peace.
“Frank Porter,” was the quick reply. “I was born near the headwaters of the Amazon, in Peru. I came to Chicago to attend to some business, and haven’t been able to get back.”
The four opened their eyes in wonder. Here was a boy who had lived in the country they had planned to visit, and who knew all about the river they were so anxious to explore.
“Go on!” Clay said, eagerly.
“I heard that you boys were going to the foothills of the Andes,” Frank went on, “and I thought you might let me go with you, only I could never find the courage to come and ask you about it?”
“And that is what you’ve been hanging around here for?” asked Case.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well,” Case continued, brutally, “it costs money to run this boat. Can you pay your share of the expense?”
“I haven’t any money.” was the dejected reply.
“You speak English pretty handily for a native of Peru!” Case taunted, while Alex frowned at the impudence of the suggestion.
“My father was a Chicago man, and my mother was a native of New Orleans,” was the straight-forward answer. “I know English and Spanish and a lot of Amazon valley dialects. I may be able to make myself useful on the journey. You’ll need a guide,” he added, hopefully.
Neither of the three dared hint, in the presence of Jule, how far away that journey now was! And Jule did not know!
“All right,” Alex agreed, putting off the evil time when Jule would have to know, “you can go, and we’ll let you stay here with us until we start. We’ll need you. Isn’t that right, boys?”
They all declared that it was entirely right, but Case’s acquiescence seemed a little forced, though the boy’s stay with them seemed to be only for that night. Nothing whatever was said about the diamonds, and Case took the precaution of putting them inside his pillow-slip before he went to sleep. It was daylight before the boys awoke, for the evening had been an exciting one, and they had had much to think over before they could sleep.
Clay rolled out of bed and turned the electric switch, for it was still dark in the cabin. The first thing that met his eyes was the rude bed on the floor which had been made up for Frank Porter. It was empty, and the cabin door was ajar. The boy had gone without a word of good-bye! Then Clay saw something else. It was a copy of an evening newspaper, open at the “lost and found” page. He read the paragraph to which a pencil-made hand pointed, and set up a great shout.
“Boys!” he cried. “Wake up and hear the blessed news! There’s a reward of $500 offered for the return of the diamonds, and no questions asked. We’ll go in style, go to-day! What?”