CHAPTER XX.—A TRAITOR IN CAMP.
Donald’s encounter had been with no less a personage than ‘Bully’ Broom himself, whose spies in the town had informed him that a party of Americans had arrived on a yacht and had been making inquiries about a missing man named Jukes. Broom at once knew that the half-suspected had happened, and that a strong party in search of the missing man had, by some inexplicable (to him) chance, arrived in Bomobori.
He perceived at once that Donald’s presence at the hotel, where he had abandoned him to his fate, might result disastrously for him and he congratulated himself that the boy did not know more of the fate of Jerushah Jukes than he had already told our friends. But even that meager information, Broom foresaw, might be used to great advantage, so he posted himself in a resort frequented by men of his type of whom there are many in the South Seas, and despatched some of his crew to look for the boy he had cast off.
It was not long before Donald who, to do him justice, came unwillingly at first, was presented to Broom by two villainous-looking half-caste Malay sailors, for Broom had few white men in his crew.
“They talk too much,” he was wont to say.
As soon as Donald appeared, the ‘Bully’ reversed his usual tactics and tried to make himself as pleasant as possible. He was a huge-framed ruffian with a tangled black beard, and burned brown enough by sun and wind to be taken for a negro. Donald soon saw that he had nothing to fear from Broom now, and being a sharp boy he proceeded to take the initiative after some verbal sparring.
“You’ve got an awful nerve sending for me after the treatment you gave me,” he observed. “What do you want, anyhow?”
“Now see here, boy,” bellowed Broom, in his gruff voice which he tried to render amiable without much success, so used was he to ruling his band with an iron hand, “I’ll admit that I may have used you a bit roughly, but that was the way of the sea. A fine young fellow like you, though, oughtn’t to mind that. A little knocking about is good for you.”
“Yes, and it was good for me to be left stranded in this hole, too, I suppose,” said Donald.
“I didn’t leave you stranded. I was merely out of funds and was coming back to pay you up and get you out of trouble,” protested Broom, with an earnestness that appeared genuine. “See here.”
He plunged his hand into his pocket and drew out a handful of gold and then let it fall trickling on the table.
“That doesn’t look as if I wasn’t able to do it, either, does it?” he demanded. “Now, see here,” he went on, “I’ve got a proposition to make to you. You’re a smart lad, a clever lad, and one that’s bound to get on the world. I’m going to help you, too.”
“Well, what do you want?” demanded Donald, who was very susceptible to flattery, and who had a weak nature, easily played upon by any one skillful enough to touch the right chord.
“That gang that arrived on the yacht? What about them?” came from Broom.
“They are going to cook your hash if you don’t look out,” said Donald. “That’s Jukes’ brother, and they’re going to find him wherever you’ve put him and then nab you.”
“So that’s the program, eh?” muttered the ‘Bully.’ “Now see here, Donald, I want you on my side and I’m not afraid to pay for it. A smart and clever boy like you could do me a deal of harm if you were sided with the enemy. You’ll be no loser by it. You haven’t told them anything about our little deal with the Centurion yet, have you?”
Donald did some quick thinking. He was sharp enough to see that Broom was afraid of what he might have said, for even in Bomobori there was law and if it were known to Mr. Jukes that Broom was in the vicinity it would be immediately invoked. He balanced his two opportunities against each other. Cupidity, greed for money, had always been his main fault, and now he thought he saw a way to make more out of Broom than he could out of Mr. Jukes. Besides, although he had appeared so humbled before the boys, and ashamed of his past conduct, his hatred still rankled, for the reason that he blamed all his troubles on them and had often brooded over plans of revenge.
“No, I haven’t told them anything about the Centurion,” he said at length, fearing that if he told Broom how much the Jukes party knew the freebooter might withdraw from any deal he was about to make. “I simply gave them a cock-and-bull story about myself when they were astonished to find me here.”
“Ah! So you know them, then? They are friends of yours?” exclaimed Broom.
“Hardly friends,” muttered Donald. “I knew them in America.”
“You’ve no particular affection for them, though?”
“How do you know?”
“Your tone told me that, my young friend.”
“Well, I might as well admit it. I don’t like them. They wronged me in America and that’s why I am here now. I’ve treated them in a friendly way because I’m out of money.”
Broom’s deep set eyes flashed.
“You’ve got a good head boy, very good,” he said, approvingly. “Now to get down to business. I’ll give you a handsome sum to stay on my side.”
“The money on the nail. I want you to do a little job for me in return. Keep your mouth absolutely shut, but find out all you can about their plans. You will always find me here when you want to report. Here’s something to start with,” and he pushed over the gold which lay on the table.
Donald’s eyes sparkled greedily as he counted it.
“All right, I’ll do what you say,” he remarked, as he pocketed it, “but tell me one thing: Where is Jerushah Jukes?”
“Ah, that is for me to know and for them to find out,” was Broom’s reply, “but I’ll tell you all about it in proper time.”
“It’s a wonder you are not afraid to be seen in the town,” said Donald. “Any one might tell them about your being here.”
“Nobody knows about me but my friends, and there is no danger of their talking.”
“But your schooner, which is as well known in this part of the ocean as a mail steamer?”
Broom smiled.
“You don’t think I’d be fool enough to bring my schooner in here after I heard about the arrival of Jukes’ yacht?” he asked. “The South Sea Lass is safely hidden up the coast. I came here on a native canoe.”
“Well, you ought to be good at covering up your tracks, you’ve had enough experience,” said Donald, with a sort of grudging admiration for the ruffian.
“One thing more,” said Broom, acknowledging what he chose to take as a compliment with a grin. “Jukes is very rich. Has he much money with him this trip?”
“I guess not. Jukes is pretty foxy with his money. If he has much it would be in some form that is not negotiable. He is not the sort of man to take chances.”
Broom nodded his massive head ponderously. He was evidently revolving some plan in his mind. Presently he brought down his heavy fist with a crash on the table.
“Jukes has poked his nose into this business,” he exclaimed, “and it will cost him something to get out of it before he gets through.”
“What do you mean?” asked Donald.
“If he was made a prisoner for instance, he would pay handsomely to be released.”
“I should say so. He’s worth about $20,000,000.”
Broom smacked his lips.
“Some of that’s as good as ours if you do what I tell you,” he exclaimed.
“Ours?” A greedy look crept into the boy’s face.
“Yes, when he pays up you’ll get your share and get even with the people you dislike at the same time.”
When Donald left the place with one of his ragged pockets bulging with unaccustomed wealth, a compact had been formed that was to cause our friends a great deal of trouble in the near future.