“And the death of his own father. Yes, Code, we’ve got him where he is probably the wretchedest man in the world. Fury and hurt pride made him injure the May so he would be sure to win the second time, and instead of that fate intervened, sent you on the cargo voyage, and killed his father. 238 Now it is perfectly plain to me why he is charging you with all these crimes.”
“Why?”
“Nat is a weak nature, because uncontrolled, and when weak natures do wrong they suffer agonies of fear that they will be found out. Nat committed this double crime in a momentary passion. Then as the weeks passed by and the village talked of nothing else, he finally began to fear that he would be found out.
“There was no one who could have found him out, but there was that haunting terror of the weak nature.
“Somebody spoke a word, perhaps in jest, that you must have wanted a new schooner since the May’s policy was to run out so soon, and he seized the thought in a frenzy of joy and began to spread rumors. This grip on you gave him courage. He remembered that his revenge against you was still unsatisfied and it became clear to him that perhaps, after all, he could get one much more complete.
“Code, the picture of that man’s mind is a terrible one to me. He may have hated you before, but just think how he must have hated you after knowing how he had wronged and was going to ruin you. It is only the one of two people who does the injury whose hatred grows. An injured person who is sensible in regard to such matters, as you have been 239 with Nat all your life, throws them off and thinks nothing more about them.
“So Nat’s hatred of you and the fear of discovery, preying on his mind, finally urged him into the course he has taken.”
“And he went into it with open eyes,” rejoined Code, “for his plans were perfect. He pays his crew double wages and they ask no questions. Had it not been for you on two occasions I should have been in jail long before this.”
“Yes, but now that is past––”
“No,” interrupted Code, “it isn’t, Elsa. He has just as much power over me as he ever had. I am still a criminal at large to be arrested, and you can wager your last dollar that if he can bring it about I will be picked up by the first gunboat that finds me.”