Murder in the first degree!
Had it not been for his thorough knowledge of Nat Burns’s character he would have laughed at the absurdity of the thing and thrown the message over the side.
But now he remained like one fast in the clutch of some horrible nightmare, unable to reason, unable to think coherently, unable to do anything but attempt to sound the depths of a hatred such as this.
“For Heaven’s sake, what is it, skipper?” asked Ellinwood.
Code passed the message to his mate without a word. His men might as well know the worst at once. Ellinwood read slowly.
“Rot!” he snarled in his great rumbling voice. “Murder? How does he get murder out of it?”
“If I sank the old May Schofield for her insurance money, which is what every one believes, then I deliberately caused the death of the men with me, didn’t I? Pete, this is a pretty-serious thing. I 144 didn’t care when they set the insurance company on me, but this is different. If it goes beyond this stage I will carry the disgrace of jail and a trial all my life. That devil has nearly finished me!”
Code’s voice broke, and the tears of helpless rage smarted in his eyes.
“Steady on, now!” counseled Pete, looking with pity at the young skipper he worshiped. “He’s done fer you true this time, but the end of things is a tarnal long ways off yet, an’ don’t you go losin’ yer spunk!”
“But what have I ever done to him that he should start this against me?” cried Schofield.