“Why, Frowningshield told me that they were on the lookout for some pirates that was going to interfere with them. We didn’t intend to blow up any vessels unless they were determined to come up the river in spite of us. That’s why we didn’t put the mines at the mouth of the river. On the high ground west of the camp, Frowning-shield had two men on watch all the time. If they saw any ship approach, they were to go down the river in a boat that was kept below the mines, and order the steamer to go back. If the captain wouldn’t go back, then he came on at his own risk.”
“I see. And did Frowningshield tell his men to inform captain and crew that the river was mined?”
“I don’t know.”
“Now, captain, talking as one seafaring man to another, didn’t all this, in conjunction with the large sums of money promised you, strike you as rather fishy? Did this appear to you an honest trading?”
“Well, earl, I’ve sailed to all parts of distant seas, and I’ve known things done that would have looked mighty queer in Southampton Harbor, and yet they were all right as far as ever I knew. Things happen in the South Seas that would seem rather odd in Bristol Channel, you know.”
“You didn’t think you were running any risk, then?”
“Oh, risk! A seafaring man runs risks every time lie leaves port. If this was a risk, there was good money at the end of it, and that isn’t always the case when a man ships on a tramp steamer nowadays, what with everything cut to pieces by foreign competition. You see, earl, men born to money don’t always appreciate what people will do who’re trying to pile up a little cash against their old age. I’ve got a wife and family in a hired house in Southampton—three girls I’ve got at home, earl, and girls is helpless left poor—not to mention my old woman.”
The captain’s eyes took on a dreamy, far-away look that seemed to penetrate and question the future. He had, for the moment, forgotten the young man sitting opposite him, and went on as if talking to himself.
“There’s a piece of land running down to Southampton water—five acres and a bit more. Somebody built a cottage there and put up a flagpole on the lawn in front. Then they got tired of it, and it’s for sale. A thousand pounds they want for the place, everything included. There’s a few trees, and there’s outhouses; splendid spot to raise chickens. Then there’s a veranda in front, and an oldish man might sit in an easy-chair smoking his pipe, and see the American liners come sailing past. And my family’s living in a rented house on a back street. I’ve always wanted that bit of land, earl, but never had the money to spare, and when I come to settle down, like as not somebody else will own it, and we couldn’t afford it, anyhow. Risks? Of course there’s risks, but when I think of that little cottage—well, I took the risk, earl.”
“My dear captain,” said the earl softly, “your bit of land makes me ashamed of myself, and of my moral lectures. I have so much land, and others have so little. Here’s a hard-working man like you, landless, and here’s a loafer like me with thousands of acres! Hang me if I wouldn’t turn Radical were it not for the awful example of William Thomas Stead. Well, captain, that plot of land is yours from this moment. If somebody else has bought it in your absence, we’ll evict them. I’ll go bail that old Schwartzbrod will pay you all he promised whether you make the voyages or not. Indeed, you are not going to make the voyages, as a matter of fact. I don’t believe Schwartzbrod ever intended to keep his promise, and I very much doubt if you could collect. Now, I’m an excellent collector, and I think I can persuade Schwartzbrod to plead for the privilege of paying you. You see these city men are much too sharp for simple, honest chaps like you and me. After you had done their work, they would have left you in the lurch if you were caught, or cheated you out of your compensation if you escaped. You may depend upon it, Schwartzbrod and his crowd have done everything in the most legal manner. Indeed, as a matter of fact, the last time I saw him he wheedled a document from me which I have reason to believe covers the villainy of this expedition. I do not in the least doubt that if I took the case into the law courts I’d get beaten. That’s why I preferred to fight the case on the high seas, where an injunction can’t be served till it’s too late. You and I, captain, are not shrewd enough to be a match for these rascals.”