A Bid for Fortune · Part I · Chapter 1 5 (2/2)

I must tell you here that since my meeting with Mr. Baxter, the young Marquis’s tutor, I had been thinking a great deal about him, and the more I thought the more certain I became that we had met before. To tell the truth, a great distrust of the man was upon me. It was one of those peculiar antipathies that no one can explain. I did not like his face, and I felt sure that he did not boast any too much love for me.

As my thoughts were still occupied with him, my astonishment may be imagined, on arriving at the building, at meeting him face to face upon the steps. He seemed much put out at seeing me, and hummed and hawed over his “Good afternoon” for all the world as if I had caught him in the middle of some guilty action.

Returning his salutation, I entered the building and looked about me for a desk at which to write my wire. There was only one vacant, and I noticed that the pencil suspended on the string was still swinging to and fro as it had been dropped. Now Baxter had only just left the building, so there could be no possible doubt that it was he who had last used the stand. I pulled the form towards me and prepared to write. But as I did so I noticed that the previous writer had pressed so hard upon his pencil that he had left the exact impression of his message plainly visible upon the pad. It ran as follows:

Letter received. You omitted Reverend. The train is laid, but a new element of danger has arisen.

It was addressed to “Nikola, Green Sailor Hotel, East India Dock Road, London,” and was signed “Nineveh.”

The message was so curious that I looked at it again, and the longer I looked the more certain I became that Baxter was the sender. Partly because its wording interested me, and partly for another reason which will become apparent later on, I inked the message over, tore it from the pad, and placed it carefully in my pocketbook. One thing at least was certain, and that was, if Baxter were the sender, there was something underhand going on. If he were not, well, then there could be no possible harm in my keeping the form as a little souvenir of a rather curious experience.

I wrote my own message, and having paid for it left the office. But I was not destined to have the society of my own thoughts for long. Hardly had I reached the Invalids’ Walk before I felt my arm touched. To my supreme astonishment I found myself again confronted by Mr. Baxter. He was now perfectly calm and greeted me with extraordinary civility.

“Mr. Hatteras, I believe,” he said. “I think I had the pleasure of meeting you on the sands a few days ago. What a beautiful day it is, isn’t it? Are you proceeding this way? Yes? Then perhaps I may be permitted the honour of walking a short distance with you.”

“With pleasure,” I replied. “I am going up the cliff to my hotel, and I shall be glad of your company. I think we met in the telegraph office just now.”

“In the post office, I think. I had occasion to go in there to register a letter.”

His speech struck me as remarkable. My observation was so trivial that it hardly needed an answer, and yet not only did he vouchsafe me one, but he corrected my statement and volunteered a further one on his own account. What reason could he have for wanting to make me understand that he had gone in there to post a letter? What would it have mattered to me if he had been there, as I suggested, to send a telegram?

“Mr. Baxter,” I thought to myself, “I’ve got a sort of conviction that you’re not the man you pretend to be, and what’s more I’d like to bet a shilling to a halfpenny that, if the truth were only known, you’re our mysterious friend Nineveh.”

We walked for some distance in silence. Presently my companion began to talk again⁠—this time, however, in a new strain and perhaps with a little more caution.

“You have been a great traveller, I understand, Mr. Hatteras.”

“A fairly great one, Mr. Baxter. You also, I am told, have seen something of the world.”

“A little⁠—very little.”

“The South Seas, I believe. D’you know Papeete?”

“I have been there.”

“D’you know New Guinea at all?”

“No. I was never near it. I am better acquainted with the Far East⁠—China, Japan, etc.”

Suddenly something, I shall never be able to tell what, prompted me to say:

“And the Andamans?”

The effect on my companion was as sudden as it was extraordinary. For a moment he staggered on the path like a drunken man; his face grew ashen pale, and he had to give utterance to a hoarse choking sound before be could get out a word. Then he said:

“No⁠—no⁠—you are quite mistaken, I assure you. I never knew the Andamans.”

Now, on the Andamans, as all the world knows, are located the Indian penal establishments, and noting his behaviour, I became more and more convinced in my own mind that there was some mystery about Mr. Baxter that had yet to be explained. I had still a trump card to play.

“I’m afraid you are not very well, Mr. Baxter,” I said at length “Perhaps the heat is too much for you, or we are walking too fast? This is my hotel. Won’t you come inside and take a glass of wine or something to revive you?”

He nodded his head eagerly. Large drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, and I saw that he was quite unstrung.

“I am not well⁠—not at all well.”

As soon as we reached the smoking-room I rang for two brandies and sodas. When they arrived he drank his off almost at a gulp, and in a few seconds was pretty well himself again.

“Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Hatteras,” he said. “I think we must have walked up the hill a little too fast for my strength. Now, I must be going back to the town. I find I have forgotten something.” Almost by instinct I guessed his errand. He was going to dispatch another telegram. Resolved to try the effect of one parting shot, I said:

“Perhaps you do not happen to be going near the telegraph office again? If you are, should I be taxing your kindness too much if I asked you to leave a message there for me? I find I have forgotten one.”

He bowed and simply said:

“With much pleasure.”

He pronounced it “pleasure,” and as he said it he licked his lips in his usual self-satisfied fashion. I wondered how he would conduct himself when he saw the message I was going to write.

Taking a form from a table near where I sat, I wrote the following:

John Nicholson, Langham Hotel, London.
The train is laid, but a new danger has arisen. Hatteras.

Blotting it carefully, I gave it into his hands, at the same time asking him to read it, lest my writing should not be decipherable and any question might be asked concerning it. As he read I watched his face intently. Never shall I forget the expression that swept over it. I had scored a complete victory. The shaft went home. But only for an instant. With wonderful alacrity he recovered himself and, shaking me feebly by the hand, bade me goodbye, promising to see that my message was properly delivered.

When he had gone I laid myself back in my chair for a good think. The situation was a peculiar one in every way. If he were up to some devilry I had probably warned him. If not, why had he betrayed himself so openly?

Half an hour later an answer to my first telegram arrived, and, such is the working of Fate, it necessitated my immediate return to London. I had been thinking of going for some days past, but had put it off. Now it was decided for me.

As I did not know whether I should return to Bournemouth again, I determined to call upon the Marquis to bid him goodbye. Accordingly, donning my hat, I set off for the house.

Now if Burke may be believed, the Duke of Glenbarth possesses houses in half the counties of the kingdom; but I am told his seaside residence takes precedence of them all in his affections. Standing well out on the cliffs, it commands a lovely view of the bay⁠—looks toward the Purbeck Hills on the right, and the Isle of Wight and Hengistbury Head on the left. The house itself, as far as I could see, left nothing to be desired, and the grounds had been beautified in the highest form of landscape gardening.

I found my friend and his father in a summerhouse upon the lawn. Both appeared unaffectedly glad to see me, and equally sorry to hear that I had come to bid them goodbye. Mr. Baxter was not visible, and it was with no little surprise I learned that he, too, was contemplating a trip to the metropolis.

“I hope, if ever you visit Bournemouth again, you will come and see us,” said the Duke as I rose to leave.

“Thank you,” said I, “and I hope if ever your son visits Australia you will permit me to be of some service to him.”

“You are very kind. I will bear your offer in mind.”

Shaking hands with them both, I bade them goodbye, and went out through the gate.

But I was not to escape without an interview with my clerical friend after all. As I left the grounds and turned into the public road I saw a man emerge from a little wicket gate some fifty yards or so further down the hedge. From the way he made his appearance, it was obvious he had been waiting for me to leave the house.

It was, certainly enough, my old friend Baxter. As I came up with him he said, with the same sanctimonious grin that usually encircled his mouth playing round it now:

“A nice evening for a stroll, Mr. Hatteras.”

“A very nice evening, as you say, Mr. Baxter.”

“May I intrude myself upon your privacy for five minutes?”

“With pleasure. What is your business?”

“Of small concern to you, sir, but of immense importance to me. Mr. Hatteras, I have it in my mind that you do not like me.”

“I hope I have not given you cause to think so. Pray what can have put such a notion into your head?”

I half hoped that he would make some allusion to the telegram he had dispatched for me that morning, but he was far too cunning for that. He looked me over and over out of his small ferrety eyes before he replied:

“I cannot tell you why I think so, Mr. Hatteras, but instinct generally makes us aware when we are not quite all we might be to other people. Forgive me for speaking in this way to you, but you must surely see how much it means to me to be on good terms with friends of my employer’s family.”

“You are surely not afraid lest I should prejudice the Duke against you?”

“Not afraid, Mr. Hatteras! I have too much faith in your sense of justice to believe that you would willingly deprive me of my means of livelihood⁠—for of course that is what it would mean in plain English.”

“Then you need have no fear. I have just said goodbye to them. I am going away tomorrow, and it is very improbable that I shall ever see either of them again.”

“You are leaving for Australia?”

“Very shortly, I think.”

“I am much obliged to you for the generous way you have treated me. I shall never forget your kindness.”

“Pray don’t mention it. Is that all you have to say to me? Then good evening!”

“Good evening, Mr. Hatteras.” He turned back by another gate into the garden, and I continued my way along the cliff, reflecting on the curious interview I had just passed through. If the truth must be known, I was quite at a loss to understand what he meant by it! Why had he asked that question about Australia? Was it only chance that had led him to put it, or was it done designedly, and for some reason connected with that mysterious “Train” mentioned in his telegram?

I was to find out later, and only too thoroughly!