by Guy Boothby
CHAPTER IX.
HOW WE SUCCEEDED IN OUR ENTERPRISE.
On arrival at Singapore we took rickshaws and drove direct from thewharf to the Mandalay Hotel, a palatial white building of two stories,boasting vivid green shutters on every window, and broad luxuriousverandahs on every floor. I was the first to reach it, and,remembering my position of casual acquaintance, I booked a room formyself, leaving Miss Sanderson and her companion to follow my examplewhen they should arrive.
It was then late in the afternoon, and by the time we had thoroughlysettled in night had fallen, and the preliminary dressing gong hadsounded for dinner. So far, I had seen nothing of the person of whomwe were in search, but I did not doubt that at the evening meal Ishould become acquainted with his whereabouts, even if I did notactually meet the man himself.
The dining-room at the Mandalay is at the rear of the hotel, and looksout upon a charmingly arranged garden. Immediately upon my entering ita waiter came forward and conducted me to my place at a table near thewindow. On my left was seated a portly, red-faced gentleman, whom, Idiscovered later, was an English merchant of considerable standing inthe place. The chair on my right was vacant, but before we haddismissed the first course it was taken by a man whom my instinct toldme was none other than Mr. Ebbington himself. Why I should have cometo this conclusion I cannot explain, but that I did think so, and thatI was right in so thinking, I discovered a minute or two later, when aquestion was addressed to him by an acquaintance on the other side ofthe table. I continued the course without betraying my excitement, andwhen my plate was removed, sat back and casually took stock of him.
From Alie's account, and some kind of preconceived notion as to whatsort of appearance such a dastardly traitor should present, I hadexpected to see a small, shifty-eyed, villainous type of man, wearingon his face some token of his guilt. But in place of that I discovereda stout, well set-up, not unhandsome man of about forty years of age.His complexion was somewhat florid; his eyes were of an uncertain hue,between gray and steely blue; he had a pronounced nose, and a heavy,almost double, chin. Indeed, had it not been for his hesitating modeof speech, I should have been inclined to put him down for a militaryman.
During the progress of the meal I found an opportunity of doing himsome small service, and on this meagre introduction we fell into adesultory conversation, which embraced Singapore, the latest news fromEngland, and the prospects of a war between China and Japan. Whendinner was over I rose and followed him into the verandah, offered hima cheroot, which he accepted, and seated myself in a lounge chairbeside him. We had not been smoking five minutes before my sweetheartand her companion passed close to where we sat, _en route_ to theirrooms. As she came opposite to me, Alie stopped.
"Good-evening, Dr. De Normanville!" she said; "isn't this hoteldelightful?"
I rose and uttered an appropriate reply, at the same time noticingthat Ebbington was taking thorough stock of her. Then, after anothercommonplace or two, she bowed and passed on her way. I resumed myseat, and for nearly a minute we smoked in silence. Then my companion,who had evidently been carefully thinking his speech out, said, withthat peculiarly diffident utterance which, as I have said, washabitual to him:
"You'll excuse what I am going to say, I hope, but a friend and I werehaving a little discussion before dinner. The proprietor tells me MissSanderson, the American heiress, is staying in the house. I do notwish to be impertinent, but might I ask if the lady to whom you havejust been speaking is Miss Sanderson?"
"Yes, she is Miss Sanderson," I replied. "You do not know her, then?"
"Never saw her before in my life," was his reply. "Pieces of goodfortune like that don't often occur in Singapore. If they did, few ofus would be here very long, I can assure you. But perhaps I am talkingin too familiar a strain about your friend? If so, you must forgiveme."
"Indeed no!" I answered. "Don't trouble yourself on that score. Itravelled up with them from Batavia in the French boat that arrivedthis afternoon. From what little I have seen of her she seems verypleasant, and, as you may have observed, is evidently inclined to befriendly."
"There is no doubt about the money, I suppose?" he continued. "SinceVesey, of Hong Kong, was so completely taken in by the BeautifulWhite Devil, we have been a little sceptical on the subject ofheiresses down this way."
"On that point, I'm afraid I cannot inform you," I said laughingly."She seems, however, to travel in very good style, and evidentlydenies herself nothing. But you spoke of the Beautiful White Devil. Iam most interested in what I have heard of that personage. Are youwell up in the subject?"
"How should I be?" he answered, as I thought, a little quickly. "Ofcourse I know what every other man in the East knows, but no more.Thank goodness she has never done me the honour of abducting me as shedid the Sultan of Surabaya and those other Johnnies. But with regardto Miss Sanderson, I wonder if I should be considered impertinent if Iasked you to give me the pleasure of an introduction."
Of course I did not tell him that it was the very thing of all othersthat I desired to do, but at the same time I could hardly conceal myexultation. I had, however, to keep my delight to myself for fear lesthe should suspect; so I relit my cigar, which had gone out, and thensaid, with as much carelessness as I could assume:
"I don't know altogether whether I'm sufficiently intimate with her totake the liberty of introducing you; but, as I said just now, sheseems a jolly sort of girl, and not inclined to be stand-offish, so ifever I get an opportunity I don't mind risking it. Now, I think, ifyou'll excuse me, I'll say good-night. That wretched old bucket of asteamer rolled so all the way up from Tanjong Priok that I have hardlyhad a wink of sleep these three nights past."
"Good-night, and thank you very much for your company. Glad to havemet you, I'm sure."
I reciprocated, and, having done so, left him and went to my room,where I turned into bed to dream that I had abducted Alie, and couldnever remember in what part of the world I had hidden her.
Next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, I went down into thetown, shopping. When I returned about eleven o'clock I discovered Alieand her chaperone sitting in the verandah, waiting for a doublerickshaw which one of the hotel boys had gone out to procure.Ebbington was seated in a chair near by, and evidently seemed toconsider this a good opportunity for effecting the introduction he hadproposed the night before. I entered into conversation with him for afew moments, and then, crossing the verandah, asked the ladies inwhich direction they contemplated going.
"Where do you think?" said Alie, with her best New York accent. "Well,first I guess we're going to look for a dry goods store, and then Ireckon we'll just take a _pasear_ round the town."
"You should go and see Whampoa's Garden," I said, hoping she wouldunderstand what I was driving at. "They tell me it's one of the sightsof the place."
"But how do you get there?" asked Alie, her quick perception tellingher my object. "We must know the way, I reckon, before we start, orwe'll just get lost, and then you'll have to call out all the town tofind us."
"One moment and I'll inquire."
Ebbington, having overheard what had passed between us, as I intendedhe should do, had risen, and now approached us. I turned to him andsaid:
"My friends want to find the way to Whampoa's Garden, Mr. Ebbington.Could you direct them? But first, perhaps, I ought to introduce you.Mr. Ebbington--Mrs. Beecher--Miss Sanderson."
They bowed politely to each other, and then Ebbington, having beggedthe ladies' permission, gave instructions in Malay to the rickshawcoolie, who by this time had drawn up at the steps. Tendering theirthanks to him they stepped into their conveyance and were drawn away.
When they had disappeared round the corner, Ebbington crossed theverandah, and sitting down beside me favoured me with his opinions.Even in this short space of time the charm of the heiress seemed tohave impressed itself upon him. Though inwardly writhing at the tonehe adopted, I had to pretend to be interested. It was a difficultmatter, however, and I was more reli
eved than I can say, when heremembered business elsewhere, and betook himself off to attend to it.So far all had gone well. The bait was fixed, and it would besurprising now if the victim did not walk into the trap so artfullycontrived for him.
That evening after dinner I fell into casual conversation with theproprietor of the hotel, and it was not until nearly half an hourlater that I managed to escape from him and get into the verandah.When I did, to my surprise, I found the ladies reclining in theirchairs listening to the conversation of Mr. Ebbington. He was regalingthem with a highly-coloured account of his experiences in the East,and from the attention his remarks were receiving it was evident hewas doing ample justice to his subject. I pulled a chair up besideAlie and listened. Within five minutes, however, of my arrival heintroduced Mr. Vesey's name, and instantly she stopped him by saying:
"Now, where have I heard that name before? It seems, somehow, to bevery familiar to me."
"Perhaps you've heard the story of his abduction by the BeautifulWhite Devil," said Ebbington, who saw that I was about to speak andwas anxious to forestall me.
"No, I guess not," answered Alie. "I reckon I was thinking of KlenerW. Vesey, of Wall Street, who operates considerable in pork. But tellme, who is this Beautiful White Devil one hears so much about,anyway?"
There was a pause, but I held my peace and let Ebbington's tongue runriot with him.
"Ah! there you have me at a disadvantage," he began, pluming himselffor the big speech I could see was imminent. "Some say she's aEuropean lady of title gone mad on Captain Marryat and Clarke Russell.Others aver that she's not a woman at all, but a man disguised inwoman's clothes. But the real truth, I'm inclined to fancy, is thatshe's the daughter of a drunken old desperado, once an English navalman, who for years made himself a terror in these seas."
When I heard him thus commit himself, I looked across at Alie, halfexpecting that she would lose control of herself and annihilate himupon the spot. But save a little twitching round the corners of hermouth, she allowed no sign of the wrath that I knew was raging withinher breast to escape her. In a voice as steady as when she hadinquired the way to Whampoa's Garden that morning, she continued herquestions.
"I'm really quite interested. And pray what has this, what do you callher, Beautiful White Devil, done to carry on the family reputation?"
Again Ebbington saw his chance, and, like the born yarn-spinner hewas, took immediate advantage of it.
"What has she not done would be the best thing to ask. She hasabducted the Sultan of Surabaya, the Rajah of Tavoy, Vesey of HongKong, and half a dozen Chinese mandarins at least. She has robbed the_Vectis Queen_, the _Ooloomoo_--and that with the Governor of HongKong on board; stopped the _Oodnadatta_ only three months ago in theLy-ee-moon Pass, when she went through the bullion-room to the extentof over a million and a half, almost under the cruisers' noses."
"But what mission does she accomplish with this vast wealth when shehas accumulated it, do you think, Mr. Ebbington?" said the quiet voiceof Mrs. Beecher from the depths of her chair. "Does she do no goodwith it at all?"
"Good!" that wretched being replied, quite unconscious of the troublehe was heaping up for himself. "Why, she never did a ha'porth of goodin her life. No, I'll tell you what she _does_ do with it. It is wellknown that she has a rendezvous somewhere in the Pacific, a tropicalisland, they say, where scenes are enacted between her cruises thatwould raise blushes on the cheeks of an Egyptian mummy."
"You are evidently very much prejudiced against her," I answeredhotly. "Now _I_ have heard some very different stories. And with alldue respect to you, Mr. Ebbington----"
But fortunately at this juncture my presence of mind returned to me,and, a servant approaching to take our empty coffee cups, I was ableto seize the opportunity and bring my riotous tongue to a halt. Whenthe boy had gone, Alie turned the conversation into another channel,and after that all was plain sailing once more. To add to ourenjoyment, about ten o'clock another servant came to inform Mr.Ebbington that a gentleman desired to see him in the smoking-room, andaccordingly, bidding us good-night, he went off to interview him. Mrs.Beecher then made an excuse and retired to her room, leaving us alonetogether.
"Alie," I said reproachfully, "if anything had happened just now youwould have had only yourself to blame for it. That man's insolentlying was more than I could stand. In another moment, if that servanthad not come in, I believe I should have lost all control of myself,and, ten chances to one, have ruined everything. Why did you do it?"
"Because I wanted to find out how he was in the habit of talking aboutme. That was why."
"But do you think he was really in earnest? May it not have been onlya mask to prevent anyone from suspecting that he is your agent in thisplace?"
"No. He meant it. Of that there can be no doubt. The man, I can see,for some inscrutable reason hates the real _me_ with his whole heartand soul, and the treachery he is preparing now is to be his revenge.Couldn't you hear the change, the grating, in his voice when my nameoccurred? Ah, Mr. Ebbington, my clever man, you will find that it is avery foolish policy on your part to quarrel with me."
"When do you mean to make the attempt to capture him?"
"On Friday evening; that is the day after to-morrow. The new admiralwill be here on Saturday morning at latest, and I must anticipate him,for I have learned that Ebbington received a note from the authoritiesthis morning, definitely fixing the hour for the interview at eleveno'clock. He need make no arrangements, however, for he won't bethere!"
"It will be an awful moment for him when he realises who you are. Iwould not be in his shoes for all the gold of India."
"You would never have acted as he has done," she answered softly,turning her head away.
This was the opportunity for finding out what she intended concerningmyself, so I drew a little closer to her.
"Alie," I said, "the time has now come for me to ask you when you wishto say 'good-bye' to me. I have done my professional work for you, andon Friday I shall have assisted you to the very best of my ability inthe matter of this wretched fellow. What am I to do then? Am I to sayfarewell to you here, or what?"
Her voice had almost a falter in it as she replied:
"Oh, no! we will not say 'good-bye' here. Cannot you return with me? Ihave been counting so much on that." Here she paused for a moment."But no! Perhaps I ought not to ask you--you have your work in life,and, seeing what you have already done for us, I should be the last tokeep you from the path of duty."
"If you wish me to come back with you, Alie," I answered quickly, "Iwill come with a glad heart. I have no duty to consider, and as Ihave given up my practice, I have no patients to give me any concern.But how shall I get back to England later on?"
"I will arrange that you shall be sent down to Torres Straits, and youcan go home via Australia, if that will suit you. Never fear, I willattend to that part of it when it becomes necessary."
"Then I will go with you."
"I thank you. Good-night!"
I bade her good-night, and she left me to go to her room. As, however,I was in no humour for sleeping myself, I stayed in the verandah,looking down the quaint lamp-lit street, along which only anoccasional belated foot passenger, a Sikh policeman or two, and a fewtired rickshaw coolies wended their way. I was thinking of thestrangeness of my position. When I came to work it out, and to reviewthe whole chain of events dispassionately, it seemed almostincredible. I could hardly believe that George De Normanville thestaid medical man, and George De Normanville the lover of theBeautiful White Devil, and assistant in a scheme for abducting one ofSingapore's most prominent citizens, were one and the same person.However, I was thoroughly content; Alie loved me, and I wanted nothingmore.
Next morning, after breakfast, I discovered that Miss Sanderson andher companion were setting off for a day's pleasuring, and that Mr.Ebbington was to be their sole conductor and escort. It was noticeablethat he had donned a new suit of clothes in honour of the occasion,and I saw that he wore a sprig of jap
onica in his buttonhole. From hisexpression I concluded that he was very well satisfied with himself,but whether he would have been quite so confident had he known who hisfair friends really were was quite another matter, and one upon whichI could only conjecture.
They returned in time for tiffin, and during the meal Ebbingtonconfided to me the fact that the heiress had been most gracious tohim. From what he said I gathered that, unless somebody elseinterfered and spoiled sport, he felt pretty confident of ultimatelysecuring her.
"Take care your friend the Beautiful White Devil, or whatever you callher, doesn't get jealous," I said with a laugh, wishing to get him onto delicate ground in order to see how quickly he would wriggle off itagain.
"Don't mention them in the same breath, for goodness' sake," heanswered. "Miss Sanderson and that woman----Why, man alive, they'renot to be compared!"
"Ah!" I thought to myself, "if you only knew, my friend, if you onlyknew!"
"Don't you wish you were in my place?" he said with a smile, as herose to go.
"No; if you wish me to be candid," I answered, "I cannot say that Ido."
He thereupon left me and went out into the verandah. We spent theafternoon with the ladies in the garden, and at their request remainedto take tea with them. During this _al fresco_ meal, which waspresided over by Miss Sanderson herself, my companion stated that itwas his desire to arrange something a little out of the common for theladies' amusement.
"What shall it be?" he asked, with the magnificence of an Orientalpotentate to whom all things are possible. "A picnic? But that is notmuch fun here. A dance? But it's too hot for that. What would youlike?"
Alie seemed to reflect for a few moments, and then she said, with anappearance of animation:
"Do you really want to give us a treat, Mr. Ebbington? Then I reckonthe nicest thing you can possibly do, on these hot nights, would be totake us for a trip on the water. I know Mrs. Beecher thinks so too.Now, you just get us a launch and trot us round. I guess that'll bereal delightful."
She clapped her hands and appeared to be so pleased with the ideathat, whatever he may himself have thought of it, there was nothingfor Ebbington to do but to assent.
"We'll take some supper," she continued, as if a new idea had struckher, "and you gentlemen shall bring your cigars, and we'll spend adelightful evening. I'm fonder of the sea than you can think. But I dojust wish you could see New York Harbour. You should see Newport, too,where my papa's got a cottage. It's real fine."
After dinner that evening Ebbington reported that he had engaged asteam launch, and also that he had ordered the supper. Thereupon, toencourage him, Miss Sanderson professed herself to be looking forwardto the trip more than she had ever done to anything else in her life.
Accordingly next evening, immediately after dinner, we saw that ourcharges were carefully wrapped up, chartered rickshaws, and set offfor the harbour. It was a lovely night, with a young moon justshowing like a silver sickle above the roofs. We were all in thehighest spirits, although, I must confess, my own were not unmixedwith a slight dash of nervousness as to what the upshot of ourexcursion would be.
Arriving at the harbour side, we found the launch in waiting. She wasa smart, serviceable little craft, manned by two native sailors and anengineer. We descended the wharf steps in single file, and, as I wasnearest to her, I stepped on board and gave Alie my hand to assist herto embark. She squeezed it gently, by way of wishing me good luck ofour enterprise, sprang aboard, and when we had taken our places aftthe order was given and we pushed off.
The harbour was densely crowded with craft of all nationalities anddescriptions, and in and out among them we threaded our way, nowdodging under the bows of a Messageries Maritime mail boat, now underthe stern of a P. and O. steamer, or a Norwegian timber boat, betweennative praus and dingy ocean tramps, steam launches, and small frygenerally, and finally out into the open sea.
Inside the water was as smooth as a mill pond, but when we left theshelter of the high land and passed outside, the complexion of affairswas somewhat altered. But as our party were all good sailors, thetumbling and tossing we endured hardly mattered. For over an hour westeamed up and down, and then, pausing in the shelter of the harbouragain, cast about us for a suitable spot to have our supper.
I had noticed all through the evening, and, for the matter of that,throughout the day, that Ebbington's manner towards Alie was everymoment growing more unpleasantly familiar. By the time he hadcompleted his first bottle of champagne at supper, it was about asmuch as I could stand; indeed, twice he called her by her assumedChristian name, and once he tried to take her hand. Remembering,however, what would follow later, I kept a tight rein upon myself, anddid not allow any expression of my feelings to escape me.
"After all, give me American girls," our hero was saying, with aninsolent freedom for which I could have kicked him, as he lit hiscigar. "There's none of that stand-offishness about them that there iswith our English women. You can say more to them without their beingoffended and wanting to call their fathers in to you."
"You mean, perhaps, that we are more good-natured," said Alie. "I'mafraid, however, we're sometimes unwise enough to permit people tobecome familiar on a three days' acquaintance, and that's a veryfoolish thing."
"Oh, come now, Miss Sanderson," said our host, uncorking anotherbottle of champagne, filling up Alie's glass, and then helping himselfliberally. "I think that's a little severe, isn't it? One thing Iknow, though, you don't mean it, do you?"
"I am not so certain of that," she replied. "It's just possible that Imay be compelled to do so. But let us talk of something else. What alovely night it is, isn't it? I think this harbour's just delightfulby moonlight. Say, Mr. Ebbington, couldn't we come on to-morrowmorning for a while, about eleven o'clock. Just to oblige me, don'tyou think you could manage it?"
Knowing that eleven was the hour at which he was to see the admiral, Iwaited to hear what answer he would make. It was easy to see that hewas a little nonplussed, for he expressed his sorrow that, through animportant business engagement, he would be quite unable to comply withher request, and for some time sat in sulky silence. Just as he wasgoing to speak again, however, we descried a boat pulling acrosstowards us from the wharves on the other side. As it approached theshore Alie signed to me, and, divining her intention, I went down toinquire its errand. The boat having grounded, a native waded ashore,and handed me a large packet and a letter, which I immediatelyconveyed to Alie. She took it, and then turning to Ebbington, who hadbeen surveying the scene with no small astonishment, said:
"I'm afraid, Mr. Ebbington, this means some business which willnecessitate our going back to the hotel at once. Do you mind so verymuch?"
"Not at all," he answered promptly; then, as if he thought he mightturn it to account, continued, "You know that my only ambition is toserve you."
Disregarding this polite speech, which was uttered with a leer thatmade my fingers itch to be alongside his head, Alie led the way up theplank and on board the launch again. We pushed off from the shore andbegan to steam ahead. Then Alie nodded to me, and I tapped theengineer on the shoulder and signified that he should stop. He lookedsurprised, but obeyed. Ebbington, however, did not like thisinterference on my part, and sprang to his feet.
"Why did you tell that man to stop?" he cried, angrily. "I'll troubleyou to remember that I'm----"
"And I'll just trouble you to sit down where you are and hold yourtongue, Mr. Ebbington," said Alie, dropping her American accentaltogether, and drawing a revolver from beneath her cloak. "The gameis over as far as you are concerned, so you may as well submit with asgood a grace as possible."
"What does this mean, Miss Sanderson?" he cried excitedly.
"Sit down there, as I tell you," she answered, "and don't make anynoise, or you'll get into trouble. I shall answer no questions, but ifyou attempt to move I promise you I'll shoot you there and then."
He said no more, but sat between us trembling like the arrant cowardhe was. Alie went forw
ard to the engineer and said something in Malay;then, after a moment's conversation with one of the crew, she returnedaft, took the tiller, and steered for the open sea. The little craftfumed and fussed on her way for an hour or so, tossing the foam offeither bow, and covering the distance in first-rate style.
Suddenly the look-out, posted forrard, uttered a cry, and next momentwe saw ahead of us a green light. It was obscured and revealed threetimes. This, I knew, was the yacht's signal, and in less than aquarter of an hour we were alongside, had hitched on, and were safelyaboard. The launch's crew were then suitably rewarded and sent back toSingapore.
As we reached the deck Ebbington must have read the yacht's name on alife-buoy, and realised into whose hands he had fallen. For a momenthe stood rooted to the spot, then he staggered a pace forward,clutched at a stay, and, missing it, fell upon the deck in a deadfaint. As I stooped to see what was the matter with him I felt thetremor of the screw. Our errand was accomplished. Singapore was athing of the past. We were on our way back to the island once more.
