Mysterious Mr. Sabin

by E. Phillips Oppenheim

  CHAPTER XLII

  A WEAK CONSPIRATOR

  At dinner-time Mrs. Watson appeared in a very dainty toilette of blackand white, and was installed at the captain's right hand. She wasintroduced at once to Mr. Sabin, and proceeded to make herself a veryagreeable companion.

  "Why, I call this perfectly delightful!" was almost her firstexclamation, after a swift glance at Mr. Sabin's quiet butirreproachable dinner attire. "You can't imagine how pleased Iam to find myself once more in civilised society. I was never sodull in my life as on that poky little yacht."

  "Poky little yacht, indeed!" Mr. Watson interrupted, with a note ofannoyance in his tone. "The _Mayflower_ anyway cost me pretty well twohundred thousand dollars, and she's nearly the largest pleasure yachtafloat."

  "I don't care if she cost you a million dollars," Mrs. Watson answeredpettishly. "I never want to sail on her again. I prefer thisinfinitely."

  She laughed at Captain Ackinson, and her husband continued his dinnerin silence. Mr. Sabin made a mental note of two things--first, that Mr.Watson did not treat his wife with that consideration which is supposedto be distinctive of American husbands, and secondly, that he drank agood deal of wine without becoming even a shade more amiable. His wifesomewhat pointedly drank water, and turning her right shoulder upon herhusband, devoted herself to the entertainment of her two companions. Atthe conclusion of the meal the captain was her abject slave, and Mr.Sabin was quite willing to admit that Mrs. J. B. Watson, whatever hernationality might be, was a very charming woman.

  After dinner Mr. Sabin went to his lower state room for an overcoat, andwhilst feeling for some cigars, heard voices in the adjoining room,which had been empty up to now.

  "Won't you come and walk with me, James?" he heard Mrs. Watson say. "Itis such a nice evening, and I want to go on deck."

  "You can go without me, then," was the gruff answer. "I'm going to havea cigar in the smoke-room."

  "You can smoke," she reminded him, "on deck."

  "Thanks," he replied, "but I don't care to give my Laranagas to thewinds. You would come here, and you must do the best you can. You can'texpect to have me dangling after you all the time."

  There was a silence, and then the sound of Mr. Watson's heavy tread,as he left the state room, followed in a moment or two by the lightfootsteps and soft rustle of silk skirts, which indicated the departurealso of his wife.

  Mr. Sabin carefully enveloped himself in an ulster, and stood for amoment or two wondering whether that conversation was meant to beoverheard or not. He rang the bell for the steward.

  The man appeared almost immediately. Mr. Sabin had known how to ensureprompt service.

  "Was it my fancy, John? or did I hear voices in the state roomopposite?" Mr. Sabin asked.

  "Mr. and Mrs. Watson have taken it, sir," the man answered.

  Mr. Sabin appeared annoyed.

  "You know that some of my clothes are hung up there," he remarked, "andI have been using it as a dressing-room. There are heaps of state-roomsvacant. Surely you could have found them another?"

  "I did my best, sir," the man answered, "but they seemed to take aparticular fancy to that one. I couldn't get them off it nohow."

  "Did they know," Mr. Sabin asked carelessly, "that the room opposite wasoccupied?"

  "Yes, sir," the man answered. "I told them that you were in numbertwelve, and that you used this as a dressing-room, but they wouldn'tshift. It was very foolish of them, too, for they wanted two, one each;and they could just as well have had them together."

  "Just as well," Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. "Thank you, John. Don't letthem know I have spoken to you about it."

  "Certainly not, sir."

  Mr. Sabin walked upon deck. As he passed the smoke-room he saw Mr.Watson stretched upon a sofa with a cigar in his mouth. Mr. Sabin smiledto himself, and passed on.

  The evening promenade on deck after dinner was quite a social event onboard the _Calipha_. As a rule the captain and Mr. Sabin strolledtogether, none of the other passengers, notwithstanding Mr. Sabin'scourtesy towards them, having yet attempted in any way to thrust theirsociety upon him. But to-night, as he had half expected, the captain hadalready a companion. Mrs. Watson, with a very becoming wrap around herhead, and a cigarette in her mouth, was walking by his side, chattinggaily most of the time, but listening also with an air of absorbedinterest to the personal experiences which her questions provoked. Everynow and then, as they passed Mr. Sabin, sometimes walking, sometimesgazing with an absorbed air at the distant chaos of sea and sky, sheflashed a glance of invitation upon him, which he as often ignored. Onceshe half stopped and asked him some slight question, but he answered itbriefly standing on one side, and the captain hurried her on. It was astroke of ill-fortune, he thought to himself, the coming of these twopeople. He had had a clear start and a fair field; now he was suddenlyface to face with a danger, the full extent of which it was hard toestimate. For he could scarcely doubt but that their coming was on hisaccount. They had played their parts well, but they were secret agentsof the German police. He smoked his cigar leisurely, the object everyfew minutes of many side glances and covert smiles from the delicatelyattired little lady, whose silken skirts, daintily raised from theground, brushed against him every few minutes as she and her companionpassed and repassed. What was their plan of action? he wondered. If itwas simply to be assassination, why so elaborate an artifice? and whatworse place in the world could there be for anything of the sortthan the narrow confines of a small steamer? No, there was evidentlysomething more complex on hand. Was the woman brought as a decoy? hewondered; did they really imagine him capable of being dazzled orfascinated by any woman on the earth? He smiled softly at the thought,and the sight of that smile lingering upon his lips brought her to astandstill. He heard suddenly the swish of her skirt, and her soft voicein his ear. Lower down the deck the captain's broad shoulders weredisappearing, as he passed on the way to the engineers' room for hisnightly visit of inspection.

  "You have not made a single effort to rescue me," she saidreproachfully; "you are most unkind."

  Mr. Sabin lifted his cap, and removed the cigar from his teeth.

  "My dear lady," he said, "I have been suffering the pangs of theneglected, but how dared I break in upon so confidential a_tete-a-tete_?"

  "You have little of the courage of your nation, then," she answeredlaughing, "for I gave you many opportunities. But you have beenengrossed with your thoughts, and they succeeded at least where Ifailed--you were distinctly smiling when I came upon you."

  "It was a premonition," he began, but she raised a little white hand,flashing with rings, to his lips, and he was silent.

  "Please don't think it necessary to talk nonsense to me all the time,"she begged. "Come! I am tired--I want to sit down. Don't you want totake my chair down by the side of the boat there? I like to watch thelights on the water, and you may talk to me--if you like."

  "Your husband," he remarked a moment or two later, as he arranged hercushions, "does not care for the evening air?"

  "It is sufficient for him," she answered quietly, "that I prefer it. Hewill not leave the smoking-room until the lights are put out."

  "In an ordinary way," he remarked, "that must be dull for you."

  "In an ordinary way, and every way," she answered in a low tone, "I amalways dull. But, after all, I must not weary a stranger with my woes.Tell me about yourself, Mr. Sabin. Are you going to America on pleasure,or have you business there?"

  A faint smile flickered across Mr. Sabin's face. He watched the whiteash trembling upon his cigar for a moment before he spoke.

  "I can scarcely be said to be going to America on pleasure," heanswered, "nor have I any business there. Let us agree that I am goingbecause it is the one country in the world of any importance which Ihave never visited."

  "You have been a great traveller, then," she murmured, looking up at himwith innocent, wide-open eyes. "You look as though you have beeneverywhere. Won't you tell me about some of the odd places
you havevisited?"

  "With pleasure," he answered; "but first won't you gratify a natural andvery specific curiosity of mine? I am going to a country which I havenever visited before. Tell me a little about it. Let us talk aboutAmerica."

  She stole a sudden, swift glance at her questioner. No, he did notappear to be watching her. His eyes were fixed idly upon the sheet ofphosphorescent light which glittered in the steamer's track.Nevertheless, she was a little uneasy.

  "America," she said, after a moment's pause, "is the one country Idetest. We are only there very seldom--when Mr. Watson's businessdemands it. You could not seek for information from any one worseinformed than I am."

  "How strange!" he said softly. "You are the first unpatriotic American Ihave ever met."

  "You should be thankful," she remarked, "that I am an exception. Isn'tit pleasant to meet people who are different from other people?"

  "In the present case it is delightful!"

  "I wonder," she said reflectively, "in which school you studied my sex,and from what particular woman you learned the art of making thoselittle speeches?"

  "I can assure you that I am a novice," he declared.

  "Then you have a wonderful future before you. You will make a courtier,Mr. Sabin."

  "I shall be happy to be the humblest of attendants in the court whereyou are queen."

  "Such proficiency," she murmured, "is the hall mark of insincerity. Youare not a man to be trusted, Mr. Sabin."

  "Try me," he begged.

  "I will! I will tell you a secret."

  "I will lock it in the furthest chamber of my inner consciousness."

  "I am going to America for a purpose."

  "Wonderful woman," he murmured, "to have a purpose."

  "I am going to get a divorce!"

  Mr. Sabin was suddenly thoughtful.

  "I have always understood," he said, "that the marriage laws of Americaare convenient."

  "They are humane. They make me thankful that I am an American."

  Mr. Sabin inclined his head slightly towards the smoking-room.

  "Does your unfortunate husband know?"

  "He does; and he acquiesces. He has no alternative. But is that quitenice of you, Mr. Sabin, to call my husband an unfortunate man?"

  "I cannot conceive," he said slowly, "greater misery than to havepossessed and lost you."

  She laughed gaily. Mr. Sabin permitted himself to admire that laugh. Itwas like the tinkling of a silver bell, and her teeth were perfect.

  "You are incorrigible," she said. "I believe that if I would let you,you would make love to me."

  "If I thought," he answered, "that you would never allow me to make loveto you, I should feel like following this cigar." He threw it into thesea.

  She sighed, and tapped her little French heel upon the deck.

  "What a pity that you are like all other men."

  "I will say nothing so unkind of you," he remarked. "You are unlike anyother woman whom I ever met."

  They listened together to the bells sounding from the quarter deck. Itwas eleven o'clock. The deck behind them was deserted, and a finedrizzling rain was beginning to fall. Mrs. Watson removed the rug fromher knees regretfully.

  "I must go," she said; "do you hear how late it is?"

  "You will tell me all about America," he said, rising and drawing backher chair, "to-morrow?"

  "If we can find nothing more interesting to talk about," she said,looking up at him with a sparkle in her dark eyes. "Good-night."

  Her hand, very small and white, and very soft, lingered in his. At thatmoment an unpleasant voice sounded in their ears.

  "Do you know the time, Violet? The lights are out all over the ship. Idon't understand what you are doing on deck."

  Mr. Watson was not pleasant to look upon. His eyes were puffy, andswollen, and he was not quite steady upon his feet. His wife looked athim in cold displeasure.

  "The lights are out in the smoke-room, I suppose," she said, "or weshould not have the pleasure of seeing you. Good-night, Mr. Sabin! Thankyou so much for looking after me!"

  Mr. Sabin bowed and walked slowly away, lighting a fresh cigarette. Ifit was acting, it was very admirably done.