The Five Knots
Page 26
*CHAPTER XXVI*
*DR. JANSEN*
Cotter seemed to feel his way to the door, as if he were blind, or theroom had been suddenly plunged into intense darkness. He hardly daredto breathe till he had opened the front door and admitted a short,enormously stout man who beamed on him mildly behind a pair of hugesilver-rimmed spectacles. There was nothing in the stranger to inspireterror in the heart of Cotter, but his manner was servile to a degree.
"You see, I have come back again," the foreigner said. "Did I not tellyou that I should come back, my friend? And it is no use telling methat Mr. Flower is not in, because I saw him arrive with his beautifulniece. In fact, I stood on the pavement on the other side of the roadand watched the carriage come. If it had been all night I had to wait,I should have remained there. You have told your master I am coming?"
"I have done that," Cotter whined, "and he will see you at once. Willyou come this way, please?"
The Dutchman bustled into the dining-room and threw his hat and coatcarelessly on a chair. Then he proceeded to wipe his spectacles on animmense red handkerchief which he produced from the tail pocket of hisgreasy frock-coat. Without ceremony he hustled Cotter to the door andclosed it.
Flower stood moodily gazing into the fire-place without taking the leastheed of his visitor. Not in the least disconcerted, the Dutchmanwheeled a big armchair to the fire-place and made himself comfortable.Then from another capacious pocket he produced a villainous cigar withthe fumes of which he began to poison the room. Helping himselfliberally to brandy and soda, he sat down patiently waiting for Flowerto speak. Despite the man's fatness and the jovial twinkle in his eyes,there was something about him which spoke of a grim and determinednature. Evidently, too, he was master of the situation and knew it. Thetension grew until Flower could stand it no longer.
"Well, what the devil do you want?" he broke out passionately. "Whatare you doing here just at this time? Haven't I got worry enoughwithout you turning up to blackmail me?"
The Dutchman waved the suggestion aside.
"There, my friend," he said coolly, "you are entirely wrong. I did notcome here to blackmail you at all. You treated me very badly some yearsago, and I have bided my time till I could get even with you. I don'tknow whether you are aware of it or not, but the time has come. Ishould like to know what you are going to do about it."
"Nothing," Flower said moodily. "I am going to let matters take theircourse. I am not afraid of you and the sooner you know it the better,and if you want money, well, you can't have it. For the last two yearseverything has gone wrong. People fight shy of me and only the smallerfirms in the City will have any dealings with my firm. I am supposed tobe rich and prosperous, to have made money in my own peculiar way, but Itell you I am a ruined, almost desperate man. Two years ago----"
"Ah, I know what you are going to say," the Dutchman chuckled. "You aregoing to tell me that everything has gone wrong with you since thattrouble over the _Guelder Rose_. There was the _Japonica_, too, and thetime has gone by when you could make money in coffin wood. Well, on thewhole, you have been a lucky man. If I choose to find where young Dr.Mercer is, and if we put our heads together, we could tell a story aboutthe _Guelder Rose_ which would land Mr. Samuel Flower within the fourwalls of a gaol. Oh, you needn't look at me like that. I am not likelyto do you any harm so long as I can make money out of you. I havewaited long enough for this opportunity, knowing that you would findyourself in a corner sooner or later, and I have come here to-night tomake a proposal. Why should you talk about being a ruined and desperateman when you have only to put out your hand and fill your pockets withtreasure?"
Flower abandoned his place by the fire and began to walk up and down theroom again. He was agitated.
"I will not be fool enough to pretend to misunderstand you," he saidhoarsely. "I know what you are alluding to. You are speaking aboutthat treasure which awaits us in North Borneo. I tell you I dare not. Icannot steel myself to go through that again. As for you, your case isdifferent. Though you took a prominent part in that expedition you werewily enough to keep yourself in the background. Nobody could identifyyou with any of the men who fired that mine and washed a whole city todestruction. I used to marvel at your cunning----"
"I hope you admired it," Jansen chuckled. "Did you think that I was sucha fool as to embark upon an enterprise like that without taking properprecautions? Did you suppose I didn't expect to be murdered on my waydown to the coast? And didn't your native servants do their best, atyour instigation, to put me away? Not that I bear you any malice. Idaresay if things had been otherwise I should have tried to wipe youout, as they say in America. When the time came I discreetlydisappeared, and it was generally imagined that I had perished miserablyin the jungle. My dear, respected partner, I did nothing of the kind.I kept my head and by and by went back to the scene of the destructionto see what I could pick up for myself."
"You found nothing," Flower snarled.
"Absolutely nothing," the Dutchman said good-naturedly. "You had takengood care of that. But the stuff is there, and you know where it is tobe found. That is why I am here to-night; why I want you to accompanyme on a final voyage, after which neither of us will ever need to workagain. The whole thing has blown over. There are no natives left totell the tale, and we shall be rich men with a _minimum_ expenditure oftrouble. The key of the situation lies with us. You can do nothingwithout me and I am powerless without you. Let us make an offensive anddefensive alliance and take out our own staff. What do you say?"
Jansen spread his hands cheerfully out to the blaze, his little eyesbeaming with good-nature. He was not in the least like a man in theclose proximity of his would-be murderer. He seemed to take everythingfor granted. Flower came to an abrupt halt by the fire and looked downat his companion.
"A very pretty programme," he sneered. "Quite an excellent programme.We are to fit out an expedition to North Borneo together. We are torecover all that priceless treasure--why, the marvellous china andengraved glass alone would be worth a fortune--then come home richbeyond the dream of avarice and live happily for ever afterwards. Itsounds delightful, but there is one flaw. You are under the impressionthat the clan was destroyed root and branch when the city was washedaway. You are mistaken. There were survivors, and at least two of themto my certain knowledge are in England at the present moment. Do youknow that my life is not worth a moment's purchase? Do you know thatone attempt has already been made upon it? The next may be successful.And when I am got rid of, that treasure will never be seen again bymortal eye. Besides, how do you know you are safe yourself? You tookextraordinary precautions, I know. But we had men to deal with whosecunning and foresight were far greater than our own. Now, in view ofwhat I tell you, are you still bent on going?"
The twinkle had died out of the Dutchman's eyes and his rubicund facehad grown solemn. He sat for a long time gazing into the fire before hespoke.
"You are sure of this?" he asked. "You are certain there has been nomistake."
By way of response Flower took an envelope from his pocket and produceda five-knotted piece of string. He handed it gravely to his companion.
"Look at that," he said. "You know what it means. Now, that came to mein a registered letter posted by my agent Slater, in Borneo. Mind you,though Slater knows nothing about this trouble, my correspondence withhim is always conducted in cypher. The letter was so private andconfidential that it was written by Slater himself and posted by his ownhand. And yet, when I come to open the letter, I find this inside. Youare an easy-going sort, but I ask you, would not your flesh creep andyour hair stand on end if you found a message like that inside of aconfidential letter, written, sealed and posted by another person? Itell you the play is finished, the game is up, and I am doomed just asirrevocably as if I were the victim of some incurable malignant disease.Come, you are a clever man, Dr. Jansen, can you show me any way out o
fthis?"
Jansen played thoughtfully with the string, but no words crossed hislips. He was baffled.