The League of the Leopard

by Harold Bindloss

  CHAPTER VI

  DANE'S SILENCE

  It was in a combative humor that Hilton Dane presented himself in courton the day of the poacher's trial. It was impossible to ignore thesummons, which alone had delayed his departure from The Larches; but thetime he spent there waiting had passed very uncomfortably. Lilian had,so far as she could do so without attracting attention, sedulouslyavoided his company; and he fancied that both Chatterton and his wiferegarded him with suspicion. Dane, knowing the iron-master's opinions,surmised that Chatterton would not have blamed him had he franklyrelated all that had passed; but he had pledged himself to secrecy, andit never occurred to him to break his promise.

  Therefore he kept his own counsel, and went into court prepared forbattle, further fortified by a contempt for the assumed omnipotence ofpetty local magnates which men of his kind, who have tasted power in thevigorous life of the newer lands, acquire. He decided that the prisoner,who was very young, looked free from inherent vice, and worthy of achance to prove himself, in the main, honest. He was not absolutelycertain that the man was the one with whom he had grappled, and he gavehim the full benefit of the doubt. His answers provided the neighborhoodwith a sensational topic for conversation, and, while there were somewho laughed at the legal functionaries' discomfiture and the witness'snonchalance, the game preservers in the vicinity were emphatic in theirindignation.

  In any case, Dane left the court amid the plaudits of the assembledquarrymen, which the officials could not restrain. He hated the role ofpopular hero but he felt a certain grim satisfaction, though he guessedthat every word he had spoken might cost him dearly. Also, because hedid nothing by halves, he sought the discharged prisoner.

  "I don't know whether you are the right man or not, and I don't wantto," he said dryly. "If you are a wholly worthless rascal, you will nodoubt drift back into the clutches of the police, when it is probablethat the worthy gentlemen I addressed to-day will see that you don't getout again. It would not surprise me if they starved you out of thisneighborhood; so, if you desire to make a fresh start, you will takethis letter to the English waterworks contractor to whom it isaddressed--and send your sister as much as possible of what he paysyou."

  "Would you believe that I'm sairly sorry, sir?" began the lad; but Daneturned upon him with a laugh and a frown.

  "Sorry for what? Prove it by turning honest. Do you wish to convince meI did wrong to-day?"

  The poacher departed with grateful protestations, and Dane was glad thathe had vanished before Maxwell came up.

  "I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you on your forensicabilities, or otherwise, but the spectacle was worth the journey," hesaid. "I hardly suspected that you possessed such talents; but why youdisplayed them is, of course, another question."

  "It is also my particular business," Dane replied stiffly, and frownedwhen Maxwell smiled significantly.

  "Confound you! Do you think----" he broke out; and Maxwell smiled againin ironical fashion as he moved away.

  "I might make use of your own rejoinder, and say that I generally findit saves trouble to keep my opinions to myself," he returned. "However,since you asked me, what would any person of the most modest discernmentthink?"

  Dane groaned inwardly as he climbed into the waiting vehicle, for thelast speech placed beyond all doubt the fact that the occupants of thedog-cart had recognized him at Hallows Brig; and he knew that LilianChatterton held somewhat puritanical views. He had, it was evident,involved himself hopelessly.

  That very evening, just as Dane had finished packing his fewpossessions, an irate game-preserving gentleman drove over to TheLarches to express his indignation.

  "I would not like to hurt your feelings, Chatterton, but your youngfriend did not give wholly unbiased testimony to-day," he said."Considering his evident desire to shield the prisoner, I e'en felt itmy duty to----"

  He got no farther, for the choleric iron-master was equally loyal tothose he honored with his good opinion, and prompt on any challenge totake up the cudgels.

  "If that is all you called to tell me, you might have spared yourselfthe trouble, Black," he interrupted. "I have known Hilton Dane fromboyhood, as I knew his father before him; and I haven't the slightestobjection to hurting the feelings of any man who impugns the honesty ofmy friends."

  "I'm thinking ye are very generous," replied Black, relapsing into hisnative idiom. "Man, do not be so testy, but bide and listen. Hedescribed his adversary so well that the police at once identified andarrested him; but he appeared troubled with a distressfully bad memoryin court to-day.

  "'What are ye meaning by the words, "A man like the prisoner"?' thefiscal asked him; and Mr. Dane answers: 'Just what I say.'

  "'Can you not swear to him?' asked the fiscal severely; and your youngfriend smiled. 'Could you swear to the complexion and color of the eyesof any man who, on a dark night, had just kicked you hard upon theknee?' says he.

  "It was not even respectful; and when the rabble cheered there was morethan me who agreed with the fiscal: 'This place is a court ofjustice--or it ought to be,' said he."

  Black, pausing, betrayed his indignation with a gesture, whileChatterton laughed in aggressive fashion.

  "Considering my worthy neighbors' prejudices, I think there wassomething in that last remark," he said.

  Just then Lilian, who may have overheard part of the colloquy, appearedin an opening in the tall hedge.

  "Did you convict the malefactor, Mr. Black?" she asked.

  "No," said that gentleman ruefully. "Unfortunately we did not, althoughI'm thinking that we did our best."

  Lilian smiled a little, and Chatterton's eyes twinkled as he glanced ather encouragingly.

  "Was that quite in accordance with the spirit of our gloriousconstitution?" she asked.

  "Eh?" said Black sharply. "What's this I'm saying; and I see ye arelaughing at me. I mean his guilt was manifest, but a friend of yoursshowed considerable audacity, forby a trace of talent, in his efforts torelease him. Ye will mind that it's a principle of British justice togive even a poacher fair play, my dear young lady."

  "So I was always taught," Lilian replied artlessly.

  Thomas Chatterton chuckled again, and pointed toward a man who, in turn,passed through the opening in the hedge.

  "I fancy that Mr. Black is anxious to talk to you, Hilton," he said.

  Black, however, had evidently found two adversaries sufficient withoutengaging a third, and, as sometimes happens, he did not recollect thecrushing things he might have said until the opportunity had passed; so,after a stiff greeting, he allowed Chatterton, who was rarely ungenerousto a beaten enemy, to lead him away.

  Lilian had disappeared, but not before the manner in which she hadignored Dane had roused him to precipitate action. He forgot hisprudence in a sudden fit of anger, and, remembering only that he mightnever have another opportunity for speech with her, he followed thegirl. Miss Chatterton, however, had a fair start, and, perhaps beingwarned by the sound of his hurried footsteps, made the most of it; sothat while Dane pursued her down two avenues, and through a shrubbery,the situation grew rapidly ludicrous. The humor of it did not strike himthen, and he saw only the flicker of a white dress receding before him.Finally he came upon the fugitive in a narrow path between rows ofchoice chrysanthemums, where, as there was no room for two to pass,Lilian turned upon him with an ominous light in her eyes. It was evidentthat Miss Chatterton was seriously angry, as well as a littlebreathless.

  "What brings you here?" she demanded.

  Dane was not, as a rule, readily disconcerted; but for a moment thepower of lucid speech deserted him.

  "I came----" he gasped.

  "That is unfortunately evident," retorted Lilian, chillingly. "What Idesire to know is why, considering the size of the garden, you must,after seeing I wished to be alone, choose this particular path!"

  Dane had slight cause for merriment, but he actually laughed.

  "Any other place would have suited me, but you went so fast
!"

  This was a blunder, and he realized it as he heard the gravel crunch ina manner that suggested the pressure of somebody's heel. Lilian hadclearly roused herself to face the situation.

  "Admitting that it was so, will you explain why you cannot take a hint?"

  "I will," Dane said quietly, though he was once more maladroit. "Iwished to ask why you have avoided me like contagion lately?"

  "Is that a necessary question, or is it generous to place the onus ofsuch an explanation upon me?"

  "Perhaps not," he admitted. "I am not so quick of wit as I could wish,to-day, but I am going away early to-morrow, and it may be very longbefore I see you again; so I could not help asking it. We have knowneach other a long time, Lily, and I would not care to leave Englandfeeling that you were displeased with me."

  "Have I told you that I was displeased?" asked the girl.

  "Speech was hardly necessary."

  Lilian Chatterton was not deficient in courage, and she no longer triedto evade the difficulty. "Please understand that I have neither theright nor the desire to inquire into your motives, but--since youinsist--there are limits within which one must restrict one'sfriendship; and after comparing your own account of your nocturnaladventures with what I heard Mr. Black relate about your conduct incourt to-day, it is hardly possible to avoid concluding that you haveoverstepped them."

  "There may be an explanation. Is it fair, as you reminded that verygentleman, to condemn any one unheard?"

  "Can you furnish one?" asked Lilian, with a quickness which was notwholly lost upon her companion. If he had spoken plainly, it is possiblethat the explanation might have changed a good deal for both of them;but that was just what the man had pledged himself not to do. He was nota casuist, and, having no time for reflection, saw only one course opento him. It was too late when he realized that it was the worst onepossible from any point of view.

  "I am afraid I cannot, at present," he said.

  The girl's eyes grew almost wicked, for his hesitation was fatal, andshe was angry that she had even allowed him to draw her into thediscussion.

  "That is comprehensible," she said. "You must already have taxed yourimagination severely, and it is perhaps natural that the testimony of aquite disinterested gentleman should be more convincing. Besides, as Isaid already, it is certainly not my part to judge you."

  "Then I can only hope that you will hear the full truth from some otherperson you consider more worthy of credit," Dane said somberly.

  Miss Chatterton returned no answer, but, drawing her skirt to her side,brushed past the man, who stepped recklessly among the chrysanthemums.She had, of course, no intention of looking back in his direction, but,on turning at the end of the alley, it was almost necessary to do so,and she sometimes remembered, with both a smile and a sigh, how he hadstood, a somewhat commanding, as well as a slightly ludicrous figure,staring straight before him, knee-deep among the chrysanthemums. That,however, was afterward, for then Lilian was in a royal rage with herselfas well as the man, because she had allowed anything he could say or doto disturb her serenity.

  Dane sighed a little, but there was resolution as well as indignation inhis face as he moved away, and left the gardener, who had witnessed thescene with indignation, to assess the damage.

  "Would nothing fit yon theatrical ijiot but stamping my new quilledRegents flat?" the gardener grumbled.

  Early the next morning Chatterton and Dane stood waiting for the Southexpress in the little country station.

  "I don't altogether understand what you have been doing, Hilton, and,though nobody seems quite pleased with you, I won't ask," said theiron-master. "I know you had a good reason for it, whatever it was; andif that meddlesome Black or any of his friends feel inclined to makefurther unpleasant suggestions, I shall enjoy the opportunity for alittle plain speaking. If you ever change your mind, remember what Isaid; and don't close with any offer unless it's tempting, but comeback and wait at The Larches for a better. I can't help saying I'msorry you did not altogether hit it with Lilian. Modern young women,however, often appear to consider cheap smartness more becoming than thegenuine cordiality they may feel."

  "It was not Miss Chatterton's fault, sir," declared Dane, who, growingslightly confused, wished the iron-master would favor anything else withhis fixed attention. He was thankful that the approach of the expressprevented the conversation from progressing further in that direction.

  A few evenings later, Lilian dismounted from her pony in the shadow of acopse. For some reason she had been restless all day, and sought solacein a ride across the moor. The saddle had slipped a little, and shespent some time tightening the girth. Meanwhile two men came to astandstill in the stubble beyond the hedge, and she recognized CarsluithMaxwell in one spare figure. The sunset beat into his face, and she sawit was stamped with a curious melancholy as he looked down thedeep-wooded valley toward Culmeny. Ridges of brown moorland, whoseslopes were streaked by dark firs, hemmed the hollow in, and the towerrose blackly in the mouth of it against the shimmer of the sea.

  "It is an inheritance to be proud of, sir," Carsluith said. "Perhaps itis because of the contrast with the rank luxuriance of the tropics, andtheir stifling heat, but each time I come home to the old place andbreathe this keen sweet air, I feel that I love it better."

  The second man, turning, laid his hand on the speaker's shoulder, and ashe did so Lilian recognized the master of Culmeny.

  "It will be yours some day which cannot be very distant now," the elderman replied. "It is a barren heritage, and I have long regretted that,after the girls are provided for, its revenues will do little more thancover the interest on the burden you must take up along with it."

  "I hope that day will be long in coming, sir; and I shall never restcontented until by some means I win enough to restore our formerprosperity. To-morrow will see me on my way to London, and we must hopethat my latest venture will prove successful!"

  Lilian could not escape without attracting attention, and she was soclose to the two men that she heard Brandram Maxwell sigh.

  "I do not approve of it, but know I cannot dissuade you," he said, witha certain pride as well as wistfulness in the glance he cast upon hisson. "I had hoped you might have settled here--and think she is good aswell as bonny--but that was not to be. Prosperity! The old place was ayeneedy, and its plenishing has cost the life of many of those who havegone before you. You will mind Andrew's answer when he fell out dying inthe retreat from Derby: 'I'm not caring greatly where I lie,' said he.'Our kirkyard is not contracted. It runs from the Low Countries to thesands of Cree.' Maybe it's your destiny, but you will not forget that anold man is longing for the sight of you, longing the more because----"

  He ceased abruptly, and Lilian noticed that Carsluith Maxwell made theslightest gesture of negation, while his face darkened a little. Sherecalled an old superstitious tale.

  "We have outgrown belief in those fables, sir," he declared.

  The ruler of Culmeny made no direct answer.

  "The old tale is told over often, and the end is the same. God keep you,and bring you safe home from that dark land," he said solemnly.

  Here the pair forestalled the unwilling spectator's intention by movingaway, and left her troubled. She had done nothing to raise false hopesin Carsluith Maxwell, and in that respect her conscience was clear; butthere had been a strange somberness in both men's faces, and she feltthat she was mainly responsible for sending the younger one to Africa.He was of good family and accomplished, and she wondered why, when manyanother damsel would have gladly listened, she had so promptly declinedhim as a suitor. Then, even as she reflected that there was no one elseshe preferred to him, a tinge of color crept into her face, and,dismissing the subject, she mounted, and sent the pony at a gallopacross the next meadow.

  * * * * *

  It was a depressing afternoon when Carsluith Maxwell found Dane loungingin the smoking-room of a London hotel. The air outside was foul withsmoke and fog; and it
was little more cheerful within. Dane was indistinctly low spirits. He had spent a fortnight haunting the offices ofengineering firms, financiers, and company promoters, and had discoveredonce more that anybody willing to take up his invention would requirethe lion's share of the contingent profit. He could hear of noremunerative professional engagement; and the contractors who hadpromised him the foreign commission stated that the work would not bebegun for some time.

  "You do not look exactly pleased with either the world or yourself,"observed Maxwell.

  "I certainly don't feel so," Dane said shortly. "Several things havegone wrong with me lately, and I'm even more troubled than usual by achronic shortness of capital. I want ten thousand pounds rather morebadly than most folks do, and no mental effort will show me where toraise more than five."

  Maxwell looked hard at the speaker.

  "If you are willing to risk a good deal on a chance of obtaining themoney, I think I can show you a way."

  Dane laughed harshly.

  "There is no risk you could mention which, for the sake of five thousandpounds, I would not run."

  "If you join me you will run a good many," said Maxwell. "There werereasons why I could not make the offer until to-day. Give me about tenminutes to explain the venture."

  Dane drew in a deep breath when his companion concluded; then held out abig hand.

  "It is a bargain," he said simply. "Half the profit, half the expenseand peril. I can start any time after to-morrow."

  They shook hands on it, while the blue cigar smoke curled about them;and the bargain they made was kept faithfully in the face of manifoldperils, and in spirit as well as in letter. Long afterward, Daneremembered that Maxwell's smile was much the same when, clenching thehot rifle barrels, they watched the flintlocks flashing through thickerwreaths of a more deadly vapor.

  All arrangements had been made when Maxwell departed; and Dane sat downto write Chatterton a letter. When that gentleman received it, he firstused expressions which should have cost him five shillings, and then,seeking his wife, thrust it down before her with quite unnecessaryviolence.

  "The man has taken leave of his senses!" he exclaimed. "Read that, andtell me if you don't think so."

  "Is this the beginning of another ancient-right crusade, or the effectof the lobster salad? You will remember that I warned you," said Mrs.Chatterton.

  "This is not a time to indulge in puerile levity! It is that--thatconfounded idiot, Hilton! He and the other madman, Maxwell, have goneout to look for gold mines in one of the deadliest holes in Africa. Hesays he wanted five thousand pounds, and, when he knows it was his duty,could not come to me!"

  Mrs. Chatterton read the letter, and then tried to flash a warning ather husband before she glanced in her niece's direction. Lilian who hadleaned forward as though listening intently, sank back into her chair.

  "Perhaps they may find the gold mine; and Carsluith Maxwell is by nomeans an idiot," she said. "Indeed, he always struck me as a shrewd,determined man."

  "Determined enough," fumed her husband. "They're all made that way.Maxwell rebuilt his iniquitous obstruction four times after I tore itup; but there's something in Carsluith's dark face I don't care to see.I've seen the sign on other men, and it implies a tragedy. Besides, fromwhat Black told me, they're an unlucky family, with an hereditaryweakness for dying fully dressed. Any mad venture they could getthemselves decently killed in seems to have been irresistible to thosemen of Culmeny. I'd have given three times the money to preventCarsluith from decoying poor Hilton. Do the fools fancy nuggets grow onpalm trees?"

  Chatterton, receiving no answer, retired to what he called his study,where they heard him banging books about. Lilian sat silent with handscrossed in her lap. She, also, she fancied, had seen the shadow inCarsluith Maxwell's face, and she felt both troubled and anxious abouthim and about somebody else.

  A week later Mrs. Chatterton, entering her niece's room in search ofsome trifle, came upon a book the girl had been reading. She lookedthoughtful when she saw that the volume treated of travels in WestAfrica, and that the marker in it rested between the last pages.