By Shore and Sedge by Bret Harte (first e reader txt) đ
- Author: Bret Harte
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âIt may be so,â said Renshaw, thoughtfully. âThe old Frenchman has always passed for a harmless, wandering eccentric. I hardly think public curiosity has ever even sought to know his name, much less his history. But had we not better first try to find if there IS any property before we examine his claims to it?â
âAs you please,â said Rosey, with a slight pout; âbut you will find it much easier to discover him than his treasure. Itâs always easier to find the thing youâre not looking for.â
âUntil you want it,â said Renshaw, with sudden gravity.
âHow pretty it looks over there,â said Rosey, turning her conscious eyes to the opposite mountain.
âVery.â
They had reached the top of the hill, and in the near distance the chimney of Madrono Cottage was even now visible. At the expected sight they unconsciously stoppedâunconsciously disappointed. Rosey broke the embarrassing silence.
âThereâs another way home, but itâs a roundabout way,â she said timidly.
âLet us take it,â said Renshaw.
She hesitated. âThe boat goes at four, and we must return to-night.â
âThe more reason why we should make the most of our time now,â said Renshaw with a faint smile. âTomorrow all things may be changed; tomorrow you may find yourself an heiress, Miss Nott. Tomorrow,â he added, with a slight tremor in his voice, âI may have earned your forgiveness, only to say farewell to you forever. Let me keep this sunshine, this picture, this companionship with you long enough to say now what perhaps I must not say tomorrow.â
They were silent for a moment, and then by a common instinct turned together into a narrow trail, scarce wide enough for two, that diverged from the straight practical path before them. It was indeed a roundabout way home, so roundabout, in fact, that as they wandered on it seemed even to double on its track, occasionally lingering long and becoming indistinct under the shadow of madrono and willow; at one time stopping blindly before a fallen tree in the hollow, where they had quite lost it, and had to sit down to recall it; a rough way, often requiring the mutual help of each otherâs hands and eyes to tread together in security; an uncertain way, not to be found without whispered consultation and concession, and yet a way eventually bringing them hand in hand, happy and hopeful, to the gate of Madrono Cottage. And if there was only just time for Rosey to prepare to take the boat, it was due to the deviousness of the way. If a stray curl was lying loose on Roseyâs cheek, and a long hair had caught in Renshawâs button, it was owing to the roughness of the way; and if in the tones of their voices and in the glances of their eyes there was a maturer seriousness, it was due to the dim uncertainty of the path they had traveled, and would hereafter tread together.
IXWhen Mr. Nott had satisfied himself of Renshawâs departure, he coolly bolted the door at the head of the companion way, thus cutting off any communication with the lower deck. Taking a long rifle from the rack above his berth, he carefully examined the hammer and cap, and then cautiously let himself down through the forehatch to the deck below. After a deliberate survey of the still intact fastenings of the hatch over the forehold, he proceeded quietly to unloose them again with the aid of the tools that still lay there. When the hatch was once more free he lifted it, and, withdrawing a few feet from the opening, sat himself down, rifle in hand. A profound silence reigned throughout the lower deck.
âYe kin rize up out oâ that,â said Nott gently.
There was a stealthy rustle below that seemed to approach the hatch, and then with a sudden bound the Lascar leaped on the deck. But at the same instant Nott covered him with his rifle. A slight shade of disappointment and surprise had crossed the old manâs face, and clouded his small round eyes at the apparition of the Lascar, but his hand was none the less firm upon the trigger as the frightened prisoner sank on his knees, with his hands clasped in the attitude of supplication for mercy.
âEf youâre thinkinâ oâ skippinâ afore Iâve done with yer,â said Nott with labored gentleness, âI oughter warn ye that itâs my style to drop Injins at two hundred yards, and this deck ainât anywhere morân fifty. Itâs an uncomfortable style, a nasty styleâbut itâs MY style. I thought Iâd tell yer, so yer could take it easy where you air. Whereâs Ferrers?â
Even in the manâs insane terror, his utter bewilderment at the question was evident. âFerrers?â he gasped; âdonât know him, I swear to God, boss.â
âPârâaps,â said Nott, with infinite cunning, âyer donât know the man ez kem into the loft from the alley last nightâpârâaps yer didnât see an airy Frenchman with a dyed moustache, eh? I thought that would fetch ye!â he continued, as the man started at the evidence that his vision of last night was a living man. âPârâaps you and him didnât break into this ship last night, jist to run off with my darter Rosey? Pârâaps yer donât know Rosey, eh? Pârâaps yer donât know ez Ferrers wants to marry her, and hez been hanginâ round yer ever since he leftâeh?â
Scarcely believing the evidence of his senses that the old man whose treasure he had been trying to steal was utterly ignorant of his real offense, and yet uncertain of the penalty of the other crime of which he was accused, the Lascar writhed his body and stammered vaguely, âMercy! Mercy!â
âWell,â said Nott, cautiously, âez I reckon the hide of a dead Chinee nigger ainât any more vallyble than that of a dead Injin, I donât care ef I let up on yerâseeinâ the cussedness ainât yours. But ef I let yer off this once, you must take a message to Ferrers from me.â
âLet me off this time, boss, and I swear to God I will,â said the Lascar eagerly.
âYe kin say to Ferrersâlet me seeââ deliberated Nott, leaning on his rifle with cautious reflection. âYe kin say to Ferrers like thisâsez you, âFerrers,â sez you, âthe old man sez that afore you went away you sez to him, sez you, âI take my honor with me,â sez youââhave you got that?â interrupted Nott suddenly.
âYes, boss.â
ââI take my honor with me,â sez you,â repeated Nott slowly. ââNow,â sez youââthe old man sez, sez heâtell Ferrers, sez he, that his honor havinâ run away agin, he sends it back to him, and ef he ever ketches it around after this, heâll shoot it on sight.â Hev yer got that?â
âYes,â stammered the bewildered captive.
âThen git!â
The Lascar sprang to his feet with the agility of a panther, leaped through the hatch above him, and disappeared over the bow of the ship with an unhesitating directness that showed that every avenue of escape had been already contemplated by him. Slipping lightly from the cutwater to the ground, he continued his flight, only stopping at the private office of Mr. Sleight.
When Mr. Renshaw and Rosey Nott arrived on board the Pontiac that evening, they were astonished to find the passage before the cabin completely occupied with trunks and boxes, and the bulk of their household goods apparently in the process of removal. Mr. Nott, who was superintending the work of two Chinamen, betrayed not only no surprise at the appearance of the young people, but not the remotest recognition of their own bewilderment at his occupation.
âKalkilatinâ,â he remarked casually to his daughter, âyouâd rather look arter your fixinâs, Rosey, Iâve left âem till the last. Pârâaps yer and Mr. Renshaw wouldnât mind sittinâ down on that locker until Iâve strapped this yer box.â
âBut what does it all mean, father?â said Rosey, taking the old man by the lapels of his sea-jacket, and slightly emphasizing her question. âWhat in the name of goodness are you doing?â
âBreakinâ camp, Rosey dear, breakinâ camp, jist ez we uster,â replied Nott with cheerful philosophy. âKinder like old times, ainât it? Lord, Rosey,â he continued, stopping and following up the reminiscence, with the end of the rope in his hand as if it were a clue, âdonât ye mind that day we started outer Livermore Pass, and seed the hull oâ the Californy coast stretchinâ yonderâ eh? But donât ye be skeered, Rosey dear,â he added quickly, as if in recognition of the alarm expressed in her face. âI ainât turning ye outer house and home; Iâve jist hired that âere Madrono Cottage from the Peters ontil we kin look round.â
âBut youâre not leaving the ship, father,â continued Rosey, impetuously. âYou havenât sold it to that man Sleight?â
Mr. Nott rose and carefully closed the cabin door. Then drawing a large wallet from his pocket, he said, âItâs singâlar ye should hev got the name right the first pop, ainât it, Rosey? but itâs Sleight, sure enough, all the time. This yer check,â he added, producing a paper from the depths of the wallet, âthis yer check for 25,000 dollars is wot he paid for it only two hours ago.â
âBut,â said Renshaw, springing to his feet furiously, âyouâre duped, swindledâbetrayed!â
âYoung man,â said Nott, throwing a certain dignity into his habitual gesture of placing his hands on Renshawâs shoulders, âI bought this yer ship five years ago jist ez she stood for 8,000 dollars. Kalkilatinâ wot she cost me in repairs and taxes, and wot she brought me in since then, accordinâ to my figgerinâ, I donât call a clear profit of 15,000 dollars much of a swindle.â
âTell him all,â said Rosey, quickly, more alarmed at Renshawâs despairing face than at the news itself. âTell him everything, DickâMr. Renshaw; it may not be too late.â
In a voice half choked with passionate indignation Renshaw hurriedly repeated the story of the hidden treasure, and the plot to rescue it, prompted frequently by Roseyâs tenacious memory and assisted by Roseyâs deft and tactful explanations. But to their surprise the imperturbable countenance of Abner Nott never altered; a slight moisture of kindly paternal tolerance of their extravagance glistened in his little eyes, but nothing more.
âEf there was a part oâ this ship, a plank or a bolt ez I donât know, ez I hevnât touched with my own hand, and looked into with my own eyes, thar might be suthinâ in that story. I donât let on to be a sailor like YOU, but ez I know the ship ez a boy knows his first hoss, as a woman knows her first babby, I reckon thar ainât no treasure yer, onless it was brought into the Pontiac last night by them chaps.â
âBut are you mad! Sleight would not pay three times the value of the ship to-day if he were not positive! And that positive knowledge was gained last night by the villain who broke into the Pontiacâno doubt the Lascar.â
âSurely,â said Nott, meditatively. âThe Lascar! Thereâs suthinâ in that. That Lascar I fastened down in the hold last night unbeknownst to you, Mr. Renshaw, and let him out again this morning ekally unbeknownst.â
âAnd you let him carry his information to Sleightâwithout a word!â said Renshaw, with a sickening sense of Nottâs utter fatuity.
âI sent him back with a message to the man he kem from,â said Nott, winking both his eyes
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