arriving at redruth, stranleigh sent off three telegrams, one instructing his chief solicitors in london to request the leading marine lawyer of plymouth to call upon him at once at the grand hotel in that town. the second telegram bade captain wilkie cheer up, as ample bail was approaching him by the next train from the west, requesting him, if at liberty, to call at the grand hotel about six o’clock. the third telegram secured a suite of rooms at the grand hotel, and this task finished, stranleigh had just time to catch the 2.49 train for plymouth.
on driving up to the grand hotel shortly after six o’clock, he found both captain wilkie and mr. docketts, the marine lawyer, waiting for him, and the three went together up to the engaged apartments.
“so they haven’t put you in quod, captain,” said the young man, as he shook hands with him.
“no, sir; they thought better of that. in fact, there seems to be a good deal of hesitation about their procedure. they placed men in possession, and then have taken them out again. just before i left the ship a fresh lot came aboard. at first they were going to put handcuffs on me, then they consulted about it, and asked if i could provide bail. not knowing whether you wished me to go to prison or not, i refused to answer.”
“safest thing in the absence of instructions,” put in mr. docketts. “what is it all about, my lord?”
“it’s rather a complicated case, mr. docketts,” said stranleigh, throwing himself into the easiest chair he could find, “and it is not necessary to go into the whole story at the present time.”
the lawyer shook his head doubtfully.
“if i am to be of any assistance, lord stranleigh, i think you should tell me everything. a point that may seem unimportant to the lay mind, often proves of the utmost significance to the legal student.”
“you are wrong, mr. docketts. what you are thinking of is the detective story. it is the detective that the slightest incident furnishes with an important clew. you mustn’t insult my intellect by calling it a lay mind, mr. docketts, because i take my marine law from that excellent practitioner, clark russell; therefore, when it comes to ships i know what i am talking about. the first point i wish to impress on you is that i am not to appear in this case. no one is to know who engages you. the second point is that no action will be fought in the courts. i could settle the case in ten minutes merely by going to the venerable conrad schwartzbrod, who has heedlessly set the law in action; but such a course on my part would be most unfair to an eminent limb of the law like yourself, who wishes to earn honest fees.”
mr. docketts bowed rather gravely, an inclination of the head which contrived subtly to convey respect for his lordship’s rank in life, and yet mild disapproval of his flippant utterances.
“i always advise my clients, my lord, to avoid litigation if they can.”
“quite right, mr. docketts. that is good legal etiquette, so long as the advice is conveyed in such a manner that it does not convince the client. now this steamer, the rajah, belongs to me, but it has been chartered for a number of months by the aforesaid conrad schwartzbrod—i trust i am using correct legal phraseology—and the aforesaid conrad schwartzbrod is one of the rankest, most unscrupulous scoundrels that the city of london has ever produced, which statement is regrettably libelous, but without prejudice, and uttered solely in the presence of friends. the law, of course, is designed to settle, briefly and inexpensively, such disputes as may be brought before it, nevertheless it is my wish that the law shall be twisted and turned from its proper purpose, so that this case may be dragged on as long as may be, with injunctions, and restraints, and cross pleas, and demurrers, and mandamuses, or any other damus things you can think of. whenever you find you are cornered, mr. docketts, and must come into the light of day before a judge, you telegraph to me, and you will be astonished to know how speedily everything will be quashed.”
again the lawyer bowed very solemnly.
“i think i understand your lordship,” he said impressively.
“i am sure of it, and i hope you will do me the pleasure of remembering your quickness of comprehension, so that you may charge extra for it when you send in the bill. i assure you, quite candidly, that nothing gives me such delight as the paying of an adequate fee to a competent man. if these people should attempt any further molestation of captain wilkie, you are to protect him, and i will furnish bail to any amount, reasonable or the reverse. and now, mr. docketts, if you will let me have your card, with your address on it, i shall leave the case in your hands.”
mr. docketts complied with the request, and took his deferential departure. captain wilkie also rose, but stranleigh waved him to his seat again.
“sit you down, captain. has the wychwood sailed yet?”
“no, sir, she has not. i met captain simmons yesterday. he came across to the rajah to take away some of his belongings that were still in his cabin. he said the wychwood might be ready for sea to-morrow or next day.”
“well, i think i’ll go over and call on him. i can do that before dinner. the estimable mackeller has been my cook for some time past, and if this lucky action had not been begun by that public benefactor, schwartzbrod, i do not know what would have become of me, for i did not wish to cast any reflection upon mackeller’s kitchen skill by desertion. but now that i have been compelled by law to desert him, i hope, captain, you will take pity on a lonesome man, and dine here with me at eight o’clock. i’ll order such a dinner as will make this tavern sit up. you’ll stand by, won’t you, captain?”
“thank you, sir, i’ll be delighted.”
“well, that’s settled. now, if you will guide me to the wychwood, i’ll go aboard for a chat with captain simmons, and you will meet me in the dining room at eight o’clock.”
the two parted alongside that huge steamer, the wychwood, and stranleigh climbed aboard, greeting captain simmons on deck.
“well, captain, you haven’t got off yet?”
“no, sir—my lord, not yet,” said the astonished captain. “if you’d sent word you was coming, earl, i’d have had dinner prepared for you. as it is, there’s nothing fit to eat aboard.”
“i am accustomed to that, captain. i was just complaining to wilkie, who brought me here, that mackeller was my cook, and he seemed to sympathize. no, it’s the other way about. you’re coming to dine with me. i’ve invited captain wilkie, and we will form a hungry trio about a round table at the grand hotel to-night at eight. three plymouth brethren, as you may call us: you two practical salts, and me an amateur. have you been back to that little cottage on southampton water?”
“no, my lord—sir, but i keep a-thinking of it all the time with great pleasure, and the wife or one of the girls writes to me every day. they are delighted, sir—my lord. i didn’t know till after you left that ’twas you had bought all that furniture, but you must let me pay for that, earl, on the instalment plan.”
“oh, that’s all right, captain. you wait till i send round a collector. never worry about payment till it’s asked for. that’s been my rule in life. now, captain, take me down to your cabin. i wish to have a quiet chat with you, and on deck, with men about, is a little too public.”
the captain led the way, and stranleigh, standing, gazed about him.
“ah, this is something like. this beats the rajah, doesn’t it?”
“yes, it does, my lord—i mean sir. i never expected to find myself in a cabin like this, sir, and a fine ship she is, too; well found and stanch. i’d like to sail her into southampton water some day, just to let the missus and the kids see her.”
“i’ll tell you what you must do, captain. send a telegram to mrs. simmons and the girls, asking them to lock up the shop, and come at once to plymouth. i’ll make arrangements for them at the grand hotel and they’ll stay here until you sail, which can’t be for some days yet. and now to business, captain. old schwartzbrod has discovered where the rajah is, and has jumped aboard with a blooming injunction or some such lawyer’s devilment as that: tried to habeas corpus innocent old wilkie, or whatever they call it; anyhow, something that goes with handcuffs, but the old boy was game right through to the backbone, and was willing to go to the bastile itself if his doing so would accommodate me, but i’ve invited him to dinner instead.”
“then schwartzbrod will be trying to find me, very likely?” said captain simmons, in no way pleased with the prospect.
“i shouldn’t wonder, so i’d keep my weather eye abeam, if i were you, for very likely schwartzbrod is in plymouth. still, i’ve told an eminent lawyer to go full speed ahead, and i anticipate schwartzbrod will have quite enough to occupy his mind in a few days. now, captain simmons, although our acquaintance has been very short, i am going to trust you fully. since this action was taken by schwartzbrod, it has occurred to me that the proper person to go to the paramakaboo river is the redoubtable captain who has already been there, and that person is yourself.”
“well; sir, captain wilkie has also been there, in your yacht, and perhaps he’d like this new ship. i’m sure he doesn’t care about the rajah.”
“oh, he doesn’t need to care about the rajah. he’s off the rajah for good, and will take command of my yacht again. no, you are the man for the paramakaboo. you know frowningshield, and you know his gang, and he knows you. now, i leave everything to your own discretion. if you tell frowningshield how everything stands, there is one chance in a thousand he may seize the wychwood, and compel you to sail for lisbon, or wherever he likes. it all depends how deeply he is in with that subtle rogue, schwartzbrod.”
“i’ll tell him nothing about it, sir.”
“that’s my own advice. i should say nothing except that they have furnished you with a larger steamer, so that you can get away with double the quantity of ore, all of which is true enough. but if circumstances over which you have no control compel you to divulge the true state of affairs, get frowningshield alone here in the cabin, and talk to him as i talked to you on the high seas. he’s engaged in a criminal business, whether he is under the jurisdiction of the british flag or not; but the main point i wish you to impress upon him is this: i shall stand in schwartzbrod’s place; that is to say, i shall make good to him, as i made good to you, every promise that rascal has given. i know that virtue is its own reward, yet i sometimes wish that virtue would oftener deal in the coin of the realm in addition. it doesn’t seem fair that all the big compensations are usually on the devil’s side. anyhow, i trust this ship and this business entirely to you. you act as you think best, and if they compel you to sail to lisbon or anywhere else, telegraph fully to me whenever you get into touch with a wire. i don’t anticipate any trouble of that kind, however. frowningshield will know on which side his bread is buttered, even if he is a villain, which i don’t believe. now, schwartzbrod promised you five thousand pounds extra for three trips to lisbon, and two thousand pounds for every additional voyage. how many additional voyages could you have made?”
“i couldn’t have made one, sir, with the rajah.”
“well, let us call it two. that amounts to nine thousand pounds. i’ll give you a check for that amount to-morrow, and you can hand it to the missus to put in the bank when she returns to southampton.”
“i couldn’t think of taking that from you, sir,” said the captain, with an unfeigned look of distress.
“it’s not from me at all, captain simmons. i am going to make schwartzbrod hand over that amount to my bank. i am merely anticipating his payments; passing it on from him to you, as it were. in a similar way i shall recompense frowningshield, and i shall give you a sufficient number of gold sovereigns with which to pay all his men, and this will create a certain satisfaction in the camp, even although there is no spot within a thousand miles where they can spend a penny. so, captain, you will load up your ship with an ample supply of provisions for those in camp, and take out to them anything that you think they may need, charging the same to me, which account i shall pass on to schwartzbrod.”
“but isn’t there a chance, sir, that schwartzbrod may charter another steamer, in which case we may have to fight?”
“no, i don’t think so. i am having old schwartzbrod watched, and from the latest report he has not even chartered a rowboat. no, i have extended his charter of the rajah for an extra three months, and he will hope to get possession of her. it will take him a few days to realize the extent of the law’s delay, and with such a start, together with the speed of the wychwood you will find no difficulty about filling this ship, and getting away without encountering any opposition. no, i don’t want any fight. you see, i can’t spare mackeller, and it would break his heart to think there was a ruction and he not in it.
“here is a suggestion which has just occurred to me, and you may act on it or not as circumstances out there dictate. when the wychwood is fully loaded with ore, and ready to sail, you might ask frowningshield to come aboard with you for that twelve-mile run down the river. the steam launch could follow and take him back. inform him that you have something important to say which cannot be told ashore, then get him down here into your cabin, and relate to him everything that has happened. he cannot stop the wychwood then if he wanted to. your crew will obey you, and no matter what commands he gave them to put about, they would pay no attention to him. show him that he can make more money by being honest than by following the lead of old schwartzbrod. tell him you have received your nine thousand pounds—and, by the way, that reminds me i had better give you the check tonight before dinner, so that you can post it to your bank at southampton, and receive the bank’s receipt for it before you sail. the deposit receipt will be just as cheering to mrs. simmons as the check would be—and then you can tell frowningshield, quite conscientiously, that the money is already in your hands. i always believe in telling the truth to a pirate like frowningshield if it is at all possible. don’t imagine i’m preaching, captain. what i mean is that the truth is ever so much more convincing than even the cleverest of lies. we will suppose, then, that frowningshield comes to the same decision that you did, and agrees to join me in preserving my own property from an unscrupulous thief. in that case tell him that schwartzbrod will very likely send some other steamer to carry away the ore, as soon as he realizes he cannot again get hold of the rajah, and that i shall expect frowningshield and his merry men not to allow such a vessel to take away any of my ore.”
“shall i tell him to sink schwartzbrod’s steamer?”
“sink her? no, bless my soul, no. what would you sink her for? tell him to use gentle persuasion, and not give up the ore. an ordinary crew cannot fill the hold with ore which a hundred and fifty men refuse to allow them to touch. you don’t need to fight. if frowning-shield will just line up his hundred and fifty men along that reef, one glance at their interesting faces will convince any ship’s captain that he’d be safer out at sea.
“i think the wychwood will answer our purposes very well. she is large and fast. try to find out, if you can, exactly what schwartzbrod promised frowningshield and his men, and let me know when you return. now, captain, i think you understand pretty well what your new duties are, so get off for the south just as quickly as you can. meanwhile we must be moving on toward the grand hotel. i’m rather anxious to meet that dinner, and on the way we will send a telegram to mrs. simmons and the family. after that we three roisterers will make a night of it, for i must go up to london to-morrow.”
mackeller worked industriously at his smelting, dumping the gold down into the abandoned mine after his assistants had left him for the night. he was anxious to hear what had become of the rajah, and what had happened to captain wilkie threatened with imprisonment, but no letter came from lord stranleigh, which was not to be wondered at, for all stranleigh’s friends knew his dislike of writing.
the third morning after stranleigh’s departure mackeller received a long telegram which had evidently been handed in at london the night before. at first mackeller thought it was in cipher, but a close study of the message persuaded him that no code was necessary for its disentanglement. it ran as follows:
“take half a pound of butter, one pound of flour, half a pound of moist sugar, two eggs, one teaspoonful of essence of lemon, one fourth glass of brandy or sherry. rub the butter, flour, and sugar well together, mix in the eggs after beating them, add the essence of lemon and the brandy. drop the cakes upon a frying pan, and bake for half an hour in a quick oven.”
mackeller muttered some strenuous remarks to himself as at last he gathered in the purport of this communication. he detained the telegraph boy long enough to write a line which he sent to lord stranleigh’s residence at a cost of sixpence.
“what have you done about the rajah—mackeller.”
late in the afternoon the telegraph boy returned, and bestowed upon the impatient and now irascible mackeller the following instructions:
“for two persons alone at the mouth of a pit take one plump fowl, add white pepper and salt to suit the taste, one half spoonful of grated nutmeg, one half spoonful of pounded mace, a few slices of ham, three hard-boiled eggs, sliced thin, half a pint of water, and some puff paste crust to cover. stew for half an hour, and when done strain off the liquor for gravy. put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie dish, then a layer of ham, then the slices of hard-boiled egg, with the mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt between the layers. put in half a pint of water, cover with puff paste, and bake for an hour and a half.”
“i suppose,” growled mackeller to himself, “he thinks that’s funny, but it will cost him a pretty penny if he keeps it up every day.”
“any answer?” said the telegraph boy.
“yes,” answered mackeller, and being made reckless by example, he wrote a more lengthy message than was customary with him:
“everything going on well here. the cooking i am doing consists in the production of hardbake cake, and the receipt is as follows: take ore from africa, salt and pepper to suit the taste, mix it with hard coal from the north, quick fire and a hot oven. when completely baked run into molds of sand, and place in a deep cellar to cool. save the money you are wasting on the postoffice department by sending me, through parcel post, the cook book from which you are stealing those items, and use a telegram to let me know what has happened to the rajah and captain wilkie.”
in the evening an answer came.
“that’s not a bad receipt of yours, mackeller. i didn’t think so serious a man as you was capable of such frivolity. the rajah is in chancery, in litigation, in irons, in plymouth harbor, in-junctioned. i expect it will be a long time before the rajah gets out of court. captain wilkie is all right, and back on my yacht. the wychwood, with simmons in command, is off to paramakaboo. i expect to be with you after you have had time to study the volume which at your suggestion i send to-day by parcel post; ‘mrs. beeton’s book of household management’; bulky but useful.”
lord stranleigh did not return, however, as promised, to the cornish mine. although apparently leading an aimless life at home, or in one or other of his clubs, or at an interesting race meeting, he was keeping his eye on schwartzbrod by means of an efficient secret agent. he wondered how soon so shrewd a man as the financier would come to the knowledge that the rajah was tied up with the red tape of the law, as immovable in her berth as if she had been chained to the breakwater by cables of steel. he was determined that schwartzbrod should not further complicate the situation by sending out another steamer on an ore-stealing expedition to west africa; and when at last he received a report from his agent that schwartzbrod’s men were in negotiation once more with sparling & bilge of southampton, the indolent young man thought it time to strike, so he telephoned to schwartz-brod, asking him to call at his town house next morning at half past ten, bringing his check book with him.
schwartzbrod, spluttering at his end of the telephone, wished further explanation about the request for the check book. the charter money, he said, was not due. nothing had been said in the document signed about payment in advance, but stranleigh rang off, and left the financier guessing. when, some minutes later, schwartzbrod got once more into communication with the house, the quiet-voiced ponderby told him that his lordship had left for his club, but would expect to see him promptly at half past ten next day.
when schwartzbrod arrived, he was shown this time into lord stranleigh’s scantily furnished business office on the ground floor. he had been so anxious to know what the cause of the summons was that he found himself ten minutes before the half hour, and that ten minutes he spent alone in the little room. as the clock in the hall chimed the half hour, the door opened, and lord stranleigh entered.
“good morning, mr. schwartzbrod. there are several little business matters which i wish to discuss with you and, as i expect to leave london shortly, i thought we might as well get it over.” stranleigh sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the table from the keen-eyed city man, who watched him with furtive sharpness.
“as i was telling you, my lord, there is nothing in the papers you signed saying that any payment was to be made in advance on account of the rajah.”
“you object, then, to paying in advance?”
“i don’t object, my lord, if it’s any accommodation to you. the first payment, you see, was made to messrs. sparling & bilge.”
“of course, i’ve nothing to do with that.”
“well, the second amount i did not expect to be called on to pay until the steamer had earned some money.”
“ah, yes, i see. that seems quite just. the steamer, then, hasn’t been earning money, i take it.”
“it is too soon yet to say, my lord, whether she is earning money or not.”
“is she still at south america?”
“yes, my lord.”
“has she not returned since i saw you last?”
“no, my lord.”
“that’s very strange,” murmured stranleigh, more to himself than to the other. “shows how blooming inaccurate those newspapers are.”
he took out from his inside pocket a thin memorandum book, searched slowly among some slips of loose paper, and at last took out a cutting from some daily journal.
“the paper from which i clipped this was issued a day or two after we last met. my attention was called to the item by the fact that so shortly before we had been in negotiation regarding the rajah; successful and pleasant negotiation, if i remember rightly, and i signed the papers you presented to me without consulting a solicitor, and the impression left on my mind is that you went away satisfied.”
“oh, i was perfectly satisfied, my lord, perfectly satisfied. yes, you very kindly signed the renewal of the charter.”
“you said, if i remember rightly, that the trip of the rajah was merely an experiment. it had something to do with the cattle business; a ranch, or several ranches, in the argentine republic.”
“quite right, my lord. i regret to say the business has not been as prosperous as i had hoped.”
“i am sorry to hear that. i have always looked on ranching as a sure way to wealth, but it seems there are exceptions. now, you said to me that if the experiment did not prove successful, which, regrettably, seems to be the case, you would turn the rajah over to me when she returned.”
“but she has not returned, my lord.”
“then what does this journal mean by stating that a few days after we foregathered in this house the rajah arrived at plymouth from brest, in france?”
“that must be a mistake, my lord. would you let me read the item?”
schwartzbrod extended his hand, trembling slightly, and took the slip of paper, adjusting his glasses to see the better, visibly gaining time before committing himself further.
“the item is very brief,” commented stranleigh, “still, it is definite enough. ‘steamer rajah, captain wilkie, arrived at plymouth from brest.’”
“that cannot have been our rajah,” said schwartzbrod at last, having collected his wits. “the captain on your steamer, my lord, is named simmons.”
“simmons? oh, captain simmons of southampton? why, i know the man. a fine, bluff old honest tar, one of the bulwarks of britain. so simmons was the captain of the rajah, was he? still, he may have resigned.”
“he couldn’t resign in midocean, my lord.”
“oh, i’ve known the thing done. i’ve known captains transferred from one steamer to another on the high seas.”
“i’ve never heard of such a thing, my lord, unless one vessel was disabled, and then abandoned when another came along.”
“my dear mr. schwartzbrod, accept my assurance that these daring devils of sea captains do things once they are out of our sight which we honest men ashore would not think of countenancing.”
“i thought you said just now they were the bulwarks of britain?”
“so they are, so they are, but bulwarks, mr. schwartzbrod, need to be made of stouter and coarser timber than that which lines the cabin. you must not think i am attributing anything criminal to our captain, mr. schwartzbrod; not at all, but it has often seemed to me that they do not always pay that scrupulous attention to the law which animates our business men in the city of london, for instance. a captain out of the jurisdiction of england, much as it may shock you to hear it, will dare to do things that would make our hair stand on end, and send a lawyer or a judge into a dead faint. now, there’s the captain simmons, of whom you just spoke. he tells me that he has undertaken devilish deeds in out-of-the-way parts of the world which he would not think of doing under that arch in the main street of southampton.”
the company promoter moistened his lips, and stroked the lower part of his face gently with his open hand. lord stranleigh beamed across at him with kindly expectancy, as if wishing some sympathetic corroboration of the statements he had made. at last the city man spoke.
“you have perhaps had more experience with seafaring people than i, my lord. i had always supposed them to be a rough-and-ready sort of folk, as reasonably honest as the rest of us.”
“it was to be expected, mr. schwartzbrod, that your kind heart would hesitate to credit anything condemnatory said about them. because you would not do this or that, you think other people are equally blameless. take captain simmons, for instance, and yet, when i think of him i remember, of course, there were mitigating circumstances in the case. captain simmons had set his eye on a little bit of property, something like five acres, stretching down to southampton water. there was a cottage and a veranda, and the veranda seemed to lure captain simmons with its prospect of peace, as he passed up southampton water in command of the disreputable old rajah. but simmons never could succeed in saving the money to buy this modest homestead, but at last far more than the money necessary was offered him if he did a certain thing. it was a bribe, mr. schwartzbrod, and perhaps at first he did not see where he was steering the blunt snout of the old rajah. he did not completely comprehend into what miasmatic and turbid waters his course would lead him. but when at last he saw it was involving him in theft, in wholesale robbery, and in potential murder, in the sinking of ships, and the drowning of crews, simmons drew back.”
a gentle expression of concern came into lord stranleigh’s face as he saw the man before him in visible distress, sinking lower and lower in his chair. his face was ghastly: only the eyes seemed alive, and they were fixed immovably on his opponent, striving to penetrate at the thought or the knowledge that might be behind the mask of carelessness he wore.
“don’t you feel well, mr. schwartzbrod? would you like a little stimulant?”
without waiting for an answer he rang the bell.
“bring some whisky and soda,” he said, “also a decanter of brandy.”
schwartzbrod took a cautious sip or two of the weaker beverage.
“were any names mentioned?” he asked.
“simmons told me the tempter was a city man; some rank scoundrel who wished to profit by another’s loss, and did not hesitate at robbery so long as he was legally safe in london, and others were taking the risk. they were to take the risk, and he was to secure the property. i even doubt if he intended to give the recompense he had promised. it amounted in simmons’s case to nine thousand pounds, and only one thousand was needed for the purchase of the place on which he had set his heart.”
“but simmons must have known, if such a sum was offered him, that he was undertaking a shady transaction?”
“that’s exactly what i told him, but, you see, he had committed himself before he realized what he was letting himself in for. ‘chuck the whole business,’ i said to him. ‘you’ve got friends enough who’ll buy that little place and present it to you. i am willing myself to subscribe part of the money,’ and so simmons struck. he is off, i understand, on another steamer. he has influential friends who got him a better situation than the one he held. now, as i have said, i am willing to put some money on the table to buy that little house near southampton. how much will you give, mr. schwartzbrod?”
schwartzbrod now took a gulp of the whisky and soda. his courage was returning.
“do you mean to tell me, lord stranleigh, that you have called a busy man like me to the west end in order to ask him for a charity subscription?”
“but surely you subscribe to many charities, mr. schwartzbrod?”
“i do not. it’s as much as i can do to keep my own head above water, without troubling with other people. i believe in being just before being generous. if i pay my debts, that’s all any man can ask.”
“most true philosophy, mr. schwartzbrod, but a little hard, you know. some poor fellows get under the harrow, and surely we may stop our cultivation for a moment, and lift the harrow long enough to allow him to crawl out.”
schwartzbrod finished the whisky and soda, but made no further comment.
“it was not altogether for charitable purposes that i requested the pleasure of your call. there is business mixed with it. but you, schwartzbrod, try to place the worst side of yourself before the world. you are really a very generous man. at heart you are; now, you know it.”
“i don’t know anything about it, my lord, and i do not understand the trend of this conversation.”
“well, i have come to the conclusion that you are one of the most generous men in london. you have done things that i think no other business man in london would attempt. you do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame, as i think the poet said. you’ve been doing me a great benefit, and yet you’ve kept quiet about it.”
“what do you mean?”
“why, i mean frowningshield and his hundred and fifty men on my gold reef.”
“what!” roared schwartzbrod, springing to his feet.
“the kidnapping of mackeller i did not mind. that’s all in the day’s work, and a mining engineer must expect a little rough and tumble in this world.”
“i had nothing to do with that, my lord.”
“no, it was frowningshield who did it. am i not saying that you are perfectly blameless? when i learned about the rajah’s expedition, about the money offered to captain simmons, about the compensation that was to be given to frowningshield, about the running of the ore to lisbon; when i heard all this, so prejudiced was my brain that i said to myself: ‘here i’ve caught the biggest thief in the world.’ but when i learned that you had done it, i saw at once what your object was. you were going to smelt that ore without expense to me, take it over in ingots to england, and say, ‘here, lord stranleigh, you’re not half a bad sort of chap. you don’t understand anything about mining or the harsh ways of this world. here is your gold.’”
schwartzbrod poured down his throat a liquor glass full of brandy, and collapsed in his chair.
“you see, mr. schwartzbrod, there were only two alternatives for a poor brain like mine to accept: first, that you are the most generous man in the world; second, that you are the most daring robber in the world. do you think i hesitated? not for a moment. i knew you were no thief. thieves are in whitechapel, and soho, and the east end generally, but not in the city of london. they’re all men of law there. you are not a thief, are you, mr. schwartzbrod? no. then sit down, honest man, and write me a check for the nine thousand pounds i have already paid to captain simmons, and for the amount which you promised to frowningshield. i accept the benefit of your generosity in the same spirit in which it is tendered. i do not ask you where the gold is, i’ll look after that; but the new ship you are trying to charter must not sail for the paramakaboo. i cannot accept further kind offices from you. all i ask of you is to write a check for such an amount that it will fulfill the promises you made to simmons and frowningshield. that’s why i requested you to bring your check book.”
schwartzbrod, with a groan, sat down at the table and drew forth his check book.
