L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace

“ Martin were there.
"Come in, Conway," cried the skipper the moment he saw me. "I have just sent for you. Here's a pretty mess! There is a case of bubonic plague on board; no passengers can land here."
"Is it one of the passengers?" I asked.
"No; one of the men," said Martin—"young Philbeach. I cannot make it out at all, unless he got it at Aden; but if he had, he would have shown symptoms before now."
My heart sank at his words, and the outline of a consummately planned plot began to take shape. Dollory had been curiously friendly with Philbeach; they had been together at Port Said. ”

“ By no possibility can the man be home in time."
"I don't like Mrs. Dollory's face," was my reply. "I never saw any woman look more scared."
"Aye," responded the doctor; "but perhaps she, too, was playing a part. You said she tried to persuade you to go ashore at Port Said, Wilmot?"
"She certainly did," he answered; "but there, whatever she said to me, I trust that woman."
"You can never trust appearances in a case of this sort," said the doctor. "She is, in all probability, her husband's tool, and, whether she likes it or not, was urged to make a victim of you. ”

“ Dollory," I said, "if you are to do any good at all in this business, please understand there is not a moment to lose."
"What do you mean? Is the poor fellow really dying?"
"I know nothing about that, but I do know this—we shall be in quarantine for live days, and your husband, beyond doubt, is coming on in the Evening Star, which will pass us in a few moments."
She shivered again.
"He would kill me if he knew what I am going to do; but life has become intolerable. ”

“ He evidently did resent my interference, but anxiety for Wilmot prompted me to say something more.
"As you will both arrive in England on the same day, surely that is the easiest and best solution of the difficulty, and 'half a loaf is better than no bread.'"
"I cannot agree with you," replied Dollory then. "For my part, I am quite content to abide by the terms of my uncle's will. As to you, Wilmot, you will be forced to do likewise, for I shall not consent to a division. We shall have a race home; there is nothing like a little excitement." ”

“ I said; "but it may be owing to sea-sickness; most of the passengers are bad for a day or two after we first sail."
"No, it is not that," said Wilmot—"I mean, it is more. There is something queer about her. She was happy enough when we came on board, and now she looks truly wretched. I wish to goodness I was safe in England. The more I see of Dollory the more I dislike him. To be his wife must be no joke; I can scarcely wonder that the poor little thing looks bad." ”

“ When a man is a medical man, and also a devil, what awful ends can he not achieve? But will you not ask the poor fellow himself? Perhaps he will tell you the truth."
"I will see him at once," I said. "If he knows that you have told us so much, he may be induced to tell the rest. Perhaps you will come, too, Mrs. Dollory?"
"I do not fear infection," she said; "all I desire and want is to have that wicked man, my husband, punished for his awful crimes."
She followed me out of her cabin. We found Martin with Captain Meadows; they both decided to come with us to visit the sick man. ”

“ Dollory kept very much to herself. She spoke little to anyone except her husband, and was evidently uneasy in the presence of Wilmot, Martin, and myself.
Just about this time I began to notice that Dollory became great friends with a young sailor on board, one of the white crew. He was a nice, easy-going, happy-go-lucky sort of a lad of the name of Philbeach. Dollory was often seen talking to him, and once as the young quartermaster turned away I distinctly saw Dollory put his hand into his pocket and thrust something into the young fellow's palm. ”

“ I don't think he had yet taken in the situation, but the news had spread like wildfire through the ship, and there was something very like a panic beginning already among the passengers.
"There is a case of plague on board," I said to him. "I am sorry to tell you you cannot go ashore here; you will have to come round to Plymouth with us."
He started back.
"Plague?" he echoed. "What an awful thing! But why may I not land? Surely the sooner I get away the better?"
"It is against the laws of quarantine," I answered. "You must stay where you are. ”

“ If Dollory has missed the boat I am a made man."
"I would not buoy myself up with too much hope," I answered, "your cousin is the last man on earth to do an idiotic thing of that kind; but we will be sure one way or the other when the steward brings the report."
In about half an hour Mallinson, the steward, entered the cabin.
"Dr. Dollory is not on board, sir," he said; "the whole ship has been searched. He must have been left behind at Port Said. He was on shore there, it is certain, for Philbeach, one of the quartermasters, was with him and had a drink with him." ”

“ Did you see Dollory on board the Evening Star? He will land at Brindisi and be in London in forty-eight hours."
"No, he won't; leave things to me," I answered. "I will explain later on."
The captain and I now hurried towards the gangway; the company's launch was alongside, and the agent was standing at the bottom of the steps. Captain Meadows wrote a few hasty words on a piece of paper and thrust it into the agent's hands.
"Go full steam to the Evening Star he said, "and give that to Captain Baker. It is a matter of life and death. I will signal to stop her before she gets to the quay." ”

“ Martin whistled and looked hard at Wilmot.
"What do you mean, Hal?" he said.
"It is an ugly business. Even a black fellow is a human being. They say he flogged one of his blacks to death, and the poor fellow's wife, who was looking on, went mad and died. ”

“ And as to money—oh! how men sin for money, and how little it is worth after all!"
"Go on," I said.
She pressed both her hands to her eyes, and then continued, with less excitement in her manner—
"You know what a curious friendship sprang up between my husband and that poor young quartermaster Philbeach. I heard Dr. Dollory propose to him to come on shore at Port Said, but for what purpose I know not. I only know that he told me that if he could succeed in a certain line of action which he had marked out for himself, he would not return to the ship. ”

“ I have had a rough time since I came out, and have been through the mire—Jackeroo, storekeeper, horseboy, drover—the usual round; then one season I struck a piece of luck and bought a small sheep station. For a year everything went well—plenty of water and grass, and wool at a high figure. Then last year came the drought, and on the top of it the floods. It is always the way in this country. ”

“ If Henry Dudley Wilmot, son of David Wilmot, of Grey Towers, Winchester, England, or Dr. Albert Dollory, his cousin, both of whom left England in 1891, will communicate with Fisher, Sands & Co., solicitors, Long Street, Melbourne, they may hear of something to their advantage. Anyone giving information as to their whereabouts will be rewarded. ”

“ Martin, our ship's doctor, and I were having a quiet dinner at the Caulfield Hotel in Melbourne. The North Star was to sail for England on the following day, and amongst other matters we were discussing the possibilities of the voyage, what passengers we might expect on board, and what adventures we were likely to have. ”

“ If he does not he must be out of it, as the next boat home, the Tunis, an Orient liner, does not leave Melbourne for five days; thus I shall have five clear days' start of him. But he is certain to go by the North Star. I wish my uncle had had the sense to make a decent will, but he always was a crank."
As Wilmot spoke he knocked the ashes out of his pipe savagely and began cutting black Nail Rod for a refill. Martin and I glanced at each other, and for a moment we did not speak ”