Samuel Merwin

“ No, sir, if I could have had competent men, I should be laughing to-day at the whole revenue system.”
“I should take exception to that, Smiley,” said Beveridge. “Your men weren't the only thing that gave you away, not by any means.”
“Oh, weren't they?”
“No, the most important clew was the label you used. But say, Smiley, here is what puzzles me. Why is it that you, a man of unusual ability, haven't put in your time at something respectable? The brains and work you have wasted on smuggling would have made you a comfortable fortune in some other line.” ”

“ Beveridge had reached Pink, and was probably talking with him. But he could not hear their voices—the clearing was absolutely still. He watched—and watched—his eyes fixed on the spot where Beveridge had stopped. Perhaps his arguments had taken effect; perhaps the plan had been changed. But no, the weeds were moving again.
Dick's blood was up. He drew his revolver and plunged straight out into the open toward the house.
“Here you in there!” he shouted. “Come out or fight! Do you hear me? Come out or fight! We've got you on all sides—you can't hit us all—come out and be done with it.” ”

“ Dick was silent.
“Say, Smiley, I like the way you're acting in this business. If anything on earth will make it any brighter for you, it is what you are doing now. You might even go a step farther if you should feel like it any time. It's plain that McGlory and Spencer are pretty deep in, and if you would come out and tell all you know, it might help you a lot.” ”

“ The overzealous young man laid the rifle on the seat behind him; and Beveridge, after a moment of hard thinking, his eyes fixed on Dick's muscular back, came up beside the wheel and leaned on the coamings. Dick's gaze left the compass only for the darkness ahead, where the outline of something that he knew to be a coast line was, to his trained eye, taking shape.
“Say, Smiley,”—the special agent's voice was lowered; his tone was friendly,—“don't let that bother you. Nobody is holding a gun on you here. ”

“ And all through the forest was the sand, drifting like snow over roads and fences, changing the shape of the land in every high wind, blowing into hair and clothes, and adding, with the tall, endless, gray-green mullein stalks, the final touch of desolation to a hopeless land. Here and there, in the clearings, sand-colored farmers and their sand-colored wives struggled to wring a livelihood from the thankless earth. Other farmers had drifted helplessly away, leaving houses and barns to blacken and rot and sink beneath the sand drifts, and leaving, too, rows of graves under the stumps. ”

“ Pink was obediently silent, 'though trembling with excitement. The stillness of the forest fell suddenly in upon them. For a few moments nothing was said or done. The man in the house had a momentary advantage which all recognized. What light the sky gave was all upon the clearing, and to move, however cautiously, through that tangle of weeds and bushes without setting the tops to waving, was impossible. The building was so small that the man could, with little effort, command all four sides. And so Beveridge decided on a council of war with Smiley. ”

“ The clearing, in spite of the house and barn, was desolate; the pines were pressing irresistibly in on every side to claim the land Dirck van Deelen had stolen from them. The road, after crossing the bridge, lost itself in the confused tracks between house and barn, only to reappear on the farther side and plunge again into the forest,—a weary, yellow road, telling of miles of stump land as well as of the fresher forest.
It was late, very late, but there was a light in the house. A woman, in man's clothing, lay on the parlor sofa, too tired to rest. She was white; her breath came hard ”

“ I want you to know that everything in the world I have to offer you is yours forever. I want you to know this, and then, when you've thought it over and realized what it means for both of us, I want you to come to me and give me your hand and tell me that—that it's all right—that you give me everything, too.” A long silence. “Let's sail up toward the waterworks now, Annie. I can drop you off there at the pier, and bring the Captain down alone.” ”

“ The way a man looks at you tells so much, Annie. And I knew all the while, though Beveridge was standing there for the law, and Henry for what they call crime, still—”
“What, Dick?”
“—if I were in a tight place again and had to choose which of those two men to trust my life with, I shouldn't need to stop to think. It would be Henry, every time.”
He sat up to shift his position, when something which he saw on the northern horizon drove the clouds from his face. This was a great day for Dick. “Look, Annie!” He was pointing eagerly. “Look there!”
“Where?”
“Can't you see it—the Anne?” ”

“ Towards eleven o'clock the moon rose and showed Duck Island six miles off the port bow. McGlory was again at the wheel. He now brought her up still closer to the wind, heading a few points off Outer Duck Island and skimming the lower edge of Jennie Graham Shoal. Huddled up in the bow, out of the mate's view, Harper and Larsen were watching out ahead, pulling at their pipes and occasionally exchanging a whispered word or two. Linding, the third sailor, lay flat on the deck by the windlass, his head pillowed on a coil of rope, the regular sound of his breathing telling that he was asleep. ”

“ Roche, you see, used to work for him,—I don't know but what they're related,—and it was because the Cap'n spoke to me about him that I recommended him to you when I did. And look here, Dick,”—Henry smiled as he laid a hand on his cousin's shoulder,—“I'm a good deal older than you are, and you can take my word for it. Don't get sour on things. Of course people will do you if they can; but it's human nature, and you can't change it by growling about it. You are doing well, and what you need now is to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Why should you want to hurry things along?” ”

“ I thought I was about girl-proof,—up to now, no one has been able to keep my mind off my work very long at a time,—but you have been playing the mischief with me, this last week or so. It's no use, Annie. I wouldn't give three cents for the man that could look at you and keep his head. And when I think of you throwing yourself away on Smiley, just because he's good-looking and a sailor—you mustn't do it, that's all. ”

“ Between these piers, built in the curve of the beach and nestling under the bluff, was a curious patchwork of a house. Built of odds and ends of lumber, even, in the rear, of driftwood, perched up on piles so that the higher waves might run up under the kitchen floor, small wonder that the youngsters of the shore had dubbed it “the house on stilts.” ”

“ At length the stevedores started unloading the lumber and Dick was free. He leaned on the rail and looked down at Annie who had by this time come alongside; and he saw that she had a bunch of blue-and-white forget-me-nots in her hair.
“Well,” she said, looking up, and driving all power of consecutive thought out of Dick's head, as she always did when she rested her black eyes full on his, “well, I beat you.” ”

“ They strolled along the beach until Annie turned. “This is far enough.”
“I don't know whether I can let your Captain come around quite so often,” said he, as they sat down on the dry sand, in the shelter of a clump of willows. “It won't do—he is too good looking. I should like to know what is to become of the rest of us.”
This amused Annie. They had both been gazing out towards the schooners, and he had read her thoughts. He went on: “You know it's not really fair. These sailor fellows always get the best of us. He named his schooner after you, didn't he?” ”

“ Henry shook his head. “I wouldn't. He is too smart for you. He will beat you any way you try it, and have you thanking him before he is through with you. I have gone all over this ground before, you know. Of course he is an old rascal—but I don't know of any other way you could even get an interest in a schooner. You see, you haven't any capital. He will give you all the time you want, and I don't know but what he's entitled to a little extra, everything considered. But don't say anything, whatever you do. You've got too good a thing here.” ”

“ Beveridge's mind was made up. He set out without further words, and Dick watched him, uncertain of his movements, until he saw that he was circling around in the direction of the stump fence and Pink. Dick's thoughts were unsettled. Such actions were foolhardy, now that it was nearly broad daylight. It would have been no trick at all to put a few balls into the body below the waving weeds that marked the progress of the special agent. ”

“ I have known it for a long time, and sometimes I have thought I ought to speak out, but then he—oh, you don't know what a place he has put me into—what he has dragged me to! There is one thing I will say for Joe,—he is not the worst of them. The rest are smarter than he is, and I believe they have used him for a cat's-paw. But he is bad enough.”
“You don't know how hard this is to believe, Madge. That a man sailing on a decent lumber schooner can manage to do enough moonshining—or even smuggling—to hurt anybody—”
“But that is just it! It is in the lumber.” ”

“ Beveridge?”
He hesitated; he had said too much. Chagrined, he rose, without a word, at her “Come, I must go back now,” and returned with her to the house. And when they were approaching the steps, he was just angry enough with himself to blunder again.
“Wait, Annie. I see you don't understand me. But there is one thing you can understand. I want to go away knowing that you aren't going to encourage Smiley any longer. You can promise me that much. I don't want to talk against him; but I can tell you he's not the man for you; he's not even the man you think he is. ”

“ Dick, glum and reckless, took the wheel; McGlory went up forward and looked after hoisting the jibs and foresail. The new mate had already succeeded, by an ugly way he had, in antagonizing most of the men; but their spirits ran high, in spite of him, as the Merry Anne slipped away from the pier and headed out into the glory of the sunrise. ”

“ Beveridge? Dick hasn't told you that what you thought was so?”
“It was hardly necessary. I found the proofs right there on his schooner.”
“Is that right, Dick?”
“It seems to be.”
“You don't mean to say right out that you're a smuggler, Dick?”
“No, I'm not.”
Captain Fargo was puzzled. He looked from one to the other of the two men, until Beveridge, with an air of settling the matter, rose. “You'd better not throw away any sympathy there, Cap'n. You can be thankful to find out in time that he's a bad one. I'm only sorry to have to draw your family into it. ”

“ The whiskey had revived her a very little.
“Yes, I know. You were mistaken in Pete. He never meant to stand by you.”
“He said—”
“Yes—go on.”
“He said we—we could get away—and—”
“Yes?”
“—and they were asleep and—and then we saw the house, and—oh, I can't think—”
“Bill,—for heaven's sake!” cried Dick. “Yes, it's all right, Estelle. You're all safe now. Try to think.” ”

“ Stenzenberger was showing symptoms of readiness to return to his desk, but Henry, who rarely grew reminiscent, was now fairly launched.
“They can't get an effective revenue system, because they make it too easy for a man to get rich. It's like the tax commissioners and the aldermen and the legislators,—when you put a man where he can rake off his pile, month after month, without there being any way of checking him up, look out for his morals. ”

“ Get a light, will you?” Dick ran back into the house and brought out Van Deelen with a lamp and some improvised bandages. Beveridge had some practical knowledge of first aid to the injured; and the farmer seemed really to have some little skill, as a man must who lives with his family twenty-five miles from a physician. And so between them they managed to stanch the flow of blood while Dick and Pink were carrying a small bed out of doors. ”

“ McGlory was not a coward, but he could not face down the seasoned courage of the man before him. “Why—that's a cinch. Ain't he headed the same way we are?”
“Now, Joe, hold on. Don't be a bigger fool than you can help. You don't really think he'd take her right along over this road, do you?”
“Why—dam' it!”
“It's no good talking to you if you can't quiet down. You want to kill Roche, and you're right. I want him killed, too. The longer he's alive, the more danger for us. But if you go at him this way, he may kill you.” ”

“ The bright new paint was prematurely old now, the small boat was missing from the stern davits, the cabin windows had been crushed in, and one sailor carried his arm in a sling, but they had made it. Harper, hollow-eyed, but merry, had the wheel; Smiley was below, snatching his first nap in forty-eight hours, with the red corals under his head.
“Ole,” called Harper, “wake up the Cap'n, will you? I can't leave the wheel. He said we was to call him off Grosse Pointe.” ”

“ Go ahead, Smiley.”
Dick again descended the ladder, and the special agent followed, axe in hand. Annie, with horrified eyes, sat limp against the hatch and took in every motion in that dimly lighted group below. She saw Dick and Harper stand aside; she saw Beveridge raise the axe a little way and bring it down sharply on the end of a stick of timber,—an end that was marked with a circular groove; she saw the timber split open, and a plug fall out; she saw Beveridge stoop and dip his fingers in a brown liquid that was flowing from some sort of a broken receptacle; she smelled whiskey. ”

“ Annie's mischievous nature leaped at the chance this speech gave her. “They aren't boys, Dick; Mr. Beveridge is older than most of the students. He told me all about himself the other day.”
“Oh, he did.”
“Yes. He was brought up on a farm, and he has had to work his way through school. When he first came here, he got off the train with only just three dollars and a half in his pocket, and he didn't have any idea where he was going to get his next dollar. I think it's pretty brave of a man to work as hard as that for an education.” ”

“ I'm doing an honest business. The stuff I sell is well made. Do you suppose I care what your government people think? Why, the whole government system is a network of bribes and rake-offs and private snaps.”
“Of course, if you're an anarchist—”
“Look here, Beveridge, this talk seems to be rather personal—suppose we make it more so. Let's see if we can't find out what your motives are in this business. Are they Christian, or patriotic, or are you, like myself and the tack men, and the law-makers, looking out for number one? The man that was out here before you came I bought off. ”