Captain Calamity Part 37

"Do you know why Mr. Solomon gave you that note?"

"No."

"But he told you to swear that you found it in his office on the day in question?"

"Yes."

"You knew that it was he who provided the vessel with guns and ammunition, and also caused the name _Hawk_ to be subst.i.tuted for that of _Arrow_?"

Sumbowa hesitated for the fraction of a minute.

"Well?" rapped out the lawyer.

"Er--yes."

"Thank you; that will do."

The witness tottered back to his seat and almost collapsed in it. Never had he pa.s.sed through such an ordeal before, and, for the time being, he was a nervous wreck.

Mr. Vayne turned to the tribunal.

"I shall not waste your time, gentlemen," he said, "by calling witnesses for the defence--as, for instance, my client's chief officer, who was with him when he visited the prosecutor on the night of sailing--or by arguing a matter which I regard as proven. All I shall do is to draw from the evidence conclusions which, beyond a doubt, prove my client's innocence of the charge brought against him. After having treated us to a series of palpable falsehoods at the instigation of his employer, the witness Sumbowa has admitted that Solomon did not give him the note saying that he would be out of town until a fortnight after the _Arrow's_ departure and the inference is that Solomon _did_ see my client on that particular night. Had he not done so, why should he have tried to establish an alibi; why should he have taken such pains to try and prove that he was not in Singapore that night?

"Further, I contend that these deductions are confirmed by the fact that Solomon, on his own admission, did not make known the alleged offence until three weeks after the steamer had left. I put it to you, gentlemen, as men of the world, that this was an extraordinary procedure, and can only be accounted for by the a.s.sumption that the prosecutor did not want his victim to be arrested before the latter had secured what, for want of a better term, I shall call a generous profit on the initial outlay.

"In short, I submit that Solomon entered into a conspiracy with divers persons to bring about the ruination of my client in order that he, the prosecutor, might reap the entire benefits of this privateering expedition.

"And now a word concerning the allegation that my client possessed forged Letters of Marque. I don't think it necessary to prove or disprove this charge, seeing that, under the circ.u.mstances, Letters of Marque were quite unnecessary. Any British ship, or any ship belonging to an allied Power, has the right to attack and destroy an enemy vessel, a statement which is borne out by the fact that the British Government offered rewards to any merchant captain who could prove that he had sunk, captured, or destroyed an enemy submarine. This, gentlemen, is all I have to say."

After a few minutes' whispered consultation with his colleagues, the president turned towards Calamity.

"We are unanimously of opinion that the charge brought against you is without the smallest foundation, and that you have been the victim of a malicious conspiracy," he said. "You are, therefore, acquitted. As to the prosecutor and his witnesses, they will be dealt with in due course upon charges arising out of this case."

As the president ceased speaking, Calamity rose and, drawing some papers from his pocket, handed them to him. They were the forged clearance papers and the secret instructions from a German source, addressed to Mr. Solomon, which he had taken from the _Ann_.

The president hastily glanced through them, asked Calamity a few questions in a low voice, and then touched a little bell at his side. A sergeant of marines entered in answer to the ring and stood at attention.

"Arrest that man and see that he is well guarded," said the president, indicating the ship-chandler.

With the sergeant's vice-like grip upon his arm, Mr. Isaac Solomon was dragged protesting from the room and so vanished for ever from the ken of friends and enemies alike.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE LETTER

Although the trial had been held in camera, the news of Calamity's arrest and acquittal soon became known throughout Singapore, though there were at least half a dozen different versions of the affair. And, as might have been antic.i.p.ated, various inaccurate accounts of his adventures as a privateer were put into circulation by his crew, with the result that, before many hours had pa.s.sed, he was looked upon as a hero of the most romantic type. Crowds flocked to the harbour to gaze at the two vessels, and the native boatmen did a thriving business in taking the more enthusiastic spectators round them. Wild tales were spread concerning the amount of booty which had been taken and the fabulous sums of prize-money which had been distributed among the crew.

In addition to these confused exaggerations, another one soon gained currency to the effect that Calamity had been created a lord in recognition of his exploits.

As for the crew, they were having the time of their lives, being regarded as heroes by everybody save the police. They were feted both publicly and privately; interviewed, photographed, and written about, until, at the end of a week, they had become so overbearing and insolent that people grew tired of them and the police intimated that the sooner they found ships and departed the better. Most of the men, having spent all their money in a brief but glorious debauch, adopted this wise counsel, but a few, who overrated the patience of the authorities and continued to act as if the town belonged to them, were seized during a drunken orgy and locked up.

In the meantime Calamity had left Singapore and gone to Paku, a little town easily reached by train, where he was reasonably safe from newspaper men and inquisitive people generally. In order that he might do this, Mr. Vayne had undertaken to act as his representative in paying off the officers and making arrangements for them to receive their share of the prize-money in due course. On the day following the trial, the lawyer went over to Paku and found Calamity seated on the verandah of the house where he was staying, clad in white ducks and smoking a very strong cigar.

"By the way, have you seen anything of Miss Fletcher?" asked the Captain after they had been talking for some time.

"No, but I heard of her at the Consulate this morning. She had been to see the Consul concerning certain private matters and will be leaving for Yokohama in a P. and O. boat to-morrow. I gathered that from Yokohama she will sail for San Francisco."

"H'm," grunted Calamity, but made no comment.

"And she left this for you," went on the lawyer, and, taking a letter from his pocket, he handed it to Calamity who glanced at the superscription and put it aside.

"Thanks very much, Vayne, I'm afraid I'm giving you a lot of trouble."

"Not at all, not at all! But if you would just go into these matters now, I should be greatly obliged," and the lawyer opened the little leather handbag he had brought with him.

"Everything," he went on, taking out some doc.u.ments, "is perfectly straightforward and simple. By your elder brother's death you inherit the t.i.tle and estates, while, of course, his own private property, investments, and so forth, go to his wife and child----"

"Child?" interrupted Calamity. "Did George have a child, then?"

"Yes, a little girl. She'd be about twelve now."

"And Lady Betty, I suppose, is still at the Towers?"

"Yes."

Calamity's lips tightened and his brows met in a frown. The lawyer regarded him for a moment, and then, leaning forward, touched him gently on the knee.

"You're thinking of that wretched business of the alleged forgery," he said. "You may safely regard it as forgotten now; at least, no one is ever likely to refer to it in any way unless----" Vayne hesitated and smiled.

"Unless what?"

"Unless you go in for politics."

Calamity laughed in spite of himself.

"You may safely dismiss that possibility from your mind," he said. "But, as it happens, I'm going to reopen the matter myself."

"Eh?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Vayne.

"You remember the story, don't you? A cheque for five thousand pounds was forged in my father's name, and, by a series of artificially prepared 'clues,' it was traced to me. The belief that I was the culprit was strengthened by the fact that I had been playing the fool pretty generally and was head over ears in debt at the time. Well, what you don't know is, that my brother forged the cheque in such a way that I should be suspected. He had been trying to poison the old man's mind against me for a long time and----"

"Was it on account of a woman?" interrupted the lawyer shrewdly.

"Yes; I see you understand. We were both madly in love with the same woman, and--well, my brother held the strong suit. But to continue: the guv'nor accused me outright of forging his signature, and I, being too proud to deny such a vile charge, especially coming from him, was branded as a promising young criminal by the entire family. The guv'nor offered me a sum of money to clear out, which bribe I refused, though I cleared out all the same."

"And you released Lady Betty from her engagement?" murmured Vayne as the Captain paused.