Randy of the River Part 46

"This is interesting, Mr. DeLong. But I don't see why the purser should do such a thing."

"Neither do I, excepting he may have a grudge against the boy."

"Humph!" The captain grew thoughtful. "I will investigate this."

"Do so, and believe me, the boy is not to blame," said the elderly pa.s.senger, and withdrew.

As soon as the end of the trip came, and the work on deck was finished, Randy was called to the captain's office.

"Now what have you to say about that smashed trunk, Thompson?"

"I am not to blame, Captain Hadley," answered our hero, and told exactly how the incident had occurred.

"Do you mean to say Mr. Polk tripped you up?"

"He ran into me and made me drop the trunk. If I hadn't dropped the trunk I would have fallen down with the box on the top of me, and gotten hurt."

"This is a strange statement, Thompson. Why should Mr. Polk run into you?"

"He hates me, because through me your family learned how he had treated Mrs. Clare when he helped to settle her husband's affairs."

This threw a new light on the matter and the captain nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

"I did not think this of Mr. Polk."

"I think he hopes I'll lose my job," went on our hero. "He continually calls me a blockhead, just to get me mad. I think he'd like to see me lose my temper and pitch into him, and then he could get me my walking papers."

"I think I will have to put the damage to the trunk down to the regular expense account," said the captain at last. "In the future be more careful, and keep out of Mr. Polk's way."

"I will certainly be careful, and I'll watch him, too," answered Randy.

Evidently Peter Polk was surprised to see our hero go to his work whistling after his interview with the captain. He went to the master of the vessel himself a little later.

"Is that boy going to pay for the trunk?" he asked, sourly.

"No, you can put it down to the regular expense account," answered Captain Hadley.

"Humph! It was his fault."

"He says not."

"Did he blame it on me?"

"He did."

"It was his own fault."

"We won't argue the matter, Mr. Polk. Put it down to the regular expenses and let it go at that," and Captain Hadley turned again to the magazine he had been reading.

"Sticking up for the boy," muttered the purser, as he walked away.

"Well, I'll get that cub yet, see if I don't!"

A day pa.s.sed and Randy stuck closely to his duties. He saw but little of Peter Polk and gave the purser a wide berth. The purser watched the youth narrowly, but said nothing.

"He has got it in for you," said Jones to Randy. "Take my advice and keep your eyes open."

"I am watching him."

"He is a man I shouldn't trust nohow. He has got a bad pair of eyes. I don't see how Mr. Shalley trusts him with all the boat's money matters."

"Neither do I," answered our hero.

"He could walk off with thousands of dollars if he wanted to," said Jones, and there the talk was dropped.

CHAPTER XXVII

RANDY MAKES A DISCOVERY

The next day Randy wanted to change some of his underwear and went into his locker for his things. To his surprise he found in the locker a lot of wearing apparel that did not belong to him.

"Hullo, what does this mean?" he asked himself but could not answer the question.

He looked the articles over and made sure they did not belong to any of the other deckhands. Then as he was folding up an extra-fine outing shirt, he saw a letter drop to the floor. He picked it up and saw that it was addressed to Peter Polk.

"Can these things belong to Polk?" he asked himself. "If so, how did they get here?"

Curiosity prompted him to look into the envelope in his hand. Inside was a single sheet of paper on which was scrawled in a bold, heavy hand this brief communication:

"Peter Polk: If you don't pay me that commission of twenty dollars at once, I will go to old man Shalley and let him know how you are boosting up the expense account.

G. A. G."

Randy read the letter with great interest. It was postmarked New York and the date was four days back.

"There is some mystery here," he reasoned. "What can it mean? Can Mr.

Polk be cheating Mr. Shalley in some way?"

Then he remembered how the purser purchased all the supplies for the steamboat and paid the bills, and gave a low whistle.

"I must see Captain Hadley about this, and at once," he thought. "But no, maybe it would be better to go and see Mr. Shalley direct."

He placed the letter in a safe place and then went out on deck. He had just started to look for Captain Hadley,--to tell him about the strange wearing apparel--when Peter Polk rushed up to him.

"Look here, Thompson, I want you!" shouted the purser, wrathfully.