The Riddle of the Sands Part 35

'You gave us plenty of history, commander, but you did not bring it up to date.' The triple alliance laughed, Dollmann boisterously.

'Well,' said von Bruning; 'I gave you very good reasons, and you acquiesced.'

'And now he is trying to pump me,' said Bohme, with his rasping chuckle.

'Wait a bit, sir; I have an excuse. The commander was not only mysterious but inaccurate. I appeal to you, Herr Dollmann, for it was _apropos_ of you. When we fell in with him at Bensersiel, Davies asked him if you were at home, and he said "No." When would you be back? Probably soon; _but he did not know when_.'

'Oh, he said that?' said Dollmann.

'Well, only three days later we arrive at Norderney, and find you have returned that very day, but have gone to Memmert. Again (by the way) the mysterious Memmert! But more than ever mysterious now, for in the evening, not only you and Herr Bohme--'

'What penetration!' laughed von Bruning.

'But also Commander von Bruning, pay us a visit in _his_ launch, all coming from Memmert!'

'And you infer?' said von Bruning.

'Why, that you must have known at Bensersiel--only three days ago--exactly when Herr Dollmann was coming back, having an appointment at Memmert with him for to-day.'

'Which I wished to conceal from you?'

'Yes, and that's why I'm so inquisitive; it's entirely your own fault.'

'So it seems,' said he, 'with mock humility; 'but fill your gla.s.s and go on, young man. Why should I want to deceive you?'

'That's just what I want to know. Come, confess now; wasn't there something important afoot to-day at Memmert? Something to do with the gold? You were inspecting it, sorting it, weighing it? Or I know! You were transporting it secretly to the mainland?'

'Not a very good day for that! But softly, Herr Carruthers; no fishing for admissions. Who said we had found any gold?'

'Well, have you? There!'

'That's better! Nothing like candour, my young investigator. But I am afraid, having no authority, I cannot a.s.sist you at all. Better try Herr Bohme again. I'm only a casual onlooker.'

'With shares.'

'Ah! you remember that? (He remembers everything!) With a few shares, then; but with no expert knowledge. Now, Bohme is the consulting engineer. Rescue me, Bohme.'

'I cannot disclaim expert knowledge,' said Bohme, with humorous gravity; 'but I disclaim responsibility. Now, Herr Dollmann is chairman of the company.'

'And I,' said Dollmann, with a noisy laugh, 'must fall back on the shareholders, whose interests I have to guard. One can't be too careful in these confidential matters.'

'Here's one who gives his consent,' I said. 'Can't he represent the rest?'

'Extorted by torture,' said von Bruning. 'I retract.'

'Don't mind them, Herr Carruthers,' cried Frau Dollmann, 'they are making fun of you; but I will give you a hint; no woman can keep a secret--'

'Ah!' I cried, triumphantly, 'you have been there?'

'I? Not I; I detest the sea! But Clara has.' Everyone looked at Clara, who in her turn looked in naive bewilderment from me to her father.

'Indeed?' I said, more soberly, 'but perhaps she is not a free agent.'

'Perfectly free!' said Dollmann.

'I have only been there once, some time ago,' said she, 'and I saw no gold at all.'

'Guarded,' I observed. 'I beg your pardon; I mean that perhaps you only saw what you were allowed to see. And, in any case, the fraulein has no expert knowledge and no responsibility, and, perhaps, no shares. Her province is to be charming, not to hold financial secrets.'

'I have done my best to help you,' said the stepmother.

'They're all against us, Davies.'

'Oh, chuck it, Carruthers!' said Davies, in English.

'He's insatiable,' said von Bruning, and there was a pause; clearly, they meant to elicit more.

'Well, I shall draw my own conclusions,' I said.

'This is interesting,' said von Bruning, 'in what sense?'

'It begins to dawn on me that you made fools of us at Bensersiel.

Don't you remember, Davies, what an interest he took in all our doings? I wonder if he feared our exploring propensities might possibly lead us to Memmert?'

'Upon my word, this is the blackest ingrat.i.tude. I thought I made myself particularly agreeable to you.'

'Yes, indeed; especially about the duck shooting! How useful your local man would have been--both to us and to you!'

'Go on,' said the commander, imperturbably.

'Wait a moment; I'm thinking it out.' And thinking it out I was in deadly earnest, for all my levity, as I pressed my hand on my burning forehead and asked myself where I was to stop in this seductive but perilous fraud. To carry it too far was to court complete exposure; to stop too soon was equally compromising.

'What is he talking about, and why go on with this ridiculous mystery?' said Frau Dollmann.

'I was thinking about this supper party, and the way it came about,'

I pursued, slowly.

'Nothing to complain of, I hope?' said Dollmann.

'Of course not! Impromptu parties are always the pleasantest, and this one was delightfully impromptu. Now I bet you I know its origin!

Didn't you discuss us at Memmert? And didn't one of you suggest--'One would almost think you had been there,' said Dollmann. 'You may thank your vile climate that we weren't,' I retorted, laughing. 'But, as I was saying, didn't one of you suggest--which of you? Well, I'm sure it wasn't the commander--'

'Why not?' said Bohme.

'It's difficult to explain--an intuition, say--I am sure he stood up for us; and I don't think it was Herr Dollmann, because he knows Davies already, and he's always on the spot; and, in short I'll swear it was Herr Bohme, who is leaving early to-morrow, and had never seen either of us. It was you, sir, who proposed that we should be asked to supper to-night--for inspection?'

'Inspection?' said Bohme; 'what an extraordinary idea!'