West Wind Drift Part 18

The Doraine was gradually being dismantled. She was being stripped of every bit of material that could be used in constructing and furnishing the huts. The new camp lay not more than a mile and a half from the basin. A road had been cleared through the wood from the small, hastily constructed dock and runway on the eastern side of the basin to the open territory beyond.

Material, supplies, equipment were carried through the densely shaded avenue, and later on, after the warehouses and granaries had been built, the leafy lane witnessed the transportation of ton upon ton of stores, patiently borne in hundredweight lots, in bushel bags, in clumsy parcels, by men whose work seemed endless; wheat, barley, oats, sugar, coffee and other commodities entrusted to the steamship company for delivery in the United States. Tobacco, canned and refrigerated meats, olives, flour, figs and dates in large quant.i.ties were included in the vast cargo, to say nothing of the enormous supply of canned fruits and vegetables. Washed wool, tanned leather, homespun cotton and woollen cloth, silks, hides, furs, rugs, laces, linseed oil, blankets,--all these came ash.o.r.e in course of time, but of the sinister treasure that had inspired the destruction of the ship, i.e., the manganese, the rubber, the nitrates, the copper bars, and the stacks of high explosives, not a pound was moved. All this was left for another and more leisurely day.

In the end, the once luxurious liner was to be reduced to "skin and bones," to employ a trite but eminently appropriate phrase. Ultimately she became a black, unlovely skeleton, bereft of every vestige of her former opulence. Her decks were torn up and the timbers hauled away to make floors in the huts; the doors, mirrors, stairways, windows, rails, carpets, pipes, bathtubs, toilets, lamps, every foot of woodwork from stem to stern, berths, washbasins, kitchen ranges, boilers,--in fact, everything that man could make use of was taken from the ship, leaving nothing of her but a hollow, echoing sh.e.l.l through which the wind howled or moaned a ghostly requiem.

Much of this material was carefully stacked or stored away against the day when it could be utilized in the construction of a small but st.u.r.dy ship, in which a chosen company of sailors were to fare out to sea once more in search of the world they had lost.

Tireless and indomitable engineers later on succeeded in transferring portions of the damaged machinery, including dynamos, to the camp, where in course of time their skill and ingenuity bade fair to triumph over seemingly insurmountable difficulties in the matter of restoration.

Fully six weeks elapsed, however, before the women were allowed to leave the ship for their new homes on the land, and even then they came but a few at a time and only as huts were ready and fully equipped to receive them. Each hut contained a combination kitchen and living-room, with a single bedchamber. A substantial fireplace, built of stone and mortar, with a tall chimney at the back, was a feature in every house. The cracks between the logs, and all c.h.i.n.ks, were sealed with thick layers of mortar; the ceilings, made of stout saplings, were treated in a similar manner, while the roof, resting on a st.u.r.dy ridge-pole, and securely anch.o.r.ed, was of three layers of poles, interstices mortared and the whole covered with a vast quant.i.ty of seaweed, moss and reeds held in place by several well-fastened sections of iron railing from the decks of the Doraine.

While the huts were uniform in size, shape and construction, there was nothing to prevent the occupant from subsequently enlarging and improving his house. For the present, however, the interests of all were best served by speed and compactness.

The superintendent of construction was Algernon Adonis Percival. As a matter of fact, the end of the first week found him occupying the position of General Manager for the whole enterprise, an unsolicited honour but one which he was resolved that no one, great or small, should deride. He had one stormy "run-in," as he described it, with Mr.

Landover and his group of satellites. This occurred about the middle of their first week on the island when practically every able-bodied man from the Doraine was at work cutting a way through the forest or in constructing the dock at the water's edge. As the incident is ent.i.tled to a very definite place in this narrative, a more or less extended account of it may be given here and now, even at the risk of being cla.s.sed as a digression, or a step backward in the sequence of the history.

Mr. Landover, Mr. Block, Mr. Nicklestick and two or three other men were grouped on the after-deck early one morning decrying the brainless scheme to build a camp out there in the open. Their audience included several women, among them Mrs. Spofford, Ruth Clinton, Madame Careni-Amori, Madame Obosky, Mrs. Block and a couple of loquacious Rio Janeiro ladies.

Percival bore down upon this group. He wasted no time in getting to the point.

"We've been at work for two days out there, gentlemen, and up to date not one of you has turned to with the rest of us. The understanding was that--"

Mr. Landover whirled on him, white with anger. "That will do!" he exclaimed. "Clear out! I do not intend to allow any such riff-raff as you to order me to--Oh, pray do not be alarmed, ladies! This rowdy is not likely to a.s.sault me. Nothing will happen, I a.s.sure you. Clear out, you b.u.m,--do you hear me?"

Percival was smiling. "I wish you wouldn't interrupt me, Mr. Landover.

As I was saying, it was understood that every man on this ship who is well enough to--"

"Can't you see that there are ladies present? Haven't you an atom of decency about you?"

"--understood that every man on this ship was to do his share of the work laid out. I owe these ladies an apology for reminding you in their presence that the boats are leaving for sh.o.r.e and that if you do not get off in the next relay you will be compelled to swim to that landing over there,--and I doubt very much whether any of you can make it."

"Wha-what's that?" demanded Mr. Block.

Mr. Landover was speechless. A hard glitter came to Percival's eyes, the smile left his lips.

"You heard what I said, Mr. Block. I'll make it plainer, however. If you men don't get into the next boat leaving this ship, I'm going to have you thrown overboard and made to swim to your work. I regret exceedingly, ladies, that I have been obliged to resort to harsh words in your presence, but time is so precious that I can't afford to give them a private audience."

"Oh, my goodness gracious!" cried Mrs. Block, twisting her fat hands in an agony of alarm. "Maybe you better go, Moses. You vas nearly drownded twice yet in pool at White Sulphur."

"This is the most outrageous, high-handed,--" began Landover, explosively, but stopped short as Percival levelled his unlovely forefinger at him.

"Cut it out, Mr. Landover,--cut it out," he snapped, inelegantly. "Now, listen to me. For two days you and these boon companions of yours have been loafing on the job. While the rest of us have been working like dogs, you and your friends,--you needn't look insulted, because by the looks of things they are your friends,--you've been sitting up here talking to the ladies, smoking cigars, and telling every one how successfully you conduct a bank in New York. Now, Mr. Landover, you're not an old man. If you were, I'd be the first to suggest the easiest sort of work for you. You are under fifty and you're a strong, healthy man. You ride every morning in Central Park, you play golf in winter and summer, and you're one of the men who made Muldoon famous.

"You are able to work as the rest of us are working. Your hands are in a much better condition than mine. If we were in New York, I would take off my hat to you and admit that you are one of the greatest bankers in the world, and that you know your business. But we're not in New York.

We're down here on a lonely island. You know how to build and conduct banks, I know how to build and conduct camps. We have no use for scientific bankers here, but we have considerable use for experienced camp builders. I have been put in charge of this work. I'm going to see it through. Up in the hills I got a full day's work out of my men,--and there were worse men among them than you will ever be. There were gunmen, knife slingers, cutthroats and bullies,--but they had to work, just the same. Just a minute, if you please. I'm not through. I think I appreciate your position, Mr. Landover.

"You regard me as a four-flusher, a tramp,--maybe a thief or worse. I am but little more than half your age and I am a person of absolutely no importance. That's neither here nor there. I have been selected to run this job because Captain Trigger, with Mr. Mott and virtually every other man on this ship, believes that I know how to handle it. But even that's neither here nor there. What I'm coming to is this. As long as I am in charge of this job, every man, woman and child has got to do something. Just at present there isn't much that the women and children can do, but there is work for every man who can stand on his feet. You needn't glare at me. I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Landover. You say you are going to stay on this ship. Well, I've come here to tell you that you are not going to do anything of the sort. The women and children are to remain on board until we've got houses built for them on sh.o.r.e, or until the time comes when there is work for them to do. If they choose to come ash.o.r.e occasionally it will be to watch the men work and to cheer them up with their presence. But no man is to stay on this ship after we've once got the real job going out there. Now you've heard my statement, sir. I am willing to listen for a few minutes to your side of the question. Don't all speak at once,--and please be careful, there are ladies present."

While Percival did not take his eyes from Landover's face during this speech, he was aware that Miss Clinton and her aunt had turned abruptly away and were leaning against the rail a few yards distant, their backs to him. Olga Obosky and Careni-Amori were regarding him with shining, approving eyes, while Mrs. Block,--gulping furiously,--clasped her husband's arm and kept up a constant muttering. Something told him that Ruth Clinton and Mrs. Spofford had turned against him.

"I have nothing to say to you," said Landover, curtly. Turning on his heel, he joined the two ladies at the rail. He spoke a few words to them in a lowered tone, and then the three of them strode off without so much as a glance at the young man.

Percival flushed a dull red under his tan. His eyes followed them until they disappeared around a corner. Down in his heart he hoped that Ruth would not deny him a fleeting look of encouragement and approval.

Landover carried himself like a soldier. He was tall, well set-up, and almost offensively erect. He was a handsome man of perhaps forty-eight.

His cleanshaven face was firm, aggressive, domineering. There was not a trace of grey in his dark hair. He typified strength, mentality, shrewdness and that most essential quality in the standards of wealth and power,--arrogance. In a word, he personified Finance.

"Now, see here, Percival," began Nicklestick, in a most cavalier manner, greatly encouraged by the lofty conduct of the Money King, "you know you can't do this sort of thing. We won't stand for it, not for a minute. We object to this high-handed business. You got to realize that--"

"Object and be hanged!" snapped Percival. "The next thing, you'll be calling yourselves conscientious objectors. Well, it's no use, Nicklestick. There's no such animal on board this Ark. I see a couple of boats returning from sh.o.r.e. You've got about fifteen minutes to shed that Stein & Bloch suit and jump into something that will never need pressing again,--your working clothes. I'm doing you a kindness. That gang out there won't stand for slackers. If you're wise you'll take my word for it."

He was turning away when Nicklestick intercepted him.

"What do you think they would do, Mr. Percival?" he inquired in some agitation. "We are gentlemen. We got a right to decide for ourselves vat we shall do. We can pay for--"

"You will find a lot of gentlemen out there who have already decided for themselves,--and very cheerfully, too. You will not be lonely. If you desire any further information as to the cla.s.s of labourers you will come in contact with, Mr. Nicklestick, I would suggest a careful study of the first cabin list, the second cabin list, and finally the third cabin list, if you can find such a thing. You will also run up against some excellent material from the United States Navy, to say nothing of a fine lot of able seamen. They've adopted a common name. Do you know what they call each other?"

"No," said Nicklestick, wiping his brow. "Vat--vat do they call each other?"

"Men," said Percival, and walked away.

He was followed closely by Careni-Amori and Olga Obosky, and at some distance by the whispering, gesticulating Jews. The great soprano was profoundly agitated. Obosky, a pace or two behind her, was tense and silent. Her head was slightly bent. There was a strange, dog-like expression in her eyes as they regarded the back of Percival's head.

"But what will you do?" Careni-Amori was crying, as she clutched his arm. "He is a great man. He is a millionaire. He owns part of this steamship line,--so he have inform me. You will not throw him into the water,--yes?"

"As sure as you are a foot high, Madame Careni-Amori," said he, grimly.

"Oh, mon Dieu! You hear him, Obosky? He means what he have say."

"Be careful, my friend," said Obosky, drawing alongside of Percival. "Do you not see how the wind blows?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you count the cost of victory? You may lose more than you will gain."

Percival looked at her intently for a moment; then, in a flash, the meaning of her words was revealed to him.

"Even so, Madame Obosky," he returned, his jaw setting, "I am a good loser."

"The spoils do not always go to the victor," she warned him.

"I still have your luck-piece," said he, smiling as he slapped his trousers-leg.

"It has always brought me luck," she said, looking straight into his eyes. "It may continue to do so, who knows? Alas for you, my friend, you may yet have to turn to me for consolation. It is the ill-wind that blows n.o.body good. Am I not shocking, Mr. Percivail?"

They had lost Madame Careni-Amori, who was behind them, shrieking a command through a port-hole to her maid.

He looked at her in amazement. "I don't know what to think of you, Madame Obosky." Then he grinned. "Good Lord! You--you can't be making me an offer of marriage?"