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第8节

falk-第8节

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drop。  And it wasn't as if she had been a strong

young woman either。  She was thirty; and the cli…

mate had been playing the deuce with her。  Then

don't you knowFred had to sit up with them for

propriety; and during whole weeks on end never got

a single chance to get to bed before midnight。

That was not pleasant for a tired manwas it?

And besides Fred had worries then because his shop

didn't pay and he was dropping money fast。  He

just longed to get away from here and try his luck

somewhere else; but for the sake of his sister he

hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his

earsI can tell you。  I; myself; could show a hand…

ful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer。

I could never find out tho' where he found all the

money at last。  Can't be but he must have got some…

thing out of that brother of his; a coal merchant in

Port Said。  Anyhow he paid everybody before he

left; but the girl nearly broke her heart。  Disap…

pointment; of course; and at her age; don't you

know。 。 。 。  Mrs。 Schomberg here was very friendly

with her; and she could tell you。  Awful despair。

Fainting fits。  It was a scandal。  A notorious scan…

dal。  To that extent that old Mr。 Siegersnot

your present charterer; but Mr。 Siegers the father;

the old gentleman who retired from business on a

fortune and got buried at sea going home; HE had

to interview Falk in his private office。  He was a

man who could speak like a Dutch Uncle; and; be…

sides; Messrs。 Siegers had been helping Falk with

a good bit of money from the start。  In fact you

may say they made him as far as that goes。

It so happened that just at the time he turned up

here; their firm was chartering a lot of sailing ships

every year; and it suited their business that there

should be good towing facilities on the river。  See?

。 。 。  Wellthere's always an ear at the keyhole

isn't there?  In fact;〃 he lowered his tone confiden…

tially; 〃in this case a good friend of mine; a man

you can see here any evening; only they conversed

rather low。  Anyhow my friend's certain that Falk

was trying to make all sorts of excuses; and old Mr。

Siegers was coughing a lot。  And yet Falk wanted

all the time to be married too。  Why!  It's notorious

the man has been longing for years to make a home

for himself。  Only he can't face the expense。

When it comes to putting his hand in his pocket

it chokes him off。  That's the truth and no other。

I've always said so; and everybody agrees with me

by this time。  What do you think of thateh?〃



He appealed confidently to my indignation; but

having a mind to annoy him I remarked; 〃that it

seemed to me very pitifulif true。〃



He bounced in his chair as if I had run a pin into

him。  I don't know what he might have said; only

at that moment we heard through the half open

door of the billiard…room the footsteps of two men

entering from the verandah; a murmur of two

voices; at the sharp tapping of a coin on a table

Mrs。 Schomberg half rose irresolutely。  〃Sit still;〃

he hissed at her; and then; in an hospitable; jovial

tone; contrasting amazingly with the angry glance

that had made his wife sink in her chair; he cried

very loud: 〃Tiffin still going on in here; gentle…

men。〃



There was no answer; but the voices dropped sud…

denly。  The head Chinaman went out。  We heard

the clink of ice in the glasses; pouring sounds; the

shuffling of feet; the scraping of chairs。  Schom…

berg; after wondering in a low mutter who the devil

could be there at this time of the day; got up napkin

in hand to peep through the doorway cautiously。

He retreated rapidly on tip…toe; and whispering be…

hind his hand informed me that it was Falk; Falk

himself who was in there; and; what's more; he had

Captain Hermann with him。



The return of the tug from the outer Roads was

unexpected but possible; for Falk had taken away

the Diana at half…past five; and it was now two

o'clock。  Schomberg wished me to observe that

neither of these men would spend a dollar on a tiffin;

which they must have wanted。  But by the time I

was ready to leave the dining…room Falk had gone。

I heard the last of his big boots on the planks of

the verandah。  Hermann was sitting quite alone in

the large; wooden room with the two lifeless billiard

tables shrouded in striped covers; mopping his face

diligently。  He wore his best go…ashore clothes; a

stiff collar; black coat; large white waistcoat; grey

trousers。  A white cotton sunshade with a cane han…

dle reposed between his legs; his side whiskers were

neatly brushed; his chin had been freshly shaved;

and he only distantly resembled the dishevelled and

terrified man in a snuffy night shirt and ignoble old

trousers I had seen in the morning hanging on to

the wheel of the Diana。



He gave a start at my entrance; and addressed

me at once in some confusion; but with genuine ea…

gerness。  He was anxious to make it clear he had

nothing to do with what he called the 〃tam piz…

ness〃 of the morning。  It was most inconvenient。

He had reckoned upon another day up in town to

settle his bills and sign certain papers。  There were

also some few stores to come; and sundry pieces of

〃my ironwork;〃 as he called it quaintly; landed for

repairs; had been left behind。  Now he would have

to hire a native boat to take all this out to the ship。

It would cost five or six dollars perhaps。  He had

had no warning from Falk。  Nothing。 。 。 。  He

hit the table with his dumpy fist。 。 。 。  Der ver…

fluchte Kerl came in the morning like a 〃tam'

ropper;〃 making a great noise; and took him away。

His mate was not prepared; his ship was moored

fasthe protested it was shameful to come upon

a man in that way。  Shameful!  Yet such was the

power Falk had on the river that when I suggested

in a chilling tone that he might have simply refused

to have his ship moved; Hermann was quite startled

at the idea。  I never realised so well before that this

is an age of steam。  The exclusive possession of a

marine boiler had given Falk the whiphand of us

all。  Hermann; recovering; put it to me appealingly

that I knew very well how unsafe it was to contra…

dict that fellow。  At this I only smiled distantly。



〃Der Kerl!〃 he cried。  He was sorry he had not

refused。  He was indeed。  The damage!  The dam…

age!  What for all that damage!  There was no

occasion for damage。  Did I know how much dam…

age he had done?  It gave me a certain satisfaction

to tell him that I had heard his old waggon of a

ship crack fore and aft as she went by。  〃You

passed close enough to me;〃 I added significantly。



He threw both his hands up to heaven at the rec…

ollection。  One of them grasped by the middle the

white parasol; and he resembled curiously a carica…

ture of a shopkeeping citizen in one of his own Ger…

man comic papers。  〃Ach!  That was dangerous;〃

he cried。  I was amused。  But directly he added

with an appearance of simplicity; 〃The side of

your iron ship would have been crushed in like

like this matchbox。〃



〃Would it?〃 I growled; much less amused now;

but by the time I had decided that this remark was

not meant for a dig at me he had worked himself

into a high state of resentfulness against Falk。

The inconvenience; the damage; the expense!  Gott…

ferdam!  Devil take the fellow。  Behind the bar

Schomberg with a cigar in his teeth; pretended to

be writing with a pencil on a large sheet of paper;

and as Hermann's excitement increased it made me

comfortingly aware of my own calmness and supe…

riority。  But it occurred to me while I listened to

his revilings; that after all the good man had come

up in the tug。  There perhapssince he must come

to townhe had no option。  But evidently he had

had a drink with Falk; either accepted or offered。

How was that?  So I checked him by saying loftily

that I hoped he would make Falk pay for every

penny of the damage。



〃That's it!  That's it!  Go for him;〃 called out

Schomberg from the bar; flinging his pencil down

and rubbing his hands。



We ignored his noise。  But Hermann's excite…

ment suddenly went off the boil as when you remove

a saucepan from the fire。  I urged on his considera…

tion that he had done now with Falk and Falk's con…

founded tug。  He; Hermann; would not; perhaps;

turn up again in this part of the world for years to

come; since he was going to sell the Diana at the end

of this very trip (〃Go home passenger in a mail

boat;〃 he murmured mechanically)。  He was there…

fore safe from Falk's malice。  All he had to do was

to race off to his consignees and stop payment of

the towage bill before Falk had the time to get in

and lift the money。



Nothing could have been less in the spirit of my

advice than the thoughtful way in which he set

about to make his parasol stay propped against the

edge of the table。



While I watched his concentrated efforts with as…

toni

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