The Black Box Part 55

The Professor intervened amiably. His face, too, shone with pleasure as he gazed landwards.

"I agree with the young lady," he declared. "The blood and sinews of life may seem to throb more ponderously in New York, but there is a big life here on this western side, a great, wide-flung, pulsating life. There is room here, room to breathe."

"And it is so beautiful," Lenora murmured.

Quest glanced a little way along the deck to where a pale-faced man stood leaning upon his folded arms, gazing upon the same scene. There was no smile on Craig's face, no light of antic.i.p.ation in his eyes.

"I guess there's one of us here," Quest observed, "who is none too pleased to see America again."

Lenora s.h.i.+vered a little. They were all grave.

"We must, I think, admit," the Professor said, "that Craig's deportment during the voyage has been everything that could be desired. He has even voluntarily carried out certain small attentions to my person which I must confess that I had greatly missed."

"That's all right," Quest agreed. "At the same time I am afraid the moment has come now to remind him that the end is drawing near."

Quest moved slowly down the deck towards Craig's side, and touched him on the arm.

"Give me your left wrist, Craig," he said quietly.

The man slunk away. There was a sudden look of horror in his white face.

He started back but Quest was too quick for him. In a moment there was the click of a handcuff, the mate of which was concealed under the criminologist's cuff.

"You'd better take things quietly," the latter advised. "It will only hurt you to struggle. Step this way a little. Put your hand in your pocket, so, and no one will notice."

Craig obeyed silently. They stepped along the deck towards the rest of the party. Lenora handed her gla.s.ses to Quest.

"Do look, Mr. Quest," she begged. "There is Inspector French standing in the front row on the dock, with two enormous bunches of flowers--carnations for me, I expect, and poinsettias for Laura. They're the larger bunch."

Quest took the gla.s.ses and nodded.

"That's French, right enough," he a.s.sented. "Look at him standing straightening his tie in front of that advertis.e.m.e.nt mirror! Flowers, too!

Say, he's got his eye on one of you girls. Not you, by any chance, is it, Lenora?"

Lenora laughed across at Laura, who had turned a little pink.

"I guess French has got sense enough to know I'm not that sort," the latter replied. "The double-harness stuff doesn't appeal to me, and he knows it!"

Lenora made a little grimace as she turned away.

"Well," she said, "it's brave talk."

"Almost," the Professor pointed out, "Amazonian. Yet in the ancient days even the Amazons were sometimes tamed."

"Oh, nonsense!" Laura exclaimed, turning away. "I don't see why the man wants to make himself look like a walking conservatory, though," she added under her breath.

"And I think it's sweet of him," Lenora insisted. "If there's anything I'm longing for, it's a breath of perfume from those flowers."

Slowly the great steamer drifted nearer and nearer to the dock, hats were waved from the little line of spectators, ropes were drawn taut. The Inspector was standing at the bottom of the gangway as they all pa.s.sed down. He shook hands with every one vigorously. Then he presented Lenora with her carnations and Laura with the poinsettias. Lenora was enthusiastic. Even Laura murmured a few words of thanks.

"Some flowers, those poinsettias," the Inspector agreed.

Quest gripped him by the arm.

"French," he said, "I tell you I shall make your hair curl when you hear all that we've been through. Do you feel like having me start in right away, on our way to the cars?"

French withdrew his arm.

"Nothing doing," he replied. "I want to talk to Miss Laura. You can stow that criminal stuff. It'll wait all right. You've got the fellow--that's what matters."

Quest exchanged an amused glance with Lenora. The Inspector and Laura fell a little behind. The former took off his hat for a moment and fanned himself.

"Say, Miss Laura," he began, "I'm a plain man, and a poor hand at speeches. I've been saying a few nice things over to myself on the dock here for the last hour, but everything's gone right out of my head. Look here, it sums up like this. How do you feel about quitting this bunch right away and coming back to New York with me?"

"What do I want to go to New York for?" Laura demanded.

"Oh, come on, Miss Laura, you know what I mean," French replied. "We'll slip off and get married here and then take this man Craig to New York.

Once get him safely in the Tombs and we'll go off on a honeymoon anywhere you say."

Laura was on the point of laughing at him. Then the unwonted seriousness of his expression appealed suddenly to her sympathy. She patted him kindly on the shoulder.

"You're a good sort, Inspector, but you've picked the wrong girl. I've run along on my own hook ever since I was born, I guess, and I can't switch my ideas over to this married stuff. You'd better get a move on and get Craig back to New York before he slips us again. I'm going to stay here with the others."

The Inspector sighed. His face had grown long, and the buoyancy had pa.s.sed from his manner.

"This is some disappointment, believe me, Miss Laura," he confessed.

"Cheer up," she laughed. "You'll get over it all right."

They found the others waiting for them at the end of the great wooden shed. Quest turned to French.

"Look here, French," he said, "you know I don't want to hurry you off, but I don't know what we're going to do with this fellow about in San Francisco. We don't want to lodge two charges, and we should have to put him in jail to-night. Why don't you take him on right away? There's a Limited goes by the southern route in an hour's time."

French a.s.sented gloomily.

"That suits me," he agreed. "You'll be glad to get rid of the fellow, too," he added.

They drove straight to the depot, found two vacant seats in the train, and Quest with a little sigh of relief handed over his charge. Craig, who, though still dumb, had shown signs of intense nervousness since the landing, sank back in his corner seat, covering the upper part of his head with his hands. Suddenly Lenora, who had been chatting with French through the window, happened to glance towards Craig. She gave a little cry and stepped back.

"Look!" she exclaimed. "The eyes! Those are the eyes that haunted me all through those terrible days!"

She was suddenly white. Quest pa.s.sed his arm through hers and glanced through the carriage window. In the shaded light, Craig's eyes seemed indeed to have suddenly grown in power and intensity. They shone fiercely from underneath the hands which clasped his forehead.

"Well, that's the last you'll see of them," Quest reminded her soothingly.

"Come, you're not going to break down now, Lenora. We've been through it all and there he is, safe and sound in French's keeping. There is nothing more left in the world to frighten you."

Lenora pulled herself together with an effort.

"It was silly," she confessed, "yet even now--"