CHAPTER XLVII
A CHARMED LIFE
The night was still enough, but piled-up masses of black clouds obscureda weakly moon, and there were only now and then uncertain gleams ofglimmering light. There was no fog, nor any sign of any. The captainslept in his room, and on deck the steamer was utterly deserted. Onlythrough the black darkness she still bounded on, her furnaces roaring,and the black trail of smoke leaving a long clear track behind her. Itseemed as though every one were sleeping on board the steamer exceptthose who fed her fires below and the grim, silent figure who stood inthe wheelhouse.
Mr. Sabin, who, muffled up with rugs, was reclining in a deck chair,drawn up in the shadow of the long boat, was already beginning to regretthat he had attached any importance at all to Mrs. Watson's warning. Itwanted only an hour or so of dawn. All night long he had sat there inview of the door of his deck cabin and shivered. To sleep had beenimpossible, his dozing was only fitful and unrestful. His hands werethrust deep down into the pockets of his overcoat--the revolver had longago slipped from his cold fingers. More than once he had made up hismind to abandon his watch, to enter his room, and chance what mighthappen. And then suddenly there came what he had been waiting for allthis while--a soft footfall along the deck: some one was making theirway now from the gangway to the door of his cabin.
The frown on his forehead deepened; he leaned stealthily forwardwatching and listening intently. Surely that was the rustling of asilken gown, that gleam of white behind the funnel was the fluttering ofa woman's skirt. Suddenly he saw her distinctly. She was wearing a longwhite dressing-gown, and noiseless slippers of some kind. Her face wasvery pale and her eyes seemed fixed and dilated. Once, twice she lookednervously behind her, then she paused before the door of his cabin,hesitated for a moment, and finally passed over the threshold. Mr.Sabin, who had been about to spring forward, paused. After all perhapshe was safer where he was.
There was a full minute during which nothing happened. Mr. Sabin, whohad now thoroughly regained his composure, lingered in the shadow of theboat prepared to wait upon the course of events, but a man's footstepthis time fell softly upon the deck. Some one had emerged from thegangway and was crossing towards his room. Mr. Sabin peered cautiouslythrough the twilight. It was Mr. Watson, of New York, partially dressed,with a revolver flashing in his hand. Then Mr. Sabin perceived the fullwisdom of having remained where he was.
Under the shadow of the boat he drew a little nearer to the door of thecabin. There was absolute silence within. What they were doing he couldnot imagine, but the place was in absolute darkness. Thoroughly awakenow he crouched within a few feet of the door listening intently. Oncehe fancied that he could hear a voice, it seemed to him that a hand wasgroping along the wall for the knob of the electric light. Then the doorwas softly opened and the woman came out. She stood for a moment leaninga little forward, listening intently ready to make her retreatimmediately she was assured that the coast was clear! She was a littlepale, but in a stray gleam of moonlight Mr. Sabin fancied that he caughta glimpse of a smile upon her parted lips. There was a whisper frombehind her shoulder; she answered in a German monosyllable. Then,apparently satisfied that she was unobserved, she stepped out, and,flitting round the funnel, disappeared down the gangway. Mr. Sabin madeno attempt to stop her or to disclose his presence. His fingers hadclosed now upon his revolver--he was waiting for the man. The minutescrept on--nothing happened. Then a hand softly closed the window lookingout upon the deck, immediately afterwards the door was pushed open andMr. Watson, with a handkerchief to his mouth, stepped out.
He stood perfectly still listening for a moment. Then he was on thepoint of stealing away, when a hand fell suddenly upon his shoulder. Hewas face to face with Mr. Sabin.
He started back with a slight but vehement guttural interjection. Hishand stole down towards his pocket, but the shining argument in Mr.Sabin's hand was irresistible.
"Step back into that room, Mr. Watson; I want to speak to you."
He hesitated. Mr. Sabin reaching across him opened the door of thecabin. Immediately they were assailed with the fumes of a strange,sickly odour! Mr. Sabin laughed softly, but a little bitterly.
"A very old-fashioned device," he murmured. "I gave you credit for moreingenuity, my friend. Come, I have opened the window and the door yousee! Let us step inside. There will be sufficient fresh air."
Mr. Watson was evidently disinclined to make the effort. He glancedcovertly up the deck, and seemed to be preparing himself for a rush.Again that little argument of steel and the grim look on Mr. Sabin'sface prevailed. They both crossed the threshold. The odour, thoughpowerful, was almost nullified by the rushing of the salt wind throughthe open window and door which Mr. Sabin had fixed open with a catch.Reaching out his hand he pulled down a little brass hook--the room wasimmediately lit with the soft glare of the electric light.
Mr. Sabin, having assured himself that his companion's revolver wassafely bestowed in his hip pocket and could not be reached withoutwarning, glanced carefully around his cabin.
He looked first towards the bed and smiled. His little device, then, hadsucceeded. The rug which he had rolled up under the sheets into theshape of a human form was undisturbed. In the absence of a light Mr.Watson had evidently taken for granted that the man whom he had soughtto destroy was really in the room. The two men suddenly exchangedglances, and Mr. Sabin smiled at the other's look of dismay.
"It was not like you," he said gently; "it was really very clumsy indeedto take for granted my presence here. I have great faith in you and yourmethods, my friend, but do you think that it would have been altogetherwise for me to have slept here alone with unfastened door--under thecircumstances?"
Mr. Watson admitted his error with a gleam in his dark eyes, which Mr.Sabin accepted as an additional warning.
"Your little device," he continued, raising an unstopped flask from thetable by the side of the bed, "is otherwise excellent, and I feel thatI owe you many thanks for arranging a death that should be painless.You might have made other plans which would have been not only moreclumsy, but which might have caused me a considerable amount of personalinconvenience and discomfort. Your arrangements, I see, were altogetherexcellent. You arranged for my--er--extermination asleep or awake. Ifawake the little visit which your charming wife had just paid herewas to have provided you at once with a motive for the crime and adistinctly mitigating circumstance. That was very ingenious. Pardon mylighting a cigarette, these fumes are a little powerful. Then if I wasasleep and had not been awakened by the time you arrived--well, it wasto be a drug! Supposing, my dear Mr. Watson, you do me the favour ofemptying this little flask into the sea."
Mr. Watson obeyed promptly. There were several points in his favour tobe gained by the destruction of this evidence of his unsuccessfulattempt. As he crossed the deck holding the little bottle at arm'slength from him a delicate white vapour could be distinctly seen risingfrom the bottle and vanishing into the air. There was a little hiss likethe hiss of a snake as it touched the water, and a spot of white frothmarked the place where it sank.
"Much too strong," Mr. Sabin murmured. "A sad waste of a very valuabledrug, my friend. Now will you please come inside with me. We must have alittle chat. But first kindly stand quite still for one moment. There isno particular reason why I should run any risk. I am going to take thatrevolver from your pocket and throw it overboard."
Mr Watson's first instinct was evidently one of resistance. Thensuddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a revolver upon his forehead.
"If you move," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "you are a dead man. My bestpolicy would be to kill you; I am foolish not to do it. But I hateviolence. You are safe if you do as I tell you."
Mr. Watson recognised the fact that his companion was in earnest. Hestood quite still and watched his revolver describe a semi-circle in thedarkness and a fall with a little splash in the water. Then he followedMr. Sabin into his cabin.