CHAPTER XIII
A RIVER ROBBER IN A NEW ROLE
With half a dozen stones of splendid value rolling over the palm ofhis hand, Clay regarded the boy accusingly.
"Where did you get the diamonds?" he asked.
The boy did not answer. Clay had expected confusion and shame. Insteadhe met with anger and reproach. Chester ("Chet" from that day forward)shot forward like an arrow and tried to wrest the bag from his hands.Clay put him back tolerantly.
"Give them back to me!" Chet shouted so loudly that the boys out onthe deck entered the cabin and stood in an astonished group about thetwo.
Clay, grasping the bag and the lose gems, held his hands high abovehis head.
"Where did you get them?" he persisted.
"Give them back to me!" yelled Chet. "You've been following me forthis, have you? You're all as bad as the river thieves I've met upwith! Give them to me!"
"What do you think of the little one for a diamond dip?" asked Alex.,pointing at the flushed face of the agitated boy. "He's some clever!"
"I reckon he belongs with Red, the Robber, all right!" Jule put in.
"He seems to be pretty well fixed!" laughed Case. "Those gems areworth more than a hundred thousand dollars! Did you swipe them fromthe men who robbed the Rock Island warehouse, kid?" he added.
Chet turned a flaming face toward this new accuser.
"Don't you dare call me a thief!" he shouted. "The diamonds are mine!I never stole them. Give them back to me, you--you--river pirates!"
"That's good, coming from him!" grinned Alex. "Come on, little one,and tell us who these stones belong to."
"I tell you they are mine!" Chet again insisted. "I never stole them!You give them back to me! If I had the strength I'd tear your heartout!"
"Of course!" laughed Clay. "Of course you'd do something desperate ifyou had the strength! But don't trouble yourself about the diamonds!If they belong to you, you shall have them. But we don't want toharbor a thief, you know!"
"I don't believe you'll ever give them back to me!" sobbed the boy."I've brought them down the river, all this way, to be robbed of themat last!"
In a spasm of grief the lad threw himself on the cabin floor and burstinto an uncontrollable fit of weeping. The boys stood around for amoment, looking rather sheepishly at each other, and then all left thecabin but Clay.
"Come kid," the latter said, lifting Chet from the floor and holdinghim in his arms like a baby, "don't act like you'd lost your lastfriend! If you're honest, you've found friends instead of losing them.You shall have the diamonds back, if you can show that they belong toyou. Brace up, now, and go on to bed!"
Chet regarded Clay through wet eyes for a moment and then slipped awayto the bunk which had been set aside for him. The frank inspectionseemed to have in a measure restored his equanimity. Clay sat down bythe side of the bunk, the diamonds in his hands.
"Why don't you tell me all about it?" he asked of the boy. "Why notsettle the whole matter right here, and so have done with it? Wheredid you get them?"
"I've promised not to tell," was the reply.
"You are not making a very good beginning," Clay admonished.
Chet made no reply whatever, but turned his face away. Clay went on,patiently:
"Where is your home?"
"I haven't got any home," was the reply. "I never had one."
"But you must belong somewhere," Clay insisted. "Where did you livelast?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything at all," Chet replied, "until Isee the man that made me promise to keep silent, and until he gives meleave to talk with you."
"Is the man you mention Red, the riverman?" asked Clay.
"Didn't I just tell you that I wasn't going to talk?" demanded theboy.
"All right," Clay responded. "Take all the time you want! In themeantime, I'll keep the diamonds. Will you promise to remain on theboat?"
"If I had the diamonds, I'd quit you right now!" said the boy,savagely. "I may as well tell you the truth. If you keep the diamonds,I'll stay until I get them, but I'll find them and take them with meif I can. You just mind that!"
"You're a frank little chap, anyway!" laughed Clay.
"I wasn't brought up to tell lies!" was the astonishing reply.
"Who brought you up?" asked Clay. "You just said you never had anyhome!"
"Never did!" was the reply. "Say, you won't blame me if I find whereyou put the diamonds and run off with them, will you?" he added, quitegravely.
"I don't see how I can blame you, after such fair warning," laughedClay.
"And you won't help any one to find me?" persisted the little fellow.
"No," answered Clay, "if you are sharp enough to get the diamonds awayfrom me, I'll never let on that I ever saw or heard of you. Is thatsatisfactory to you?"
"Will you shake hands on that?" asked Chet, sitting up on the bunk.
"Gladly! Now, go to sleep and wake up in a more communicative moodto-morrow."
"I'll stick to what I said!" Chet answered, and Clay left him alone inthe cabin. When he reached the deck he was at once surrounded by theboys, all eager to know the outcome of the conference. Clay told themof what had taken place.
"He's a nervy little chap!" Clay concluded, "and I like him very muchalready."
"You bet he's all right, that kid!" Alex. said. "If he wasn't, hewouldn't have told you that he would get the gems the first time hegot a chance. Besides, see how he is keeping the promise made to someother fellow! Where are you going to keep the diamonds, Clay?" the boycontinued. "Don't you ever think the kid won't try hard to find them!I hope he won't feel called upon to cut all our throats in order toobtain possession of them! I believe he would do it if he thought itnecessary!"
"Well," Clay answered, speaking in a low tone and looking in throughthe glass panel of the cabin door to see that Chet was still in hisbunk, "I think I'll go ashore at Memphis, for supplies, you know, andput the gems in a deposit box at one of the banks."
"That's a fine idea!" cried Case. "He'll never get them there!"
"But you want to look out that you're not pinched in the bank," Alex.advised. "That warehouse robbery is making some noise, and if a boyfrom a river boat is seen to have diamonds, it is the jail house foryours!"
"If you put them in a bank deposit box," Jule observed, "you'd betterdo them up so as to look like a package of papers--bonds, or stocks,or something like that."
"That is a good idea, too!" Clay exclaimed. "I'll do it!"
"I'd give a lot to know more about the boy and the diamonds," Claymused, as the boys began getting breakfast.
They had talked so long, after reaching the boat, that they had notbefore realized that it was most morning, and now there was a flush inthe east which told of sunrise.
When Clay went back into the cabin to see about the fire, he foundChet crouching on the floor just back of the door. He yawned as Clayentered the apartment.
"What are you doing here?" asked Clay, in amazement.
"Guess I'm trying to find my way to the door!" was the half-smilingreply. "I didn't seem to know where I was when I woke up!"
Clay accepted the excuse, and went on with his preparation ofbreakfast. However, he doubted what the boy had said. Notwithstandingthe previous good impression he had formed of the waif, he wondered ifthe lad had not crept out of bed and stationed himself by the door inorder to hear what was said about the disposition of the gems.
"I'll have to be more careful," Clay thought. "That boy is a cleverone!"
After breakfast the waif was rigged out with a suit of Alex.'sclothes. In the new attire he seemed to be a different boy from theone taken from the camp.
The boys did not accept as the truth all he said about himself, thoughthat was not much. When he declared that he had never had any home,they commented on the fact that his speech and manners were those of aboy who had been given a fair education.
Chet at once took to the pets of the boat, Mose, Captain Joe, andTeddy, the bear cub, and they immedia
tely recognized him as a memberof the family.
While he was playing with the cub on the prow, Clay made an oblongpackage of the diamonds, scattering them in between sheets of paper,and marked them "Bonds." The bag in which they had been found was halffilled with burrs, and small bits of a broken dish and tied tight. Itresembled the bag as it had stood before any change had been made whenClay had finished with it.
This bag Clay resolved to keep in his pocket until he could place itunder the eyes of the boy who claimed it, the idea being to see if hereally would snatch the supposed prize and take to the river again.Clay hoped that he would not, for all liked the little fellow. Thatafternoon they ran down to a Memphis pier and Clay went ashore withthe gems.
He was in time to secure a deposit box at a bank and stow the diamondsaway. The cashier with whom he did business asked questions regardinghis age and permanent residence, and seemed satisfied with hisanswers. He was, indeed, especially interested in Clay's descriptionof the _Rambler_ and the voyages the boys had made in her, and askedpermission to visit the party that evening if he found time.
Clay gladly gave the required permission, ordered supplies sent to thepier, and then started out for a look at the beautiful city. Almost atthe entrance to the bank he met Alex., who had the flushed appearanceof a boy who had been walking pretty fast.
The two walked together for a block without speaking, save for theinitial greeting, and then Alex. proposed that they go to a restaurantand have a "steak about as big as a parlor rug," as he expressed it.Clay agreed, but laughed at the notion.
"Why not take it on board?" he asked. "We can cook it much better thanany city chef," he added.
"Well," Alex. replied, "I saw a neat little restaurant back here, notfar from the river front, and I thought I'd like to go there and havea feed."
So the two turned into the restaurant, when they came to it, and tooka small table at a rear corner of the room. It being late for dinnerand early for supper, there were few in the place.
One party, at the front of the room, at once attracted Clay'sattention. There were three men in the party, one young, smiling andflashily dressed; one old, grizzled and clad in a well-worn businesssuit; and another dressed expensively and with great care. This manhad a surprising growth of red hair which showed evidences of greatcare. His face was smooth-shaven, and had the appearance of havingrecently been divested of a beard, the flesh showing soft and white,as if not long exposed to the weather.
When this man arose to pay the check and laid a hand on the back of achair, Clay noticed that the hand was very large and finely kept. Theman was something over six feet in height! Clay gave Alex. a kickunder the table and directed his gaze to the large man, then passingover to the cashier's window.
"Take a good look at that man," he whispered. "Ever see him before?"
"I saw him when I passed," was the reply, "and brought you here.That's Red, the Robber."