“Who are you?” demanded Charbonde. “I don’t know you.”
“I know you don’t,” responded the other easily, “and yet, I may be able to help you.”
“Bah!” began the foreign agent, trying to shake off the hand laid on his arm.
“Wait till you hear what I have to say,” resumed the other eagerly. “I hate those two blue-jackets who have just left you.”
A new light suddenly shone in Senor Charbonde’s eyes. He began to regard the furtive-looking youth with more interest.
“Who are you?” he demanded cautiously.
“My name won’t mean much to you. It’s Harkins—Henry Harkins. I was formerly2 in the navy, but I was dishonorably discharged, owing to those two fellows. I hate them.”
The tone in which this communication was made left no doubt of the speaker’s sincerity3. His mean face grew positively4 wolfish as he spoke5. Not even in his days aboard the Illinois, when he had joined Kennell, the ship’s bully6 of the Manhattan, and the other miscreants7 in abducting8 Ned and Mr. Varian, had Hank Harkins ever looked more despicable. For his part in the conspiracy9, as our former readers know, Harkins, who hailed from the same village as the Dreadnought Boys, had been dishonorably discharged from the service. That the world had not gone well with him since then was manifest. His clothes were old and worn, and lines, which did not look well on a youthful countenance10, marked his features. As Charbonde gazed at the figure before him, a sudden thought came to him. Here, ready-made to his hand, was a tool that he might find useful.
“So you would like to have an opportunity to avenge11 yourself on those two lads, is it not so?” he said slowly.
“I’d do almost anything to get even with them,” muttered Hank. “They are the cause of all my misfortunes. I’ve been broke for weeks, and have hardly known what it was to have a square meal.”
Hank did not think it necessary to add that his misfortunes, like his dishonorable discharge, were all of his own making. His father, sorely tried though he had been by the boy’s unsavory escapades, had written him to come home to the farm, but this Hank had refused to do permanently12. Life in and about New York suited his vagabond disposition13 too well for that.
“Ah, you need money,” exclaimed Senor Charbonde.
“Yes, yes,” ejaculated Hank in a voice that came dangerously near to being a beggar’s whine14. But if he thought Senor Charbonde was[23] going to be so prodigal15 with his funds as to hand him a crisp bill, he was mistaken. Instead, the South American revolutionary agent tore a sheet out of a notebook he fished from his pocket and handed it to Hank, who gazed at it eagerly. It bore an address on West Fourteenth Street, New York,—that of a hotel famous as a rendezvous16 for foreign secret agents.
“Be there at three o’clock this afternoon, and perhaps I can put you in the way of making a little money.”
With these words Senor Charbonde swung on his carefully polished boot heel, and, twirling his stick gayly, started at his best pace to leave behind what was, to his fastidious taste, a very unsavory portion of the town. Hank, however, after a moment’s interval17, had appraised18 the other’s prosperous appearance and pattered rapidly after him on his thin-worn shoe soles.
“Suppose you give me a little in advance?” he asked impudently19.
The South American hesitated.
“Ah, well, perhaps it will bind20 him more closely[24] to me,” he thought the next instant. Once more his jeweled hand dived into his pocket, and this time it produced a roll of bills—the same which was responsible for the pinkish mark on his yellow skin. Hank’s eyes glistened21 as they fell upon the dimensions of the roll. Eagerly he watched the other peel off a five-dollar bill.
“Thank you, thank you!” he exclaimed in a servile, fawning22 way, as Charbonde handed it to him.
“There is a fellow who would do anything for money,” thought the South American, as he resumed his way. “I have gained a valuable emissary.”
“That fellow’s a gold mine if he’s worked right. I’m in luck, and I’ll have a chance to get even with those two pious23, psalm-singing lunk heads,” was Hank’s thought, as he shuffled24 off. An alliance had just been formed which boded25 ill for the Dreadnought Boys.
Hank made his way down the street past the gray walls fencing off the navy yard, and after walking two or three blocks turned into a drinking[25] resort frequented by sailors and dock denizens26. Hank flung down the bill he had just received in front of the proprietor27.
“Take what I owe you out of that,” he said grandiloquently28. The other lifted his eyebrows29 in some surprise, and then, abstracting from it the small amount for which he had allowed Hank to become indebted to him, returned the change. As the money and bills were shoved across to Hank, a heavy-set man, who had been seated at a table in one corner of the place, arose and came over to him.
“Hello! messmate,” he exclaimed, “in luck, eh?”
“Why, hello, Jim Prentice!” exclaimed Hank, recognizing in the other a former fireman of the Illinois, “how goes it?”
“Pretty well, shipmate, but low water here,” said the other, tapping his pocket suggestively. “Can you loan a fellow a few dimes30?”
“Loan!” exclaimed Hank, not best pleased at this encounter, “why, it may be months before[26] I see you again. You’re going to sea soon, aren’t you?”
He glanced toward where the other had been sitting and noted31 a battered32 telescope grip reposing33 beside his vacant chair.
“Yes, and a fine old tea-kettle of a stoke hole I’m assigned to. Aboard the Beale, that destroyer, you know. To make matters worse, we’re for South America, I hear. It’ll fairly roast a man to work under forced draught34 in that climate.”
“The Beale, eh?” mused35 Hank. “That’s the craft those two fellows are assigned to.”
He said this in a low voice, and it escaped the other’s hearing altogether. Presently he added aloud:
“When do you sail?”
“Some time to-morrow. Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Just curious, that’s all. So you need money, Jim?”
“Need it!” burst out the other, “why, boy, if shoes were five cents a pair, I couldn’t buy a heel. There’s my sister, too, Hank,” he went on in a serious voice, “she’s sick, and the doc says that she’s got to get away to the country or he won’t answer for her life. Oh, I’m up against it, all right, I tell you.”
A dim plan had begun to form itself in Hank’s mind as the other spoke, but as yet it had not assumed definite form. Instead, he remarked lightly:
“Oh, I guess it’ll come out all right, Jim. Here, take this”—he handed the other half a dollar—“and be here to-night at eight o’clock. I may have something to talk over with you.”
“All right, Hank, I’ll be here, don’t you worry.”
“So long, then,” exclaimed the other. “I’m off.”
With more energy than he had displayed for some time past Hank shot out of the door and off up the street. He spent his money to such good advantage that at the end of an hour he emerged from his small room in a rickety tenement,—which he preferred to an airy room and wholesome36 work on the farm,—with a clean collar and neatly37 slicked-down hair. His battered, broken boots, too, bore a glossy38 polish. But all Hank’s efforts to improve his appearance could not erase39 from his face that expression which instinctively40 made people loath41 and distrust him.
At the appointed time he was at the hotel mentioned by Senor Charbonde, and was closeted in deep consultation42 with that astute43 gentleman for an hour or more. When he came out his face bore a broad smile—or grin, rather, the former word hardly applying to Hank’s peculiar44 expression of satisfaction.
“So that’s the game, is it?” he muttered to himself, as he found his way to the crowded street. “Well, I’ll get the man you want and right on board the Beale, too, but you’ll have to pay for it, and pay heavy. Too bad, though, that the dago had to go and tell those boys about his plans. No use worrying about that, however. I guess I’m slick enough to fix them, or else——”
A cross-town car going in his direction passed before Hank had time to finish his train of[29] thought. He swung himself on the back platform, but had hardly done so before he almost fell off again.
Facing him were the two last persons in the world he wished to see just then—Ned Strong and Herc Taylor. For their part, the Dreadnought Boys were almost as much astonished, though, of course, their feelings had a very different tinge45.
The situation would have been embarrassing but for the fact that Hank, without a sign of recognition, dived rapidly forward into the crowd and soon was swallowed in a perfect sea of heads and shoulders.
“The last person I’d have thought of meeting,” gasped46 Ned.
“The last person I’d want to meet,” growled47 Herc, clutching an armful of bundles he held as vindictively48 as if he had Hank in his grip.
The Dreadnought Boys had been spending their last day ashore49 in getting a few necessities for the voyage.
“I noticed him in the crowd on the sidewalk[30] before he boarded the car, and was going to draw your attention to him,” said Herc, “but I thought I must be mistaken.”
“What was he doing?”
“Why, he had just come down the steps of the Hotel Espanola.”
“The Hotel Espanola,” exclaimed Ned in an astonished voice. “Why, that’s the hotel that Charbonde mentioned this morning.”
“That’s right. By grandpa’s prize shoat, you don’t think Hank can be mixed up in that crooked50 South American thing?”
“I don’t know,” mused Ned slowly, as the car rattled51 along. “I’d be half inclined to believe anything of a chap who’d been dishonorably discharged from the United States navy.”
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1
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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6
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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7
miscreants
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| n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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abducting
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| 劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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15
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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17
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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18
appraised
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| v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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impudently
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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23
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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24
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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25
boded
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| v.预示，预告，预言( bode的过去式和过去分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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26
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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grandiloquently
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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dimes
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| n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 ) | |
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31
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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32
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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33
reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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34
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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35
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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37
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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38
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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39
erase
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| v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹 | |
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40
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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41
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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42
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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43
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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44
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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45
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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46
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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47
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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48
vindictively
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| adv.恶毒地；报复地 | |
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49
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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50
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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51
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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