Since the affair with the Rackbird, Cheditafa had done his duty more earnestly than ever before. He said nothing to Mok about the Rackbird. He had come to look upon his fellow-African as a very low creature, not much better than a chimpanzee. During Ralph's absence Mok had fallen into all sorts of irregular habits, going out without leave whenever he got a chance, and disporting1 himself generally in a very careless and unservant-like manner.
On the evening that Ralph was expected from Brussels, Mok was missing. Cheditafa could not find him in any of the places where he ought to have been, so he must be out of doors somewhere, and Cheditafa went to look for him.
This was the first time that Cheditafa had gone into the streets alone at night since the Rackbird incident in the Tuileries Gardens. As he was the custodian2 of Mok, and responsible for him, he did not wish to lose sight of him, especially on this evening.
It so happened that when Cheditafa went out of the hotel, his appearance was noticed by Mr. Banker. There was nothing remarkable3 about this, for the evening was the time when the ex-Rackbird gave the most attention to the people who came out of the hotel. When he saw Cheditafa, his soul warmed within him. Here was the reward of patience and steadfastness—everything comes to those who wait.
A half-hour before, Banker had seen Mok leave the hotel and make his way toward the Black Cat. He did not molest4 the rapidly walking negro. He would not have disturbed him for anything. But his watchfulness5 became so eager and intense that he almost, but not quite, exposed himself to the suspicion of a passing gendarme6. He now expected Cheditafa, for the reason that the manner of the younger negro indicated that he was playing truant7. It was likely that the elder man would go after him, and this was exactly what happened.
Banker allowed the old African to go his way without molestation8, for the brightly lighted neighborhood of the hotel was not adapted to his projected performance. But he followed him warily9, and, when they reached a quiet street, Banker quickened his pace, passed Cheditafa, and, suddenly turning, confronted him. Then, without a word having been said, there flashed upon the mind of the African everything that had happened, not only in the Tuileries Gardens, but in the Rackbirds' camp, and at the same time a prophetic feeling of what was about to happen.
By a few quick pulls and jerks, Banker had so far removed his disguise that Cheditafa knew him the instant that his eyes fell upon him. His knees trembled, his eyeballs rolled so that nothing but their whites could be seen, and he gave himself up to death. Then spoke10 out the terrible Rackbird.
What he said need not be recorded here, but every word of superheated vengeance11, with which he wished to torture the soul of his victim before striking him to the earth, went straight to the soul of Cheditafa, as if it had been a white-hot iron. His chin fell upon his breast. He had but one hope, and that was that he would be killed quickly. He had seen people killed in the horrible old camp, and the man before him he believed to be the worst Rackbird of them all.
When Banker had finished stabbing and torturing the soul of the African, he drew a knife from under his coat, and down fell Cheditafa on his knees.
The evening was rainy and dark, and the little street was nearly deserted12. Banker, who could look behind and before him without making much show of turning his head, had made himself sure of this before he stepped in front of Cheditafa. But while he had been pouring out his torrent13 of heart-shrivelling vituperation, he had ceased to look before and behind him, and had not noticed a man coming down the street in the opposite direction to that in which they had been going.
This was Mok, who was much less of a fool than Cheditafa took him for. He had calculated that he would have time to go to the Black Cat and drink two glasses of beer before Ralph was likely to appear, and he also made up his mind that two glasses were as much as he could dispose of without exciting the suspicions of the young man. Therefore, he had attended to the business that had taken him out of doors on that rainy night, and was returning to the hotel with a lofty consciousness of having done wrong in a very wise and satisfactory manner.
He wore india-rubber overshoes, because the pavements were wet, and also because this sort of foot-gear suited him better than hard, unyielding sole-leather. Had he had his own way, he would have gone bare-footed, but that would have created comment in the streets of Paris—he had sense enough to know that.
When he first perceived, by the dim light of a street lamp, two persons standing14 together on his side of the street, his conscience, without any reason for it, suggested that he cross over and pass by without attracting attention. To wrong-doers attention is generally unwelcome.
Mok not only trod with the softness and swiftness of a panther, but he had eyes like that animal, and if there were any light at all, those eyes could make good use of it. As he neared the two men, he saw that one was scolding the other. Then he saw the other man drop down on his knees. Then, being still nearer, he perceived that the man on his knees was Cheditafa. Then he saw the man in front of him draw a knife from under his coat.
As a rule, Mok was a coward, but two glasses of beer were enough to turn his nature in precisely15 the opposite direction. A glass less would have left him timorous16, a glass more would have made him foolhardy and silly. He saw that somebody was about to stab his old friend. In five long, noiseless steps, or leaps, he was behind that somebody, and had seized the arm which held the knife.
With a movement as quick as the stroke of a rattlesnake, Banker turned upon the man who had clutched his arm, and when he saw that it was Mok, his fury grew tornado-like. With a great oath, and a powerful plunge17 backward, he endeavored to free his arm from the grasp of the negro. But he did not do it. Those black fingers were fastened around his wrist as though they had been fetters18 forged to fit him. And in the desperate struggle the knife was dropped.
In a hand-to-hand combat with a chimpanzee, a strong man would have but little chance of success, and Mok, under the influence of two glasses of beer, was a man-chimpanzee. When Banker swore, and when he turned so that the light of the street lamp fell upon his face, Mok recognized him. He knew him for a Rackbird of the Rackbirds—as the cruel, black-eyed savage19 who had beaten him, trodden upon him, and almost crushed the soul out of him, in that far-away camp by the sea. How this man should have suddenly appeared in Paris, why he came there, and what he was going to do, whether he was alone, or with his band concealed20 in the neighboring doorways21, Mok did not trouble his mind to consider. He held in his brazen22 grip a creature whom he considered worse than the most devilish of African devils, a villain23 who had been going to kill Cheditafa.
Every nerve under his black skin, every muscle that covered his bones, and the two glasses of beer, sung out to him that the Rackbird could not get away from him, and that the great hour of vengeance had arrived.
Banker had a pistol, but he had no chance to draw it. The arms of the wild man were around him. His feet slipped from under him, and instantly the two were rolling on the wet pavement. But only for an instant. Banker was quick and light and strong to such a degree that no man but a man-chimpanzee could have overpowered him in a struggle like that. Both were on their feet almost as quickly as they went down, but do what he would, Banker could not get out his pistol.
Those long black arms, one of them now bared to the shoulder, were about him ever. He pulled, and tugged24, and swerved25. He half threw him one instant, half lifted the next, but never could loosen the grasp of that fierce creature, whose whole body seemed as tough and elastic26 as the shoes he wore.
Together they fell, together they rolled in the dirty slime, together they rose as if they had been shot up by a spring, and together they went down again, rolling over each other, pulling, tearing, striking, gasping27, and panting.
Cheditafa had gone. The moment of Mok's appearance, he had risen and fled. There were now people in the street. Some had come out of their houses, hearing the noise of the struggle, for Banker wore heavy shoes. There were also one or two pedestrians28 who had stopped, unwilling29 to pass men who were engaged in such a desperate conflict.
No one interfered30. It would have seemed as prudent31 to step between two tigers. Such a bounding, whirling, tumbling, rolling, falling, and rising contest had never been seen in that street, except between cats. It seemed that the creatures would dash themselves through the windows of the houses.
It was not long before Cheditafa came back with two policemen, all running, and then the men who lay in the street, spinning about as if moving on pivots32, were seized and pulled apart. At first the officers of the law appeared at a loss to know what had happened, and who had been attacked. What was this black creature from the Jardin des Plantes? But Banker's coat had been torn from his back, and his pistol stood out in bold relief in his belt, and Cheditafa pointed33 to the breathless bandit, and screamed: "Bad man! Bad man! Try to kill me! This good Mok save my life!"
Two more policemen now came hurrying up, for other people had given the alarm, and it was not considered necessary to debate the question as to who was the aggressor in this desperate affair. Cheditafa, Mok, and Banker were all taken to the police station.
As Cheditafa was known to be in the service of the American lady at the Hotel Grenade, the portier of that establishment was sent for, and having given his testimony34 to the good character of the two negroes, they were released upon his becoming surety for their appearance when wanted.
As for Banker, there was no one to go security. He was committed for trial.
When Ralph went to his room, that night, he immediately rang for his valet. Mok, who had reached the hotel from the police station but a few minutes before, answered the summons. When Ralph turned about and beheld35 the black man, his hair plastered with mud, his face plastered with mud, and what clothes he had on muddy, torn, and awry36, with one foot wearing a great overshoe and the other bare, with both black arms entirely37 denuded38 of sleeves, with eyes staring from his head, and his whole form quivering and shaking, the young man started as if some afrit of the "Arabian Nights" had come at this dark hour to answer his call.
To the eager questions which poured upon him when his identity became apparent, Mok could make no intelligible39 answer. He did not possess English enough for that. But Cheditafa was quickly summoned, and he explained everything. He explained it once, twice, three times, and then he and Mok were sent away, and told to go to bed, and under no circumstances to mention to their mistress what had happened, or to anybody who might mention it to her. And this Cheditafa solemnly promised for both.
The clock struck one as Ralph still sat in his chair, wondering what all this meant, and what might be expected to happen next. To hear that a real, live Rackbird was in Paris, that this outlaw40 had threatened his sister, that the police had been watching for him, that he had sworn to kill Cheditafa, and that night had tried to do it, amazed him beyond measure.
At last he gave up trying to conjecture41 what it meant. It was foolish to waste his thoughts in that way. To-morrow he must find out. He could understand very well why his sister had kept him in ignorance of the affair in the Gardens. She had feared danger to him. She knew that he would be after that scoundrel more hotly than any policeman. But what the poor girl must have suffered! It was terrible to think of.
The first thing he would do would be to take very good care that she heard nothing of the attack on Cheditafa. He would go to the police office early the next morning and look into this matter. He did not think that it would be necessary for Edna to know anything about it, except that the Rackbird had been arrested and she need no longer fear him.
When Ralph reached the police station, the next day, he found there the portier of the hotel, together with Cheditafa and Mok.
After Banker's examination, to which he gave no assistance by admissions of any sort, he was remanded for trial, and he was held merely for his affair with the negroes, no charge having been made against him for his attempt to obtain money from their mistress, or his threats in her direction. As the crime for which he had been arrested gave reason enough for condign42 punishment of the desperado, Ralph saw, and made Cheditafa see, it would be unnecessary as well as unpleasant to drag Edna into the affair.
That afternoon Mr. Banker, who had recovered his breath and had collected his ideas, sent for the police magistrate43 and made a confession44. He said he had been a member of a band of outlaws45, but having grown disgusted with their evil deeds, had left them. He had become very poor, and having heard that the leader of the band had made a fortune by a successful piece of rascality46, and had married a fine lady, and was then in Paris, he had come to this city to meet him, and to demand in the name of their old comradeship some assistance in his need. He had found his captain's wife. She had basely deceived him after having promised to help him, and he had been insulted and vilely47 treated by that old negro, who was once a slave in the Rackbirds' camp in Peru, and who had been brought here with the other negro by the captain. He also freely admitted that he had intended to punish the black fellow, though he had no idea whatever of killing48 him. If he had had such an idea, it would have been easy enough for him to put his knife into him when he met him in that quiet street. But he had not done so, but had contented49 himself with telling him what he thought of him, and with afterwards frightening him with his knife. And then the other fellow had come up, and there had been a fight. Therefore, although he admitted that his case was a great misdemeanor, and that he had been very disorderly, he boldly asserted that he had contemplated50 no murder. But what he wished particularly to say to the magistrate was that the captain of the Rackbirds would probably soon arrive in Paris, and that he ought to be arrested. No end of important results might come from such an arrest. He was quite sure that the great stroke of fortune which had enabled the captain's family to live in Paris in such fine style ought to be investigated. The captain had never made any money by simple and straightforward51 methods of business.
All this voluntary testimony was carefully taken down, and although the magistrate did not consider it necessary to believe any of it, the arrival of Captain Horn was thenceforth awaited with interest by the police of Paris.
It was not very plain how Miss Markham of the Hotel Grenade, who was well known as a friend of a member of the American legation, could be the wife of a South American bandit. But then, there might be reasons why she wished to retain her maiden52 name for the present, and she might not know her husband as a bandit.
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1
disporting
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| v.嬉戏，玩乐，自娱( disport的现在分词 ) | |
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custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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gendarme
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| n.宪兵 | |
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7
truant
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| n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课 | |
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molestation
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| n.骚扰，干扰，调戏；折磨 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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10
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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11
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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12
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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14
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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15
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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18
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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20
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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22
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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23
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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24
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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27
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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28
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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29
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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30
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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31
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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32
pivots
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| n.枢( pivot的名词复数 )；最重要的人（或事物）；中心；核心v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的第三人称单数 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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33
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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34
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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35
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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38
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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39
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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40
outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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41
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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42
condign
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| adj.应得的，相当的 | |
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43
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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44
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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45
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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46
rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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47
vilely
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| adv.讨厌地，卑劣地 | |
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48
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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49
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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50
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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51
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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52
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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