The Argosy, August 1905 — page 146: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

——S “You must let u relieve yon for awhile, Mr. Tarr,” she said, while Mrs. Shackelford looked coldly on in the at- iitude of a person bent upon upholding the proprieties but with interest neither in the sick man nor his nurse. “Tt is good of you, but you have your own trouble with Calvin sit “This Messerode is very efficient. We have decided to take him with us to Berlin,” declared Helen. “ He is well recommended.” “And poor Crowding wasn’t, I sup- pose she means,” thought Tarr. “ Well, it’s an unfortunate mess. I reckon Bur- gess would be sorry he sent me on the Yantie if he knew how objectionable I had become to Helen Trainor.” This swung his thoughts, pendulum- wise, to Burgess and the Babbler, and as he left his cabin to pace the deck for a breath of air the strange message received from the passing Savoird puz- zlied his mind again. Why bad Burgess changed the direc- tion of his intended voyage across the Atlantic? Why was he hunting for the Yantic? The cotton king had been greatly dis- turbed by neryous apprehension as re- garded Helen’s trip across, but Tarr had attributed this nervousness on _ his employer’s part to overwork. For six months Burgess had carried a re- sponsibility that was bound to tell upon any man. He had engineered a financial scheme such as the Street had never seen before, and he had done it practically alone. There was little wonder that Burgess’ mind was easily Cisturbed. But after sending his secretary on the steamship with the girl whom he so much admired, Burgess should have been eatisfied. This chasing the Yantic about the ocean was an utterly ridicu- lous thing. Yet so much had oceurred within the last few hours to puzzle Horace Tarr that the message from the Savoird dis- turbed him greatly. And it had evi- dently bothered Captain Holds likewise. Tea is usually served in the after- noon aboard the ships of the Blue Cres- cent Jine, and having paid little n to his meals of late Tarr was id went below. As he came i” * ~ “ Te ea ee eg, pr down the companionway to the main deck, he noticed a sailor in uniform and with a short cutlass strapped to his side standing upright before a heavy steel door which was built into the bulkhead. It was a place where the officers and other members of the crew were passing and repassing all the time, both day and night, and Tarr knew he had never seen this sentinel here before. Observing Mr. Trimble, the junior officer, passing, he asked him what it meant. ““Why, I’m sure, sir, I conldn’t tell you,” Trimble declared. “ That is the strong room—you knew that, didn’t your” “The strong room?” repeated Tarr, much puzzled. “Yes, sir; the treasure vault.” “Where the passengers put their dia- monds for safe keeping?” asked the sec- retary, smiling. * Oh, no, sir; those go into the pur- ser’s safe. But that is literally a treas- ure vault. Sometimes there isn’t much in it, but at others the old Spanish treasure ships which Morgan and his ilk captured didn’t have in their cargoes the worth in gold and silver that is locked into that vault.” “You surprise me! ” “Most people would be surprised if they came to think of it. You read a line in the newspaper that such and such an amount of gold was exported by a certain ship to Europe. One doesn’t realize what it means. The captain is held personally responsible for what is in that place. He alone has the com- bination which opens it.” “And how much do you suppose is in there now?” asked Tarr, mildly cu- rious. “ Why, I heard before we sailed that they expected to put twenty millions in gold behind that door.” “Twenty millions!” gasped Tart, amazed. “Sh!” Trimble warned him, seeing Brier passing and watehing them closely. “So I heard. I don’t know what the captain has suddenly put a guard there for. He has his ms, [ expect. We're not suppo of the room or its conten comicbooks.com 1