For Jacinta

Muriel gasped with consternation when he told them, and by and by the group broke up, while it was a somewhat silent party that assembled for comida an hour later. Jacinta, it was evident, had very little appetite, though she contrived to join in the somewhat pointless conversation, and it was not until late that night Brown came upon her alone on the flat roof. She was leaning on the parapet, and looking out across the sea, but her eyes were turned northwards now, and she did not hear him until he gently laid a hand upon her shoulder. Then she turned and looked at him with despair in her face. She had not expected him, or he would not have seen it, though there was clear moonlight above them.

Brown sat down on the parapet, and, taking off his gold-rimmed glasses, held them in his hand.

"I think I understand, my dear, and I have something to say," he said.

Jacinta made no disclaimer. For one thing, she saw it would have been useless, and she had no strength left in her then.

"Is it worth while?" she asked. "Would anything that you could say change what has happened?"

"No," said Brown, reflectively, "I scarcely think it would. Still, I would like to mention that we really don't know the thing is incurable. In fact, it may be a malady which is readily susceptible to the proper treatment, and he has done wisely in going to England."

A little gleam of hope crept into Jacinta's eyes. "I had hardly dared to think of that," she said.

"Well," said Brown, "I really fancy the thing may not be as serious as you and Mr. Jefferson, perhaps naturally, seem to fear. Now, as you know, I was going to England about the new fruit contracts in a week or two, and there is no particular reason why I shouldn't go the day after to-morrow. I should make it my business to see Mr. Austin has the best advice which can be got from the specialists in that country. Only, my dear, I want to ask a very plain question. Supposing he is cured – what then?"

"I'm afraid you must shape the question differently," and a trace of colour crept into the whiteness of Jacinta's face.

"Then I will tell you what I know. You sent that man to Africa, and he went because he was in love with you. He is also a man I have a considerable liking for – and you are my only child. I am getting old, and would like to see you safely settled before I go. There are," and he made a little gesture, "occasions on which one must speak plainly."

Jacinta's face was crimson at last, but she in no way attempted to question the correctness of the announcement he had made.

"Mr. Austin, at least, never told me what you seem to be so sure about – and it is scarcely likely that he will ever do so now," she said.

Brown smiled a little, and tapped the palm of his hand with his glasses.

"My dear," he said, "I think you know better. Of course, you would never have admitted so much as you have done if I had not had you at a disadvantage to-night. Well, the first thing is to see what can be done to cure him. Only, if he comes back, you will, I suppose, know your mind?"

He looked at her steadily, and, when Jacinta lowered her eyes, laid his hand gently on her arm again.

"I sail by the yellow-funnel boat the day after to-morrow," he said.

CHAPTER XXX

JACINTA CAPITULATES

The Carsegarry was not a fast vessel. Like most of the ocean tramp species, she had been built to carry the largest possible cargo on a very moderate consumption of coal, and speed was a secondary consideration. She had also been in the warmer seas for some time, with the result that every plate beneath her water-line was foul, and as she fell in with strong northwest breezes, she was an unusually long while on the way to Liverpool. Austin was thus not astonished to find a letter from Jefferson, written four or five days after he left Las Palmas, waiting him at Farquhar's brokers, which made it evident that his comrade had got to work again.

He smiled a trifle grimly as he read it, for he fancied that its optimistic tone had cost Jefferson – who alluded to his apprehensions about his arm very briefly – an effort, for the fact that he was asked to cable as soon as he had seen a doctor appeared significant. The rest of the letter concerned financial affairs.

"We have had a rough preliminary survey, and the result is distinctly encouraging," he read. "After making a few temporary repairs I expect to bring her on to Liverpool, and there is every reason to believe we can dispose of her for a good round sum. I could have got £10,000, ex-cargo, as she lies here. Palm oil, it also appears, is scarce and dear, at up to £30 the ton, from which it seems to me that your share should approximate £7,000. I have to mention that Brown is on his way to Liverpool and wants you to communicate with him at the address enclosed."

This was satisfactory as far as it went. The only trouble was that Austin was very uncertain whether he would live to spend what he had so hardly earned. His arm had become exceedingly painful during the voyage, and after a consultation with the ship broker he telephoned an eminent specialist.

"I will expect you at two o'clock," the doctor said. "If it appears advisable, we can, of course, avail ourselves, as you suggest, of any views the Tropical Disease men may favour us with. In the meanwhile, I will arrange for a gentleman who has made considerable progress in similar researches to meet you."

Austin went out of the broker's office with three hours to spare, and wandered aimlessly about the city in a state of tense suspense. He felt that he could not sit still, and in any case he was dubious as to whether he was warranted in going back to the hotel. Indeed, he wondered whether he had any right to be at large at all, and after a while hung about the wharves, where there was less chance of any one coming into perilous contact with him. He had never spent such a morning in his life, and decided that what he had done and borne in Africa was not worth mention by comparison. Still, the hours dragged by, and at last he set out for the specialists' surgery without daring to wonder what the result would be, and found two gentlemen awaiting him there. One of them, who had grey hair and very keen eyes, motioned him to a chair.

"Now," he said, "before we proceed to an examination it might be better if you told us concisely what happened to you in Africa."

Austin, who sat down, did so, and wondered a little that he was able to speak coherently and quietly, for every nerve in him seemed tingling with tense anxiety. Then the man with the grey hair asked him a few terse questions about the negro's appearance, and when he had described it as well as he could remember, glanced at his companion.

"Do you recognise the symptoms?" he said.

"No," said the other man, who was younger. "There are one or two complaints not unusual in that country which appear to somewhat resemble it, but they are seldom so virulent. I would like to talk to Mr. Austin about it later, but in the meanwhile – "

"Exactly," and the specialist made a little gesture. "Mr. Austin is, no doubt, anxious to hear our opinion. If you will permit me – "

He drew the jacket gently over Austin's swollen arm, and the latter, who held it out, bare to the shoulder, felt the perspiration start from him as he watched the doctors bend over the limb. They said nothing for a space of seconds, and Austin fancied he would remember that time while he lived. Then, to his astonishment, the grey-haired man glanced at his companion with a little smile.

"I fancy this case has lost its special interest to you?" he said.

The other man nodded. "It has," he said. "Our views evidently coincide."

"I would venture to point out that any decision you may have arrived at is, naturally, of considerable importance to me," said Austin, a trifle sharply.

The specialist smiled again. "I expect you will be pleased to hear that it is not a peculiarly African disease you are suffering from. It is, in fact, no more than a by no means infrequent form of blood poisoning."

Austin gasped, and felt his heart beat furiously from relief, and the specialist waited a moment or two before he went on. "It is evident that you had several lacerations on your lower arm – made by corroded iron, or something of the kind."

"I tore the skin rather frequently working cargo, and when the scars had partly healed opened up rather a nasty wound by falling on the steamer's rail."

"Exactly. The result is not astonishing in the case of a man weakened by fever who has attempted to work harder than is advisable in a country like the one you mention. In the meanwhile, this arm is going to give you trouble, and I should recommend you to go into the private ward of the – hospital. I will telephone them if that would suit you?"

Austin said he placed himself in the doctor's hands, and half an hour later was being driven to the hospital, where the other man, who was apparently anxious to know more about the negro, asked permission to visit him. He also came in due time, but, so far as Austin could ascertain, never quite decided what the negro was suffering from, though he admitted that there were African troubles of the kind which were infectious.

In the meanwhile, Austin realised how much he needed rest, and how heavy the strain he had borne had been. He did not even want to read, and was languidly content to sit still and think of nothing, until one day, when it was evident that his arm was healing, a nurse came in to announce a visitor.

"If it's that doctor man, you can tell him I can't remember anything more about the nigger, and don't mean to try," he said.

The nurse laughed. "It isn't," she said. "It's a little gentleman with gold-rimmed spectacles."

Austin started. "Ah!" he said. "Will you please tell them to send him in?"

In a few more minutes Brown came in, and, sitting down, shook his head reproachfully.

"You have really given your friends a good deal of anxiety, and I was almost afraid I would have to go back without learning what had become of you," he said. "Still, though I know the thing isn't, fortunately, what you thought it was, the first question is, how are you?"

"Recovering," said Austin, with a smile. "I understand that my arm will be all right again very shortly. It was a very usual trouble. As you seem to recognise, I let my imagination run away with me."

"I am very pleased to hear it. Why didn't you cable?"

"I understood that you had left Las Palmas, and Jefferson was on the point of doing so. I could scarcely suppose there was any one else who cared enough about what happened to me to make it necessary."

Brown looked at him with a curious little smile which Austin found disconcerting. "There are Mrs. Hatherly and Muriel. I almost think Jacinta would have liked to know that you and Jefferson were under a misapprehension, too. Still, that is, perhaps, not very important, after all. I suppose Jefferson told you that he expects to get a good deal for the Cumbria and her cargo?"

"I was pleased to hear that my share might amount to £7,000."

Brown took off his glasses and held them in one hand, which, as Austin knew, was a trick of his when he had anything on his mind.