Kindred of the Dust Page 25
XXV
A few days subsequent to Andrew Daney's secret scuttling of themotor-boat Brutus, Nan Brent was amazed to receive a visit from him.
"Good-morning, Nan," he saluted her. "I have bad news for you."
"What, pray?" she managed to articulate. She wondered if Donald hadbeen injured up in the woods.
"Your motor-boat's gone."
This was, indeed, bad news. Trouble showed in Nan's face.
"Gone where?" she faltered.
"Nobody knows. It disappeared from the garbage-barge, alongside ofwhich it was moored. I've had men searching for it two days, but we'vegiven it up as lost. Was the Brutus, by any chance, insured againsttheft?"
"Certainly not."
"Well, the Tyee Lumber Company used reasonable care to conserve yourproperty, and while there's a question whether the company'sresponsible for the loss of the boat if it's been stolen, even whileunder charter to us, nevertheless, you will be reimbursed for thevalue of the boat. Your father had it up for sale last year. Do yourecall the price he was asking?"
"He was asking considerably less than he really believed the Brutus tobe worth," Nan replied honestly. "He would have sold for fifteenhundred dollars, but the Brutus was worth at least twenty-fivehundred. Values shrink, you know, when one requires ready cash. And Ido not agree with you that no responsibility attaches to the TyeeLumber Company, although, under the circumstances, it appears there isno necessity for argument."
"We'll pay twenty-five hundred rather than descend to argument," Daneyreplied crisply, "although personally I am of the opinion that twothousand would be ample." He coughed a propitiatory cough and lookedround the Sawdust Pile appraisingly. "May I inquire, my girl," heasked presently, "what are your plans for the future?"
"Certainly, Mr. Daney. I have none."
"It would be a favor to the Tyee Lumber Company if you had, and thatthey contemplated removal to some other house. The Laird had plannedoriginally to use the Sawdust Pile for a drying-yard"--he smiledfaintly--"but abandoned the idea rather than interfere with yourfather's comfort. Of course, The Laird hasn't any more title to theSawdust Pile than you have--not as much, in fact, for I do believe youcould make a squatter's right stick in any court. Just at present,however, we have greater need of the Sawdust Pile than ever. We'regetting out quite a lot of airplane spruce for the British government,and since there's no doubt we'll be into the war ourselves one ofthese days, we'll have to furnish additional spruce for our owngovernment. Spruce has to be air-dried, you know, to obtain the bestresults, and--well, we really need the Sawdust Pile. What will youtake to abandon, it and leave us in undisputed possession?"
"Nothing, Mr. Daney."
"Nothing?"
"Precisely--nothing. We have always occupied it on The Laird'ssufferance, so I do not think, Mr. Daney," she explained, with a faintsmile, "that I shall turn pirate and ingrate now. If you will be goodenough to bring me over twenty-five hundred dollars in cash to-day, Iwill give you a clearance for the loss of the Brutus and abandon theSawdust Pile to you within the next three or four days."
His plan had worked so successfully that Daney was, for the moment,rendered incapable of speech.
"Will you be leaving Port Agnew?" he sputtered presently. "Or can Iarrange to let you have a small house at a modest rental--"
She dissipated this verbal camouflage with a disdainful motion of herupflung hand.
"Thank you. I shall leave Port Agnew--forever. The loss of the Brutusmakes my escape possible," she added ironically.
"May I suggest that you give no intimation of your intention tosurrender this property?" he suggested eagerly. "If word of your planto abandon got abroad, it might create an opportunity for some personto jump the Sawdust Pile and defy us to dispossess him."
Mr. Daney sought, by this subterfuge, to simulate an interest in thephysical possession of the Sawdust Pile which he was far from feeling.He congratulated himself, however, that, all in all, he had carriedoff his mission wonderfully well, and departed with a promise to bringover the money himself that very afternoon. Indeed, so delighted washe that it was with difficulty that he restrained himself fromunburdening to The Laird, when the latter dropped in at the milloffice that afternoon, the news that before the week should be outNan Brent would be but a memory in Port Agnew. Later, he wondered howfar from Port Agnew she would settle for a new start in life andwhether she would leave a forwarding address. He resolved to ask her,and he did, when he reappeared at the Sawdust Pile that afternoon withthe money to reimburse Nan for the loss of the Brutus.
"I haven't decided where I shall go, Mr. Daney," Nan informed himtruthfully, "except that I shall betake myself some distance from thePacific Coast--some place where the opportunities for meeting peoplewho know me are nebulous, to say the least. And I shall leave noforwarding address. When I leave Port Agnew"--she looked Mr. Daneysquarely in the eyes as she said this--"I shall see to it that no man,woman, or child in Port Agnew--not even Don McKaye or The Laird, whohave been most kind to me--shall know where I have gone."
"I'm sorry matters have so shaped themselves in your life, poor girl,that you're feeling bitter," Mr. Daney replied, with genuine sympathy,notwithstanding the fact that he would have been distressed andpuzzled had her bitterness been less genuine. In the realization thatit _was_ genuine, he had a wild impulse to leap in the air and crackhis ankles together for very joy. "Will I be seeing you again, Nan,before you leave?"
"Not unless the spirit moves you, Mr. Daney," she answered dryly. Shehad no dislike for Andrew Daney, but, since he was the husband of Mrs.Daney and under that person's dominion, she distrusted him.
"Well then, I'll bid you good-by now, Nan," he announced. "I hope yourlot will fall in pleasanter places than Port Agnew. Good-by, my deargirl, and good luck to you--always."
"Good-by, Mr. Daney," she replied. "Thank you for bringing the moneyover."