The Courage of Captain Plum Read online

  CHAPTER II

  THE SEVEN WIVES

  Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than the oldman straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, his gazepenetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain Plum, his headinclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a tension ofexpectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped the butt of his pistoland faced the narrow entrance through which they had come. In the momentof absolute silence that followed there came to him, faintly, a sound,unintelligible at first, but growing in volume until he knew that it wasthe last echo of a tolling bell. There was no movement, no sound ofbreath or whisper from the old man at his back. But when it came again,floating to him as if from a vast distance, he turned quickly to findObadiah Price with his face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above hishead and his lips moving as if in prayer. His eyes burned with a dullglow as though he had been suddenly thrown into a trance. He seemed notto breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement ofhis lips. With the third toll of the distant bell he spoke, and toCaptain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came fromanother being.

  "Our Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon Thy chosen people the threeblessings of the universe--peace, prosperity and plenty, and uponStrang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of Thy power!"

  Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious messageand when the last echoes had died away the old man's arms dropped besidehim and he turned again to Captain Plum.

  "Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America," herepeated, as though there had been no interruption since his companion'squestion. "The package is to be delivered to him. Now you must excuseme. An important matter calls me out for a short time. But I will beback soon--oh, yes, very soon. And you will wait for me. You will waitfor me here, and then I will take you to St. James."

  He was gone in a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last thatCaptain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for an instantin the darkness of the next room, and after that the soft patter of hisfeet and the strange chuckle in his throat traveled to the outer doorand died away as he passed out into the night. Nathaniel Plum was not aman to be easily startled, but there was something so unusual about theproceedings in which he was as yet playing a blind part that he forgotto smoke, which was saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? Hiseyes scanned the little room and an exclamation of astonishment fellfrom his lips when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold,lying where his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this wasmadness or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilledhim. It was wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. Werehidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give their owner tounderstand that he was not a thief. He rose from his chair and movedtoward the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed it back again so thatthe gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went to the narrow aperture andblocked it with his body and listened until he knew that if there hadbeen human life in the room he would have heard it.

  The outer door was open and through it there came to him the soft breathof the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild flowers. It struckhim that it would be pleasanter waiting outside than in, and it wouldundoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah Price. In front of the cabinhe found the stump of a log and seating himself on it where the clearlight of the stars fell full upon him he once more began hisinterrupted smoke. It seemed to him that he had waited a long time whenhe heard the sound of footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person washalf running. Hardly had he located the direction of the sound when afigure appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin.A dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly about,as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a greetingwhistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little throat note,which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, and the figure ran almostinto his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made a mistake drew CaptainPlum a pace backward. For scarcely more than five seconds he foundhimself staring into the white terrified face of a girl. Eyes wide andglowing with sudden fright met his own. Instinctively he lifted his handto his hat, but before he could speak the girl sprang back with a lowcry and ran swiftly down the path that led into the gloom of the woods.

  For several minutes Captain Plum stood as if the sudden apparition hadpetrified him. He listened long after the sound of retreating footstepshad died away. There remained behind a faint sweet odor of lilac whichstirred his soul and set his blood tingling. It was a beautiful facethat he had seen. He was sure of that and yet he could have given nogood verbal proof of it. Only the eyes and the odor of lilac remainedwith him and after a little the lilac drifted away. Then he went back tothe log and sat down. He smiled as he thought of the joke that he hadunwittingly played on Obadiah. From his knowledge of the Beaver IslandMormons he was satisfied that the old man who displayed gold in suchreckless profusion was anything but a bachelor. In all probability thiswas one of his wives and the cabin behind him, he concluded, was forsome reason isolated from the harem. "Evidently that little Saintess isnot a flirt," he concluded, "or she would have given me time to speak toher."

  The continued absence of Obadiah Price began to fill Captain Plum withimpatience. After an hour's wait he reentered the cabin and made his wayto the little room, where the candle was still burning dimly. To hisastonishment he beheld the old man sitting beside the table. His thinface was propped between his hands and his eyes were closed as if he wasasleep. They shot open instantly on Captain Plum's appearance.

  "I've been waiting for you, Nat," he cried, straightening himself withspring-like quickness. "Waiting for you a long time, Nat!" He rubbed hishands and chuckled at his own familiarity. "I saw you out there enjoyingyourself. What did you think of her, Nat?" He winked with such audaciousglee that, despite his own astonishment, Captain Plum burst into alaugh. Obadiah Price held up a warning hand. "Tut, tut, not so loud!" headmonished. His face was a map of wrinkles. His little black eyes shonewith silent laughter. There was no doubt but that he was immenselypleased over something. "Tell me, Nat--why did you come to St. James?"

  He leaned forward over the table, his odd white head almost resting onit, and twiddled his thumbs with wonderful rapidity. "Eh, Nat?" heurged. "Why did you come?"

  "Because it was too hot and uninteresting lying out there in a calm,Dad," replied the master of the _Typhoon_. "We've been roasting forthirty-six hours without a breath to fill our sails. I came over to seewhat you people are like. Any harm done?"

  "Not a bit, not a bit--yet," chuckled the old man. "And what's yourbusiness, Nat?"

  "Sailing--mostly."

  "Ho, ho, ho! of course, I might have known it! Sailing--_mostly_. Why,certainly you sail! And why do you carry a pistol on one side of you anda knife on the other, Nat?"

  "Troublous times, Dad. Some of the fisher-folk along the Northern Endaren't very scrupulous. They took a cargo of canned stuffs from me ayear back."

  "And what use do you make of the four-pounder that's wrapped up intarpaulin under your deck, Nat? And what in the world are you going todo with five barrels of gunpowder?"

  "How in blazes--" began Captain Plum.

  "O, to be sure, to be sure--they're for the fisher-folk," interruptedObadiah Price. "Blow 'em up, eh, Nat? And you seem to be a young man ofeducation, Nat. How did you happen to make a mistake in your count?Haven't you twelve men aboard your sloop instead of eight, Nat? Aren'tthere twelve, instead of eight? Eh, Nat?"

  "The devil take you!" cried Captain Plum, leaping suddenly to his feet,his face flaming red. "Yes, I have got twelve men and I've got a gun intarpaulin and I've got five barrels of gunpowder! But how in the name ofKingdom-Come did you find it out?"

  Obadiah Price came around the end of the table and stood so close toCaptain Plum that a person ten feet away could not have heard him whenhe spoke.

  "I know more than that, Nat," he whispered. "Listen! A little whileago--say two
weeks back--you were becalmed off the head of BeaverIsland, and one dark night you were boarded by two boat-loads of men whomade you and your crew prisoners, robbed you of everything you had,--andthe next day you went back to Chicago. Eh?"

  Nathaniel stood speechless.

  "And you made up your mind the pirates were Mormons, enlisted some ofyour friends, armed your ship--and you're back here to make us settle.Isn't it so, Nat?"

  The little old man was rubbing his hands eagerly, excitedly.

  "You tried to get the revenue cutter _Michigan_ to come down with you,but they wouldn't--ho, ho, they wouldn't! One of our friends in Chicagosent quick word ahead of you to tell me all about it, and--Strang, theking, doesn't know!"

  He spoke the last words in intense earnestness.

  Then, suddenly, he held out his hand.

  "Young man, will you shake hands with me? Will you shake hands?--andthen we will go to St. James!"

  Captain Plum thrust out a hand and the old man gripped it. The thinfingers tightened like cold clamps of steel. For a moment the face ofObadiah Price underwent a strange change. The hardness and glitter wentout of his eyes and in place there came a questioning, almost anappealing, look. His tense mouth relaxed. It was as if he was on thepoint of surrendering to some emotion which he was struggling to stifle.And Nathaniel, meeting those eyes, felt that somewhere within him hadbeen struck a strange chord of sympathy, something that made this littleold man more than a half-mad stranger to him, and involuntarily thegrip of his fingers tightened around those of his companion.

  "Now we will go to St. James, Captain Plum!"

  He attempted to withdraw his hand but Captain Plum held to it.

  "Not yet!" he exclaimed. "There are two or three things which yourfriend didn't tell you, Obadiah Price!"

  Nathaniel's eyes glittered dangerously.

  "When I left ship this morning I gave explicit orders to Casey, mymate."

  He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinching eyes.

  "I said something like this: 'Casey, I'm going to see Strang before Icome back. If he's willing to settle for five thousand, we'll call itoff. And if he isn't--why, we'll stand out there a mile and blow St.James into hell! And if I don't come back by to-morrow at sundown,Casey, you take command and blow it to hell without me!' So, ObadiahPrice, if there's treachery--"

  The old man clutched at his hands with insane fierceness.

  "There will be no treachery, Nat, I swear to God there will be notreachery! Come, we will go--"

  Still Captain Plum hesitated.

  "Who are you? Whom am I to follow?"

  "A member of our holy Council of Twelve, Nat, and lord high treasurer ofHis Majesty, King Strang!"

  Before Captain Plum could recover from the surprise of this whisperedannouncement the little old man had freed himself and was patteringswiftly through the darkness of the next room. The master of the_Typhoon_ followed close behind him. Outside the councilor hesitated fora moment, as if debating which route to take, and then with a prodigiouswink at Captain Plum and a throatful of his inimitable chuckles, chosethe path down which his startled visitor of a short time before hadfled. For fifteen minutes this path led between thick black walls offorest verdure. Obadiah Price kept always a few paces ahead of hiscompanion and spoke not a word. At the end of perhaps half a mile thepath entered into a large clearing on the farther side of whichNathaniel caught the glimmer of a light. They passed close to thislight, which came from the window of a large square house built of logs,and Captain Plum became suddenly conscious that the air was filled withthe redolent perfume of lilac. With half a dozen quick strides heovertook the councilor and caught him by the arm.

  "I smell lilac!" he exclaimed.

  "Certainly, so do I," replied Obadiah Price. "We have very fine lilacson the island."

  "And I smelled lilac back there," continued Nathaniel, still holding tothe old man's arm, and pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "I smelled'em back there, when--"

  "Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the councilor softly. "I don't doubt it, Nat, Idon't doubt it. She is very fond of lilacs. She wears the flowers veryoften."

  He pulled himself away and Captain Plum could hear his queer chucklingfor some time after. Soon they entered the gloom of the woods again anda little later came out into another clearing and Nathaniel knew that itwas St. James that lay at his feet. The lights of a few fishing boatswere twinkling in the harbor, but for the most part the town was dark.Here and there a window shone like a spot of phosphorescent yellow inthe dismal gloom and the great beacon still burned steadily over thehome of the prophet.

  "Ah, it is not time," whispered Obadiah. "It is still too early." Hedrew his companion out of the path which they had followed and sathimself down on a hummock a dozen yards away from it, inviting Nathanielby a pull of the sleeve to do the same. There were three of thesehummocks, side by side, and Captain Plum chose the one nearest the oldman and waited for him to speak. But the councilor did not open hislips. Doubled over until his chin rested almost upon the sharp points ofhis knees, he gazed steadily at the beacon, and as he looked itshuddered and grew dark, like a firefly that suddenly closes its wings.With a quick spring the councilor straightened himself and turned to themaster of the _Typhoon_.

  "You have a good nose, Nat," he said, "but your ears are not so good.Sh-h-h-h!" He lifted a hand warningly and nodded sidewise toward thepath. Captain Plum listened. He heard low voices and thenfootsteps--voices that were approaching rapidly, and were those ofwomen, and footsteps that were almost running. The old man caught him bythe arm and as the sounds came nearer his grip tightened.

  "Don't frighten them, Nat. Get down!"

  He crouched until he was only a part of the shadows of the ground andfollowing his example Nathaniel slipped between two of the knolls. Afew yards away the sound of the voices ceased and there was a hesitancyin the soft tread of the approaching steps. Slowly, and now in awesomesilence, two figures came down the path and when they reached a pointopposite the hummocks Nathaniel could see that they turned their facestoward them and that for a brief space there was something of terror inthe gleam he caught of their eyes. In a moment they had passed. Then heheard them running.

  "They saw us!" Captain Plum exclaimed.

  Obadiah hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands with great glee. "What atemptation, Nat!" he whispered. "What a temptation to frighten them outof their wits! No, they didn't see us, Nat--they didn't see us. Thegirls are always frightened when they pass these graves. Some day--"

  "Graves!" almost shouted the master of the _Typhoon_. "Graves--and wesitting on 'em!"

  "That's all right, Nat--that's all right. They're my graves, so we'rewelcome to sit on them. I often come here and sit for hours at a time.They like to have me, especially little Jean--the middle one. PerhapsI'll tell you about Jean before you go away."

  If Captain Plum had been watching him he would have seen that softmysterious light again shining in the old councilor's eyes. But nowNathaniel stood erect, his nostrils sniffing the air, catching once morethe sweet scent of lilac. He hurried out into the opening, with the oldman close behind him, and peered down into the starlit gloom into whichthe two girls had disappeared. The lovely face that had appeared to himfor an instant at Obadiah's cabin began to haunt him. He was sure nowthat his sudden appearance had not been the only cause of its terror,and he felt that he should have called out to her or followed until hehad overtaken her. He could easily have excused his boldness, even ifthe councilor had been watching him from the cabin door. He was certainthat she had passed very near to him again and that the fright whichObadiah had attempted to explain was not because of the graves. He swungabout upon his companion, determined to ask for an explanation. Thelatter seemed to divine his thought.

  "Don't let a little scent of lilac disturb you so, young man," he saidwith singular coldness. "It may cause you great unpleasantness." He wentahead and Nathaniel followed him, assured that the old man's words andthe way in which he had spoken them no longer left
a doubt as to theidentity of his night visitor. She was one of the councilor's wives, sohe thought, and his own interest in her was beginning to have anirritating effect. In other words Obadiah was becoming jealous.

  For some time there was silence between the two. Obadiah Price nowwalked with extreme slowness and along paths which seemed to bring himno nearer to the town below. Nathaniel could see that he was absorbed inthoughts of his own, and held his peace. Was it possible that he hadspoiled his chances with the councilor because of a pretty face and abunch of lilacs? The thought tickled Captain Plum despite the delicacyof his situation and he broke into an involuntary laugh. The laughbrought Obadiah to a halt as suddenly as though some one had thrust abayonet against his breast.

  "Nat, you've got good red blood in you," he cried, whirling about. "D'yesuppose you can hate as well as love?"

  "Lord deliver us!" exclaimed the astonished Captain Plum."Hate--love--what the--"

  "Yes, _hate_," repeated the old man with fierce emphasis, so close thathis breath struck Nathaniel's face. "You can love a pretty face--and youcan _hate_. I know you can. If you couldn't I would send you back toyour sloop with the package to-night. But as it is I am going to relieveyou of your oath. Yes, Nat, I give you back your oath--for a time."

  Nathaniel stepped a pace back and put his hands on his pockets as if toprotect the gold there.

  "You mean that you want to call off our bargain?" he asked.

  The councilor rubbed his hands until the friction of them sent a shiverup Nathaniel's back. "Not that, Nat--O, no, not that! The bargain isgood. The gold is yours. You must deliver the package. But you need notdo it immediately. Understand? I am lonely back there in my shack. Iwant company. You must stay with me a week. Eh? Lilacs and pretty faces,Nat! Ho, ho!--You will stay a week, won't you, Nat?"

  He spoke so rapidly and his face underwent so many changes, nowbetraying the keenest excitement, now wrinkled in an ogreish, banteringgrin, now almost pleading in its earnestness, that Nathaniel knew notwhat to make of him. He looked into the beady eyes, sparkling withpassion, and the cat-like glitter of them set his blood tingling. Whatstrange adventure was this old man dragging him into? What were themotives, the reasoning, the plot that lay behind this mysteriouscreature's apparent faith in him? He tried to answer these things in thepassing of a moment before he replied. The councilor saw his hesitancyand smiled.

  "I will show you many things of interest, Nat," he said. "I will showyou just one to-night. Then you will make up your mind, eh? You need nottell me until then."

  He took the lead again and this time struck straight down for the town.They passed a number of houses built of logs and Nathaniel caught narrowgleams of light from between close-drawn curtains. In one of thesehouses he heard the crying of children, and with a return of his grislyhumor Obadiah Price prodded him in the ribs and said,

  "Good old Israel Laeng lives there--two wives, one old, oneyoung--eleven children. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to him!" And froma second he heard the sound of an organ, and from still a third therecame the laughter and chatter of several feminine voices, and againObadiah reached out and prodded Nathaniel in the ribs. There was onegreat, gloomy, long-built place which they passed, without a ray oflight to give it life, and the councilor said, "Three widows there,Nat,--fight like cats and dogs. Poor Job killed himself." They avoidedthe more thickly populated part of the settlement and encountered fewpeople, which seemed to please the councilor. Once they overtook andpassed a group of women clad in short skirts and loose waists and withtheir hair hanging in braids down their backs. For a third time Obadiahnudged Captain Plum.

  "It is the king's pleasure that all women wear skirts that come justbelow the knees," he whispered. "Some of them won't do it and he'swondering how to punish them. To-morrow there's going to be two publicwhippings. One of the victims is a man who said that if he was a womanhe'd die before he put on knee skirts. After he's whipped he is goingto be made to wear 'em. By Urim and Thummin, isn't that choice, Nat?"

  He shivered with quiet laughter and dived into a great block of darknesswhere there seemed to be no houses, keeping close beside Nathaniel. Soonthey came to the edge of a grove and deep among the trees Captain Plumcaught a glimpse of a lighted window. Obadiah Price now began to exhibitunusual caution. He approached the light slowly, pausing every few stepsto peer guardedly about him, and when they had come very near to thewindow he pulled his companion behind a thick clump of shrubbery.Nathaniel could hear the old man's subdued chuckle and he bent his headto catch what he was about to whisper to him.

  "You must make no noise, Nat," he warned. "This is the castle of ourpriest, king and prophet--James Jesse Strang. I am going to show youwhat you have never seen before and what you will never look upon again.I have sworn upon the Two Books and I will keep my oath. And then--youwill answer the question I asked you back there."

  He crept out into the darkness of the trees and Nathaniel followed, hisheart throbbing with excitement, every sense alert, and one hand restingon the butt of his pistol. He felt that he was nearing the climax of hisday's adventure and now, in the last moment of it, his old cautionreasserted itself. He knew that he was among a dangerous people, menwho, according to the laws of his country, were criminals in more waysthan one. He had seen much of their work along the coasts and he hadheard of more of it. He knew that this gloom and sullen quiet of St.James hid cut-throats and pirates and thieves. Still there was nothingahead to alarm him. The old man dodged the gleams of the lighted windowand slunk around to the end of the great house. Here, several feet abovehis head, was another window, small and veiled with the foliage wall.With the assurance of one who had been there before the councilormounted some object under the window, lifted himself until his chin wason a level with the glass, and peered within. He was there but aninstant and then fell back, chuckling and rubbing his hands.

  "Come, Nat!"

  He stood a little to one side and bowed with mock politeness. For amoment Captain Plum hesitated. Under ordinary circumstances this spyingthrough a window would have been repugnant to him. But at presentsomething seemed to tell him that it was not to satisfy his curiosityalone that Obadiah Price had given him this opportunity. Would a lookthrough that little window explain some of the mysteries of the night?

  There came a low whisper in his ear.

  "Do you smell lilac, Nat? Eh?"

  The councilor was grinning at him. There was a suggestive gleam in hiseyes. He rubbed his hands almost fiercely.

  In another instant Captain Plum had stepped upon the object beneath thewindow and parted the leaves. Breathlessly he looked in. A strange scenemet his eyes. He was looking into a vast room, illuminated by a hugehanging lamp suspended almost on a level with his head. Under this lampthere was a long table and at the table sat seven women and one man. Theman was at the end nearest the window and all that Nat could see was theback of his head and shoulders. But the women were in full view, threeon each side of the table and one at the far end. He guessed the man tobe Strang; but he stared at the women and as his eyes traveled back tothe one facing him at the end of the table he could scarcely repress theexclamation of surprise that rose to his lips. It was the girl whom hehad encountered at the councilor's cabin. She was leaning forward as ifin an agony of suspense, her eyes on the king, her lips parted, herhands clutching at a great book which lay open before her. Her cheekswere flushed with excitement. And even as he looked Captain Plum sawher head fall suddenly forward upon the table, encircled by her arms.The heavy braid of her hair, partly undone, glistened like red gold inthe lamplight. Her slender body was convulsed with sobs. The womannearest her reached over and laid a caressing hand on the bowed head,but drew it quickly away as if at a sharp command.

  In his eagerness Nathaniel thrust his face through the foliage until hisnose touched the glass. When the girl lifted her head she straightenedback in her chair--and saw him. There came a sudden white fear in herface, a parting of the lips as if she were on the point of crying out,and then, befor
e the others had seen, she looked again at Strang. Shehad discovered him and yet she had not revealed her discovery! Nathanielcould have shouted for joy. She had seen him, had recognized him! Andbecause she had not cried out she wanted him! He drew his pistol fromits holster and waited. If she signaled for him, if she called him, hewould burst the window. The girl was talking now and as she talked shelifted her eyes. Nathaniel pressed his face close against the window,and smiled. That would let her know he was a friend. She seemed toanswer him with a little nod and he fancied that her eyes glowed with amute appeal for his assistance. But only for an instant, and then theyturned again to the king. Not until that moment did Nathaniel noticeupon her bosom a bunch of crumpled lilacs.

  From below the iron grip of the councilor dragged him down.

  "That's enough," he whispered. "That's enough--for to-night." He saw thepistol in Nathaniel's hand and gave a sudden breathless cry.

  "Nat--Nat--"

  He caught Captain Plum's free hand in his.

  "Tell me this, Obadiah Price," whispered the master of the _Typhoon_,"who is she?"

  The councilor stood on tiptoe to answer.

  "They are the six wives of Strang, Nat!"

  "But the other?" demanded Nathaniel. "The other--"

  "O, to be sure, to be sure," chuckled Obadiah. "The girl of the lilacs,eh? Why, she's the seventh wife, Nat--that's all, the seventh wife!"