"Doesn't the Captain pay ye 'nough wages?"

"I have no fault to find on that score."

"I'm glad to larn that. If he requires ye to do too much dooty, I'll hilp ye out, the bist I can."

"I promise to call upon you if necessary, Mike, but I hope I shall not be obliged to do so."

"I have been wondering since we started," said Alvin over his shoulder, "whether by any possibility the _Water Witch_ kept on up the river ahead of us instead of running into some bay or inlet to the south."

"It is possible, but not probable. You know we had an extended view of this stream, or rather of Montsweag Bay, and she could not have gone far enough in the short time to pa.s.s out of sight."

"Ye forgits how anxious the Captain was not to overtake her," reminded Mike. "I once read of a farmer who chased a big black bear that had been staaling his sheep fur two days and nights and then quit. Can ye guess why?"

"I should say that after so long a chase he would have given up disgusted," replied the detective.

"It was not that; it was 'cause he found the tracks were becooming too fresh."

"I don't think, Mike, that you are in danger of being accused of that,"

ventured Chester, "because you are always fresh--you are never _becoming_ so."

"But the same is becooming to me, as Jim Flannery said whin he walked into church wid two black eyes and his head bent out of shape from the shindy he had with his twin brither over the quistion of aiting maat on Friday."

"You seem quite sure that these three whom we saw in the launch are mixed up in these post office robberies?" asked Alvin.

"It has that look. No matter how certain I may feel, nothing can be accomplished until legal proof is obtained. You know the rule that every man must be presumed to be innocent until proved guilty."

"It shtrikes me that the most important quistion of all has been sittled."

"What's that?"

"These two young gintlemen are the spalpeens that tried to hold ye up, Captain, the ither night on yer way home. That fur outweighs the taking of a few postage stamps from some country offices."

"The puzzling feature of that business," said Alvin, "is that when you meet those two fellows again, you will not have Mr. Calvert along to protect you."

Mike stared as if he failed to catch the meaning of this astounding remark.

"Plaise say that agin, Captain, and say it slow like."

Alvin's face being turned away, he was not forced to maintain his gravity while he repeated in his most serious tones the remark quoted.

"All I have to say to that is not to say anything, as Teddy Geoghan observed whin they found a stolen pig in the bag he was carrying over his shoulder which the same he insisted was filled with clothes for Widow Mulligan."

CHAPTER VIII

THE LONE GUEST

The _Deerfoot_ glided through the smooth waters, and while the afternoon was still young rounded to at the wharf, below the long wooden bridge which spans the stream at Wisca.s.set, and made fast where a score of other boats of all sizes and models were moored. Several large vessels were anch.o.r.ed farther out and Captain Alvin Landon had to slow down to thread his way among them. There was plenty of room, and the launch was tied up opposite a small excursion steamer which was to start southward an hour later. A tip to the old man who was looking after a number of yachts a.s.sured the safety of the last arrival from molestation.

The possibility that the _Water Witch_ had preceded them to Wisca.s.set caused a scrutiny of the various craft in sight by the Captain and his crew, including Detective Calvert, but nothing was seen of the boat.

"She is miles off down stream," was the remark of the officer, "and for the present is out of the running."

The four walked up the easy slope to the main street, along which they pa.s.sed to the leading hotel for dinner. They were a little late and when they went into the s.p.a.cious dining room found a table by themselves. The only other occupant was a tall, angular man of about the same age as Calvert, similarly attired and apparently giving his sole attention to the meal before him. He nodded to the group in a neighborly way, but did not speak.

When the four took their places at the small table, Calvert faced this person a short distance away; Chester Haynes sat with his back to him, thus confronting the detective, while Mike and Alvin occupied the respective ends of the board. These details sound trifling, but they had a meaning. Calvert thus distributed his companions apparently off-hand, but the seating of himself as mentioned was done with a purpose. Chester then, from the position he occupied, was the only one of the other three who observed anything significant in that action and in what followed.

In the first place, the officer raised his gla.s.s of water, and while slowly drinking looked over the top at the lone guest. Chester noticed that he sipped the fluid longer than common, gazed at the stranger and deliberately winked one eye. What response the other made of course could not be seen by Chester.

"The two are acquaintances," was the conclusion of the lad, "and they don't wish anyone else to know it."

He was curious to know whether Alvin and Mike had noticed anything of the by-play. The Irish lad for the time devoted himself to satisfying his vigorous hunger and cared for naught else. The same was to be said of the Captain. Chester remained on the alert.

Several trifling incidents that occurred during the meal, which was enlivened by the wit of the Irish lad, confirmed Chester in his first suspicion. Calvert tried to divert possible suspicion by cheery remarks and pleasant conversation as the meal proceeded.

"I am sure, Mike, you never had any such feasts in the old country."

Having said this, the detective coughed several times and held his napkin to his mouth, but Chester knew the outburst was forced, and was meant to carry to the other man, who rather curiously coughed the same number of times immediately afterward.

"A message and its reply," was the thought of Chester, "but I have no idea of what they mean. Mr. Calvert doesn't wish me to see anything and I won't let him know I do."

Meanwhile, Mike made his response to the inquiring remark of Calvert:

"Ye're right, me frind, as Hank McCarthy said whin dining on one pratie and a bit of black bread, calling to mind his former feasting in his own home. Which reminds me, Mr. Calvert, to ask, did ye iver see the heart of an Irishman?"

"I'm not quite sure I grasp your meaning, Mike," was the reply, while Alvin and Chester looked up.

"I can bist explain by a dimonstration, as the tacher said whin I asked him what was meant by the chastis.e.m.e.nt of a school lad. Now, give heed, all of ye, and I'll show ye what I meant by the sinsible inquiry."

Among the different articles of food on the table was a dish of "murphy"

potatoes with their "jackets" on. That is, they had not been mashed or peeled, though a strip was shaved off of each end. They were mealy and white, and Mike had already placed several where they were sure to do the most good. The tubers in boiling had swollen so much that most of the skins had popped open in spots from the richness within.

Mike reached over and carefully selected a big murphy, which he held with the thumb of his left hand and fingers circling about it. The upper end projected slightly above the thumb and forefinger, as if peeping out to watch proceedings. The three stopped eating for the moment and watched the youth. While doing this, Chester glanced for an instant at the face of the officer, and saw him look quickly across the room and telegraph another wink.

Like a professional magician, Mike was very deliberate in order to be more impressive. The true artist does not overlook the minutest point, and he daintily adjusted the potato, shifting it about until it was poised exactly right. Then he slowly raised his open right hand, with the palm downward, until it was above his head. Like a flash he brought it down upon the upper end of the tuber, which shot through the loose encircling grasp as if fired from an air gun. The skin remained, but the potato itself whisked down upon the table with such force that it popped open, and lo!

"There's the heart of an Irishman--Begoora! but I'm mistook!" exclaimed Mike in dismay, for when the tuber burst open the interior was black with decay!

Calvert threw back his head and roared, and Alvin and Chester came near falling from their chairs. Even the man at the other table joined in the boisterous merriment, which was increased by the comical expression of Mike. With open mouth and staring eyes he sat dumfounded. For once in his life he was caught so fairly that he was speechless.

The deft little trick he had performed many times, but never before had he been victimized by what seemed to be a rich, mealy potato. He couldn't understand it.

Oddly enough the stranger was the first to recover his speech. He must have had little liking for Hibernians, since he called:

"You're right, young man! You showed us the heart of a real Irishman!"