Читать книгу The Mysterious Arab - Percy Keese Fitzhugh - Страница 5

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“Say, what’s the idea, Piney?”

Piney’s gasp was audible. “Jove—you, Keen?”

“Sure,” Hal answered. “Who did you think it was?”

Piney hesitated and coughed nervously. “Er—I don’t know,” he stammered and let the gun slip back into the darkness at his side. “I couldn’t see who it was . . . I . . . my eyes were all foggy sort of. I didn’t know—I knew it was someone, but not you. Never expected you were even awake.” He switched on his berth light.

“I wasn’t anything else but!” Hal laughed. “Man alive, what a jolt! That fellow was trying to steal something, you know it? He reached for my clothes and then I went into action. If it hadn’t been for that sheet, I’d have had him too. It slipped between us. Why do you suppose he came in here to rob?”

Piney’s face was calm as he leaned over the edge of his berth. “Don’t know—haven’t the least idea,” he said. “Probably some poor beggar taking a desperate chance.”

Hal looked up. “Listen, Piney,” he said. “That poor beggar was the half-caste that gave you such a villainous look back in the station at Mombasa.”

“My dear fellow, how could you see in the dark?” asked Piney, a trifle quizzically.

“I couldn’t,” Hal answered promptly. “I didn’t see him till he got to the door and then I just got a flashing glimpse from the light in the station. It was no more than that because it seemed the train began moving by the time I got to the door, but I’m certain it was he, Piney—I’m pretty certain.”

“Well,” said Piney, smiling sardonically, “one could never hang a man by being pretty certain. You’ve got to be certain sure!”

Hal looked dejected for a moment and sat down on the edge of his berth. Presently, however, he looked up smiling. “You’re right about that,” he acknowledged, “but there are other things that would help a lot. Questions that I’d like to ask.”

Piney frowned slightly, but he said, “Ask away. I’d like to help you if you’re puzzled, but I don’t know who it was any more than you do. I didn’t even see the fellow as much as you did.”

“I know,” Hal said scratching his head slowly, “but it sticks in my head that I’m not mistaken about it being that same fellow. Just suppose it was, Piney, I don’t think he had any intention of robbing me.”

“You said just now that he leaned over toward your clothes. . . .”

“Sure I did, and I meant it. I think he had every intention of rifling those clothes. What’s more, I believe he’d have fought me back and how, if he hadn’t got a glimpse of my face. I can’t tell you why, but I just sensed that he was surprised when he saw me. He could see me better then than I could see him and, boy, that’s when he slid away from the sheet.”

“You’re talking in riddles, Keen. What are you trying to tell me?”

“I’m trying to tell you that I think the fellow came in here with the intention of robbing you and not me.”

“You’re crazy!” Piney said smiling.

Hal grinned good-naturedly. “All right, but that’s my story and I’m going to stick to it. That’s me all over, Piney, you may as well know right now. When I get an idea I don’t lose it. What’s more, I’ve got another idea that may or may not surprise you a little.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Piney was half smiling, half frowning.

“Well, it’s this—I’ve a hunch that that half-caste is following you and that he’s somewhere on this train.”

“You’re twice crazy!” exclaimed Piney with a shrill guffaw.

Hal smiled thoughtfully and made a little grimace with his mouth that seemed to say he was not to be squelched about that idea either.

Piney leaned over and gave his heavy shock of hair a playful tug. “Your imagination sure runs riot, kid,” he said, “and that’s a bad thing for anyone traveling in Africa. If this nigger you have on your mind is on this train, it don’t prove that he’s following me. Let’s forget about it and get back to sleep.”

Hal surveyed him earnestly. “Just one more question, then,” he said. “I’d feel better about this whole thing if I knew for certain. Not that I want to know any of your business or be inquisitive, but have you any enemies that you know of?”

“Why should I have?” Piney countered evasively.

Hal smiled and jumped into his berth. “That’s that,” he said decisively. “I’ll not ask you again. The whole thing’s settled as far as I’m concerned.”

He got into a comfortable position and spent some little time before he again fell asleep wondering just how much he meant what he said. Somehow he felt that at heart he had not meant it at all and that things weren’t settled by any means. In point of fact, he knew that it was just the beginning, the beginning of something dark and inexplicable.

And Hal never succeeded in shaking off the conviction that it was none other than Mr. Piney whose sunburned hands were pulling the curtain of mystery across that vast stage, Africa.