The Savage Gentleman Read Free

I laughed. I thought she was out. Then--her maid--just--hinted. I went everywhere. I ran my horses to foam. I had a revolver. But she'd gone far and fast--with a man whose name shall never pass my lips.

    "I was wild. The thought is still intolerable. I sat for a long stretch of alternating dark and light beside our son-ours no longer but only mine. I did not know what to do. I'
    could not face my friends. If anyone had said, 'Too bad,' in those days, I would have killed that person.

    "Suddenly I remembered this island. I knew, then. And I knew another thing--I knew that my son was going to be brought up to young manhood without the influence of women. Without the knowledge of women which they imbue in men. I knew. So I began to get ready."

    Tears had scalded Stone's cheeks. The Scot was watching the green birds which had now come to the ship in numbers.

    Stone checked his emotion. "When you signed that contract--you must have expected--something."

    McCobb shrugged. "I did it with my eyes open."

    "The last step--was beaching the Falcon here. We'll be here--a long time."

    "A long time."

    "You don't think anyone will find us, do you?"

    McCobb smoked. "Someone might come tomorrow. No one will come, in all probability, for years. Years. Years."

    "So I thought. It's going to be a glorious adventure, McCobb!"

    "And arduous. And tedious."

    "At any rate--there's no turning back." Stone stood up. "Now--for the island. We'll explore the shore here. It seems to rise a bit almost at once. Perhaps we can build very near."

    "Build?"

    "Build!" Stone took his engineer's arm. "A fine house with a stockade around it and a big cellar to store the things I have brought. A pen for the goats and one for the chickens. A garden, by and by. A sawmill and a little blacksmith shop. We won't want for the materials. I have everything. This is no inadvertent and makeshift shipwreck. This is a planned arrival, a deliberate colonization. Come!"

    Some of Stone's spirit infected McCobb. His square face lighted.

    "It may not be so bad," he said slowly.

    Jack banged the dinner gong at that instant. The two men went side by side toward the salon.

    "What about him?" McCobb asked, as they walked.

    Stone gestured with his hands. "Jack? I found Jack in a blind pig in Hampton Roads. He was drunk. He had a chair by the leg. There were two coppers on the floor and three still trying for him. He was laughing and yelling. I never saw such a splendid specimen. He must be pure stock. I said, 'Put that chair down, son.'"

    Stone chuckled and led McCobb into the salon ahead of himself.

    "He put it down. 'Come on,' I said. He grinned and sobered a bit. 'Yes, boss,' he answered. It cost me two hundred dollars to square' things. I saved him a nice stretch in the pen. But--now---Jack's my slave."

    McCobb nodded. The floor of the salon was canted, but not so much that they could not sit down at the table.

    Jack came with a tray of food. He served them and then stood still. It was not like him. Both men were aware of his curiosity.

    Stone looked at him. "Something on your mind, Jack?"

    "No, bass."

    "What is it?"

    "How long are we going to be here, boss?"

    "I don't know. A long time."

    "Yes, boss."

    "Years, maybe."

    Jack chuckled. "That's a real long time. Yes, indeed. That's a right long time."

    He departed, holding his tray over his head. When he returned with meat and potatoes he appeared to have reflected further.

    "I was thinking this was a bad accident, boss. Mighty bad. Can't clean out the water. Can't push her off. I was thinking--"

    It was obvious that the dim resources of Jack's subconscious were grappling with the possibility that the accident might have been deliberate. But he was incapable of realizing the fact of their position. A mere suspicion kept him agitated.

    Stone allayed it. "Don't worry about the boat. It's no good now. We're going to build a house on shore and move there. I want you to watch the baby this afternoon. Don't