CHAPTER XII.

ANOTHER CALAMITY.

It was not easy to prevent a man like Colonel Wimpleton from having his own way. He was not nearly so bad as he had been before he went to bed; but he was still in no condition to exhibit himself to his son and daughter. He went to the landlord and paid the bill. He then produced his flask, and demanded that it should be filled. The hotel-keeper demurred, and did not sell liquor except by the glass; but the colonel began to storm and swear, and he was obliged to comply.

Just then I happened to think that I had left the check the colonel had given me on the table, in the room he had occupied, and I hastened to get it; for, though I did not mean to use it myself, I did not intend that any one else should do so. It was not where I had left it, or where I supposed I had left it. It was not on the table, and it was not on the floor. In a word, I could not find it, though I made a diligent search in every part of the room, thinking the wind might have blown it from the table. The door of the adjoining room, where I had remained a portion of the time, was open, and I passed through this apartment into the entry.

I searched my pockets, thinking I might possibly have deposited it in one of them, while I was talking with the colonel. The last time I remembered to have noticed it, was when I pointed to it, after the tipsy great man had read the paper I wrote. Then the conversation became rather exciting to me, and I walked across the room several times. It was possible that the colonel had torn up both the check and the pledge at the same time.

“Where are you, Wolf? I’m looking for you,” said the colonel, appearing at the entry door.

“Did you tear up the check you wrote, sir?”

“The check?” repeated he, evidently trying to stimulate his memory.

“You wrote a check for ten thousand dollars in my favor, and handed it to me.”

“Yes, of course; I know that,” replied he, impatiently, as though my statement implied that he had not known what he was about when he did the generous act. “I was trying to think whether I tore it up with the other paper. I didn’t mean to tear it up; and if I did, I will give you another.”

“I cannot find it anywhere,” I added.

“Then, of course, I destroyed it with the other paper. I will give you another just like it,” said he, dropping into the chair before the table.

“I would not write another now, sir,” I interposed. “Perhaps I may find the other, or at least the pieces of it, if you tore it up.”

I did not regard the check as of any consequence to me, under the circumstances; but it was possible, if it fell into the hands of some other person, that an improper use might be made of it; and for this reason only was I anxious to ascertain what had become of it. I left the colonel sitting at the table, and went out doors to see if I could find any of the pieces of the check. The window, from which he had thrown the fragments of paper, opened into an alley between the hotel and the adjoining building, through which the wind blew quite sharply. I could not find even a single piece of either paper; but I continued the search at the leeward of the hotel. I found two or three pieces of the paper I had written, on the railroad; but the rest of them had probably gone into the lake. I was no wiser than before; but I was forced to conclude that, as I could not find the check, the colonel must have destroyed it with the other paper. Both of them had lain on the table, within his reach, for I remembered that I had pushed the check towards him, when I told him I would rather have his name on the pledge I had written. If the valuable little paper was destroyed, it was all right, and I need trouble myself no more about it.

“Hallo, Wolf.”

I turned. It was Nick Van Wolter.

“How are you, Nick?” I replied.

“What are you looking for, Wolf?”

I did not deem it necessary to inform him what I was looking for; so I did not give him a direct answer.

“Where is the colonel? I heard he was on a regular bat!” asked Nick, with a coarse grin.

“He is at the hotel.”

“The landlord told me he was there,” continued Nick. “You see, I was mixed up in this business down here this morning. After the Raven upset, Waddie sent me home in her. I got to Centreport just as the steamer was going out, and I went on board of her, and came down as far as Ruoara. My father told me that the colonel was on a regular bat,”--by which I understood him to mean a spree. “He said you had crossed the lake with him, and that something was said about going to Grass Springs. I was a little curious to know what was going on, as I was with the party this morning.”

I could not exactly see why Nick had volunteered this explanation.

“Did you think the colonel was after the party?” I inquired.

“From what my father said, I supposed he was.”

Then the mate had understood Colonel Wimpleton much better than I could, before we left the Ucayga, which seemed a little odd to me.

“What did your father say?” I asked.

“He said the colonel was on a regular bat, and that he was mad. I knew the fellows and girls went off together, and I concluded the colonel had found it out, and that was what made him mad. I didn’t want to have Waddie get into any scrape with his father when he was a little over the bay; for you know the colonel isn’t exactly a saint when he is all right, and I suppose he isn’t any better when he is tight. So I took a boat at Ruoara, and sailed over this way. I saw the party on the island, though I didn’t go very near it, for I didn’t want them to see me, unless it was necessary. I saw the colonel was not there; so I came over here, and found he was at the hotel. I thought, if there was any danger of his going over to the Horse Shoe, I would see Waddie in season to tip him the wink. You understand me, Wolf?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“You see, if the colonel caught Waddie and Miss Minnie with Tom and his sister, he would raise Cain with them.”

“I do not think that he would trouble them under ordinary circumstances,” I replied.

“O, yes, he would!” protested Nick, who, strangely enough, as I thought, seemed to know more about the matter than I did.

“Certainly he suspects some mischief to-day, though I do not understand why he should. He insists upon going over to the Horse Shoe, Nick; and I don’t know that I can prevent him from doing so. You have a boat here?”

“Yes; the one I hired at Ruoara.”

“If you will go over to the Horse Shoe, as you return, and give them a hint that Colonel Wimpleton is after them, I will be very much obliged to you.”

“O, I will do that, certainly,” replied the obliging Nick.

“Don’t say a word about his being out of the way.”

“No; certainly not,” answered he, with a prudent shake of the head.

“You understand the case as well as I do, and you must manage it as best you can.”

“I’ll go right over;” and he hastened towards the landing, which was a short distance up the lake.

I returned to the hotel, abundantly satisfied with the arrangement I had made. While I could not exactly understand how Nick happened so accurately to divine the object of the colonel’s visit to the Springs, I was willing to admit that it was very kind of him to endeavor to save Waddie and Minnie from the wrath of their tipsy father. I found the colonel still seated at the table, though I was soon convinced that he had not been there all the time of my absence; for his limbs were more unsteady, and his voice thicker, than when I had left him. He had evidently taken another dram.

“There’s another check, Wolf,” said he, handing me a duplicate of the former one, which, I noticed, was regularly numbered, as the first had been.

“I didn’t mean to destroy the other.”

“Perhaps you did not, sir; though I cannot find it.”

“No matter; put the check in your pocket. Now take me over to the Horse Shoe, and I will put an end to this courting business.”

“I think it is rather late to go there to-night; and it looks a little like another shower,” I replied.

“Don’t talk to me, Wolf! I say I’m going to the Horse Shoe.”

It was useless to contend, and I accompanied him down to the public landing. As I had sent Nick forward to warn the party of the approach of the colonel, I was satisfied there would be no scene that day. The only boat I could obtain at the landing was a small bateau, very frail and unsteady for such a burden as I had to carry. I objected to using it, but Colonel Wimpleton declared it would do very well, and insisted that I should row him over to the island. I deemed it dangerous to do so, and I tried to deter him; but he was as obstinate as usual, and all the more obstinate for being intoxicated. Very reluctantly I helped him into the bateau, and soon repented that I had not absolutely refused to go with him.

While I was getting ready, I had occasion to regret that his flask had been refilled, for he took a long draught from it. When he had with great difficulty taken his seat in the stern of the boat, I pushed off. I saw nothing of the Belle, though the boat in which Nick had come from Ruoara lay on the shore of the island, where he had landed to communicate with the party. Another shower was coming up from the south-west, and I thought our chances for getting a ducking were very good. The last dram of my passenger had begun to produce its effect, and he swayed to and fro on his unsteady seat, and I regretted very much that I had consented to come with him.

When I had pulled about two thirds of the distance to the Horse Shoe, I saw the Belle standing out from the deep channel, on the other side of the island. Nick had delivered his message, and the peril of a disagreeable encounter was avoided. I called the attention of the colonel to the fact that the party had left the Horse Shoe, hoping he would permit me to row back to Grass Springs. Unfortunately, the intelligence produced a different effect upon him, and roused his anger.

“Stop zem, Wolf! Stop zem!” said he, angrily.

I did hail the Belle, but no notice was taken of my call.

“Pull for zat boat,” added he, pointing to the Belle.

He did not know what he was about, and I decided not to heed his requests. Nick had now embarked in his sail-boat, and in order to double the southern part of the island, was obliged to stand out towards my craft.

“Why don’t you do dzi tell you, Wolf?” demanded the colonel, rising in the boat as though he intended to come at me.

His legs yielded beneath him, and he dropped upon the rail of the bateau, careening the frail skiff till the water poured in over the side. Before I could get hold of him, he rolled over into the lake, I was horror-struck, for it was no easy matter to rescue a heavy man, as tipsy as he was.

[Illustration: COLONEL WIMPLETON SLIPS.]