falk-第9章
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pointment; of course; and at her age; don't you
know。 。 。 。 Mrs。 Schomberg here was very friendly
with her; and she could tell you。 Awful despair。
Fainting fits。 It was a scandal。 A notorious scan…
dal。 To that extent that old Mr。 Siegersnot
your present charterer; but Mr。 Siegers the father;
the old gentleman who retired from business on a
fortune and got buried at sea going home; HE had
to interview Falk in his private office。 He was a
man who could speak like a Dutch Uncle; and; be…
sides; Messrs。 Siegers had been helping Falk with
a good bit of money from the start。 In fact you
may say they made him as far as that goes。
It so happened that just at the time he turned up
here; their firm was chartering a lot of sailing ships
every year; and it suited their business that there
should be good towing facilities on the river。 See?
。 。 。 Wellthere's always an ear at the keyhole
isn't there? In fact;〃 he lowered his tone confiden…
tially; 〃in this case a good friend of mine; a man
you can see here any evening; only they conversed
rather low。 Anyhow my friend's certain that Falk
was trying to make all sorts of excuses; and old Mr。
Siegers was coughing a lot。 And yet Falk wanted
all the time to be married too。 Why! It's notorious
the man has been longing for years to make a home
for himself。 Only he can't face the expense。
When it comes to putting his hand in his pocket
it chokes him off。 That's the truth and no other。
I've always said so; and everybody agrees with me
by this time。 What do you think of thateh?〃
He appealed confidently to my indignation; but
having a mind to annoy him I remarked; 〃that it
seemed to me very pitifulif true。〃
He bounced in his chair as if I had run a pin into
him。 I don't know what he might have said; only
at that moment we heard through the half open
door of the billiard…room the footsteps of two men
entering from the verandah; a murmur of two
voices; at the sharp tapping of a coin on a table
Mrs。 Schomberg half rose irresolutely。 〃Sit still;〃
he hissed at her; and then; in an hospitable; jovial
tone; contrasting amazingly with the angry glance
that had made his wife sink in her chair; he cried
very loud: 〃Tiffin still going on in here; gentle…
men。〃
There was no answer; but the voices dropped sud…
denly。 The head Chinaman went out。 We heard
the clink of ice in the glasses; pouring sounds; the
shuffling of feet; the scraping of chairs。 Schom…
berg; after wondering in a low mutter who the devil
could be there at this time of the day; got up napkin
in hand to peep through the doorway cautiously。
He retreated rapidly on tip…toe; and whispering be…
hind his hand informed me that it was Falk; Falk
himself who was in there; and; what's more; he had
Captain Hermann with him。
The return of the tug from the outer Roads was
unexpected but possible; for Falk had taken away
the Diana at half…past five; and it was now two
o'clock。 Schomberg wished me to observe that
neither of these men would spend a dollar on a tiffin;
which they must have wanted。 But by the time I
was ready to leave the dining…room Falk had gone。
I heard the last of his big boots on the planks of
the verandah。 Hermann was sitting quite alone in
the large; wooden room with the two lifeless billiard
tables shrouded in striped covers; mopping his face
diligently。 He wore his best go…ashore clothes; a
stiff collar; black coat; large white waistcoat; grey
trousers。 A white cotton sunshade with a cane han…
dle reposed between his legs; his side whiskers were
neatly brushed; his chin had been freshly shaved;
and he only distantly resembled the dishevelled and
terrified man in a snuffy night shirt and ignoble old
trousers I had seen in the morning hanging on to
the wheel of the Diana。
He gave a start at my entrance; and addressed
me at once in some confusion; but with genuine ea…
gerness。 He was anxious to make it clear he had
nothing to do with what he called the 〃tam piz…
ness〃 of the morning。 It was most inconvenient。
He had reckoned upon another day up in town to
settle his bills and sign certain papers。 There were
also some few stores to come; and sundry pieces of
〃my ironwork;〃 as he called it quaintly; landed for
repairs; had been left behind。 Now he would have
to hire a native boat to take all this out to the ship。
It would cost five or six dollars perhaps。 He had
had no warning from Falk。 Nothing。 。 。 。 He
hit the table with his dumpy fist。 。 。 。 Der ver…
fluchte Kerl came in the morning like a 〃tam'
ropper;〃 making a great noise; and took him away。
His mate was not prepared; his ship was moored
fasthe protested it was shameful to come upon
a man in that way。 Shameful! Yet such was the
power Falk had on the river that when I suggested
in a chilling tone that he might have simply refused
to have his ship moved; Hermann was quite startled
at the idea。 I never realised so well before that this
is an age of steam。 The exclusive possession of a
marine boiler had given Falk the whiphand of us
all。 Hermann; recovering; put it to me appealingly
that I knew very well how unsafe it was to contra…
dict that fellow。 At this I only smiled distantly。
〃Der Kerl!〃 he cried。 He was sorry he had not
refused。 He was indeed。 The damage! The dam…
age! What for all that damage! There was no
occasion for damage。 Did I know how much dam…
age he had done? It gave me a certain satisfaction
to tell him that I had heard his old waggon of a
ship crack fore and aft as she went by。 〃You
passed close enough to me;〃 I added significantly。
He threw both his hands up to heaven at the rec…
ollection。 One of them grasped by the middle the
white parasol; and he resembled curiously a carica…
ture of a shopkeeping citizen in one of his own Ger…
man comic papers。 〃Ach! That was dangerous;〃
he cried。 I was amused。 But directly he added
with an appearance of simplicity; 〃The side of
your iron ship would have been crushed in like
like this matchbox。〃
〃Would it?〃 I growled; much less amused now;
but by the time I had decided that this remark was
not meant for a dig at me he had worked himself
into a high state of resentfulness against Falk。
The inconvenience; the damage; the expense! Gott…
ferdam! Devil take the fellow。 Behind the bar
Schomberg with a cigar in his teeth; pretended to
be writing with a pencil on a large sheet of paper;
and as Hermann's excitement increased it made me
comfortingly aware of my own calmness and supe…
riority。 But it occurred to me while I listened to
his revilings; that after all the good man had come
up in the tug。 There perhapssince he must come
to townhe had no option。 But evidently he had
had a drink with Falk; either accepted or offered。
How was that? So I checked him by saying loftily
that I hoped he would make Falk pay for every
penny of the damage。
〃That's it! That's it! Go for him;〃 called out
Schomberg from the bar; flinging his pencil down
and rubbing his hands。
We ignored his noise。 But Hermann's excite…
ment suddenly went off the boil as when you remove
a saucepan from the fire。 I urged on his considera…
tion that he had done now with Falk and Falk's con…
founded tug。 He; Hermann; would not; perhaps;
turn up again in this part of the world for years to
come; since he was going to sell the Diana at the end
of this very trip (〃Go home passenger in a mail
boat;〃 he murmured mechanically)。 He was there…
fore safe from Falk's malice。 All he had to do was
to race off to his consignees and stop payment of
the towage bill before Falk had the time to get in
and lift the money。
Nothing could have been less in the spirit of my
advice than the thoughtful way in which he set
about to make his parasol stay propped against the
edge of the table。
While I watched his concentrated effo