DOCTOR--A terrible time of it! He’s lucky to be alive. Hmm. I see he
foresaw the wreck of the schooner. Those brutes couldn’t navigate.
[_Folding the letter and putting it back._] He doesn’t seem to have
found out what the purpose of that mad trip was. Horne hid it from him
to the last, he says. Well, it’s queer--damn queer. But I’m glad to know
those wretches have gone to their final accounting.
SUE--[_With a shudder._] I was always afraid of them. They looked
like--murderers. [_At a noise from below they both start. Steps can be
heard climbing the stairs._ SUE _jumps to her feet frightenedly_.]
Why--do you hear--who can that be? [_There is a soft rap on the door.
The Doctor jumps to his feet._ SUE _turns to him with a half-hysterical
laugh_.] Shall I open? I don’t know why--but I’m afraid.
DOCTOR--Tut-tut! I’ll see who it is. [_He opens the door and_ NAT _is
discovered on the stairs outside_.] Why hello, boy. You gave us a
scare. Susan thought it was a ghost knocking.
NAT--[_Comes into the room. He has aged, grown thin, his face gaunt and
drawn from continual mental strain, his eyes moody and preoccupied. He
glances up at the skylight apprehensively, then turns to_ SUE.] I didn’t
find you downstairs so I---- [_Then to the Doctor._] Yes, you do grow to
look for ghosts in this house, don’t you? [_Again glancing upward._]
He’s up there as usual, I suppose--looking for a ship that’ll _never,
never come now_!
DOCTOR--[_With a grunt of approval._] I’m glad to hear you acknowledge
that.
SUE--[_Who is just recovering from her fright._] But, Nat, I didn’t
expect you---- Did you find out----?
NAT--Yes, I talked with several of the men who were on board at the
time. They said they steamed in so close to the schooner it was easy to
read the name with the naked eye. All agreed--Sarah Allen, Harborport.
They even remembered how her tafrail was painted. There’s no chance for
mistake. The Sarah Allen is gone. [_With great emphasis._] And I’m
glad--damn glad! I feel as if a weight of lead had been taken off my
brain. I feel free again, and I can go back to work--but not here. I’ve
got to go away--start new altogether.
SUE--[_Happily, coming and putting her arms around him._] It’s so good
to hear you talk like your old self again.
DOCTOR--[_Earnestly._] Yes, Nat, by Gad, that’s sound sense. Get out of
this.
NAT--[_Giving him a queer look._] I suppose you thought I was doomed,
eh?--like him. [_He makes a motion upward--then with an uncertain
laugh._] A doctor’s always looking for trouble where there isn’t any.
[_In a tone of finality._] Well, it’s all over, anyway.
SUE--[_Snatching the letter from the table._] Oh, I was forgetting, Nat.
Read this. I got it yesterday.
NAT--[_Turns it over in his hands suspiciously._] Who from?
SUE--Open it and see.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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