CHAPTER VII.
PLANNING A COLOSSAL FARCE.
O'Shea and Johnny Kent took great care to avoid being seen in the vicinity of the Tarlington. Such inspection and supervision as were necessary they contrived to attend to after dark. The king was up to his ears in urgent business, and was easily persuaded to leave the whole conduct of the ship's affairs in their capable hands, and to waive preliminary visits to the East India Docks.
O'Shea employed a Scotch engineer—who wasted no words and understood that his wages depended on his taciturnity—to oversee such repair work as the Tarlington needed, and to keep steam in the donkey boilers.
All signs indicated that the Tarlington was preparing for one of her customary voyages to Australia. Soon the cargo began to stream into her hatches. The ostensible destinations of the truck-loads of cases and crates and bales of merchandise were Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington, Freemantle, and so on. One might read the names of the consignees neatly stenciled on every package. This was done under the eye of Captain O'Shea, who in his time had loaded hundreds of boxes of rifles and cartridges innocently labeled "Condensed Milk," "Prime Virginia Hams," and "Farming Tools."
But the place to find roaring, ostentatious activity was on board the old Tyneshire Glen. Captain O'Shea visited her daily, and Johnny Kent hustled an engine-room crew with loud and bitter words. It appeared as if the ship was in a great hurry to go to sea. While O'Shea was stirring up as much pretended industry as possible, the question of a cargo was not overlooked. It was shoved on board as fast as the longshoremen in the holds could handle it. Nor did these brawny toilers know that all these stout wooden boxes so plainly marked and consigned to Trinadaro via S. S. Tyneshire Glen contained only bricks, sand, stones, and scrap iron.
They were part of the theatrical properties of Captain O'Shea, who could readily produce a make-believe cargo for a faked voyage in a steamer which had no intention of leaving port.
The London newspapers showed fresh interest in the schemes and dreams of King Osmond I. of Trinadaro. The Tyneshire Glen was visited by inquisitive journalists with note-books and cameras. Captain O'Shea welcomed them right courteously, and gave them information, cigars, and excellent whisky. They returned to their several offices to write breezy columns about the preparations for the singular voyage in the Tyneshire Glen. So severe are the English libel laws that never a hint was printed of the possible legal obstacles which might bring the enterprise to naught. For purposes of publication, King Osmond was as sane as a trivet unless a judge and jury should officially declare him otherwise.
Nevertheless, the intimation had reached the newspaper offices that the relatives of Colonel Sydenham-Leach were likely to take steps to prevent him from leaving England. And reporters were assigned to watch the Tyneshire Glen up to the very moment of departure.
Now and then Johnny Kent quietly trundled himself on board the Tarlington, and was gratified to find that progress was running smoothly in all departments. So nearly ready for sea was the big cargo boat that the time had come to devise the final details of the stratagem.
Accordingly Captain O'Shea went boldly to the customhouse, and took out clearance papers, not for the Tarlington to Australia, but for the Tyneshire Glen to the island of Trinadaro. The chief officer whom he had selected to go with him held a master's certificate, and the ship was cleared in his name.
As for the Tarlington, which was really to sail, while the Tyneshire Glen remained peacefully at her moorings in the East India Docks, O'Shea decided to omit the formality of clearances. As he explained it to Johnny Kent:
"The less attention that is called to the Tarlington the better. Once at sea, we will hoist the flag of Trinadaro over our ship, and his majesty's government will give her a registry and us our certificates. 'Tis handy to be an independent sovereign with a merchant marine of his own."
The services of an employment agency enabled O'Shea to muster several score bogus colonists or subjects of King Osmond, persons of respectable appearance, who were glad to earn ten shillings apiece by marching on board the Tyneshire Glen with bags and bundles in their hands. There could be no room for doubt in the public mind that the eccentric, grandiose Colonel Sydenham-Leach was on the point of leaving his native shores with his people and material for founding his island principality.
It seemed advisable to Captain O'Shea to take the Tarlington out of the docks late in the afternoon, swing into the river, and anchor until King Osmond should be brought aboard in a tug furnished by George Huntley. There was much less risk of observation in having the royal passenger join the ship after nightfall, and away from the populous docks, in addition to which O'Shea preferred to get clear of the cramping stone basins and gates, and hold his ship in the fairway, with room for a speedy departure in the event of a stern chase.
He artlessly explained to the king that this arrangement would allow his majesty to spend several more hours ashore in winding up his many final details of business, and he would avoid the tedious delay of warping the steamer out of the docks. The plausible shipmaster also made it clear that sailing at night would enable him to catch the turn of the tide and find high water over the shoal places in the channel.
The unsuspecting monarch approved these plans, and had no idea that they were part of an elaborate conspiracy to smuggle him out of England under cover of darkness because the authorities intended to detain him as one whose sanity must be investigated.
As a final device to throw the enemy off the scent, O'Shea conceived what he viewed as a master stroke. George Huntley was called into consultation, and promptly sent for a superannuated clerk of his office staff who had been pensioned after many years of faithful service. He proved to be a slender, white-haired man who carried himself with a great deal of dignity, and at the first glimpse of him O'Shea exclaimed delightedly:
"You couldn't have done better, George, if you had raked London with a comb. Put a snowy mustache and chin whisker on him, and he will pass for King Osmond of Trinadaro with no trouble at all."
"I think we can turn him into a pretty fair counterfeit," grinned Huntley. "And when he walks aboard the Tyneshire Glen at dusk, by Jove, and all those bogus subjects, at ten shillings each, raise a loyal cheer, the hoax will be complete. This is the artistic touch to make the job perfect."
"And what am I to do after that, Mr. Huntley, if you please?" timidly inquired the elderly clerk. "If it's only a practical joke, I don't mind"
"Play the part, Thompson. Acknowledge the homage of the ship's company, and go below at once. The ship will probably be watched by persons keenly interested in your movements. If they poke a mess of legal documents at you, accept them without argument, and walk ashore and return to London. The meddlesome gents will leave you alone after that. They will merely keep close watch of the ship lo make sure that you don't go back to her. Once in London again, pluck off the false whiskers, and be sure to come to my office in the morning and be handsomely rewarded for your exertions."