It was a full three days before Rob Trenton had his strength back. By that time the ship had passed the Azores and was wallowing through the Atlantic towards New York.
Despite his feeling of muscular insecurity, Trenton had managed to take the huge German Shepherd for regular periods of exercise, and by this time Dr Dixon had virtually surrendered control of the dog to Trenton. The animal had come to look forward to Rob’s visits, whimpering eagerly when he approached the kennels.
Trenton made it a point always to be glad to see the dog. As he pointed out to Dr Dixon, an animal’s treatment of you depends very largely on your treatment of the animal. “A dog’s like a person,” he explained. “It’s pretty hard to work up enthusiasm over a person who greets you indifferently, or ignores you entirely. On the other hand, someone who is quite evidently glad to see you makes you feel that you’re glad to see him.”
Dr Dixon nodded thoughtfully. He seemed to be putting in a great deal of time these days sizing up young Rob Trenton, and was quite obviously interested not only in Trenton’s ideas, but in his experiences.
Harvey Richmond, in the meantime, used his opportunity as cabin-mate to ask innumerable questions, many of which Trenton noticed were about Merton Ostrander.
Ostrander, however, seemed to take but little interest in Richmond, despite several attempts on Harvey Richmond’s part to get acquainted. Ostrander was more obviously interested in the attractive females on the ship than in the male passenger list. For the most part, he devoted his attention to Linda Carroll, monopolising her as much as possible, to the obvious disgust of some of the other men on the ship, who cut in at dances, squired her around the deck, and tried to inveigle her into shuffle-board, ping-pong and deck tennis. But Ostrander had the advantage of the earlier acquaintanceship and the mutual experiences of a tour through Switzerland. He pressed these advantages easily, naturally, ruthlessly, and, whenever he could, steered her into tête-à-tête which seemed so close and personal it would have been rude to intrude.
Rob’s convalescence curtailed his social life, but Linda always made it a point to be up on the boat deck whenever Rob walked the dog.
Despite Ostrander’s attempts to break into this schedule, Linda was obdurate and soon Lobo began to look forward to her companionship, his plume waving in friendly greeting as he heard her step.
Later on, as Rob became stronger and was feeling more like himself, he was pleased to find Linda always managed to save some time for him.
The second day before reaching New York, Linda was already in the kennels when Rob Trenton came to get the dog. “It’s simply marvellous what you’ve been able to do with that dog, and in so short a time, Rob,” she said.
Rob motioned the dog to his side. “A dog wants to love and to be loved. A dog is capable of great loyalty. In order to develop his own character to the best advantage, he needs an outlet for that affection, for that feeling of loyalty.”
Linda looked at him thoughtfully.
“Isn’t the same true of a woman?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been a woman.”
“You’ve never been a dog,” she retorted.
“Well,” he told her, “I’ve studied dogs.”
“All right,” she said, with an amused smile. “You win.”
They swung around the deck together, the dog needing no leash now, but keeping at Rob Trenton’s side.
“What’s going to happen when you get to New York and Dr Dixon takes over?” Linda asked.
Rob’s eyes smiled at her. “Don’t think I’d be so cruel as to have developed the animal to this point if that was going to happen.”
“What is going to happen?” she asked.
“Dr Dixon gave the dog to me.”
“Isn’t the dog very valuable?”
“It depends on what you mean by value. A good many people would pay quite a sum for a dog with his breeding, build and intelligence. Most of them would want him fully trained, however.”
“He isn’t fully trained now?”
“Not what I would call fully trained.”
“Dr Dixon is a peculiar individual. He keeps very much to himself, and yet he’s always very affable. No one seems to know exactly what he does. I understand he specialises in some branch of medicine but no one knows exactly what it is.”
“It’s forensic medicine,” Rob said.
“What’s that?”
“Legal medicine. Medicine as applied to law. The sort of medicine that has to do with cases that come up in court.”
“Murder?” she asked.
“All sorts of cases. However, I don’t know that he cares to talk too much about it. People get the wrong ideas. If he hasn’t told any of the other passengers, perhaps it would be just as well if you didn’t tell them.”
“And when we get home you’re going to plunge into your dog training?”
“I’d like to have you see my place,” Rob said seriously. “I’d like to have you see my dogs, and … well, I hope you don’t walk out of my life. You live in Falthaven …?”
“I’d love to see how you work your dogs,” she interrupted quickly. “I have the address of your place. Would you permit a curiosity-seeker to call?”
“I’d like very much to have you call.”
“Rob,” she said, turning to him suddenly, “do you have a car?”
He laughed. “I have a battered old station wagon that I use to carry my dogs around in, but it is very decrepit.”
“Is anyone meeting you … at the dock, I mean?”
“No. Why?”
She said quickly, “I have just had a wireless. Some friends of mine are meeting me with a car and I’m driving home with them. How would you like to drive home in my car? You could carry all your baggage and …”
“That would be wonderful,” Rob said, “if it wouldn’t inconvenience you.”
“Not in the least. I’ll have the car unloaded and put in the shed so you can get in it and drive off. You’ll have to put gas in it. The tank is empty, you know.”
“And I’ll deliver it to you when …”
“Don’t bother delivering it,” she said. “Just leave it at your place and I’ll come there to pick it up. I’ll be driving by within the next few days. You’ll be there, will you?”
“I’ll make it a point to be there.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t wait around, Rob. Only I …” She broke off and frowned with annoyance as Merton Ostrander came swinging along the deck towards them.
“Hello, everyone,” he said. “How’s the dog this morning?”
“Fine, thanks,” Rob said.
“Rob and I were talking,” Linda said quietly.
“So I gathered,” Ostrander announced affably, “and I’ll bet you forgot about the ping-pong tournament.”
“What about it?”
“You and I were scheduled to start playing five minutes ago,” Ostrander said, tapping his wristwatch significantly, “The tournament is approaching the final stages, the …”
“Oh, bother the tournament!” she said. “I’ll be down later.”
He shook his head. “You can’t do that, Linda. The table is reserved for us at this hour. The other match was just completed and they want to have everything ready for the finals at two-thirty this afternoon.”
She hesitated, not pretending to disguise her annoyance. “Oh, all right,” she said. “I warn you I’m going to be particularly ruthless.”
“That’s the way I like my women … ruthless,” Ostrander said. “See you later, Rob.”
There was a frown on Rob’s face as he watched them walk away. He felt he had been about to penetrate the barrier which Linda Carroll had erected whenever he had sought to discuss her personal affairs. The moment had been propitious. He even felt that Linda had been on the point of confiding in him.
Rob paced the exercise deck with the dog at his side, and then realised that Harvey Richmond had climbed to the upper deck and was watching him.
As Rob swung past the point where the genial, heavy set man was standing, Richmond said, “You certainly did a nice job with that dog, Trenton.”
“Thanks.”
“What’s happened to your exercising partner? I saw her going down the deck with Ostrander a moment ago.”
Rob started to tell the man to go to the devil but controlled himself. “I believe they were in a ping-pong tournament,” he said coolly, trying politely to rebuff the man’s curiosity.
But Richmond seemed completely immune to any rebuff. “Ostrander did a funny thing last night,” he went on.
“Yes?” Rob asked, his voice showing only the amount of interest which ordinary politeness would require.
“That’s right,” Richmond said genially. “He had those cowbells in cartons down below – brought them up from storage and started throwing them overboard. Linda Carroll remonstrated with him and said he’d promised her four of them. She wants to put them on the cows she has on a little farm somewhere. He finally gave her the four, but she almost had to make a scene to get them. He dumped the rest overboard.”
“Dumped them overboard!” Rob exclaimed incredulously. “Why on earth did he do that?”
“Said they were too heavy to be packing around,” Richmond said. “He said he’d changed his mind about lecturing on his European trip and using the bells as props. It seems he wants to travel light. Strange chap, that Ostrander.”
“You’re sure he threw the cowbells overboard?” Rob asked.
Richmond nodded. “All but the four he gave Linda Carroll.”
“There were witnesses?”
Again Richmond nodded.
“I mean really credible witnesses?” Rob said.
“I was one,” Harvey Richmond commented dryly. “I wondered if you knew anything about it.”
“It’s all news to me,” Rob Trenton said.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you,” Richmond announced. “I’m interfering with your exercise of the dog.”
He turned and descended to the lower deck.
Watching the man’s shoulders, Rob Trenton suddenly realised that the sole purpose of Harvey Richmond’s visit to the upper deck had been to tell him about Ostrander having dumped the cowbells overboard, and to see if the news came as a surprise to Trenton or whether Trenton already knew something about it.
Why should Harvey Richmond be so interested in Merton Ostrander’s private affairs? Come to think of it, Richmond asked questions, lots of questions.
Rob Trenton started to concentrate on Harvey Richmond, but the thought again popped into his mind that Linda Carroll had been on the point of confiding in him, of telling him something that he knew instinctively would have been of the greatest importance to him. And sheer coincidence had robbed him of the opportunity. The other ping-pong game had been finished at an inopportune time and Merton Ostrander had come to pick up Linda Carroll. If a little white celluloid ball on a ping-pong table had bounced just a few more times, Linda would at least have given him enough of an opening so that he could reopen the conversation later.
But the little ping-pong ball had not bounced enough times. The match had ended, Ostrander had shown up, and there was nothing left for Rob to do but continue walking the dog.