The Final Adversary (30 page)

When the meal was finished and both men had discussed their individual mission work, Barney said, “I guess it’s
counseling time, Del. Dr. Barney Winslow, expert advisor. All cures guaranteed. We never close.”

Del swiveled the coffee around in his cup nervously. “Well, Barney,” he said slowly, “I guess maybe you can guess what I gotta talk about.”

“Not really.” Barney was puzzled. Del was one of the most outgoing men he had ever known, yet now he seemed to be embarrassed. “You having some sort of trouble, Del?”

“Well, not
trouble,
Barney, so much as a
problem.
” Del twisted in his chair and finally blurted out, “Blast it all! The thing is, Barney, I’ve got a woman problem!”

Barney was appalled.
Had Del gotten involved with a native?

“I want to get married, Barney,” he rushed on.

A wave of relief swept over Barney. “You have a girl back home, Del?”

“Oh, I’ve had a few girlfriends, I guess, but none of them would do for the life out here.” Del got up and paced the floor restlessly, then slumped in his chair. “Well, you can see where I’m headed, can’t you?”

“I guess you’ll have to spell it out for me, Del.”

“I thought you might have noticed,” Del said. His cheerful grin was gone, and he added, “I want to marry Katie.”

A sliver of shock surged through Barney. “Marry Katie?” “Well, sure!” The homely freckled face of Saunders was puzzled. “Didn’t you know I’ve always liked Katie?”

Barney thought back, and he did remember that Del had been drawn to Katie, even during their days at the Rescue Mission. “All of us like Katie,” he hedged quickly.

“Oh, it’s more than that with me, Barney!”

“Marriage is a serious thing, Del. Maybe you’re just lonesome.”

“Lord knows I’m lonesome enough,” Del laughed ruefully. “It wasn’t so bad at first. Andy and I were together and everything was new. I didn’t have
time
to be lonesome. But
it’s different now. I’m all alone, and I’m just not the kind of fellow to enjoy my own society, Barney.”

Barney knew that for the truth. Del was outgoing, always with other people; and the long, lonely days at the station would be worse for him than for others.

“Have you told Katie?” he asked finally.

“Haven’t told anybody except you, Barney.” Del managed a grin. “I guess this is where you start earning your money as a counselor. What do you think?”

“About you getting married?”

“Heck, no! I
know
about that!”

“What then?”

“Why, about Katie, of course! Will she have me?”

Barney felt uncomfortable and said slowly, “Why, Del, you can’t expect me to tell you that. You’ll have to ask her.”

“Confound it, Barney! That’s the part I’ve come to you for!”

Barney’s forehead furrowed. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, Del,” he said, perplexed. “You’ve decided to get married already, haven’t you? You’re not asking me what to do about
that?
”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking!”

Barney felt a streak of irritation rising, and said sharply, “Del, you ought to know better. What you’re saying is that you’ve already decided to get married, and now you’re shopping around for a wife. You don’t get a wife like you would a suit of clothes—shop around until you find one you like!”

Del flushed angrily. “Blast it, Barney, it’s not like that! It’s not like that at all! I told you, I want Katie!”

“You said no such thing!” Barney snapped. “You said you
liked
her. That’s not enough to marry on, Del.”

Del stared at Barney, who was obviously upset, but then he shook his head, saying apologetically, “I guess I didn’t put the thing right, Barney. Always was hard for me to say things about—well, about love, you know? Other guys can
say things like that, but I never could. Dunno why, but it comes hard for me.”

Barney sat quietly, disturbed. He didn’t know how to analyze the emotions that had suddenly swept him when Del announced his problem, but he was agitated and it took an effort to keep his face and voice even.

“Del, do you love Katie?”

“Well, I
need
her, Barney!”

“Not the same thing at all!”

Del nodded slowly. “Guess you’re right, Barney, but it’s part of love, isn’t it? I mean, we’re both out here to serve God. A man needs a wife, and a woman needs a husband. Beecham’s always said that he wished all of us were married. So I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, Barney, and now I’ve got to find out.” Then he looked up and met Winslow’s eyes. “So, what I want from you is . . . a little help.”

“Help to do what?”

Del looked more embarrassed than ever. “Barney, I was lying to you about those girlfriends of mine back home. I never had a girlfriend. Not a real one. Don’t know anything about women. So what I’m asking you to do is—well, sort of give me a hand.”

“Give you a hand doing
what,
Del?” he asked, puzzled.

“Why, help me court Katie, of course!” He saw Barney’s face change, and began to speak rapidly. “Barney, you
got
to do it! I mean, you and Katie are real close, always have been. Everybody knows that! So what you can do is talk me up to her, you know?”

“Del, that’s crazy!” Barney protested. “Katie knows you. I can’t promote you as if you were a new brand of soap!”

“Sure you can! Well, not like
soap,
of course—but she listens to you, Barney. She’s told me lots of times how she admires you. So if you could sort of give her a good word on me, why, she’d listen to you!”

“Del—!”

“And that’s not all, Barney,” Del interrupted. “You know
how to court a girl. So you can teach me. I ain’t got the slightest idea of how to go about it—especially out here in Africa!”

“Del, I’m no expert on women! As a matter of fact, I’m not good with them at all.”

“Oh, that’s not so! Everybody knows how you’ve been courtin’ Dorothy Hansen, Barney.”

“Where did you hear such nonsense?” Barney snapped. “Dorothy and I work together, that’s all!”

Del shook his head. “She likes you. Pearl said so, and Dorothy’s a sharp young lady.”

“Pearl is mistaken,” Barney said stiffly.

“But Dorothy told me herself that the two of you are going off on a cruise.”

Barney flushed. He was confused and wanted to end the conversation, so he said, “You need to talk to Stanley Beecham about this, Del. He’ll give you some good advice.”

“You really think so, Barney?”

“Why, of course!”

Del laughed, his face bright with relief. “That’s great, Barney—because I did go talk to him, and he told me to come to you. As a matter of fact, it was
his
idea that you could help me with Katie!”

Barney felt as though he had stepped directly into a steel trap! He tried to think, but nothing came. After a while he said, “Beecham is a man of wisdom, Del, but I’m not sure he’s right about this.”

“Barney, I need help,” Del persisted quietly. “Some men can make it alone, like Stanley. Others of us need companionship. So, I’m asking you right out, will you give me a hand with this?”

Barney swallowed hard. There didn’t seem to be any way out.

He sighed. “All right, Del. I can’t promise anything, and you’ll probably be sorry you ever asked me—but I’ll do what I can.”

Del leaped up and pounded Barney’s shoulders. “Oh, thank you! I
knew
you could do it!”

A deep unrest rose in Winslow’s mind. Somehow, what Del was doing could not be right. But Barney’d said he’d do it. He was caught.

Del stepped back, his face shining. “I’m going to see if I can get two tickets on that boat you and Dorothy are going on, Barney. That way Katie and I can be alone.”

He rushed out, and though Barney knew the ticket office would be closed, he didn’t mention it. For a long time he sat staring at the wall. Then he snorted: “Barney Winslow’s Counseling Service! What a joke!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Another Voyage

The
Falcon
made no pretensions to grandeur. She was merely an ancient cargo ship that had been owned and sold so many times that not even Captain Borg had any idea of her origin. Unlike most ships of her class, she did have several cabins available for passengers. None of them were ornate, and the passengers were expected to stay out of the way of the crew as they worked the ship.

Captain Borg looked down at the quay with a pair of cautious gray eyes, and muttered to the tall sailor standing with him at the rail, “There they come, Bjelland. When they get on board, get the ship underway.”

“Aye, sir.” Norman Bjelland was a typical Norwegian—fair hair and blue eyes. “I hope they don’t give us any problems. That last bunch drove me crazy.”

Captain Borg winced at the thought, but said, “This bunch won’t be wild. They’re all missionaries. Probably try to save all us heathens, but being preached at isn’t as bad as having a chair bent over your head, is it, Norman?”

Bjelland touched the fresh scar over his left eyebrow and grinned. “I’ll get them settled down, Captain.” He went to greet the passengers at the gangplank. “Welcome aboard the
Falcon.
I’m the first officer, Lieutenant Bjelland.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’m Barney Winslow. Let me introduce you to our group.”

As Barney named off the other two men, then the three women, Bjelland noted that they were all young—and all
three women were attractive.
Have to warn the crew against getting familiar with them,
he thought, but said only, “I’m happy to meet you all. You’ll meet the captain and the other officers at dinner tonight, but let me take you to your cabins.” He hesitated, then added, “We have only four cabins. How would you like to share them?”

Dorothy broke in, “I’ll take one of the singles, Lieutenant Bjelland.—That’ll give you and Pearl some time together, won’t it, Katie?”

“That will be fine!” Pearl said as Katie nodded.

“Why don’t you and I bunk together, Barney?” Del suggested quickly. “Slim couldn’t stand my snoring anyway!”

“Okay by me,” Ranken nodded.

The first officer continued. “You know this is a working ship, of course, so you’ll have to entertain yourselves. Let me show you the facility for recreation.” He took them to a room sparsely furnished with a few tables and chairs. “This is it, I’m afraid. Not too plush.”

Pearl smiled. “It
is
after a hut with mud floor and no screens, Lieutenant. We’ll like it.”

Bjelland looked at her, then at the others with fresh respect. “I’m glad you see it that way. Let me know if you need anything. Dinner will be served at seven.”

He showed them to their rooms, and Katie headed straight for the narrow beds. “Not bad, Pearl,” she said. “As you said, after a mud hut, it looks like a palace.”

Pearl looked out the porthole. “I think we’re moving, Katie. Feel the engines?” She watched for a while as the
Falcon
slowly left the harbor.

“I don’t think we were supposed to be on this trip, Katie.”

Katie looked up with surprise. “What makes you think that, Pearl? I understood Barney wanted us to get together. Sort of a gathering of the Company.”

“That’s what it turned into,” Pearl smiled. “But I got it out of Del—the original idea.”

“The original idea?”

“Yes. The way Del told it, he came in from his station for supplies and found out that Barney and Dorothy were taking a cruise. Sort of a vacation.” Pearl ran her hand through her black curly hair, an amused light in her eyes. “Del invited himself, and then Barney got the idea of getting all of us together for a reunion. Which isn’t what Miss Hansen had on her mind, I’m pretty sure!”

Katie put the last of her things in the small chest, shut the drawer, then sat down on the bed and considered what Pearl had just said. She had merely gotten a message that she was needed if she could get free. She mentioned this to Pearl, adding, “I don’t think I would have come if I’d known that.”

“
I
would!” Pearl said emphatically. “The last few weeks have been pretty hard.” She stared down at her hands, saying quietly, “I miss Tobe a lot, Katie. More than I thought I would.”

Katie had known that there had been some difficulty between Tobe and Pearl, but neither of them had ever spoken of it. She said, “He was such a fine man, Pearl. So dedicated!”

“Yes, I see that now. I—I wish I’d showed a little more—”Tears flooded Pearl’s eyes, and she quickly dashed them away. “You see? I get all weepy over things. I thought it would be good for me to be with people again.”

“It
is!
And we’re going to have a fine time.”

A mischievous expression came to Pearl’s face. “I can’t help but be glad that we interfered with Dorothy’s scheme. She’s pretty clever, but I understand, I think.”

“Understand what, Pearl?”

“Why, she needs a husband!”

Katie smiled. “Well, so do I.”

“Oh, nonsense, Katie! It’s not the same thing at all.” Pearl thought for a moment, then said positively, “She was going to get Andy, but he had the sense to leave. Now she’s settled on Barney.”

“I’m sure Barney will have something to say about that, Pearl.” Katie was not at all certain Pearl’s calculations were
right, but she did remember how Dorothy had seemed to be very close to Andy.

“Barney’s a sitting duck, Katie!” Pearl said. “He’s a sweet fellow, but he can’t say no to anyone. Isn’t that obvious? He doesn’t want to be here in Monrovia; he wants to be out in the bush. But he couldn’t say no to Andy. And you watch what I say, sooner or later Dorothy will have a wedding ring out of him!”

Katie jumped to her feet. “Oh, Pearl, let them do what they please. Come on, let’s go on deck.”

Pearl said no more, for she could see that the conversation displeased Katie.

The two found Del and Slim standing up in the bow, watching the waves break as the
Falcon
pushed through them.

“This sea air is wonderful!” Ranken called out as Katie and Pearl approached. “It’s so fresh!” They all stood at the rail drinking in the tangy breeze. It was hot on deck, but not like the steaming heat of the jungle; and after the smell of an African village, the fresh air was as intoxicating as wine.