Gangway! by Donald E. Westlake Brian Garfield

Author:Donald E. Westlake, Brian Garfield [Donald E. Westlake, Brian Garfield]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780871311160
Publisher: M. Evans
Published: 1973-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Gabe felt proud of himself. It was the first con spiel he'd essayed since he'd left New York, and he'd been afraid he might be getting a little rusty. But it had worked with Ittzy and he felt a whole lot more confident now.

"The next thing we need," he said, "is a boat."

Francis said, "A boat? What kind of boat?"

"A big one. Maybe a ship."

Vangie gawked at him. "You're going on a ship?"

"For a million dollars I'm willing to throw up a little."

"I swear I never thought I'd see the day."

"Well, it's the only way. I've thought and thought, but there's no other answer. Look, we have to get the stuff out of San Francisco. That means either a boat or a wagon. There's only one wagon road-down the Peninsula-and they could telegraph ahead and cut us off."

Vangie said, "Couldn't you cut the telegraph wire?"

Gabe frowned at her. "But what if there was an emergency and somebody had to telegraph for a doctor or something? I mean, you can't just go around cutting Western Union wires all over the place. Somebody could get hurt."

Francis said, "Besides, with a wagonload of gold you wouldn't be able to go terribly fast, dear. They'd overtake us in just no time on horseback."

Gabe said, "It's gotta be a ship," and waited.

Francis said, "I'm sorry, old cock, I'm afraid I don't know anyone with a ship."

"I know somebody," said Ittzy.

They all looked at him. Gabe said, "Who?"

"Flagway," Ittzy said. "His name's Captain Flagway. He has a ship."

"What does he do with it?"

"Nothing. His crew jumped ship and ran away to the gold fields."

Vangie said, "He could have hired Roscoe's crimpers to get him a new crew."

"He won't do that. He says it's wrong, I don't know why."

Gabe said, "Does he need money, by any chance?"

"He sure does," Ittzy said.

Gabe stood up. "Well, the only thing we'll get if we wait around here is whiskers. Let's go see this guy."

Along the waterfront Gabe kept his eyes averted from the Bay side of the street. In New York you could live thirty years without once seeing a ship. You could completely ignore the fact that Manhattan was even an island. But in San Francisco you could hardly look across the street without being confronted by roiling water and heaving ships.

Ittzy led them to a bedraggled sailing ship with several masts. Gabe wouldn't know a clipper from a dinghy, but this one looked plenty big enough, whatever make and model it was.

Whether it would go more than five miles without sinking was another question. It seemed ready to disintegrate at a moment's notice. Most of the paint was worn off and he wood beneath was splintery and rotten. The big mast in the middle of the ship was slightly off kilter and looked about to fall over. The entire vessel appeared to be in an advanced state of dilapidated decay.

It was tied up at an equally rotten pier, half a mile below the main waterfront. The dock area around here consisted mainly of abandoned shacks and windowless warehouses.

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