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diff --git a/2013-h/2013-h.htm b/2013-h/2013-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e301cfa --- /dev/null +++ b/2013-h/2013-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15162 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Pit-Prop Syndicate, by Freeman Wills Crofts</title> + +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Pit-Prop Syndicate, by Freeman Wills Crofts</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Pit-Prop Syndicate</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Freeman Wills Crofts</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December, 1999 [eBook #2013]<br /> +[Most recently updated: October 14, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: An Anonymous Project Gutenberg Volunteer and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIT-PROP SYNDICATE ***</div> + +<h1>The Pit-Prop Syndicate</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Freeman Wills Crofts</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART1"><b>PART ONE. THE AMATEURS</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0001">CHAPTER I. THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0002">CHAPTER II. AN INTERESTING SUGGESTION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0003">CHAPTER III. THE START OF THE CRUISE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV. A COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0005">CHAPTER V. THE VISIT OF THE “GIRONDIN”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI. A CHANGE OF VENUE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII. THE FERRIBY DEPOT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII. THE UNLOADING OF THE “GIRONDIN”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX. THE SECOND CARGO</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0010">CHAPTER X. MERRIMAN BECOMES DESPERATE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI. AN UNEXPECTED ALLY</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_PART2"><b>PART TWO. THE PROFESSIONALS</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII. MURDER!</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0013">CHAPTER XIII. A PROMISING CLUE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0014">CHAPTER XIV. A MYSTIFYING DISCOVERY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0015">CHAPTER XV. INSPECTOR WILLIS LISTENS IN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0016">CHAPTER XVI. THE SECRET OF THE SYNDICATE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0017">CHAPTER XVII. “ARCHER PLANTS STUFF”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0018">CHAPTER XVIII. THE BORDEAUX LORRIES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0019">CHAPTER XIX. WILLIS SPREADS HIS NET</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0020">CHAPTER XX. THE DOUBLE CROSS</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1"></a> +PART ONE.<br /> +THE AMATEURS</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a> +CHAPTER I.<br /> +THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE</h2> + +<p> +Seymour Merriman was tired; tired of the jolting saddle of his motor bicycle, +of the cramped position of his arms, of the chug of the engine, and most of +all, of the dreary, barren country through which he was riding. Early that +morning he had left Pau, and with the exception of an hour and a half at +Bayonne, where he had lunched and paid a short business call, he had been at it +ever since. It was now after five o’clock, and the last post he had +noticed showed him he was still twenty-six kilometers from Bordeaux, where he +intended to spend the night. +</p> + +<p> +“This confounded road has no end,” he thought. “I really must +stretch my legs a bit.” +</p> + +<p> +A short distance in front of him a hump in the white ribbon of the road with +parapet walls narrowing in at each side indicated a bridge. He cut off his +engine and, allowing the machine to coast, brought it to a stand at the summit. +Then dismounting, he slid it back on its bracket; stretched himself +luxuriously, and looked around. +</p> + +<p> +In both directions, in front of him and behind, the road stretched, level and +monotonous as far as the eye could reach, as he had seen it stretch, with but +few exceptions, during the whole of the day’s run. But whereas farther +south it had led through open country, desolate, depressing wastes of sand and +sedge, here it ran through the heart of a pine forest, in its own way as +melancholy. The road seemed isolated, cut off from the surrounding country, +like to be squeezed out of existence by the overwhelming barrier on either +flank, a screen, aromatic indeed, but dark, gloomy, and forbidding. Nor was the +prospect improved by the long, unsightly gashes which the resin collectors had +made on the trunks, suggesting, as they did, that the trees were stricken by +some disease. To Merriman the country seemed utterly uninhabited. Indeed, since +running through Labouheyre, now two hours back, he could not recall having seen +a single living creature except those passing in motor cars, and of these even +there were but few. +</p> + +<p> +He rested his arms on the masonry coping of the old bridge and drew at his +cigarette. But for the distant rumble of an approaching vehicle, the spring +evening was very still. The river curved away gently towards the left, flowing +black and sluggish between its flat banks, on which the pines grew down to the +water’s edge. It was delightful to stay quiet for a few moments, and +Merriman took off his cap and let the cool air blow on his forehead, enjoying +the relaxation. +</p> + +<p> +He was a pleasant-looking man of about eight-and-twenty, clean shaven and with +gray, honest eyes, dark hair slightly inclined to curl, and a square, well-cut +jaw. Business had brought him to France. Junior partner in the firm of Edwards +& Merriman, Wine Merchants, Gracechurch Street, London, he annually made a +tour of the exporters with whom his firm dealt. He had worked across the south +of the country from Cette to Pau, and was now about to recross from Bordeaux to +near Avignon, after which his round would be complete. To him this part of his +business was a pleasure, and he enjoyed his annual trip almost as much as if it +had been a holiday. +</p> + +<p> +The vehicle which he had heard in the distance was now close by, and he turned +idly to watch it pass. He did not know then that this slight action, performed +almost involuntarily, was to change his whole life, and not only his, but the +lives of a number of other people of whose existence he was not then aware, was +to lead to sorrow as well as happiness, to crime as well as the vindication of +the law, to... in short, what is more to the point, had he not then looked +round, this story would never have been written. +</p> + +<p> +The vehicle in itself was in no way remarkable. It was a motor lorry of about +five tons capacity, a heavy thing, travelling slowly. Merriman’s +attention at first focused itself on the driver. He was a man of about thirty, +good-looking, with thin, clear-cut features, an aquiline nose, and dark, +clever-looking eyes. Dressed though he was in rough working clothes, there was +a something in his appearance, in his pose, which suggested a man of better +social standing than his occupation warranted. +</p> + +<p> +“Ex-officer,” thought Merriman as his gaze passed on to the lorry +behind. It was painted a dirty green, and was empty except for a single heavy +casting, evidently part of some large and massive machine. On the side of the +deck was a brass plate bearing the words in English “The Landes Pit-Prop +Syndicate, No. 4.” Merriman was somewhat surprised to see a nameplate in +his own language in so unexpected a quarter, but the matter really did not +interest him and he soon dismissed it from his mind. +</p> + +<p> +The machine chuffed ponderously past, and Merriman, by now rested, turned to +restart his bicycle. But his troubles for the day were not over. On the ground +below his tank was a stain, and even as he looked, a drop fell from the +carburetor feed pipe, followed by a second and a third. +</p> + +<p> +He bent down to examine, and speedily found the cause of the trouble. The feed +pipe was connected to the bottom of the tank by a union, and the nut, working +slack, had allowed a small but steady leak. He tightened the nut and turned to +measure the petrol in the tank. A glance showed him that a mere drain only +remained. +</p> + +<p> +“Curse it all,” he muttered, “that’s the second time +that confounded nut has left me in the soup.” +</p> + +<p> +His position was a trifle awkward. He was still some twenty-five kilometers +from Bordeaux, and his machine would not carry him more than perhaps two. Of +course, he could stop the first car that approached, and no doubt borrow enough +petrol to make the city, but all day he had noticed with surprise how few and +far between the cars were, and there was no certainty that one would pass +within a reasonable time. +</p> + +<p> +Then the sound of the receding lorry, still faintly audible, suggested an idea. +It was travelling so slowly that he might overtake it before his petrol gave +out. It was true he was going in the wrong direction, and if he failed he would +be still farther from his goal, but when you are twenty-five kilometers from +where you want to be, a few hundred yards more or less is not worth worrying +about. +</p> + +<p> +He wheeled his machine round and followed the lorry at full speed. But he had +not more than started when he noticed his quarry turning to the right. Slowly +it disappeared into the forest. +</p> + +<p> +“Funny I didn’t see that road,” thought Merriman as he bumped +along. +</p> + +<p> +He slackened speed when he reached the place where the lorry had vanished, and +then he saw a narrow lane just wide enough to allow the big vehicle to pass, +which curved away between the tree stems. The surface was badly cut up with +wheel tracks, so much so that Merriman decided he could not ride it. He +therefore dismounted, hid his bicycle among the trees, and pushed on down the +lane on foot. He was convinced from his knowledge of the country that the +latter must be a cul-de-sac, at the end of which he would find the lorry. This +he could hear not far away, chugging slowly on in front of him. +</p> + +<p> +The lane twisted incessantly, apparently to avoid the larger trees. The surface +was the virgin soil of the forest only, but the ruts had been filled roughly +with broken stones. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman strode on, and suddenly, as he rounded one of the bends, he got the +surprise of his life. +</p> + +<p> +Coming to meet him along the lane was a girl. This in itself was perhaps not +remarkable, but this girl seemed so out of place amid such surroundings, or +even in such a district, that Merriman was quite taken aback. +</p> + +<p> +She was of medium height, slender and graceful as a lily, and looked about +three-and-twenty. She was a study in brown. On her head was a brown tam, a +rich, warm brown, like the brown of autumn bracken on the moor. She wore a +brown jumper, brown skirt, brown stockings and little brown brogued shoes. As +she came closer, Merriman saw that her eyes, friendly, honest eyes, were a +shade of golden brown, and that a hint of gold also gleamed in the brown of her +hair. She was pretty, not classically beautiful, but very charming and +attractive-looking. She walked with the free, easy movement of one accustomed +to an out-of-door life. +</p> + +<p> +As they drew abreast Merriman pulled off his cap. +</p> + +<p> +“Pardon, mademoiselle,” he said in his somewhat halting French, +“but can you tell me if I could get some petrol close by?” and in a +few words he explained his predicament. +</p> + +<p> +She looked him over with a sharp, scrutinizing glance. Apparently satisfied, +she smiled slightly and replied: +</p> + +<p> +“But certainly, monsieur. Come to the mill and my father will get you +some. He is the manager.” +</p> + +<p> +She spoke even more haltingly than he had, and with no semblance of a French +accent—the French rather of an English school. He stared at her. +</p> + +<p> +“But you’re English!” he cried in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +She laughed lightly. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I’m English,” she answered. “Why +shouldn’t I be English? But I don’t think you’re very polite +about it, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +He apologized in some confusion. It was the unexpectedness of meeting a +fellow-countryman in this out of the way wood... It was... He did not mean.... +</p> + +<p> +“You want to say my French is not really so bad after all?” she +said relentlessly, and then: “I can tell you it’s a lot better than +when we came here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you are a newcomer?” +</p> + +<p> +“We’re not out very long. It’s rather a change from London, +as you may imagine. But it’s not such a bad country as it looks. At first +I thought it would be dreadful, but I have grown to like it.” +</p> + +<p> +She had turned with him, and they were now walking together between the tall, +straight stems of the trees. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m a Londoner,” said Merriman slowly. “I wonder if we +have any mutual acquaintances?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s hardly likely. Since my mother died some years ago we have +lived very quietly, and gone out very little.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman did not wish to appear inquisitive. He made a suitable reply and, +turning the conversation to the country, told her of his day’s ride. She +listened eagerly, and it was borne in upon him that she was lonely, and +delighted to have anyone to talk to. She certainly seemed a charming girl, +simple, natural and friendly, and obviously a lady. +</p> + +<p> +But soon their walk came to an end. Some quarter of a mile from the wood the +lane debouched into a large, D-shaped clearing. It had evidently been recently +made, for the tops of many of the tree-stumps dotted thickly over the ground +were still white. Round the semicircle of the forest trees were lying cut, some +with their branches still intact, others stripped clear to long, straight +poles. Two small gangs of men were at work, one felling, the other lopping. +</p> + +<p> +Across the clearing, forming its other boundary and the straight side of the D, +ran a river, apparently from its direction that which Merriman had looked down +on from the road bridge. It was wider here, a fine stretch of water, though +still dark colored and uninviting from the shadow of the trees. On its bank, +forming a center to the cleared semicircle, was a building, evidently the mill. +It was a small place, consisting of a single long narrow galvanized iron shed, +and placed parallel to the river. In front of the shed was a tiny wharf, and +behind it were stacks and stacks of tree trunks cut in short lengths and built +as if for seasoning. Decauville tramways radiated from the shed, and the men +were running in timber in the trucks. From the mill came the hard, biting +screech of a circular saw. +</p> + +<p> +“A sawmill!” Merriman exclaimed rather unnecessarily. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. We cut pit-props for the English coal mines. Those are they you see +stacked up. As soon as they are drier they will be shipped across. My father +joined with some others in putting up the capital, and—voila!” She +indicated the clearing and its contents with a comprehensive sweep of her hand. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove! A jolly fine notion, too, I should say. You have everything +handy—trees handy, river handy—I suppose from the look of that +wharf that sea-going ships can come up?” +</p> + +<p> +“Shallow draughted ones only. But we have our own motor ship specially +built and always running. It makes the round trip in about ten days.” +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove!” Merriman said again. “Splendid! And is that where +you live?” +</p> + +<p> +He pointed to a house standing on a little hillock near the edge of the +clearing at the far or down-stream side of the mill. It was a rough, but not +uncomfortable-looking building of galvanized iron, one-storied and with a +piazza in front. From a brick chimney a thin spiral of blue smoke was floating +up lazily into the calm air. +</p> + +<p> +The girl nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s not palatial, but it’s really wonderfully +comfortable,” she explained, “and oh, the fires! I’ve never +seen such glorious wood fires as we have. Cuttings, you know. We have more +blocks than we know what to do with.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can imagine. I wish we had ’em in London.” +</p> + +<p> +They were walking not too rapidly across the clearing towards the mill. At the +back of the shed were a number of doors, and opposite one of them, heading into +the opening, stood the motor lorry. The engine was still running, but the +driver had disappeared, apparently into the building. As the two came up, +Merriman once more ran his eye idly over the vehicle. And then he felt a sudden +mild surprise, as one feels when some unexpected though quite trivial incident +takes place. He had felt sure that this lorry standing at the mill door was +that which had passed him on the bridge, and which he had followed down the +lane. But now he saw it wasn’t. He had noted, idly but quite distinctly, +that the original machine was No. 4. This one had a precisely similar plate, +but it bore the legend “The Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate, No. 3.” +</p> + +<p> +Though the matter was of no importance, Merriman was a little intrigued, and he +looked more closely at the vehicle. As he did so his surprise grew and his +trifling interest became mystification. The lorry was the same. At least there +on the top was the casting, just as he had seen it. It was inconceivable that +two similar lorries should have two identical castings arranged in the same +way, and at the same time and place. And yet, perhaps it was just possible. +</p> + +<p> +But as he looked he noticed a detail which settled the matter. The casting was +steadied by some rough billets of wood. One of these billets was split, and a +splinter of curious shape had partially entered a bolt hole. He recalled now, +though it had slipped from his memory, that he had noticed that queer-shaped +splinter as the lorry passed him on the bridge. It was therefore unquestionably +and beyond a shadow of doubt the same machine. +</p> + +<p> +Involuntarily he stopped and stood staring at the number plate, wondering if +his recollection of that seen at the bridge could be at fault. He thought not. +In fact, he was certain. He recalled the shape of the 4, which had an unusually +small hollow in the middle. There was no shadow of doubt of this either. He +remained motionless for a few seconds, puzzling over the problem, and was just +about to remark on it when the girl broke in hurriedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Father will be in the office,” she said, and her voice was +sharpened as from anxiety. “Won’t you come and see him about the +petrol?” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at her curiously. The smile had gone from her lips, and her face was +pale. She was frowning, and in her eyes there showed unmistakable fear. She was +not looking at him, and his gaze followed the direction of hers. +</p> + +<p> +The driver had come out of the shed, the same dark, aquiline-featured man as +had passed him on the bridge. He had stopped and was staring at Merriman with +an intense regard in which doubt and suspicion rapidly changed to hostility. +For a moment neither man moved, and then once again the girl’s voice +broke in. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, there is father,” she cried, with barely disguised relief in +her tones. “Come, won’t you, and speak to him.” +</p> + +<p> +The interruption broke the spell. The driver averted his eyes and stooped over +his engine; Merriman turned towards the girl, and the little incident was over. +</p> + +<p> +It was evident to Merriman that he had in some way put his foot in it, how he +could not imagine, unless there was really something in the matter of the +number plate. But it was equally clear to him that his companion wished to +ignore the affair, and he therefore expelled it from his mind for the moment, +and once again following the direction of her gaze, moved towards a man who was +approaching from the far end of the shed. +</p> + +<p> +He was tall and slender like his daughter, and walked with lithe, slightly +feline movements. His face was oval, clear skinned, and with a pallid +complexion made still paler by his dark hair and eyes and a tiny mustache, +almost black and with waxed and pointed ends. He was good-looking as to +features, but the face was weak and the expression a trifle shifty. +</p> + +<p> +His daughter greeted him, still with some perturbation in her manner. +</p> + +<p> +“We were just looking for you, daddy,” she called a little +breathlessly. “This gentleman is cycling to Bordeaux and has run out of +petrol. He asked me if there was any to be had hereabouts, so I told him you +could give him some.” +</p> + +<p> +The newcomer honored Merriman with a rapid though searching and suspicious +glance, but he replied politely, and in a cultured voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Quite right, my dear.” He turned to Merriman and spoke in French. +“I shall be very pleased to supply you, monsieur. How much do you +want?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks awfully, sir,” Merriman answered in his own language. +“I’m English. It’s very good of you, I’m sure, and +I’m sorry to be giving so much trouble. A liter should run me to +Bordeaux, or say a little more in case of accidents.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll give you two liters. It’s no trouble at all.” He +turned and spoke in rapid French to the driver. +</p> + +<p> +“Oui, monsieur,” the man replied, and then, stepping up to his +chief, he said something in a low voice. The other started slightly, for a +moment looked concerned, then instantly recovering himself, advanced to +Merriman. +</p> + +<p> +“Henri, here, will send a man with a two-liter can to where you have left +your machine,” he said, then continued with a suave smile: +</p> + +<p> +“And so, sir, you’re English? It is not often that we have the +pleasure of meeting a fellow-countryman in these wilds.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose not, sir, but I can assure you your pleasure and surprise is +as nothing to mine. You are not only a fellow-countryman but a friend in need +as well.” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear sir, I know what it is to run out of spirit. And I suppose there +is no place in the whole of France where you might go farther without finding +any than this very district. You are on pleasure bent, I presume?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Unfortunately, no,” he replied. “I’m travelling for my +firm, Edwards & Merriman, Wine Merchants of London. I’m Merriman, +Seymour Merriman, and I’m going round the exporters with whom we +deal.” +</p> + +<p> +“A pleasant way to do it, Mr. Merriman. My name is Coburn. You see I am +trying to change the face of the country here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Miss”—Merriman hesitated for a moment and looked at the +girl—“Miss Coburn told me what you were doing. A splendid notion, I +think.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I think we are going to make it pay very well. I suppose +you’re not making a long stay?” +</p> + +<p> +“Two days in Bordeaux, sir, then I’m off east to Avignon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know, I rather envy you. One gets tired of these tree trunks and +the noise of the saws. Ah, there is your petrol.” A workman had appeared +with a red can of Shell. “Well, Mr. Merriman, a pleasant journey to you. +You will excuse my not going farther with you, but I am really supposed to be +busy.” He turned to his daughter with a smile. “You, Madeleine, can +see Mr. Merriman to the road?” +</p> + +<p> +He shook hands, declined Merriman’s request to be allowed to pay for the +petrol and, cutting short the other’s thanks with a wave of his arm, +turned back to the shed. +</p> + +<p> +The two young people strolled slowly back across the clearing, the girl +evidently disposed to make the most of the unwonted companionship, and Merriman +no less ready to prolong so delightful an interview. But in spite of the +pleasure of their conversation, he could not banish from his mind the little +incident which had taken place, and he determined to ask a discreet question or +two about it. +</p> + +<p> +“I say,” he said, during a pause in their talk, “I’m +afraid I upset your lorry man somehow. Did you notice the way he looked at +me?” +</p> + +<p> +The girl’s manner, which up to this had been easy and careless, changed +suddenly, becoming constrained and a trifle self-conscious. But she answered +readily enough. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I saw it. But you must not mind Henri. He was badly shell-shocked, +you know, and he has never been the same since.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’m sorry,” Merriman apologized, wondering if the man +could be a relative. “Both my brothers suffered from it. They were pretty +bad, but they’re coming all right. It’s generally a question of +time, I think.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so,” Miss Coburn rejoined, and quietly but decisively +changed the subject. +</p> + +<p> +They began to compare notes about London, and Merriman was sorry when, having +filled his tank and pushed his bicycle to the road, he could no longer with +decency find an excuse for remaining in her company. He bade her a regretful +farewell, and some half-hour later was mounting the steps of his hotel in +Bordeaux. +</p> + +<p> +That evening and many times later, his mind reverted to the incident of the +lorry. At the time she made it, Miss Coburn’s statement about the +shell-shock had seemed entirely to account for the action of Henri, the driver. +But now Merriman was not so sure. The more he thought over the affair, the more +certain he felt that he had not made a mistake about the number plate, and the +more likely it appeared that the driver had guessed what he, Merriman, had +noticed, and resented it. It seemed to him that there was here some secret +which the man was afraid might become known, and Merriman could not but admit +to himself that all Miss Coburn’s actions were consistent with the +hypothesis that she also shared that secret and that fear. +</p> + +<p> +And yet the idea was grotesque that there could be anything serious in the +altering of the number plate of a motor lorry, assuming that he was not +mistaken. Even if the thing had been done, it was a trivial matter and, so far +as he could see, the motives for it, as well as its consequences, must be +trivial. It was intriguing, but no one could imagine it to be important. As +Merriman cycled eastward through France his interest in the affair gradually +waned, and when, a fortnight later, he reached England, he had ceased to give +it a serious thought. +</p> + +<p> +But the image of Miss Coburn did not so quickly vanish from his imagination, +and many times he regretted he had not taken an opportunity of returning to the +mill to renew the acquaintanceship so unexpectedly begun. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a> +CHAPTER II.<br /> +AN INTERESTING SUGGESTION</h2> + +<p> +About ten o’clock on a fine evening towards the end of June, some six +weeks after the incident described in the last chapter, Merriman formed one of +a group of young men seated round the open window of the smoking room in the +Rovers’ Club in Cranbourne Street. They had dined together, and were +enjoying a slack hour and a little desultory conversation before moving on, +some to catch trains to the suburbs, some to their chambers in town, and others +to round off the evening with some livelier form of amusement. The Rovers had +premises on the fourth floor of a large building near the Hippodrome. Its +membership consisted principally of business and professional men, but there +was also a sprinkling of members of Parliament, political secretaries, and +minor government officials, who, though its position was not ideal, were +attracted to it because of the moderation of its subscription and the +excellence of its cuisine. +</p> + +<p> +The evening was calm, and the sounds from the street below seemed to float up +lazily to the little group in the open window, as the smoke of their pipes and +cigars floated up lazily to the ceiling above. The gentle hum of the traffic +made a pleasant accompaniment to their conversation, as the holding down of a +soft pedal fills in and supports dreamy organ music. But for the six young men +in the bow window the room was untenanted, save for a waiter who had just +brought some fresh drinks, and who was now clearing away empty glasses from an +adjoining table. +</p> + +<p> +The talk had turned on foreign travel, and more than one member had related +experiences which he had undergone while abroad. Merriman was tired and had +been rather silent, but it was suddenly borne in on him that it was his duty, +as one of the hosts of the evening, to contribute somewhat more fully towards +the conversation. He determined to relate his little adventure at the sawmill +of the Pit-Prop Syndicate. He therefore lit a fresh cigar, and began to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“Any of you fellows know the country just south of Bordeaux?” he +asked, and, as no one responded, he went on: “I know it a bit, for I have +to go through it every year on my trip round the wine exporters. This year a +rather queer thing happened when I was about half an hour’s run from +Bordeaux; absolutely a trivial thing and of no importance, you understand, but +it puzzled me. Maybe some of you could throw some light on it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Proceed, my dear sir, with your trivial narrative,” invited Jelfs, +a man sitting at one end of the group. “We shall give it the weighty +consideration which it doubtless deserves.” +</p> + +<p> +Jelfs was a stockbroker and the professional wit of the party. He was a good +soul, but boring. Merriman took no notice of the interruption. +</p> + +<p> +“It was between five and six in the evening,” he went on, and he +told in some detail of his day’s run, culminating in his visit to the +sawmill and his discovery of the alteration in the number of the lorry. He gave +the facts exactly as they had occurred, with the single exception that he made +no mention of his meeting with Madeleine Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +“And what happened?” asked Drake, another of the men, when he had +finished. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing more happened,” Merriman returned. “The manager came +and gave me some petrol, and I cleared out. The point is, why should that +number plate have been changed?” +</p> + +<p> +Jelfs fixed his eyes on the speaker, and gave the little sidelong nod which +indicated to the others that another joke was about to be perpetrated. +</p> + +<p> +“You say,” he asked impressively, “that the lorry was at +first 4 and then 3. Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake of 41?” +</p> + +<p> +“How do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“I mean that it’s a common enough phenomenon for a No. 4 lorry to +change, after lunch, let us say, into No. 44. Are you sure it wasn’t +44?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman joined in the laughter against him. +</p> + +<p> +“It wasn’t forty-anything, you old blighter,” he said +good-humoredly. “It was 4 on the road, and 3 at the mill, and I’m +as sure of it as that you’re an amiable imbecile.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inconclusive,” murmured Jelfs, “entirely inconclusive. +But,” he persisted, “you must not hold back material evidence. You +haven’t told us yet what you had at lunch.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, stow it, Jelfs,” said Hilliard, a thin-faced, eager-looking +young man who had not yet spoken. “Have you no theory yourself, +Merriman?” +</p> + +<p> +“None. I was completely puzzled. I would have mentioned it before, only +it seemed to be making a mountain out of nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think Jelfs’ question should be answered, you know,” Drake +said critically, and after some more good-natured chaff the subject dropped. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after one of the men had to leave to catch his train, and the party +broke up. As they left the building Merriman found Hilliard at his elbow. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you walking?” the latter queried. “If so I’ll come +along.” +</p> + +<p> +Claud Hilliard was the son of a clergyman in the Midlands, a keen, not to say +brilliant student who had passed through both school and college with +distinction, and was already at the age of eight-and-twenty making a name for +himself on the headquarters staff of the Customs Department. His thin, eager +face, with its hooked nose, pale blue eyes and light, rather untidy-looking +hair, formed a true index of his nimble, somewhat speculative mind. What he +did, he did with his might. He was keenly interested in whatever he took up, +showing a tendency, indeed, to ride his hobbies to death. He had a particular +penchant for puzzles of all kinds, and many a knotty problem brought to him as +a last court of appeal received a surprisingly rapid and complete solution. His +detractors, while admitting his ingenuity and the almost uncanny rapidity with +which he seized on the essential facts of a case, said he was lacking in +staying power, but if this were so, he had not as yet shown signs of it. +</p> + +<p> +He and Merriman had first met on business, when Hilliard was sent to the wine +merchants on some matter of Customs. The acquaintanceship thus formed had +ripened into a mild friendship, though the two had not seen a great deal of +each other. +</p> + +<p> +They passed up Coventry Street and across the Circus into Piccadilly. Hilliard +had a flat in a side street off Knightsbridge, while Merriman lived farther +west in Kensington. At the door of the flat Hilliard stopped. +</p> + +<p> +“Come in for a last drink, won’t you?” he invited. +“It’s ages since you’ve been here.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman agreed, and soon the two friends were seated at another open window in +the small but comfortable sitting-room of the flat. +</p> + +<p> +They chatted for some time, and then Hilliard turned the conversation to the +story Merriman had told in the club. +</p> + +<p> +“You know,” he said, knocking the ash carefully off his cigar, +“I was rather interested in that tale of yours. It’s quite an +intriguing little mystery. I suppose it’s not possible that you could +have made a mistake about those numbers?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not exactly infallible, and I have, once or twice in my life, +made mistakes. But I don’t think I made one this time. You see, the only +question is the number at the bridge. The number at the mill is certain. My +attention was drawn to it, and I looked at it too often for there to be the +slightest doubt. It was No. 3 as certainly as I’m alive. But the number +at the bridge is different. There was nothing to draw my attention to it, and I +only glanced at it casually. I would say that I was mistaken about it only for +one thing. It was a black figure on a polished brass ground, and I particularly +remarked that the black lines were very wide, leaving an unusually small brass +triangle in the center. If I noticed that, it must have been a 4.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty conclusive, I should say.” He paused for a few moments, +then moved a little irresolutely. “Don’t think me impertinent, old +man,” he went on with a sidelong glance, “but I imagined from your +manner you were holding something back. Is there more in the story than you +told?” +</p> + +<p> +It was now Merriman’s turn to hesitate. Although Madeleine Coburn had +been in his thoughts more or less continuously since he returned to town, he +had never mentioned her name, and he was not sure that he wanted to now. +</p> + +<p> +“Sorry I spoke, old man,” Hilliard went on. “Don’t mind +answering.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman came to a decision. +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all” he answered slowly. “I’m a fool to make +any mystery of it. I’ll tell you. There is a girl there, the +manager’s daughter. I met her in the lane when I was following the lorry, +and asked her about petrol. She was frightfully decent; came back with me and +told her father what I wanted, and all that. But, Hilliard, here’s the +point. She knew! There’s something, and she knows it too. She got quite +scared when that driver fixed me with his eyes, and tried to get me away, and +she was quite unmistakably relieved when the incident passed. Then later her +father suggested she should see me to the road, and on the way I mentioned the +thing—said I was afraid I had upset the driver somehow—and she got +embarrassed at once, told me the man was shell-shocked, implying that he was +queer, and switched off on to another subject so pointedly I had to let it go +at that.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard’s eyes glistened. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite a good little mystery,” he said. “I suppose the man +couldn’t have been a relation, or even her fiancee?” +</p> + +<p> +“That occurred to me, and it is possible. But I don’t think so. I +believe she wanted to try to account for his manner, so as to prevent my +smelling a rat.” +</p> + +<p> +“And she did not account for it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps she did, but again I don’t think so. I have a pretty good +knowledge of shell-shock, as you know, and it didn’t look like it to me. +I don’t suggest she wasn’t speaking the truth. I mean that this +particular action didn’t seem to be so caused.” +</p> + +<p> +There was silence for a moment, and then Merriman continued: +</p> + +<p> +“There was another thing which might bear in the same direction, or again +it may only be my imagination—I’m not sure of it. I told you the +manager appeared just in the middle of the little scene, but I forgot to tell +you that the driver went up to him and said something in a low tone, and the +manager started and looked at me and seemed annoyed. But it was very slight and +only for a second; I would have noticed nothing only for what went before. He +was quite polite and friendly immediately after, and I may have been mistaken +and imagined the whole thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“But it works in,” Hilliard commented. “If the driver saw +what you were looking at and your expression, he would naturally guess what you +had noticed, and he would warn his boss that you had tumbled to it. The manager +would look surprised and annoyed for a moment, then he would see he must divert +your suspicion, and talk to you as if nothing had happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite. That’s just what I thought. But again, I may have been +mistaken.” +</p> + +<p> +They continued discussing the matter for some time longer, and then the +conversation turned into other channels. Finally the clocks chiming midnight +aroused Merriman, and he got up and said he must be going. +</p> + +<p> +Three days later he had a note from Hilliard. +</p> + +<p> +“Come in tonight about ten if you are doing nothing,” it read. +“I have a scheme on, and I hope you’ll join in with me. Tell you +when I see you.” +</p> + +<p> +It happened that Merriman was not engaged that evening, and shortly after ten +the two men were occupying the same arm-chairs at the same open window, their +glasses within easy reach and their cigars well under way. +</p> + +<p> +“And what is your great idea?” Merriman asked when they had +conversed for a few moments. “If it’s as good as your cigars, +I’m on.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard moved nervously, as if he found a difficulty in replying. Merriman +could see that he was excited, and his own interest quickened. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s about that tale of yours,” Hilliard said at length. +“I’ve been thinking it over.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused as if in doubt. Merriman felt like Alice when she had heard the +mock-turtle’s story, but he waited in silence, and presently Hilliard +went on. +</p> + +<p> +“You told it with a certain amount of hesitation,” he said. +“You suggested you might be mistaken in thinking there was anything in +it. Now I’m going to make a suggestion with even more hesitation, for +it’s ten times wilder than yours, and there is simply nothing to back it +up. But here goes all the same.” +</p> + +<p> +His indecision had passed now, and he went on fluently and with a certain +excitement. +</p> + +<p> +“Here you have a trade with something fishy about it. Perhaps you think +that’s putting it too strongly; if so, let us say there is something +peculiar about it; something, at all events, to call one’s attention to +it, as being in some way out of the common. And when we do think about it, +what’s the first thing we discover?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard looked inquiringly at his friend. The latter sat listening carefully, +but did not speak, and Hilliard answered his own question. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, that it’s an export trade from France to England—an +export trade only, mind you. As far as you learned, these people’s boat +runs the pit-props to England, but carries nothing back. Isn’t that +so?” +</p> + +<p> +“They didn’t mention return cargoes,” Merriman answered, +“but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. I did not go into +the thing exhaustively.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what could there be? What possible thing could be shipped in bulk +from this country to the middle of a wood near Bordeaux? Something, mind you, +that you, there at the very place, didn’t see. Can you think of +anything?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at the moment. But I don’t see what that has to do with +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite possibly nothing, and yet it’s an interesting point.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t see it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, look here. I’ve been making inquiries, and I find most of +our pit-props come from Norway and the Baltic. But the ships that bring them +don’t go back empty. They carry coal. Now do you see?” +</p> + +<p> +It was becoming evident that Hilliard was talking of something quite definite, +and Merriman’s interest increased still further. +</p> + +<p> +“I daresay I’m a frightful ass,” he said, “but +I’m blessed if I know what you’re driving at.” +</p> + +<p> +“Costs,” Hilliard returned. “Look at it from the point of +view of costs. Timber in Norway is as plentiful and as cheap to cut as in the +Landes, indeed, possibly cheaper, for there is water there available for power. +But your freight will be much less if you can get a return cargo. Therefore, +<i>a priori</i>, it should be cheaper to bring props from Norway than from +France. Do you follow me so far?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“If it costs the same amount to cut the props at each place,” +Hilliard resumed, “and the Norwegian freight is lower, the Norwegian +props must be cheaper in England. How then do your friends make it pay?” +</p> + +<p> +“Methods more up to date perhaps. Things looked efficient, and that +manager seemed pretty wide-awake.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps, but I doubt it. I don’t think you have much to teach the +Norwegians about the export of timber. Mind you, it may be all right, but it +seems to me a question if the Bordeaux people have a paying trade.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +“But it must pay or they wouldn’t go on with it. Mr. Coburn said it +was paying well enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard bent forward eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he would say so,” he cried. “Don’t you see +that his saying so is in itself suspicious? Why should he want to tell you that +if there was nothing to make you doubt it?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing to make me doubt it. See here, Hilliard, I don’t +for the life of me know what you’re getting at. For the Lord’s sake +explain yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” Hilliard returned with a smile, “you see you +weren’t brought up in the Customs. Do you know, Merriman, that the thing +of all others we’re keenest on is an import trade that doesn’t +pay?” He paused a moment, then added slowly: “Because if a trade +which doesn’t pay is continued, there must be something else to make it +pay. Just think, Merriman. What would make a trade from France to this country +pay?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove, Hilliard! You mean smuggling?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard laughed delightedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I mean smuggling, what else?” +</p> + +<p> +He waited for the idea to sink into his companion’s brain, and then went +on: +</p> + +<p> +“And now another thing. Bordeaux, as no one knows better than yourself, +is just the center of the brandy district. You see what I’m getting at. +My department would naturally be interested in a mysterious trade from the +Bordeaux district. You accidentally find one. See? Now what do you think of +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think much of it,” Merriman answered sharply, while +a wave of unreasoning anger passed over him. The suggestion annoyed him +unaccountably. The vision of Madeleine Coburn’s clear, honest eyes +returned forcibly to his recollection. “I’m afraid you’re out +of it this time. If you had seen Miss Coburn you would have known she is not +the sort of girl to lend herself to anything of that kind.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard eyed his friend narrowly and with some surprise, but he only said: +</p> + +<p> +“You think not? Well, perhaps you are right. You’ve seen her and I +haven’t. But those two points are at least interesting—the changing +of the numbers and the absence of a return trade.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe there’s anything in it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably you’re right, but the idea interests me. I was going to +make a proposal, but I expect now you won’t agree to it.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman’s momentary annoyance was subsiding. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s hear it anyway, old man,” he said in conciliatory +tones. +</p> + +<p> +“You get your holidays shortly, don’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Monday week. My partner is away now, but he’ll be back on +Wednesday. I go next.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought so. I’m going on mine next week—taking the motor +launch, you know. I had made plans for the Riviera—to go by the Seine, +and from there by canal to the Rhone and out at Marseilles. Higginson was +coming with me, but as you know he’s crocked up and won’t be out of +bed for a month. My proposal is that you come in his place, and that instead of +crossing France in the orthodox way by the Seine, we try to work through from +Bordeaux by the Garonne. I don’t know if we can do it, but it would be +rather fun trying. But anyway the point would be that we should pay a call at +your sawmill on the way, and see if we can learn anything more about the lorry +numbers. What do you say?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sounds jolly fascinating.” Merriman had quite recovered his good +humor. “But I’m not a yachtsman. I know nothing about the +business.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pooh! What do you want to know? We’re not sailing, and motoring +through these rivers and canals is great sport. And then we can go on to Monte +and any of those places you like. I’ve done it before and had no end of a +good time. What do you say? Are you on?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s jolly decent of you, I’m sure, Hilliard. If you think +you can put up with a hopeless landlubber, I’m certainly on.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was surprised to find how much he was thrilled by the proposal. He +enjoyed boating, though only very mildly, and it was certainly not the prospect +of endless journeyings along the canals and rivers of France that attracted +him. Still less was it the sea, of which he hated the motion. Nor was it the +question of the lorry numbers. He was puzzled and interested in the affair, and +he would like to know the solution, but his curiosity was not desperately keen, +and he did not feel like taking a great deal of trouble to satisfy it. At all +events he was not going to do any spying, if that was what Hilliard wanted, for +he did not for a moment accept that smuggling theory. But when they were in the +neighborhood he supposed it would be permissible to call and see the Coburns. +Miss Coburn had seemed lonely. It would be decent to try to cheer her up. They +might invite her on board, and have tea and perhaps a run up the river. He +seemed to visualize the launch moving easily between the tree-clad banks, +Hilliard attending to the engine and steering, he and the brown-eyed girl in +the taffrail, or the cockpit, or the well, or whatever you sat in on a motor +boat. He pictured a gloriously sunny afternoon, warm and delightful, with just +enough air made by the movement to prevent it being too hot. It would... +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard’s voice broke in on his thoughts, and he realized his friend had +been speaking for some time. +</p> + +<p> +“She’s over-engined, if anything,” he was saying, “but +that’s all to the good for emergencies. I got fifteen knots out of her +once, but she averages about twelve. And good in a sea-way, too. For her size, +as dry a boat as ever I was in.” +</p> + +<p> +“What size is she?” asked Merriman. +</p> + +<p> +“Thirty feet, eight feet beam, draws two feet ten. She’ll go down +any of the French canals. Two four-cylinder engines, either of which will run +her. Engines and wheel amidships, cabin aft, decked over. Oh, she’s a +beauty. You’ll like her, I can tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +“But do you mean to tell me you would cross the Bay of Biscay in a boat +that size?” +</p> + +<p> +“The Bay’s maligned. I’ve been across it six times and it was +only rough once. Of course, I’d keep near the coast and run for shelter +if it came on to blow. You need not worry. She’s as safe as a +house.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not worrying about her going to the bottom,” Merriman +answered. “It’s much worse than that. The fact is,” he went +on in a burst of confidence, “I can’t stand the motion. I’m +ill all the time. Couldn’t I join you later?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“I had that in my mind, but I didn’t like to suggest it. As a +matter of fact it would suit me better. You see, I go on my holidays a week +earlier than you. I don’t want to hang about all that time waiting for +you. I’ll get a man and take the boat over to Bordeaux, send the man +home, and you can come overland and join me there. How would that suit +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“A1, Hilliard. Nothing could be better.” +</p> + +<p> +They continued discussing details for the best part of an hour, and when +Merriman left for home it had been arranged that he should follow Hilliard by +the night train from Charing Cross on the following Monday week. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a> +CHAPTER III.<br /> +THE START OF THE CRUISE</h2> + +<p> +Dusk was already falling when the 9 p.m. Continental boat-train pulled out of +Charing Cross, with Seymour Merriman in the corner of a first-class +compartment. It had been a glorious day of clear atmosphere and brilliant +sunshine, and there was every prospect of a spell of good weather. Now, as the +train rumbled over the bridge at the end of the station, sky and river +presented a gorgeous color scheme of crimson and pink and gold, shading off +through violet and gray to nearly black. Through the latticing of the girders +the great buildings on the northern bank showed up for a moment against the +light beyond, dark and somber masses with nicked and serrated tops, then, the +river crossed, nearer buildings intervened to cut off the view, and the train +plunged into the maze and wilderness of South London. +</p> + +<p> +The little pleasurable excitement which Merriman had experienced when first the +trip had been suggested had not waned as the novelty of the idea passed. Not +since he was a boy at school had he looked forward so keenly to holidays. The +launch, for one thing, would be a new experience. He had never been on any kind +of cruise. The nearest approach had been a couple of days’ yachting on +the Norfolk Broads, but he had found that monotonous and boring, and had been +glad when it was over. But this, he expected, would be different. He delighted +in poking about abroad, not in the great cosmopolitan hotels, which after all +are very much the same all the world over, but where he came in contact with +actual foreign life. And how better could a country be seen than by slowly +motoring through its waterways? Merriman was well pleased with the prospect. +</p> + +<p> +And then there would be Hilliard. Merriman had always enjoyed his company, and +he felt he would be an ideal companion on a tour. It was true Hilliard had got +a bee in his bonnet about this lorry affair. Merriman was mildly interested in +the thing, but he would never have dreamed of going back to the sawmill to +investigate. But Hilliard seemed quite excited about it. His attitude, no +doubt, might be partly explained by his love of puzzles and mysteries. Perhaps +also he half believed in his absurd suggestion about the smuggling, or at least +felt that if it <i>were</i> true there was the chance of his making some +<i>coup</i> which would also make his name. How a man’s occupation colors +his mind! thought Merriman. Here was Hilliard, and because he was in the +Customs his ideas ran to Customs operations, and when he came across anything +he did not understand he at once suggested smuggling. If he had been a soldier +he would have guessed gun-running, and if a politician, a means of bringing +anarchist literature into the country. Well, he had not seen Madeleine Coburn! +He would soon drop so absurd a notion when he had met her. The idea of her +being party to such a thing was too ridiculous even to be annoying. +</p> + +<p> +However, Hilliard insisted on going to the mill, and he, Merriman, could then +pay that call on the Coburns. It would not be polite to be in the neighborhood +and not do so. And it would be impossible to call without asking Miss Coburn to +come on the river. As the train rumbled on through the rapidly darkening +country Merriman began once again to picture the details of that excursion. No +doubt they could have tea on board.... He mustn’t forget to buy some +decent cakes in Bordeaux.... Perhaps she would help him to get it ready while +Hilliard steered and pottered over his old engines.... He could just imagine +her bending over a tea tray, her graceful figure, the little brown tendrils of +her hair at the edge of her tam-o’-shanter, her brown eyes flashing up to +meet his own.... +</p> + +<p> +Dover came unexpectedly soon and Merriman had to postpone the further +consideration of his plans until he had gone on board the boat and settled down +in a corner of the smoker room. There, however, he fell asleep, not awaking +until roused by the bustle of the arrival in Calais. +</p> + +<p> +He reached Paris just before six and drove to the Gare d’-Orsay, where he +had time for a bath and breakfast before catching the 7.50 a.m. express for +Bordeaux. Again it was a perfect day, and as the hours passed and they ran +steadily southward through the pleasing but monotonous central plain of France, +the heat grew more and more oppressive. Poitiers was hot, Angouleme an oven, +and Merriman was not sorry when at a quarter to five they came in sight of the +Garonne at the outskirts of Bordeaux and a few moments later pulled up in the +Bastide Station. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was waiting at the platform barrier. +</p> + +<p> +“Hallo, old man,” he cried. “Jolly to see you. Give me one of +your handbags. I’ve got a taxi outside.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman handed over the smaller of the two small suitcases he carried, having, +in deference to Hilliard’s warnings, left behind most of the things he +wanted to bring. They found the taxi and drove out at once across the great +stone bridge leading from the Bastide Station and suburb on the east bank to +the main city on the west. In front of them lay the huge concave sweep of quays +fronting the Garonne, here a river of over a quarter of a mile in width, with +behind the massed buildings of the town, out of which here and there rose +church spires and, farther down-stream, the three imposing columns of the Place +des Quinconces. +</p> + +<p> +“Some river, this,” Merriman said, looking up and down the great +sweep of water. +</p> + +<p> +“Rather. I have the <i>Swallow</i> ’longside a private wharf +farther up-stream. Rather tumble-down old shanty, but it’s easier than +mooring in the stream and rowing out. We’ll go and leave your things +aboard, and then we can come up town again and get some dinner.” +</p> + +<p> +“Right-o,” Merriman agreed. +</p> + +<p> +Having crossed the bridge they turned to the left, upstream, and ran along the +quays towards the south. After passing the railway bridge the taxi swung down +towards the water’s edge, stopping at a somewhat decrepit enclosure, over +the gate of which was the legend “Andre Leblanc, Location de +Canots.” Hilliard jumped out, paid the taxi man, and, followed by +Merriman, entered the enclosure. +</p> + +<p> +It was a small place, with a wooden quay along the river frontage and a shed at +the opposite side. Between the two lay a number of boats. Trade appeared to be +bad, for there was no life about the place and everything was dirty and +decaying. +</p> + +<p> +“There she is,” Hilliard cried, with a ring of pride in his voice. +“Isn’t she a beauty?” +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Swallow</i> was tied up alongside the wharf, her bow upstream, and lay +tugging at her mooring ropes in the swift run of the ebb tide. Merriman’s +first glance at her was one of disappointment. He had pictured a graceful craft +of well-polished wood, with white deck planks, shining brasswork and cushioned +seats. Instead he saw a square-built, clumsy-looking boat, painted, where the +paint was not worn off, a sickly greenish white, and giving a general +impression of dirt and want of attention. She was flush-decked, and sat high in +the water, with a freeboard of nearly five feet. A little forward of amidships +was a small deck cabin containing a brass wheel and binnacle. Aft of the cabin, +in the middle of the open space of the deck, was a skylight, the top of which +formed two short seats placed back to back. Forward rose a stumpy mast carrying +a lantern cage near the top, and still farther forward, almost in the bows, lay +an unexpectedly massive anchor, housed in grids, with behind it a small hand +winch for pulling in the chain. +</p> + +<p> +“We had a bit of a blow coming round the Coubre into the river,” +Hilliard went on enthusiastically, “and I tell you she didn’t ship +a pint. The cabin bone dry, and green water coming over her all the +time.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman could believe it. Though his temporary home was not beautiful, he +could see that she was strong; in fact, she was massive. But he thanked his +stars he had not assisted in the test. He shuddered at the very idea, thinking +gratefully that to reach Bordeaux the Paris-Orleans Railway was good enough for +him. +</p> + +<p> +But, realizing it was expected of him, he began praising the boat, until the +unsuspecting Hilliard believed him as enthusiastic as himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, she’s all of that,” he agreed. “Come aboard and +see the cabin.” +</p> + +<p> +They descended a flight of steps let into the front of the wharf, wet, +slippery, ooze-covered steps left bare by the receding tide, and stepping over +the side entered the tiny deckhouse. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the chart-house, shelter, and companion-way all in one,” +Hilliard explained. “All the engine controls come up here, and I can +reach them with my left hand while steering with my right.” He +demonstrated as he spoke, and Merriman could not but agree that the +arrangements were wonderfully compact and efficient. +</p> + +<p> +“Come below now,” went on the proud owner, disappearing down a +steep flight of steps against one wall of the house. +</p> + +<p> +The hull was divided into three compartments; amidships the engine room with +its twin engines, forward a store containing among other things a collapsible +boat, and aft a cabin with lockers on each side, a folding table between them, +and a marble-topped cupboard on which was a Primus stove. +</p> + +<p> +The woodwork was painted the same greenish white as the outside, but it was +soiled and dingy, and the whole place looked dirty and untidy. There was a +smell of various oils, paraffin predominating. +</p> + +<p> +“You take the port locker,” Hilliard explained. “You see, the +top of it lifts and you can stow your things in it. When there are only two of +us we sleep on the lockers. You’ll find a sheet and blankets inside. +There’s a board underneath that turns up to keep you in if she’s +rolling; not that we shall want it until we get to the Mediterranean. I’m +afraid,” he went on, answering Merriman’s unspoken thought, +“the place is not very tidy. I hadn’t time to do much +squaring—I’ll tell you about that later. I +suppose”—reluctantly—“we had better turn to and clean +up a bit before we go to bed. But”—brightening up +again—“not now. Let’s go up town and get some dinner as soon +as you are ready.” +</p> + +<p> +He fussed about, explaining with the loving and painstaking minuteness of the +designer as well as the owner, the various contraptions the boat contained, and +when he had finished, Merriman felt that, could he but remember his +instructions, there were few situations with which he could not cope or by +which he could be taken unawares. +</p> + +<p> +A few minutes later the two friends climbed once more up the slippery steps, +and, strolling slowly up the town, entered one of the large restaurants in the +Place de la Comedie. +</p> + +<p> +Since Merriman’s arrival Hilliard had talked vivaciously, and his thin, +hawk-like face had seemed even more eager than the wine merchant had ever +before seen it. At first the latter had put it down to the natural interest of +his own arrival, the showing of the boat to a new-comer, and the start of the +cruise generally, but as dinner progressed he began to feel there must be some +more tangible cause for the excitement his friend was so obviously feeling. It +was not Merriman’s habit to beat about the bush. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” he asked during a pause in the conversation. +</p> + +<p> +“What is what?” returned Hilliard, looking uncomprehendingly at his +friend. +</p> + +<p> +“Wrong with you. Here you are, jumping about as if you were on pins and +needles and gabbling at the rate of a thousand words a minute. What’s all +the excitement about?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not excited,” Hilliard returned seriously, “but I +admit being a little interested by what has happened since we parted that night +in London. I haven’t told you yet. I was waiting until we had finished +dinner and could settle down. Let’s go and sit in the Jardin and you +shall hear.” +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the restaurant, they strolled to the Place des Quinconces, crossed it, +and entered the Jardin Public. The band was not playing and, though there were +a number of people about, the place was by no means crowded, and they were able +to find under a large tree set back a little from one of the walks, two vacant +chairs. Here they sat down, enjoying the soft evening air, warm but no longer +too warm, and watching the promenading Bordelais. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” Hilliard resumed as he lit a cigar, “I have had quite +an interesting time. You shall hear. I got hold of Maxwell of the telephones, +who is a yachtsman, and who was going to Spain on holidays. Well, the boat was +laid up at Southampton, and we got down about midday on Monday week. We spent +that day overhauling her and getting in stores, and on Tuesday we ran down +Channel, putting into Dartmouth for the night and to fill with petrol. Next day +was our big day—across to Brest, something like 170 miles, mostly open +sea, and with Ushant at the end of it—a beastly place, generally foggy +and always with bad currents. We intended to wait in the Dart for good weather, +and we wired the Meteorological Office for forecasts. It happened that on +Tuesday night there was a first-rate forecast, so on Wednesday we decided to +risk it. We slipped out past the old castle at Dartmouth at 5 a.m., had a +topping run, and were in Brest at seven that evening. There we filled up again, +and next day, Thursday, we made St. Nazaire, at the mouth of the Loire. We had +intended to make a long day of it on Friday and come right here, but as I told +you it came on to blow a bit off the Coubre, and we could only make the mouth +of the river. We put into a little place called Le Verdon, just inside the +Pointe de Grave—that’s the end of that fork of land on the southern +side of the Gironde estuary. On Saturday we got here about midday, hunted +around, found that old wharf and moored. Maxwell went on the same evening to +Spain.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard paused, while Merriman congratulated him on his journey. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we hadn’t bad luck,” he resumed. “But that really +wasn’t what I wanted to tell you about. I had brought a fishing rod and +outfit, and on Sunday I took a car and drove out along the Bayonne Road until I +came to your bridge over that river—the Lesque I find it is. I told the +chap to come back for me at six, and I walked down the river and did a bit of +prospecting. The works were shut, and by keeping the mill building between me +and the manager’s house, I got close up and had a good look round +unobserved—at least, I think I was unobserved. Well, I must say the whole +business looked genuine. There’s no question those tree cuttings are +pit-props, and I couldn’t see a single thing in the slightest degree +suspicious.” +</p> + +<p> +“I told you there could be nothing really wrong,” Merriman +interjected. +</p> + +<p> +“I know you did, but wait a minute. I got back to the forest again in the +shelter of the mill building, and I walked around through the trees and chose a +place for what I wanted to do next morning. I had decided to spend the day +watching the lorries going to and from the works, and I naturally wished to +remain unobserved myself. The wood, as you know, is very open. The trees are +thick, but there is very little undergrowth, and it’s nearly impossible +to get decent cover. But at last I found a little hollow with a mound between +it and the lane and road—just a mere irregularity in the surface like +what a Tommy would make when he began to dig himself in. I thought I could lie +there unobserved, and see what went on with my glass. I have a very good prism +monocular—twenty-five diameter magnification, with a splendid definition. +From my hollow I could just see through the trees vehicles passing along the +main road, but I had a fairly good view of the lane for at least half its +length. The view, of course, was broken by the stems, but still I should be +able to tell if any games were tried on. I made some innocent looking markings +so as to find the place again, and then went back to the river and so to the +bridge and my taxi.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard paused and drew at his cigar. Merriman did not speak. He was leaning +forward, his face showing the interest he felt. +</p> + +<p> +“Next morning, that was yesterday, I took another taxi and returned to +the bridge, again dressed as a fisherman. I had brought some lunch, and I told +the man to return for me at seven in the evening. Then I found my hollow, lay +down and got out my glass. I was settled there a little before nine +o’clock. +</p> + +<p> +“It was very quiet in the wood. I could hear faintly the noise of the +saws at the mill and a few birds were singing, otherwise it was perfectly +still. Nothing happened for about half an hour, then the first lorry came. I +heard it for some time before I saw it. It passed very slowly along the road +from Bordeaux, then turned into the lane and went along it at almost walking +pace. With my glass I could see it distinctly and it had a label plate same as +you described, and was No. 6. It was empty. The driver was a young man, +clean-shaven and fairhaired. +</p> + +<p> +“A few minutes later a second empty lorry appeared coming from Bordeaux. +It was No. 4, and the driver was, I am sure, the man you saw. He was like your +description of him at all events. This lorry also passed along the lane towards +the works. +</p> + +<p> +“There was a pause then for an hour or more. About half-past ten the No. +4 lorry with your friend appeared coming along the lane outward bound. It was +heavily loaded with firewood and I followed it along, going very slowly and +bumping over the inequalities of the lane. When it got to a point about a +hundred yards from the road, at, I afterwards found, an S curve which cut off +the view in both directions, it stopped and the driver got down. I need not +tell you that I watched him carefully and, Merriman, what do you, think I saw +him do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Change the number plate?” suggested Merriman with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Change the number plate!” repeated Hilliard. “As I’m +alive, that’s exactly what he did. First on one side and then on the +other. He changed the 4 to a 1. He took the 1 plates out of his pocket and put +the 4 plates back instead, and the whole thing just took a couple of seconds, +as if the plates slipped in and out of a holder. Then he hopped up into his +place again and started off. What do you think of that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness only knows,” Merriman returned slowly. “An +extraordinary business.” +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it? Well, that lorry went on out of sight. I waited there +until after six, and four more passed. About eleven o’clock No. 6 with +the clean-shaven driver passed out, loaded, so far as I could see, with +firewood. That was the one that passed in empty at nine. Then there was a pause +until half past two, when your friend returned with his lorry. It was empty +this time, and it was still No. 1. But I’m blessed, Merriman, if he +didn’t stop at the same place and change the number back to 4!” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” said Merriman tersely, now almost as much interested as his +friend. +</p> + +<p> +“It only took a couple of seconds, and then the machine lumbered on +towards the mill. I was pretty excited, I can tell you, but I decided to sit +tight and await developments. The next thing was the return of No. 6 lorry and +the clean-shaven driver. You remember it had started out loaded at about +eleven. It came back empty shortly after the other, say about a quarter to +three. It didn’t stop and there was no change made with its number. Then +there was another pause. At half past three your friend came out again with +another load. This time he was driving No. 1, and I waited to see him stop and +change it. But he didn’t do either. Sailed away with the number remaining +1. Queer, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded and Hilliard resumed. +</p> + +<p> +“I stayed where I was, still watching, but I saw no more lorries. But I +saw Miss Coburn pass about ten minutes later—at least I presume it was +Miss Coburn. She was dressed in brown, and was walking smartly along the lane +towards the road. In about an hour she passed back. Then about five minutes +past five some workmen went by—evidently the day ends at five. I waited +until the coast was clear, then went down to the lane and had a look round +where the lorry had stopped and saw it was a double bend and therefore the most +hidden point. I walked back through the wood to the bridge, picked up my taxi +and got back here about half past seven.” +</p> + +<p> +There was silence for some minutes after Hilliard ceased speaking, then +Merriman asked: +</p> + +<p> +“How long did you say those lorries were away unloading?” +</p> + +<p> +“About four hours.” +</p> + +<p> +“That would have given them time to unload in Bordeaux?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; an hour and a half, the same out, and an hour in the city. Yes, +that part of it is evidently right enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Again silence reigned, and again Merriman broke it with a question. +</p> + +<p> +“You have no theory yourself?” +</p> + +<p> +“Absolutely none.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think that driver mightn’t have some private game of his +own on—be somehow doing the syndicate?” +</p> + +<p> +“What about your own argument?” answered Hilliard. “Is it +likely Miss Coburn would join the driver in anything shady? Remember, your +impression was that she knew.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right,” he agreed, continuing slowly: +“Supposing for a moment it was smuggling. How would that help you to +explain this affair?” +</p> + +<p> +“It wouldn’t. I can get no light anywhere.” +</p> + +<p> +The two men smoked silently, each busy with his thoughts. A certain aspect of +the matter which had always lain subconsciously in Merriman’s mind was +gradually taking concrete form. It had not assumed much importance when the two +friends were first discussing their trip, but now that they were actually at +grips with the affair it was becoming more obtrusive, and Merriman felt it must +be faced. He therefore spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +“You know, old man, there’s one thing I’m not quite clear +about. This affair that you’ve discovered is extraordinarily interesting +and all that, but I’m hanged if I can see what business of ours it +is.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” he answered quickly. “The same thing has been +bothering me. I felt really mean yesterday when that girl came by, as if I were +spying on her, you know. I wouldn’t care to do it again. But I want to go +on to this place and see into the thing farther, and so do you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know that I do specially.” +</p> + +<p> +“We both do,” Hilliard reiterated firmly, “and we’re +both justified. See here. Take my case first. I’m in the Customs +Department, and it is part of my job to investigate suspicious import trades. +Am I not justified in trying to find out if smuggling is going on? Of course I +am. Besides, Merriman, I can’t pretend not to know that if I brought such +a thing to light I should be a made man. Mind you, we’re not out to do +these people any harm, only to make sure they’re not harming us. +Isn’t that sound?” +</p> + +<p> +“That may be all right for you, but I can’t see that the affair is +any business of mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think it is.” Hilliard spoke very quietly. “I think +it’s your business and mine—the business of any decent man. +There’s a chance that Miss Coburn may be in danger. We should make +sure.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman sat up sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“In Heaven’s name, what do you mean, Hilliard?” he cried +fiercely. “What possible danger could she be in?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, suppose there is something wrong—only suppose, I say,” +as the other shook his head impatiently. “If there is, it’ll be on +a big scale, and therefore the men who run it won’t be over squeamish. +Again, if there’s anything, Miss Coburn knows about it. Oh, yes, she +does,” he repeated as Merriman would have dissented, “there is your +own evidence. But if she knows about some large, shady undertaking, she +undoubtedly may be in both difficulty and danger. At all events, as long as the +chance exists it’s up to us to make sure.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman rose to his feet and began to pace up and down, his head bent and a +frown on his face. Hilliard took no notice of him and presently he came back +and sat down again. +</p> + +<p> +“You may be right,” he said. “I’ll go with you to find +that out, and that only. But I’ll not do any spying.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was satisfied with his diplomacy. “I quite see your +point,” he said smoothly, “and I confess I think you are right. +We’ll go and take a look round, and if we find things are all right +we’ll come away again and there’s no harm done. That agreed?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the program then?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I think tomorrow we should take the boat round to the Lesque. It’s +a good long run and we mustn’t be late getting away. Would five be too +early for you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Five? No, I don’t mind if we start now.” +</p> + +<p> +“The tide begins to ebb at four. By five we shall get the best of its +run. We should be out of the river by nine, and in the Lesque by four in the +afternoon. Though that mill is only seventeen miles from here as the crow +flies, it’s a frightful long way round by sea, most of 130 miles, I +should say.” Hilliard looked at his watch. “Eleven o’clock. +Well, what about going back to the <i>Swallow</i> and turning in?” +</p> + +<p> +They left the Jardin, and, sauntering slowly through the well-lighted streets, +reached the launch and went on board. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a> +CHAPTER IV.<br /> +A COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION</h2> + +<p> +Merriman was roused next morning by the feeling rather than the sound of +stealthy movements going on not far away. He had not speedily slept after +turning in. The novelty of his position, as well as the cramped and somewhat +knobby bed made by the locker, and the smell of oils, had made him restless. +But most of all the conversation be had had with Hilliard had banished sleep, +and he had lain thinking over the adventure to which they had committed +themselves, and listening to the little murmurings and gurglings of the water +running past the piles and lapping on the woodwork beside his head. The launch +kept slightly on the move, swinging a little backwards and forwards in the +current as it alternately tightened and slackened its mooring ropes, and +occasionally quivering gently as it touched the wharf. Three separate times +Merriman had heard the hour chimed by the city clocks, and then at last a +delightful drowsiness crept over him, and consciousness had gradually slipped +away. But immediately this shuffling had begun, and with a feeling of injury he +roused himself to learn the cause. Opening his eyes he found the cabin was full +of light from the dancing reflections of sunlit waves on the ceiling, and that +Hilliard, dressing on the opposite locker, was the author of the sounds which +had disturbed him. +</p> + +<p> +“Good!” cried the latter cheerily. “You’re awake? +Quarter to five and a fine day.” +</p> + +<p> +“Couldn’t be,” Merriman returned, stretching himself +luxuriously. “I heard it strike two not ten seconds ago.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it’s time we were under way anyhow,” he declared. +“Tide’s running out this hour. We’ll get a fine lift down to +the sea.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman got up and peeped out of the porthole above his locker. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you tub over the side?” he inquired. “Lord, what +sunlight!” +</p> + +<p> +“Rather. But I vote we wait an hour or so until we’re clear of the +town. I fancy the water will be more inviting lower down. We could stop and +have a swim, and then we should be ready for breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +“Right-o. You get way on her, or whatever you do, and I shall have a shot +at clearing up some of the mess you keep here.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard left the cabin, and presently a racketing noise and vibration +announced that the engines had been started. This presently subsided into a not +unpleasing hum, after which a hail came from forward. +</p> + +<p> +“Lend a hand to cast off, like a stout fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman hurriedly completed his dressing and went on deck, stopping in spite +of himself to look around before attending to the ropes. The sun was low down +over the opposite bank, and transformed the whole river down to the railway +bridge into a sheet of blinding light. Only the southern end of the great +structure was visible stretching out of the radiance, as well as the houses on +the western bank, but these showed out with incredible sharpness in high lights +and dark shadows. From where they were lying they could not see the great curve +of the quays, and the town in spite of the brilliancy of the atmosphere looked +drab and unattractive. +</p> + +<p> +“Going to be hot,” Hilliard remarked. “The bow first, if you +don’t mind.” +</p> + +<p> +He started the screw, and kept the launch alongside the wharf while Merriman +cast off first the bow and then the stern ropes. Then, steering out towards the +middle of the river, he swung round and they began to slip rapidly downstream +with the current. +</p> + +<p> +After passing beneath the huge mass of the railway bridge they got a better +view of the city, its rather unimposing buildings clustering on the great curve +of the river to the left, and with the fine stone bridge over which they had +driven on the previous evening stretching across from bank to bank in front of +them. Slipping through one of its seventeen arches, they passed the long lines +of quays with their attendant shipping, until gradually the houses got thinner +and they reached the country beyond. +</p> + +<p> +About a dozen miles below the town Hilliard shut off the engines, and when the +launch had come to rest on the swift current they had a glorious dip—in +turn. Then the odor of hot ham mingled in the cabin with those of paraffin and +burned petrol, and they had an even more glorious breakfast. Finally the +engines were restarted, and they pressed steadily down the ever-widening +estuary. +</p> + +<p> +About nine they got their first glimpse of the sea horizon, and, shortly after, +a slight heave gave Merriman a foretaste of what he must soon expect. The sea +was like a mill pond, but as they came out from behind the Pointe de Grave they +began to feel the effect of the long, slow ocean swell. As soon as he dared +Hilliard turned southwards along the coast. This brought the swells abeam, but +so large were they in relation to the launch that she hardly rolled, but was +raised and lowered bodily on an almost even keel. Though Merriman was not +actually ill, he was acutely unhappy and experienced a thrill of thanksgiving +when, about five o’clock, they swung round east and entered the estuary +of the Lesque. +</p> + +<p> +“Must go slowly here,” Hilliard explained, as the banks began to +draw together. “There’s no sailing chart of this river, and we +shall have to feel our way up.” +</p> + +<p> +For some two miles they passed through a belt of sand dunes, great yellow +hillocks shaded with dark green where grasses had seized a precarious foothold. +Behind these the country grew flatter, and small, blighted-looking shrubs began +to appear, all leaning eastwards in witness of the devastating winds which blew +in from the sea. Farther on these gave place to stunted trees, and by the time +they had gone ten or twelve miles they were in the pine forest. Presently they +passed under a girder bridge, carrying the railway from Bordeaux to Bayonne and +the south. +</p> + +<p> +“We can’t be far from the mill now,” said Hilliard a little +later. “I reckoned it must be about three miles above the railway.” +</p> + +<p> +They were creeping up very slowly against the current. The engines, running +easily, were making only a subdued murmur inaudible at any considerable +distance. The stream here was narrow, not more than about a hundred yards +across, and the tall, straight-stemmed pines grew down to the water’s +edge on either side. Already, though it was only seven o’clock, it was +growing dusk in the narrow channel, and Hilliard was beginning to consider the +question of moorings for the night. +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll go round that next bend,” he decided, “and look +for a place to anchor.” +</p> + +<p> +Some five minutes later they steered close in against a rapidly shelving bit of +bank, and silently lowered the anchor some twenty feet from the margin. +</p> + +<p> +“Jove! I’m glad to have that anchor down,” Hilliard remarked, +stretching himself. “Here’s eight o’clock, and we’ve +been at it since five this morning. Let’s have supper and a pipe, and +then we’ll discuss our plans.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what are your plans?” Merriman asked, when an hour later they +were lying on their lockers, Hilliard with his pipe and Merriman with a cigar. +</p> + +<p> +“Tomorrow I thought of going up in the collapsible boat until I came to +the works, then landing on the other bank and watching what goes on at the +mill. I thought of taking my glass and keeping cover myself. After what you +said last night you probably won’t care to come, and I was going to +suggest that if you cared to fish you would find everything you wanted in that +forward locker. In the evening we could meet here and I would tell you if I saw +anything interesting.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman took his cigar from his lips and sat up on the locker. +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, old man,” he said, “I’m sorry I was a bit +ratty last night. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve been +thinking of what you said, and I agree that your view is the right one. +I’ve decided that if you’ll have me, I’m in this thing until +we’re both satisfied there’s nothing going to hurt either Miss +Coburn or our own country.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard sprang to his feet and held out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Cheers!” he cried. “I’m jolly glad you feel that way. +That’s all I want to do too. But I can’t pretend my motives are +altogether disinterested. Just think of the kudos for us both if there +<i>should</i> be something.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shouldn’t build too much on it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not, but there is always the possibility.” +</p> + +<p> +Next morning the two friends got out the collapsible boat, locked up the +launch, and paddling gently up the river until the galvanized gable of the +Coburns’ house came in sight through the trees, went ashore on the +opposite bank. The boat they took to pieces and hid under a fallen trunk, then, +screened by the trees, they continued their way on foot. +</p> + +<p> +It was still not much after seven, another exquisitely clear morning giving +promise of more heat. The wood was silent though there was a faint stir of life +all around them, the hum of invisible insects, the distant singing of birds as +well as the murmur of the flowing water. Their footsteps fell soft on the +carpet of scant grass and decaying pine needles. There seemed a hush over +everything, as if they were wandering amid the pillars of some vast cathedral +with, instead of incense, the aromatic smell of the pines in their nostrils. +They walked on, repressing the desire to step on tiptoe, until through the +trees they could see across the river the galvanized iron of the shed. +</p> + +<p> +A little bit higher up-stream the clearing of the trees had allowed some +stunted shrubs to cluster on the river bank. These appearing to offer good +cover, the two men crawled forward and took up a position in their shelter. +</p> + +<p> +The bank they were on was at that point slightly higher than on the opposite +side, giving them an excellent view of the wharf and mill as well as of the +clearing generally. The ground, as has already been stated, was in the shape of +a D, the river bounding the straight side. About half-way up this straight side +was the mill, and about half-way between it and the top were the shrubs behind +which the watchers were seated. At the opposite side of the mill from the +shrubs, at the bottom of the D pillar, the Coburns’ house stood on a +little knoll. +</p> + +<p> +“Jolly good observation post, this,” Hilliard remarked as he +stretched himself at ease and laid his glass on the ground beside him. +“They’ll not do much that we shall miss from here.” +</p> + +<p> +“There doesn’t seem to be much to miss at present,” Merriman +answered, looking idly over the deserted space. +</p> + +<p> +About a quarter to eight a man appeared where the lane from the road debouched +into the clearing. He walked towards the shed, to disappear presently behind +it. Almost immediately blue smoke began issuing from the metal chimney in the +shed roof. It was evident he had come before the others to get up steam. +</p> + +<p> +In about half an hour those others arrived, about fifteen men in all, a +rough-looking lot in laborers’ kit. They also vanished behind the shed, +but most of them reappeared almost immediately, laden with tools, and, +separating into groups, moved off to the edge of the clearing. Soon work was in +full swing. Trees were being cut down by one gang, the branches lopped off +fallen trunks by another, while a third was loading up and running the stripped +stems along a Decauville railway to the shed. Almost incessantly the thin +screech of the saws rose penetratingly above the sounds of hacking and chopping +and the calls of men. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/fig01.jpg" width="547" height="600" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<p> +“There doesn’t seem to be much wrong here,” Merriman said +when they had surveyed the scene for nearly an hour. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” Hilliard agreed, “and there didn’t seem to be +much wrong when I inspected the place on Sunday. But there can’t be +anything <i>obviously</i> wrong. If there is anything, in the nature of things +it won’t be easy to find.” +</p> + +<p> +About nine o’clock Mr. Coburn, dressed in gray flannel, emerged from his +house and crossed the grass to the mill. He remained there for a few minutes, +then they saw him walking to the workers at the forest edge. He spent some +moments with each gang, afterwards returning to his house. For nearly an hour +things went on as before, and then Mr. Coburn reappeared at his hall door, this +time accompanied by his daughter. Both were dressed extraordinarily well for +such a backwater of civilization, he with a gray Homburg hat and gloves, she as +before in brown, but in a well-cut coat and skirt and a smart toque and +motoring veil. Both were carrying dust coats. Mr. Coburn drew the door to, and +they walked towards the mill and were lost to sight behind it. Some minutes +passed, and between the screaming of the saws the sound of a motor engine +became audible. After a further delay a Ford car came out from behind the shed +and moved slowly over the uneven sward towards the lane. In the car were Mr. +and Miss Coburn and a chauffeur. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard had been following every motion through his glass, and he now thrust +the instrument into his companion’s hand, crying softly: +</p> + +<p> +“Look, Merriman. Is that the lorry driver you saw?” Merriman +focused the glass on the chauffeur and recognized him instantly. It was the +same dark, aquiline-featured man who had stared at him so resentfully on the +occasion of his first visit to the mill, some two months earlier. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove, what an extraordinary stroke of luck!” Hilliard went on +eagerly. “All three of them that know you out of the way! We can go down +to the place now and ask for Mr. Coburn, and maybe we shall have a chance to +see inside that shed. Let’s go at once, before they come back.” +</p> + +<p> +They crawled away from their point of vantage into the wood, and retracing +their steps to the boat, put it together and carried it to the river. Then +rowing up-stream, they reached the end of the wharf, where a flight of wooden +steps came down into the stream. Here they went ashore, after making the +painter fast to the woodwork. +</p> + +<p> +The front of the wharf, they had seen from the boat, was roughly though +strongly made. At the actual edge, there was a row of almost vertical piles, +pine trees driven unsquared. Behind these was a second row, inclined inwards. +The feet of both rows seemed to be pretty much in the same line, but the tops +of the raking row were about six feet behind the others, the arrangement, seen +from the side, being like a V of which one leg is vertical. These tops were +connected by beams, supporting a timber floor. Behind the raking piles rough +tree stems had been laid on the top of each other horizontally to hold back the +earth filled behind them. The front was about a hundred feet long, and was set +some thirty feet out in the river. +</p> + +<p> +Parallel to the front and about fifty feet behind it was the wall of the shed. +It was pierced by four doors, all of which were closed, but out of each of +which ran a line of narrow gauge railway. These lines were continued to the +front of the wharf and there connected up by turn-tables to a cross line, +evidently with the idea that a continuous service of loaded trucks could be +sent out of one door, discharged, and returned as empties through another. +Stacks of pit-props stood ready for loading between the lines. +</p> + +<p> +“Seems a sound arrangement,” Hilliard commented as they made their +inspection. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite. Anything I noticed before struck me as being efficient.” +</p> + +<p> +When they had seen all that the wharf appeared to offer, they walked round the +end of the shed. At the back were a number of doors, and through these also +narrow gauge lines were laid which connected with those radiating to the edge +of the clearing. Everywhere between the lines were stacks of pit-props as well +as blocks and cuttings. Three or four of the doors were open, and in front of +one of them, talking to someone in the building, stood a man. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he turned and saw them. Immediately they advanced and Hilliard +accosted him. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-morning. We are looking for Mr. Coburn. Is he about?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, monsieur,” the man answered civilly, “he has gone into +Bordeaux. He won’t be back until the afternoon.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s unfortunate for us,” Hilliard returned +conversationally. “My friend and I were passing up the river on our +launch, and we had hoped to have seen him. However, we shall get hold of him +later. This is a fine works you have got here.” +</p> + +<p> +The man smiled. He seemed a superior type to the others and was evidently a +foreman. +</p> + +<p> +“Not so bad, monsieur. We have four saws, but only two are running +today.” He pointed to the door behind him as he spoke, and the two +friends passed in as if to have an idle look round. +</p> + +<p> +The interior was fitted up like that of any other sawmill, but the same element +of design and efficiency seemed apparent here as elsewhere. The foreman +explained the process. The lopped trunks from the wood came in by one of two +roads through a large door in the center of the building. Outside each road was +a saw, its axle running parallel to the roads. The logs were caught in grabs, +slung on to the table of the saws and, moving automatically all the time, were +cut into lengths of from seven to ten feet. The pieces passed for props were +dumped on to a conveyor which ran them out of the shed to be stacked for +seasoning and export. The rejected pieces by means of another conveyor moved to +the third and fourth saws, where they were cut into blocks for firewood, being +finally delivered into two large bins ready for loading on to the lorries. +</p> + +<p> +The friends exhibited sufficient non-technical interest to manage to spend a +good deal of time over their survey, drawing out the foreman in conversation +and seeing as much as they could. At one end of the shed was the boiler house +and engine room, at the other the office, with between it and the mill proper a +spacious garage in which, so they were told, the six lorries belonging to the +syndicate were housed. Three machines were there, two lying up empty, the +third, with engine running and loaded with blocks, being ready to start. They +would have liked to examine the number plate, but in the presence of the +foreman it was hardly possible. Finally they walked across the clearing to +where felling and lopping was in progress, and inspected the operations. When +they left shortly after with a promise to return to meet Mr. Coburn, there was +not much about the place they had missed. +</p> + +<p> +“That business is just as right as rain,” Merriman declared when +they were once more in the boat. “And that foreman’s all right too. +I’d stake my life he wasn’t hiding anything. He’s not clever +enough for one thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I think too,” Hilliard admitted. “And yet, what about the +game with the number plates? What’s the idea of that?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. But all the same I’ll take my oath +there’s nothing wrong about the timber trade. It’s no go, Hilliard. +Let’s drop chasing wild geese and get along with our trip.” +</p> + +<p> +“I feel very like it,” the other replied as he sucked moodily at +his pipe. “We’ll watch for another day or so, and if we see nothing +suspicious we can clear out.” +</p> + +<p> +But that very evening an incident occurred which, though trifling, revived all +their suspicions and threw them at once again into a sea of doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Believing that the Coburns would by that time have returned, they left the +launch about five o’clock to call. Reaching the edge of the clearing +almost directly behind the house, they passed round the latter and rang. +</p> + +<p> +The door was opened by Miss Coburn herself. It happened that the sun was +shining directly in her eyes, and she could not therefore see her +visitors’ features. +</p> + +<p> +“You are the gentlemen who wished to see Mr. Coburn, I presume?” +she said before Merriman could speak. “He is at the works. You will find +him in his office.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman stepped forward, his cap off. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you remember me, Miss Coburn?” he said earnestly. +“I had the pleasure of meeting you in May, when you were so kind as to +give me petrol to get me to Bordeaux.” +</p> + +<p> +Miss Coburn looked at him more carefully, and her manner, which had up to then +been polite, but coolly self-contained, suddenly changed. Her face grew dead +white and she put her hand sharply to her side, as though to check the rapid +beating of her heart. For a moment she seemed unable to speak, then, recovering +herself with a visible effort, she answered in a voice that trembled in spite +of herself: +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Merriman, isn’t it? Of course I remember. Won’t you come +in? My father will be back directly.” +</p> + +<p> +She was rapidly regaining self-control, and by the time Merriman had presented +Hilliard her manner had become almost normal. She led the way to a comfortably +furnished sitting-room looking out over the river. +</p> + +<p> +“Hilliard and I are on a motor launch tour across France,” Merriman +went on. “He worked from England down the coast to Bordeaux, where I +joined him, and we hope eventually to cross the country to the Mediterranean +and do the Riviera from the sea.” +</p> + +<p> +“How perfectly delightful,” Miss Coburn replied. “I envy +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it’s very jolly doing these rivers and canals,” +Hilliard interposed. “I have spent two or three holidays that way now, +and it has always been worth while.” +</p> + +<p> +As they chatted on in the pleasant room the girl seemed completely to have +recovered her composure, and yet Merriman could not but realize a constraint in +her manner, and a look of anxiety in her clear brown eyes. That something was +disturbing her there could be no doubt, and that something appeared to be not +unconnected with himself. But, he reasoned, there was nothing connected with +himself that could cause her anxiety, unless it really was that matter of the +number plates. He became conscious of an almost overwhelming desire to share +her trouble whatever it might be, to let her understand that so far from +willingly causing a shadow to fall across her path there were few things he +would not do to give her pleasure; indeed, he began to long to take her in his +arms, to comfort her.... +</p> + +<p> +Presently a step in the hall announced Mr. Coburn’s return. “In +here, daddy,” his daughter called, and the steps approached the door. +</p> + +<p> +Whether by accident or design it happened that Miss Coburn was seated directly +opposite the door, while her two visitors were placed where they were screened +by the door itself from the view of anyone entering. Hilliard, his eyes on the +girl’s face as her father came in, intercepted a glance of what seemed to +be warning. His gaze swung round to the new-comer, and here again he noticed a +start of surprise and anxiety as Mr. Coburn recognized his visitor. But in this +case it was so quickly over that had he not been watching intently he would +have missed it. However, slight though it was, it undoubtedly seemed to confirm +the other indications which pointed to the existence of some secret in the life +of these two, a secret shared apparently by the good-looking driver and +connected in some way with the lorry number plates. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn was very polite, suave and polished as an accomplished man of the +world. But his manner was not really friendly; in fact, Hilliard seemed to +sense a veiled hostility. A few deft questions put him in possession of the +travelers ostensible plans, which he discussed with some interest. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” he said to Hilliard, “I am afraid you are in error in +coming up this River Lesque. The canal you want to get from here is the Midi, +it enters the Mediterranean not far from Narbonne. But the connection from this +side is from the Garonne. You should have gone up-stream to Langon, nearly +forty miles above Bordeaux.” +</p> + +<p> +“We had hoped to go from still farther south,” Hilliard answered. +“We have penetrated a good many of the rivers, or rather I have, and we +came up here to see the sand-dunes and forests of the Landes, which are new to +me. A very desolate country, is it not?” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn agreed, continuing courteously: +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad at all events that your researches have brought you into our +neighborhood. We do not come across many visitors here, and it is pleasant +occasionally to speak one’s own language to someone outside one’s +household. If you will put up with pot-luck I am sure we should both be +glad—” he looked at his daughter”—if you would wait and +take some dinner with us now. Tomorrow you could explore the woods, which are +really worth seeing though monotonous, and if you are at all interested I +should like to show you our little works. But I warn you the affair is my +hobby, as well as my business for the time being, and I am apt to assume others +have as great an interest in it as myself. You must not let me bore you.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard, suspicious and critically observant, wondered if he had not +interrupted a second rapid look between father and daughter. He could not be +sure, but at all events the girl hastened to second her father’s +invitation. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you will wait for dinner,” she said. “As he says, we +see so few people, and particularly so few English, that it would be doing us a +kindness. I’m afraid that’s not very complimentary”—she +laughed brightly—“but it’s at least true.” +</p> + +<p> +They stayed and enjoyed themselves. Mr. Coburn proved himself an entertaining +host, and his conversation, though satirical, was worth listening to. He and +Hilliard talked, while Merriman, who was something of a musician, tried over +songs with Miss Coburn. Had it not been for an uneasy feeling that they were to +some extent playing the part of spies, the evening would have been a delight to +the visitors. +</p> + +<p> +Before they left for the launch it was arranged that they should stay over the +following day, lunch with the Coburns, and go for a tramp through the forest in +the afternoon. They took their leave with cordial expressions of good will. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Merriman,” Hilliard said eagerly as they strolled back +through the wood, “did you notice how your sudden appearance upset them +both? There can be no further doubt about it, there’s something. What it +may be I don’t know, but there is something.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s nothing wrong at all events,” Merriman asserted +doggedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not wrong in the sense you mean, no,” Hilliard agreed quickly, +“but wrong for all that. Now that I have met Miss Coburn I can see that +your estimate of her was correct. But anyone with half an eye could see also +that she is frightened and upset about something. There’s something +wrong, and she wants a helping hand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Damn you, Hilliard, how you talk,” Merriman growled with a sudden +wave of unreasoning rage. “There’s nothing wrong and no need for +our meddling. Let us clear out and go on with our trip.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard smiled under cover of darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“And miss our lunch and excursion with the Coburns to-morrow?” he +asked maliciously. +</p> + +<p> +“You know well enough what I mean,” Merriman answered irritably. +“Let’s drop this childish tomfoolery about plots and mysteries and +try to get reasonably sane again. Here,” he went on fiercely as the other +demurred, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do if you like. I’ll +have no more suspicions or spying, but I’ll ask her if there is anything +wrong: say I thought there was from her manner and ask her the direct question. +Will that please you?” +</p> + +<p> +“And get well snubbed for your pains?” Hilliard returned. +“You’ve tried that once already. Why did you not persist in your +inquiries about the number plate when she told you about the driver’s +shell-shock?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was silent for a few moments, then burst out: +</p> + +<p> +“Well, hang it all, man, what do you suggest?” +</p> + +<p> +During the evening an idea had occurred to Hilliard and he returned to it now. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll tell you,” he answered slowly, and instinctively he +lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you what we must do. We must see +their steamer loaded. I’ve been thinking it over. We must see what, if +anything, goes on board that boat beside pit-props.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman only grunted in reply, but Hilliard, realizing his condition, was +satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +And Merriman, lying awake that night on the port locker of the <i>Swallow</i>, +began himself to realize his condition, and to understand that his whole future +life and happiness lay between the dainty hands of Madeleine Coburn. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a> +CHAPTER V.<br /> +THE VISIT OF THE “GIRONDIN”</h2> + +<p> +Next morning found both the friends moody and engrossed with their own +thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was lost in contemplation of the new factor which had come into his +life. It was not the first time he had fancied himself in love. Like most men +of his age he had had affairs of varying seriousness, which in due time had run +their course and died a natural death. But this, he felt, was different. At +last he believed he had met the one woman, and the idea thrilled him with awe +and exultation, and filled his mind to the exclusion of all else. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard’s preoccupation was different. He was considering in detail his +idea that if a close enough watch could be kept on the loading of the +syndicate’s ship it would at least settle the smuggling question. He did +not think that any article could be shipped in sufficient bulk to make the +trade pay, unnoticed by a skilfully concealed observer. Even if the commodity +were a liquid—brandy, for example—sent aboard through a flexible +pipe, the thing would be seen. +</p> + +<p> +But two unexpected difficulties had arisen since last night. Firstly, they had +made friends with the Coburns. Excursions with them were in contemplation, and +one had actually been arranged for that very day. While in the neighborhood +they had been asked virtually to make the manager’s house their +headquarters, and it was evidently expected that the two parties should see a +good deal of each other. Under these circumstances how were the friends to get +away to watch the loading of the boat? +</p> + +<p> +And then it occurred to Hilliard that here, perhaps, was evidence of design; +that this very difficulty had been deliberately caused by Mr. Coburn with the +object of keeping himself and Merriman under observation and rendering them +harmless. This, he recognized, was guesswork, but still it might be the truth. +</p> + +<p> +He racked his brains to find some way of meeting the difficulty, and at last, +after considering many plans, he thought he saw his way. They would as soon as +possible take leave of their hosts and return to Bordeaux, ostensibly to resume +their trip east. From there they would come out to the clearing by road, and +from the observation post they had already used keep a close eye on the arrival +of the ship and subsequent developments. At night they might be even able to +hide on the wharf itself. In any case they could hardly fail to see if anything +other than pit-props was loaded. +</p> + +<p> +So far, so good, but there was a second and more formidable difficulty. Would +Merriman consent to this plan and agree to help? Hilliard was doubtful. That +his friend had so obviously fallen in love with this Madeleine Coburn was an +unexpected and unfortunate complication. He could, of course, play on the +string that the girl was in danger and wanted help, but he had already used +that with disappointing results. However, he could see nothing for it but to do +his best to talk Merriman round. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, when they were smoking their after-breakfast pipes, he broached +the subject. But as he had feared, his friend would have none of it. +</p> + +<p> +“I tell you I won’t do anything of the kind,” he said +angrily. “Here we come, two strangers, poking our noses into what does +not concern us, and we are met with kindness and hospitality and invited to +join a family party. Good Lord, Hilliard, I can’t believe that it is +really you that suggests it! You surely don’t mean that you believe that +the Coburns are smuggling brandy?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course not, you old fire-eater,” Hilliard answered +good-humoredly, “but I do believe, and so must you, that there is +something queer going on. We want to be sure there is nothing sinister behind +it. Surely, old man, you will help me in that?” +</p> + +<p> +“If I thought there was anything wrong you know I’d help +you,” Merriman returned, somewhat mollified by the other’s +attitude. “But I don’t. It is quite absurd to suggest the Coburns +are engaged in anything illegal, and if you grant that your whole case falls to +the ground.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard saw that for the moment at all events he could get no more. He +therefore dropped the subject and they conversed on other topics until it was +time to go ashore. +</p> + +<p> +Lunch with their new acquaintances passed pleasantly, and after it the two +friends went with Mr. Coburn to see over the works. Hilliard thought it better +to explain that they had seen something of them on the previous day, but +notwithstanding this assurance Mr. Coburn insisted on their going over the +whole place again. He showed them everything in detail, and when the inspection +was complete both men felt more than ever convinced that the business was +genuine, and that nothing was being carried on other than the ostensible trade. +Mr. Coburn, also, gave them his views on the enterprise, and these seemed so +eminently reasonable and natural that Hilliard’s suspicions once more +became dulled, and he began to wonder if their host’s peculiar manner +could not have been due to some cause other than that he had imagined. +</p> + +<p> +“There is not so much money in the pit-props as I had hoped,” Mr. +Coburn explained. “When we started here the Baltic trade, which was, of +course, the big trade before the war, had not revived. Now we find the Baltic +competition growing keener, and our margin of profit is dwindling. We are +handicapped also by having only a one-way traffic. Most of the Baltic firms +exporting pit-props have an import trade in coal as well. This gives them +double freights and pulls down their overhead costs. But it wouldn’t pay +us to follow their example. If we ran coal it could only be to Bordeaux, and +that would take up more of our boat’s time than it would be worth.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded and Mr. Coburn went on: +</p> + +<p> +“On the other hand, we are doing better in what I may call +‘sideshows.’ We’re getting quite a good price for our +fire-wood, and selling more and more of it. Three large firms in Bordeaux have +put in wood-burning fireboxes and nothing else, and two others are thinking of +following suit. Then I am considering two developments; in fact, I have decided +on the first. We are going to put in an air compressor in our engine-room, and +use pneumatic tools in the forest for felling and lopping. I estimate that will +save us six men. Then I think there would be a market for pine paving blocks +for streets. I haven’t gone into this yet, but I’m doing so.” +</p> + +<p> +“That sounds very promising,” Hilliard answered. “I +don’t know much about it, but I believe soft wood blocks are considered +better than hard.” +</p> + +<p> +“They wear more evenly, I understand. I’m trying to persuade the +Paris authorities to try a piece of it, and if that does well it might develop +into a big thing. Indeed, I can imagine our giving up the pit-props altogether +in the future.” +</p> + +<p> +After a time Miss Coburn joined them, and, the Ford car being brought out, the +party set off on their excursion. They visited a part of the wood where the +trees were larger than near the sawmill, and had a pleasant though uneventful +afternoon. The evening they spent as before at the Coburns’ house. +</p> + +<p> +Next day the friends invited their hosts to join them in a trip up the river. +Hilliard tactfully interested the manager in the various “gadgets” +he had fitted up in the launch, and Merriman’s dream of making tea with +Miss Coburn materialized. The more he saw of the gentle, brown-eyed girl, the +more he found his heart going out to her, and the more it was borne in on him +that life without her was becoming a prospect more terrible than he could bring +himself to contemplate. +</p> + +<p> +They went up-stream on the flood tide for some twenty miles, until the forest +thinned away and they came on vineyards. There they went ashore, and it was not +until the shades of evening were beginning to fall that they arrived back at +the clearing. +</p> + +<p> +As they swung round the bend in sight of the wharf Mr. Coburn made an +exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +“Hallo!” he cried. “There’s the <i>Girondin</i>. She +has made a good run. We weren’t expecting her for another three or four +hours.” +</p> + +<p> +At the wharf lay a vessel of about 300 tons burden, with bluff, rounded bows +sitting high up out of the water, a long, straight waist, and a bridge and +cluster of deckhouses at the stern. +</p> + +<p> +“Our motor ship,” Mr. Coburn explained with evident pride. +“We had her specially designed for carrying the pit-props, and also for +this river. She only draws eight feet. You must come on board and have a look +over her.” +</p> + +<p> +This was of all things what Hilliard most desired. He recognized that if he was +allowed to inspect her really thoroughly, it would finally dispel any lingering +suspicion he might still harbor that the syndicate was engaged in smuggling +operations. The two points on which that suspicion had been founded—the +absence of return cargoes and the locality of the French end of the +enterprise—were not, he now saw, really suspicious at all. Mr. +Coburn’s remark met the first of these points, and showed that he was +perfectly alive to the handicap of a oneway traffic. The matter had not been +material when the industry was started, but now, owing to the recovery of the +Baltic trade after the war, it was becoming important, and the manager +evidently realized that it might easily grow sufficiently to kill the pit-prop +trade altogether. And the locality question was even simpler. The syndicate had +chosen the pine forests of the Landes for their operations because they wanted +timber close to the sea. On the top of these considerations came the lack of +secrecy about the ship. It could only mean that there really was nothing aboard +to conceal. +</p> + +<p> +On reaching the wharf all four crossed the gangway to the deck of the +<i>Girondin</i>. At close quarters she seemed quite a big boat. In the bows was +a small forecastle, containing quarters for the crew of five men as well as the +oil tanks and certain stores. Then amidships was a long expanse of holds, while +aft were the officers’ cabins and tiny mess-room, galley, navigating +bridge, and last, but not least, the engine-room with its set of Diesel +engines. She seemed throughout a well-appointed boat, no money having +apparently been spared to make her efficient and comfortable. +</p> + +<p> +“She carries between six and seven thousand props every trip,” Mr. +Coburn told them, “that is, without any deck cargo. I dare say in summer +we could put ten thousand on her if we tried, but she is rather shallow in the +draught for it, and we don’t care to run any risks. Hallo, captain! Back +again?” he broke off, as a man in a blue pilot cloth coat and a peaked +cap emerged from below. +</p> + +<p> +The newcomer was powerfully built and would have been tall, but for rather +rounded shoulders and a stoop. He was clean shaven, with a heavy jaw and thin +lips which were compressed into a narrow line. His expression was vindictive as +well as somewhat crafty, and he looked a man who would not be turned from his +purpose by nice points of morality or conscience. +</p> + +<p> +Though Hilliard instinctively noted these details, they did not particularly +excite his interest. But his interest was nevertheless keenly aroused. For he +saw the man, as his gaze fell on himself and Merriman, give a sudden start, and +then flash a quick, questioning glance at Mr. Coburn. The action was momentary, +but it was enough to bring back with a rush all Hilliard’s suspicions. +Surely, he thought, there must be <i>something</i> if the sight of a stranger +upsets all these people in this way. +</p> + +<p> +But he had not time to ponder the problem. The captain instantly recovered +himself, pulled off his cap to Miss Coburn and shook hands all round, Mr. +Coburn introducing the visitors. +</p> + +<p> +“Good trip, captain?” the manager went on. “You’re +ahead of schedule.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so bad,” the newcomer admitted in a voice and manner +singularly cultivated for a man in his position. “We had a good wind +behind us most of the way.” +</p> + +<p> +They chatted for a few moments, then started on their tour of inspection. +Though Hilliard was once again keenly on the alert, the examination, so far as +he could see, left nothing to be desired. They visited every part of the +vessel, from the forecastle storerooms to the tunnel of the screw shaft, and +from the chart-house to the bottom of the hold, and every question either of +the friends asked was replied to fully and without hesitation. +</p> + +<p> +That evening, like the preceding, they passed with the Coburns. The captain and +the engineer—a short, thick-set man named Bulla—strolled up with +them and remained for dinner, but left shortly afterwards on the plea of +matters to attend to on board. The friends stayed on, playing bridge, and it +was late when they said good-night and set out to walk back to the launch. +</p> + +<p> +During the intervals of play Hilliard’s mind had been busy with the +mystery which he believed existed in connection with the syndicate, and he had +decided that to try to satisfy his curiosity he would go down to the wharf that +night and see if any interesting operations went on under cover of darkness. +The idea of a midnight loading of contraband no longer appealed to his +imagination, but vaguely he wished to make sure that no secret activities were +in progress. +</p> + +<p> +He was at least certain that none had taken place up to the present—that +Mr. Coburn was personally concerned in, at all events. From the moment they had +first sighted the ship until they had left the manager’s house at the +conclusion of the game of bridge, not five minutes ago, he had been in Mr. +Coburn’s company. Next day it was understood they were to meet again, so +that if the manager wished to carry out any secret operations they could only +be done during the night. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly when they reached the launch he turned to Merriman. +</p> + +<p> +“You go ahead, old man. I’m going to have a look round before +turning in. Don’t wait up for me. Put out the light when you’ve +done with it and leave the companion unlatched so that I can follow you +in.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman grunted disapprovingly, but offered no further objection. He clambered +on board the launch and disappeared below, while Hilliard, remaining in the +collapsible boat, began to row silently up-stream towards the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +The night was dark and still, but warm. The moon had not risen, and the sky was +overcast, blotting out even the small light of the stars. There was a faint +whisper of air currents among the trees, and the subdued murmur of the moving +mass of water was punctuated by tiny splashes and gurgles as little eddies +formed round the stem of the boat or wavelets broke against the banks. +Hilliard’s eyes had by this time become accustomed to the gloom, and he +could dimly distinguish the serrated line of the trees against the sky on +either side of him, and later, the banks of the clearing, with the faint, +ghostly radiance from the surface of the water. +</p> + +<p> +He pulled on with swift, silent strokes, and presently the dark mass of the +<i>Girondin</i> loomed in sight. The ship, longer than the wharf, projected for +several feet above and below it. Hilliard turned his boat inshore with the +object of passing between the hull and the bank and so reaching the landing +steps. But as he rounded the vessel’s stern he saw that her starboard +side was lighted up, and he ceased rowing, sitting motionless and silently +holding water, till the boat began to drift back into the obscurity +down-stream. The wharf was above the level of his head, and he could only see, +appearing over its edge, the tops of the piles of pit-props. These, as well as +the end of the ship’s navigating bridge and the gangway, were illuminated +by, he imagined, a lamp on the side of one of the deckhouses. But everything +was very still, and the place seemed deserted. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard’s intention had been to land on the wharf and, crouching behind +the props, await events. But now he doubted if he could reach his hiding place +without coming within the radius of the lamp and so exposing himself to the +view of anyone who might be on the watch on board. He recollected that the port +or river side of the ship was in darkness, and he thought it might therefore be +better if he could get directly aboard there from the boat. +</p> + +<p> +Having removed his shoes he rowed gently round the stern and examined the side +for a possible way up. The ship being light forward was heavily down in the +stern, and he found the lower deck was not more than six or seven feet above +water level. It occurred to him that if he could get hold of the mooring rope +pawls he might be able to climb aboard. But this after a number of trials he +found impossible, as in the absence of someone at the oars to steady the boat, +the latter always drifted away from the hull before he could grasp what he +wanted. +</p> + +<p> +He decided he must risk passing through the lighted area, and, having for the +third time rowed round the stern, he brought the boat up as close to the hull +as possible until he reached the wharf. Then passing in between the two rows of +piles and feeling his way in the dark, he made the painter fast to a diagonal, +so that the boat would lie hidden should anyone examine the steps with a light. +The hull lay touching the vertical piles, and Hilliard, edging along a waling +to the front of the wharf, felt with his foot through the darkness for the +stern belting. The tide was low and he found this was not more than a foot +above the timber on which he stood. He could now see the deck light, an +electric bulb on the side of the captain’s cabin, and it showed him the +top of the taffrail some little distance above the level of his eyes. Taking +his courage in both hands and stepping upon the belting, he succeeded in +grasping the taffrail. In a moment he was over it and on deck, and in another +moment he had slipped round the deckhouse and out of the light of the lamp. +There he stopped, listening for an alarm, but the silence remained unbroken, +and he believed he had been unobserved. +</p> + +<p> +He recalled the construction of the ship. The lower deck, on which he was +standing, ran across the stern and formed a narrow passage some forty feet long +at each side of the central cabin. This cabin contained the galley and mess +room as well as the first officer’s quarters. Bulla’s stateroom, +Hilliard remembered, was down below beside the engine-room. +</p> + +<p> +From the lower deck two ladders led to the bridge deck at the forward end of +which was situated the captain’s stateroom. Aft of this building most of +the remaining bridge deck was taken up by two lifeboats, canvas-covered and +housed in chocks. On the top of the captain’s cabin was the bridge and +chart-house, reached by two ladders which passed up at either side of the +cabin. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard, reconnoitering, crept round to the port side of the ship. The lower +deck was in complete darkness, and he passed the range of cabins and silently +ascended the steps to the deck above. Here also it was dark, but a faint light +shone from the window of the captain’s cabin. Stealthily Hilliard tiptoed +to the porthole. The glass was hooked back, but a curtain hung across the +opening. Fortunately, it was not drawn quite tight to one side, and he found +that by leaning up against the bridge ladder he could see into the interior. A +glance showed him that the room was empty. +</p> + +<p> +As he paused irresolutely, wondering what he should do next, he heard a door +open. There was a step on the deck below, and the door slammed sharply. Someone +was coming to the ladder at the top of which he stood. +</p> + +<p> +Like a shadow Hilliard slipped aft, and, as he heard the unknown ascending the +steps, he looked round for cover. The starboard boat and a narrow strip of deck +were lighted up, but the port boat was in shadow. He could distinguish it +merely as a dark blot on the sky. Recognizing that he must be hidden should the +port deck light be turned on, he reached the boat, felt his way round the +stern, and, crouching down, crept as far underneath it as he could. There he +remained motionless. +</p> + +<p> +The newcomer began slowly to pace the deck, and the aroma of a good cigar +floated in the still air. Up and down he walked with leisurely, unhurried +footsteps. He kept to the dark side of the ship, and Hilliard, though he caught +glimpses of the red point of the cigar each time the other reached the stern, +could not tell who he was. +</p> + +<p> +Presently other footsteps announced the approach of a second individual, and in +a moment Hilliard heard the captain’s voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you, Bulla?” +</p> + +<p> +“Here,” came in the engineer’s voice from the first-comer. +The captain approached and the two men fell to pacing up and down, talking in +low tones. Hilliard could catch the words when the speakers were near the +stern, but lost them when they went forward to the break of the poop. +</p> + +<p> +“Confound that man Coburn,” he heard Captain Beamish mutter. +“What on earth is keeping him all this time?” +</p> + +<p> +“The young visitors, doubtless,” rumbled Bulla with a fat chuckle, +“our friends of the evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, confound them, too,” growled Beamish, who seemed to be in an +unenviable frame of mind. “Damned nuisance their coming round. I should +like to know what they are after.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing particular, I should fancy. Probably out doing some kind of a +holiday.” +</p> + +<p> +They passed round the deckhouse and Hilliard could not hear the reply. When +they returned Captain Beamish was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“—thinks it would about double our profits,” Hilliard heard +him say. “He suggests a second depot on the other side, say at Swansea. +That would look all right on account of the South Wales coalfields.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we’re getting all we can out of the old hooker as it +is,” Bulla objected. “I don’t see how she could do another +trip.” +</p> + +<p> +“Archer suggests a second boat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh.” The engineer paused, then went on: “But that’s no +new suggestion. That was proposed before ever the thing was started.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know, but the circumstances have changed. Now we should—” +</p> + +<p> +Again they passed out of earshot, and Hilliard took the opportunity to stretch +his somewhat cramped limbs. He was considerably interested by what he had +heard. The phrase Captain Beamish had used in reference to the proposed depôt +at Swansea—“it would look all right on account of the +coalfields”—was suggestive. Surely that was meaningless unless +there was some secret activity—unless the pit-prop trade was only a blind +to cover some more lucrative and probably more sinister undertaking? At first +sight it seemed so, but he had not time to think it out then. The men were +returning. +</p> + +<p> +Bulla was speaking this time, and Hilliard soon found he was telling a somewhat +improper story. As the two men disappeared round the deckhouse he heard their +hoarse laughter ring out. Then the captain cried: “That you, +Coburn?” The murmur of voices grew louder and more confused and +immediately sank. A door opened, then closed, and once more silence reigned. +</p> + +<p> +To Hilliard it seemed that here was a chance which he must not miss. Coming out +from his hiding place, he crept stealthily along the deck in the hope that he +might find out where the men had gone, and learn something from their +conversation. +</p> + +<p> +The captain’s cabin was the probable meeting place, and Hilliard slipped +silently back to the window through which he had glanced before. As he +approached he heard a murmur of voices, and he cautiously leaned back against +the bridge ladder and peeped in round the partly open curtain. +</p> + +<p> +Three of the four seats the room contained were now occupied. The captain, +engineer, and Mr. Coburn sat round the central table, which bore a bottle of +whisky, a soda siphon and glasses, as well as a box of cigars. The men seemed +preoccupied and a little anxious. The captain was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“And have you found out anything about them?” he asked Mr. Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +“Only what I have been able to pick up from their own +conversation,” the manager answered. “I wrote Morton asking him to +make inquiries about them, but of course there hasn’t been time yet for a +reply. From their own showing one of them is Seymour Merriman, junior partner +of Edwards & Merriman, Gracechurch Street, Wine Merchants. That’s the +dark, square-faced one—the one who was here before. The other is a man +called Hilliard. He is a clever fellow, and holds a good position in the +Customs Department. He has had this launch for some years, and apparently has +done the same kind of trip through the Continental rivers on previous holidays. +But I could not find out whether Merriman had ever accompanied him +before.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you don’t think they smell a rat?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think so,” he said slowly, “but I’m not +at all sure. Merriman, we believe, noticed the number plate that day. I told +you, you remember. Henri is sure that he did, and Madeleine thinks so too. +It’s just a little queer his coming back. But I’ll swear +they’ve seen nothing suspicious this time.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t yourself account for his coming back?” +</p> + +<p> +Again Mr. Coburn hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“Not with any certainty,” he said at last, then with a grimace he +continued: “But I’m a little afraid that it’s perhaps +Madeleine.” +</p> + +<p> +Bulla, the engineer, made a sudden gesture. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>I</i> thought so,” he exclaimed. “Even in the little I +saw of them this evening I thought there was something in the wind. I guess +that accounts for the whole thing. What do you say, skipper?” +</p> + +<p> +The big man nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“I should think so,” he admitted, with a look of relief. “I +think it’s a mare’s nest, Coburn. I don’t believe we need +worry.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not so sure,” Coburn answered slowly. “I +don’t think we need worry about Merriman, but I’m hanged if I know +what to think about Hilliard. He’s pretty observant, and there’s +not much about this place that he hasn’t seen at one time or +another.” +</p> + +<p> +“All the better for us, isn’t it?” Bulla queried. +</p> + +<p> +“So far as it goes, yes,” the manager agreed, “and I’ve +stuffed him with yarns about costs and about giving up the props and going in +for paving blocks and so on which I think he swallowed. But why should he want +to know what we are doing? What possible interest can the place have for +him—unless he suspects?” +</p> + +<p> +“They haven’t done anything suspicious themselves?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not that I have seen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never caught them trying to pump any of the men?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never.” +</p> + +<p> +Captain Beamish moved impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think we need worry,” he repeated with a trace of +aggression in his manner. “Let’s get on to business. Have you heard +from Archer?” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn drew a paper from his pocket, while Hilliard instinctively bent +forward, believing he was at last about to learn something which would throw a +light on these mysterious happenings. But alas for him! Just as the manager +began to speak he heard steps on the gangway which passed on board and a man +began to climb the starboard ladder to the upper deck. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard’s first thought was to return to his hiding place under the +boat, but he could not bring himself to go so far away from the center of +interest, and before he had consciously thought out the situation he found +himself creeping silently up the ladder to the bridge. There he believed he +would be safe from observation while remaining within earshot of the cabin, and +if anyone followed him up the ladder he could creep round on the roof of the +cabin to the back of the chart-house, out of sight. +</p> + +<p> +The newcomer tapped at the captain’s door and, after a shout of +“Come in,” opened it. There was a moment’s silence, then +Coburn’s voice said: +</p> + +<p> +“We were just talking of you, Henri. The skipper wants to +know—” and the door closed. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was not long in slipping back to his former position at the porthole. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove!” Bulla was saying. “And to think that two years ago +I was working a little coaster at twenty quid a month! And you, Coburn; two +years ago you weren’t much better fixed, if as well, eh?” +</p> + +<p> +Coburn ignored the question. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s good, but it’s not good enough,” he declared. +“This thing can’t run for ever. If we go on too long somebody will +tumble to it. What we want is to try to get our piles made and close it down +before anything happens. We ought to have that other ship running. We could +double our income with another ship and another depot. And Swansea seems to me +the place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bulla and I were just talking of that before you came aboard,” the +captain answered. “You know we have considered that again and again, and +we have always come to the conclusion that we are pushing the thing strongly +enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Our organization has improved since then. We can do more now with less +risk. It ought to be reconsidered. Will you go into the thing, skipper?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly. I’ll bring it before our next meeting. But I +won’t promise to vote for it. In our business it’s not difficult to +kill the goose, etcetera.” +</p> + +<p> +The talk drifted to other matters, while Hilliard, thrilled to the marrow, +remained crouching motionless beneath the porthole, concentrating all his +attention on the conversation in the hope of catching some word or phrase which +might throw further light on the mysterious enterprise under discussion. While +the affair itself was being spoken of he had almost ceased to be aware of his +surroundings, so eagerly had he listened to what was being said, but now that +the talk had turned to more ordinary subjects he began more or less +subconsciously to take stock of his own position. +</p> + +<p> +He realized in the first place that he was in very real danger. A quick +movement either of the men in the cabin or of some member of the crew might +lead to his discovery, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that he might pay +the forfeit for his curiosity with his life. He could imagine the manner in +which the “accident” would be staged. Doubtless his body, showing +all the appearance of death from drowning, would be found in the river with +alongside it the upturned boat as evidence of the cause of the disaster. +</p> + +<p> +And if he should die, his secret would die with him. Should he not then be +content with what he had learned and clear out while he could, so as to ensure +his knowledge being preserved? He felt that he ought, and yet the desire to +remain in the hope of doing still better was overpowering. But as he hesitated +the power of choice was taken away. The men in the cabin were making a move. +Coburn finished his whisky, and he and Henri rose to their feet. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” the former said, “There’s one o’clock. We +must be off.” +</p> + +<p> +The others stood up also, and at the same moment Hilliard crept once more up +the ladder to the bridge and crouched down in the shadow of the chart-house. +Hardly was he there when the men came out of the cabin to the deck beneath the +bridge, then with a brief exchange of “Good-nights,” Coburn and the +lorry driver passed down the ladder, crossed the gangway and disappeared behind +a stack of pit-props on the wharf. Bulla with a grunted +“’Night” descended the port steps and Hilliard heard the door +leading below open and shut; the starboard deck lamp snapped off, and finally +the captain’s door shut and a key turned in the lock. Some fifteen +minutes later the faint light from the porthole vanished and all was dark and +silent. +</p> + +<p> +But for more than an hour Hilliard remained crouching motionless on the bridge, +fearing lest some sound that he might make in his descent should betray him if +the captain should still be awake. Then, a faint light from the rising moon +appearing towards the east, he crept from his perch, and crossing the gangway, +reached the wharf and presently his boat. +</p> + +<p> +Ten minutes later he was on board the launch. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a> +CHAPTER VI.<br /> +A CHANGE OF VENUE</h2> + +<p> +Still making as little noise as possible, Hilliard descended to the cabin and +turned in. Merriman was asleep, and the quiet movement of the other did not +awaken him. +</p> + +<p> +But Hilliard was in no frame of mind for repose. He was too much thrilled by +the adventure through which he had passed, and the discovery which he had made. +He therefore put away the idea of sleep, and instead gave himself up to +consideration of the situation. +</p> + +<p> +He began by trying to marshal the facts he had already learned. In the first +place, there was the great outstanding point that his suspicions were well +founded, that some secret and mysterious business was being carried on by this +syndicate. Not only, therefore, was he justified in all he had done up to the +present, but it was clear he could not leave the matter where it stood. Either +he must continue his investigations further, or he must report to headquarters +what he had overheard. +</p> + +<p> +Next, it seemed likely that the syndicate consisted of at least six persons; +Captain Beamish (probably from his personality the leader), Bulla, Coburn, +Henri, and the two men to whom reference had been made, Archer, who had +suggested forming the depot at Swansea, and Morton, who had been asked to make +inquiries as to himself and Merriman. Madeleine Coburn’s name had also +been mentioned, and Hilliard wondered whether she could be a member. Like his +companion he could not believe that she would be willingly involved, but on the +other hand Coburn had stated that she had reported her suspicion that Merriman +had noticed the changed number plate. Hilliard could come to no conclusion +about her, but it remained clear that there were certainly four members, and +probably six or more. +</p> + +<p> +But if so, it followed that the operations must be on a fairly large scale. +Educated men did not take up a risky and presumably illegal enterprise unless +the prize was worth having. It was unlikely that £1,000 a year would +compensate any one of them for the risk. But that would mean a profit of from +£4,000 to £6,000 a year. Hilliard realized that he was here on shaky ground, +though the balance of probability was in his favor. +</p> + +<p> +It also seemed certain that the whole pit-prop business was a sham, a mere +blind to cover those other operations from which the money came. But when +Hilliard came to ask himself what those operations were, he found himself up +against a more difficult proposition. +</p> + +<p> +His original brandy smuggling idea recurred to him with renewed force, and as +he pondered it he saw that there really was something to be said for it. Three +distinct considerations were consistent with the theory. +</p> + +<p> +There was first of all the size of the fraud. A theft of £4,000 to £6,000 or +more a year implied as victim a large corporation. The sum would be too big a +proportion of the income of a moderate-sized firm for the matter to remain +undiscovered, and, other things being equal, the larger the corporation the +more difficult to locate the leakage. +</p> + +<p> +But what larger corporation was there than a nation, and what so easy to +defraud as a government? And how could a government be more easily defrauded +than by smuggling? Here again Hilliard recognized he was only theorizing; still +the point had a certain weight. +</p> + +<p> +The second consideration was also inconclusive. It was that all the people who, +he had so far learned, were involved were engaged in transport operations. The +ostensible trade also, the blind under which the thing was worked, was a +transport trade. If brandy smuggling were in progress something of precisely +this kind would have to be devised. In fact anything more suitable than the +pit-prop business would be hard to discover. +</p> + +<p> +The third point he had thought of before. If brandy were to be smuggled, no +better locality could have been found for the venture than this country round +about Bordeaux. As one of the staple products of the district, brandy could be +obtained here, possibly more easily than anywhere else. +</p> + +<p> +The converse argument was equally inconclusive. What hypothesis other than that +of brandy smuggling could meet the facts? Hilliard could not think of any, but +he recognized that his failure did not prove that none existed. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, in spite of these considerations, he had to admit that he +had seen nothing which in the slightest degree supported the theory, nor had he +heard anything which could not equally well have referred to something else. +</p> + +<p> +But whatever their objective, he felt sure that the members of the syndicate +were desperate men. They were evidently too far committed to hesitate over +fresh crime to keep their secret. If he wished to pursue his investigations, it +was up to him to do so without arousing their suspicions. +</p> + +<p> +As he pondered over the problem of how this was to be done he became more and +more conscious of its difficulty. Such an inquiry to a trained detective could +not be easy, but to him, an amateur at the game, it seemed well-nigh +impossible. And particularly he found himself handicapped by the intimate terms +with the Coburns on which he and Merriman found themselves. For instance, that +very morning an excursion had been arranged to an old chateau near Bordeaux. +How could he refuse to go? And if he went how could he watch the loading of the +<i>Girondin?</i> +</p> + +<p> +He had suspected before that the Coburns’ hospitality was due to +something other than friendliness, and now he was sure of it. No longer had he +any doubt that the object was to get him out of the way, to create that very +obstacle to investigation which it had created. And here again Miss Coburn had +undoubtedly lent herself to the plot. +</p> + +<p> +He was not long in coming to the conclusion that the sooner he and Merriman +took leave of the Coburns the better. Besides this question of handicap, he was +afraid with so astute a man as Coburn he would sooner or later give himself +away. +</p> + +<p> +The thought led to another. Would it not be wise to keep Merriman in ignorance +of what he had learned at least for the present? Merriman was an open, +straightforward chap, transparently honest in all his dealings. Could he +dissemble sufficiently to hide his knowledge from his hosts? In particular +could he deceive Madeleine? Hilliard doubted it. He felt that under the special +circumstances his friend’s discretion could not be relied on. At all +events Merriman’s appearance of ignorance would be more convincing if it +were genuine. +</p> + +<p> +On the whole, Hilliard decided, it would be better not to tell him. Let them +once get away from the neighborhood, and he could share his discoveries and +they could together decide what was to be done. But first, to get away. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly next morning he broached the subject. He had expected his friend +would strenuously oppose any plan involving separation from Madeleine Coburn, +but to his relief Merriman immediately agreed with him. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve been thinking we ought to clear out too,” he declared +ungrammatically. “It’s not good enough to be accepting continuous +hospitality which you can’t return.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard assented carelessly, remarked that if they started the following +morning they could reach the Riviera by the following Friday, and let it go at +that. He did not refer again to the subject until they reached the +Coburns’ door, when he asked quickly: “By the way, will you tell +them we’re leaving tomorrow or shall I?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will,” said Merriman, to his relief. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Girondin</i> was loading props as they set out in the Ford car, and the +work was still in progress on their return in the late afternoon. Mr. Coburn +had excused himself from joining the party on the ground of business, but +Captain Beamish had taken his place, and had proved himself a surprisingly +entertaining companion. At the old chateau they had a pleasant alfresco lunch, +after which Captain Beamish took a number of photographs of the party with his +pocket Kodak. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman’s announcement of his and Hilliard’s impending departure +had been met with a chorus of regrets, but though these sounded hearty enough, +Hilliard noticed that no definite invitation to stay longer was given. +</p> + +<p> +The friends dined with the Coburns for the last time that evening. Mr. Coburn +was a little late for the meal, saying he had waited on the wharf to see the +loading completed, and that all the cargo was now aboard, and that the +<i>Girondin</i> would drop down to sea on the flood tide in the early morning. +</p> + +<p> +“We shall have her company so far,” Hilliard remarked. “We +must start early, too, so as to make Bordeaux before dark.” +</p> + +<p> +When the time came to say good-bye, Mr. Coburn and his daughter went down to +the launch with their departing visitors. Hilliard was careful to monopolize +the manager’s attention, so as to give Merriman his innings with the +girl. His friend did not tell him what passed between them, but the parting was +evidently affecting, as Merriman retired to his locker practically in silence. +</p> + +<p> +Five o’clock next morning saw the friends astir, and their first sight on +reaching the deck was the <i>Girondin</i> coming down-stream. They exchanged +hand waves with Captain Beamish on the bridge, then, swinging their own craft, +followed in the wake of the other. A couple of hours later they were at sea. +</p> + +<p> +Once again they were lucky in their weather. A sun of molten glory poured down +from the clearest of blue skies, burnishing a track of intolerable brilliance +across the water. Hardly a ripple appeared on the smooth surface, though they +rose and fell gently to the flat ocean swell. They were running up the coast +about four miles out, and except for the <i>Girondin</i>, now almost hull down +to the north-west, they had the sea to themselves. It was hot enough to make +the breeze caused by the launch’s progress pleasantly cool, and both men +lay smoking on the deck, lazily watching the water and enjoying the easy +motion. Hilliard had made the wheel fast, and reached up every now and then to +give it a slight turn. +</p> + +<p> +“Jolly, I call this,” he exclaimed, as he lay down again after one +of these interruptions. “Jolly sun, jolly sea, jolly everything, +isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Rather. Even a landlubber like me can appreciate it. But you don’t +often have it like this, I bet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I don’t know,” Hilliard answered absently, and then, +swinging round and facing his friend, he went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Merriman, I’ve something to tell you that will interest +you, but I’m afraid it won’t please you.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman laughed contentedly. +</p> + +<p> +“You arouse my curiosity anyway,” he declared. “Get on and +let’s hear it.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard answered quietly, but he felt excitement arising in him as he thought +of the disclosure he was about to make. +</p> + +<p> +“First of all,” he began, speaking more and more earnestly as he +proceeded, “I have to make you an apology. I quite deliberately deceived +you up at the clearing, or rather I withheld from you knowledge that I ought to +have shared. I had a reason for it, but I don’t know if you’ll +agree that it was sufficient.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You remember the night before last when I rowed up to the wharf after we +had left the Coburns? You thought my suspicions were absurd or worse. Well, +they weren’t. I made a discovery.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman sat up eagerly, and listened intently as the other recounted his +adventure aboard the <i>Girondin</i>. Hilliard kept nothing back; even the +reference to Madeleine he repeated as nearly word for word as possible, finally +giving a bowdlerized version of his reasons for keeping his discoveries to +himself while they remained in the neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman received the news with a dismay approaching positive horror. He had +but one thought—Madeleine. How did the situation affect her? Was she in +trouble? In danger? Was she so entangled that she could not get out? Never for +a moment did it enter his head that she could be willingly involved. +</p> + +<p> +“My goodness! Hilliard,” he cried hoarsely, “whatever does it +all mean? Surely it can’t be criminal? They,”—he hesitated +slightly, and Hilliard read in a different pronoun—“they never +would join in such a thing.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard took the bull by the horns. +</p> + +<p> +“That <i>Miss</i> Coburn would take part in anything shady I don’t +for a moment believe,” he declared, “but I’m afraid I +wouldn’t be so sure of her father.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman shook his head and groaned. +</p> + +<p> +“I know you’re right,” he admitted to the other’s +amazement. “I saw—I didn’t mean to tell you, but now I may as +well. That first evening, when we went up to call, you probably don’t +remember, but after he had learned who we were he turned round to pull up a +chair. He looked at you; I saw his face in a mirror. Hilliard, it was the face +of a—I was going to say, a devil—with hate and fear. But the look +passed instantly. When he turned round he was smiling. It was so quick I half +thought I was mistaken. But I know I wasn’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw fear on his face when he recognized you that same evening,” +Hilliard replied. “We needn’t blink at it, Merriman. Whether +willingly or unwillingly, Mr. Coburn’s in the thing. That’s as +certain as that we’re here.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what is it? Have you any theory?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, not really. There was that one of brandy smuggling that I mentioned +before. I suggest it because I can suggest nothing else, but I admit I saw no +evidence of it.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was silent for several minutes as the boat slid over the smooth water. +Then with a change of manner he turned once more to his friend. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose we couldn’t leave it alone? Is it our business after +all?” +</p> + +<p> +“If we don’t act we become accessories, and besides we leave that +girl to fight her own battles.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman clenched his fists and once more silence reigned. Presently he spoke +again: +</p> + +<p> +“You had something in your mind?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think we must do one of two things. Either continue our investigations +until we learn what is going on, or else clear out and tell the police what we +have learned.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman made a gesture of dissent. +</p> + +<p> +“Not that, not that,” he cried. “Anything rather than the +police.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard gazed vacantly on the long line of the coast. +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, old man,” he said, “Wouldn’t it be better +if we discussed this thing quite directly? Don’t think I mean to be +impertinent—God knows I don’t—but am I not right in thinking +you want to save Miss Coburn all annoyance, and her father also, for her +sake?” +</p> + +<p> +“We needn’t talk about it again,” Merriman said in a hard +voice, looking intently at the stem of the mast, “but if it’s +necessary to make things clear, I want to marry her if she’ll have +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought so, old man, and I can only say—the best of luck! As you +say, then, we mustn’t call in the police, and as we can’t leave the +thing, we must go on with our own inquiry. I would suggest that if we find out +their scheme is something illegal, we see Mr. Coburn and give him the chance to +get out before we lodge our information.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose that is the only way,” Merriman said doubtfully. After a +pause Hilliard went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not very clear, but I’m inclined to think we can do no +more good here at present. I think we should try the other end.” +</p> + +<p> +“The other end?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the unloading of the ship and the disposal of the pit-props. You +see, the first thing we’re up against is that these people are anything +but fools, and the second is that they already suspect us and will keep a watch +on us. A hundred to one they make inquiries and see that we really do go +through the Canal du Midi to the Riviera. We can’t hang about Bordeaux +without their knowing it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” Hilliard went on, “we can see now we made a +frightful mess of things by calling on the Coburns or letting Mr. Coburn know +we were about, but at the time it seemed the wisest thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was the only thing,” Merriman asserted positively. “We +didn’t know then there was anything wrong, and besides, how could we have +hidden the launch?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it’s done anyway. We needn’t worry about it now, +except that it seems to me that for the same reason the launch has served its +purpose. We can’t use it here because the people at the clearing know it, +and we can’t use it at the unloading end, for all on board the +<i>Girondin</i> would recognize it directly they saw it.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded without speaking and Hilliard continued: +</p> + +<p> +“I think, therefore, that we should leave the launch at Bordeaux tonight +and go back to London overland. I shall write Mr. Coburn saying we have found +Poste Restante letters recalling us. You can enclose a note to Miss Coburn if +you like. When we get to town we can apply at the Inquiry Office at +Lloyd’s to find out where the <i>Girondin</i> calls in England. Then let +us go there and make inquiries. The launch can be worked back to England some +other time. How does that strike you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Seems all right. But I should leave the launch at Bordeaux. We may have +to come back, and it would furnish us with an excuse for our presence if we +were seen.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard gave a little sigh of relief. Merriman’s reply took a weight off +his mind, not because of the value of the suggestion—though in its way it +was quite useful—but because of its indication of Merriman’s frame +of mind. He had feared that because of Miss Coburn’s connection with the +affair he would lose his friend’s help, even that they might quarrel. And +now he saw these fears were groundless. Thankfully he recognized that they +would co-operate as they had originally intended. +</p> + +<p> +“Jolly good notion, that,” he answered cordially. +</p> + +<p> +“I confess,” Merriman went on slowly, “that I should have +liked to stay in the neighborhood and see if we couldn’t find out +something more about the lorry numbers. It may be a trivial point, but +it’s the only direct and definite thing we know of. All the rest are +hints or suspicions or probabilities. But here we have a bit of mystery, +tangible, in our hands, as it were. Why were those number plates changed? It +seems to me a good point of attack.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought of that, too, and I agree with every word you say,” +Hilliard replied eagerly, “but there is the question of our being +suspects. I believe we shall be watched out of the place, and I feel sure our +only chance of learning anything is to satisfy them of our bona fides.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman agreed, and they continued discussing the matter in detail, at last +deciding to adopt Hilliard’s suggestion and set to work on the English +end of the mysterious traffic. +</p> + +<p> +About two that afternoon they swung round the Pointe de Grave into the estuary +of the Gironde. The tide, which was then flowing, turned when they were some +two-thirds of the way up, and it was well on to seven o’clock when they +made fast to the same decaying wharf from which they had set out. Hilliard saw +the owner, and arranged with him to let the launch lie at one of his moorings +until she should be required. Then the friends went up town, got some dinner, +wrote their letters, and took the night train for Paris. Next evening they were +in London. +</p> + +<p> +“I say,” Hilliard remarked when later on that same evening they sat +in his rooms discussing their plans, “I believe we can find out about the +<i>Girondin</i> now. My neighbor on the next landing above is a shipping man. +He might have a copy of Lloyd’s Register. I shall go and ask him.” +</p> + +<p> +In a few moments he returned with a bulky volume. “One of the wonders of +the world, this, I always think,” he said, as he began to turn over the +pages. “It gives, or is supposed to give, information about everything +over a hundred tons that floats anywhere over the entire globe. It’ll +give the <i>Girondin</i> anyway.” He ran his finger down the columns. +“Ah! what’s this? Motor ship <i>Girondin</i>, 350 tons, built and +so on. ‘The Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate, Ferriby, Hull.’ Hull, my +son. There we are.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hull! I know Hull,” Merriman remarked laconically. “At +least, I was there once.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall know it a jolly sight better than that before we’re +through, it seems to me,” his friend replied. “Let’s hope so, +anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the plan, then? I’m on, provided I have a good sleep +at home tonight first.” +</p> + +<p> +“Same here,” Hilliard agreed as he filled his pipe. “I +suppose Hull by an early train tomorrow is the scheme.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman borrowed his friend’s pouch and refilled his pipe in his turn. +</p> + +<p> +“You think so?” he said slowly. “Well, I’m not so sure. +Seems to me we can very easily dish ourselves if we’re not +careful.” +</p> + +<p> +“How so?” +</p> + +<p> +“We agreed these folk were wide-awake and suspicious of us. Very well. +Directly our visit to them is over, we change our plans and leave Bordeaux. +Will it not strike them that our interest in the trip was only on their +account?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see it. We gave a good reason for leaving.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite; that’s what I’m coming to. We told them you were +recalled to your office. But what about that man Morton, that was to spy on us +before? What’s to prevent them asking him if you really have +returned?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard sat up sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove!” he cried. “I never thought of that.” +</p> + +<p> +“And there’s another thing,” Merriman went on. “We turn +up at Hull, find the syndicate’s depot and hang about, the fellow in +charge there sees us. Well, that’s all right <i>if</i> he hasn’t +had a letter from France describing us and enclosing a copy of that group that +Captain Beamish took at the chateau.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard whistled. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord! It’s not going to be so simple as it looks, is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t. And what’s more, we can’t afford to make any +mistakes. It’s too dangerous.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard got up and began to pace the room. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t care,” he declared savagely. “I’m going +through with it now no matter what happens.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, so am I, for the matter of that. All I say is we shall have to show +a bit more intelligence this time.” +</p> + +<p> +For an hour more they discussed the matter, and at last decided on a plan. On +the following morning Hilliard was to go to his office, see his chief and ask +for an extension of leave, then hang about and interview as many of his +colleagues as possible, telling them he had been recalled, but was not now +required. His chief was not very approachable, and Hilliard felt sure the +subject would not be broached to him. In the evening they would go down to +Hull. +</p> + +<p> +This program they would have carried out, but for an unforeseen event. While +Hilliard was visiting his office Merriman took the opportunity to call at his, +and there learned that Edwards, his partner, had been taken ill the morning +before. It appeared there was nothing seriously wrong, and Edwards expected to +be back at work in three or four days, but until his return Merriman was +required, and he had reluctantly to telephone the news to Hilliard. But no part +of their combined holiday was lost. Hilliard by a stroke of unexpected good +fortune was able to spend the same time at work, and postpone the remainder of +his leave until Merriman was free. Thus it came to pass that it was not until +six days later than they had intended that the two friends packed their bags +for Hull. +</p> + +<p> +They left King’s Cross by the 5.40 p.m. train, reaching their destination +a little before eleven. There they took rooms at the George, a quiet hotel in +Baker Street, close to the Paragon Station. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a> +CHAPTER VII.<br /> +THE FERRIBY DEPOT</h2> + +<p> +The two friends, eager and excited by their adventure, were early astir next +morning, and after breakfast Hilliard went out and bought the best map of the +city and district he could find. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Ferriby’s not in the town at all,” he exclaimed after +he had studied it for some moments. “It’s up the river—must +be seven or eight miles up by the look of it; the North-Eastern runs through it +and there’s a station. We’d better go out there and +prospect.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman agreed, they called for a timetable, found there was a train at 10.35, +and going down to Paragon Station, got on board. +</p> + +<p> +After clearing the suburbs the line came down close to the river, and the two +friends kept a good look-out for the depot. About four and a half miles out +they stopped at a station called Hassle, then a couple of miles farther their +perseverance was rewarded and they saw a small pier and shed, the latter +bearing in large letters on its roof the name of the syndicate. Another mile +and a half brought them to Ferriby, where they alighted. +</p> + +<p> +“Now what about walking back to Hassle,” Hilliard suggested, +“and seeing what we can see?” +</p> + +<p> +They followed the station approach road inland until they reached the main +thoroughfare, along which they turned eastwards in the direction of Hull. In a +few minutes they came in sight of the depot, half a mile off across the fields. +A lane led towards it, and this they followed until it reached the railway. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/fig02.jpg" width="600" height="297" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<p> +There it turned in the direction of Hull and ran parallel to the line for a +short distance, doubling back, as they learned afterwards, until it reached the +main road half-way to Hassle. The railway tracks were on a low bank, and the +men could just see across them to the syndicate’s headquarters. +</p> + +<p> +The view was not very good, but so far as they could make out, the depot was a +replica of that in the Landes clearing. A timber wharf jutted out into the +stream, apparently of the same size and construction as that on the River +Lesque. Behind it was the same kind of galvanized iron shed, but this one, +besides having windows in the gables, seemed the smaller of the two. Its back +was only about a hundred feet from the railway, and the space between was taken +up by a yard surrounded by a high galvanized iron fence, above which appeared +the tops of many stacks of pit-props. Into the yard ran a siding from the +railway. From a door in the fence a path led across the line to a wicket in the +hedge of the lane, beside which stood a “Beware of the Trains” +notice. There was no sign of activity about the place, and the gates through +which the siding entered the enclosure were shut. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard stopped and stood looking over. +</p> + +<p> +“How the mischief are we to get near that place without being +seen?” he questioned. “It’s like a German pill-box. +There’s no cover anywhere about.” +</p> + +<p> +It was true. The country immediately surrounding the depot was singularly bare. +It was flat except for the low bank, four or five feet high, on which lay the +railway tracks. There were clumps of trees farther inland, but none along the +shore, and the nearest building, a large block like a factory with beside it a +cottage, was at least three hundred yards away in the Hull direction. +</p> + +<p> +“Seems an element of design in that, eh, Hilliard?” Merriman +remarked as they turned to continue their walk. “Considering the populous +country we’re in, you could hardly find a more isolated place.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded as they turned away. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve just been thinking that. They could carry on any tricks they +liked there and no one would be a bit the wiser.” +</p> + +<p> +They moved on towards the factory-like building. It was on the inland side of +the railway, and the lane swung away from the line and passed what was +evidently its frontage. A siding ran into its rear, and there were connections +across the main lines and a signal cabin in the distance. A few yards on the +nearer side stood the cottage, which they now saw was empty and dilapidated. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Hilliard, look there!” cried Merriman suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +They had passed along the lane until the facade of the building had come into +view and they were able to read its signboard: “Ackroyd & Bolt, +Licensed Rectifiers.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it looked like a distillery,” continued Merriman in +considerable excitement. “By Jove! Hilliard, that’s a find and no +mistake! Pretty suggestive, that, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was not so enthusiastic. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not so sure,” he said slowly. “You mean that it +supports my brandy smuggling theory? Just how?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what do you think yourself? We suspect brandy smuggling, and here +we find at the import end of the concern the nearest building in an isolated +region is a distillery—a rectifying house, mind you! Isn’t that a +matter of design too? How better could they dispose of their stuff than by +dumping it on to rectifiers?” +</p> + +<p> +“You distinguish between distillers and rectifiers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly; there’s less check on rectifiers. Am I not right in +saying that while the regulations for the measurement of spirit actually +produced from the stills are so thorough as to make fraud almost impossible, +rectifiers, because they don’t themselves produce spirit, but merely +refine what other firms have produced, are not so strictly looked after? +Rectifiers would surely find smuggled stuff easier to dispose of than +distillers.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps so, theoretically,” he admitted, “but in practice +there’s nothing in it. Neither could work a fraud like that, for both are +watched far too closely by our people. I’m afraid I don’t see that +this place being here helps us. Surely it’s reasonable to suppose that +the same cause brought Messrs. Ackroyd & Bolt that attracted the syndicate? +Just that it’s a good site. Where in the district could you get a better? +Cheap ground and plenty of it, and steamer and rail connections.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a coincidence anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see it. In any case unless we can prove that the ship +brings brandy the question doesn’t arise.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman shrugged his shoulders good-humoredly. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a blow,” he remarked. “And I was so sure I had +got hold of something good! But it just leads us back to the question that +somehow or other we must inspect that depot, and if we find nothing we must +watch the <i>Girondin</i> unloading. If we can only get near enough it would be +<i>impossible</i> for them to discharge anything in bulk without our seeing +it.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard murmured an agreement, and the two men strolled on in silence, the +thoughts of each busy with the problem Merriman had set. Both were realizing +that detective work was a very much more difficult business than they had +imagined. Had not each had a strong motive for continuing the investigation, it +is possible they might have grown fainthearted. But Hilliard had before him the +vision of the kudos which would accrue to him if he could unmask a far-reaching +conspiracy, while to Merriman the freeing of Madeleine Coburn from the toils in +which she seemed to have been enmeshed had become of more importance than +anything else in the world. +</p> + +<p> +The two friends had already left the distillery half a mile behind, when +Hilliard stopped and looked at his watch. +</p> + +<p> +“Ten minutes to twelve,” he announced. “As we have nothing to +do let’s go back and watch that place. Something may happen during the +afternoon, and if not we’ll look out for the workmen leaving and see if +we can pick up something from them.” +</p> + +<p> +They retraced their steps past the distillery and depot, then creeping into a +little wood, sat down on a bank within sight of the enclosure and waited. +</p> + +<p> +The day was hot and somewhat enervating, and both enjoyed the relaxation in the +cool shade. They sat for the most part in silence, smoking steadily, and +turning over in their minds the problems with which they were faced. Before +them the country sloped gently down to the railway bank, along the top of which +the polished edges of the rails gleamed in the midday sun. Beyond was the wide +expanse of the river, with a dazzling track of shimmering gold stretching +across it and hiding the low-lying farther shore with its brilliancy. A few +small boats moved slowly near the shore, while farther out an occasional large +steamer came into view going up the fairway to Goole. Every now and then trains +roared past, the steam hardly visible in the dry air. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon dragged slowly but not unpleasantly away, until about five +o’clock they observed the first sign of activity about the +syndicate’s depot which had taken place since their arrival. The door in +the galvanized fence opened and five figures emerged and slowly crossed the +railway. They paused for a moment after reaching the lane, then separated, four +going eastwards towards the distillery, the fifth coming north towards the +point at which the watchers were concealed. The latter thereupon moved out from +their hiding place on to the road. +</p> + +<p> +The fifth figure resolved itself into that of a middle-aged man of the laboring +class, slow, heavy, and obese. In his rather bovine countenance hardly any +spark of intelligence shone. He did not appear to have seen the others as he +approached, but evinced neither surprise nor interest when Hilliard accosted +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Any place about here you can get a drink?” +</p> + +<p> +The man slowly jerked his head to the left. +</p> + +<p> +“Oop in village,” he answered. “Raven bar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come along and show us the way and have a drink with us,” Hilliard +invited. +</p> + +<p> +The man grasped this and his eyes gleamed. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” he replied succinctly. +</p> + +<p> +As they walked Hilliard attempted light conversation, but without eliciting +much response from their new acquaintance, and it was not until he had consumed +his third bottle of beer that his tongue became somewhat looser. +</p> + +<p> +“Any chance of a job where you’re working?” Hilliard went on. +“My pal and I would be glad to pick up something.” +</p> + +<p> +The man shook his head, apparently noticing nothing incongruous in the +question. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t think it.” +</p> + +<p> +“No harm in asking the boss anyway. Where might we find him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Down at works likely. He be there most times.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d rather go to his house. Can you tell where he lives?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay. Down at works.” +</p> + +<p> +“But he doesn’t sleep at the works surely?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay. Sleeps in tin hut.” +</p> + +<p> +The friends exchanged glances. Their problem was even more difficult than they +had supposed. A secret inspection seemed more and more unattainable. Hilliard +continued the laborious conversation. +</p> + +<p> +“We thought there might be some stevedoring to do. You’ve a steamer +in now and then, haven’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +The man admitted it, and after a deal of wearisome questioning they learned +that the <i>Girondin</i> called about every ten days, remaining for about +forty-eight hours, and that she was due in three or four days. +</p> + +<p> +Finding they could get no further information out of him, they left their +bovine acquaintance with a fresh supply of beer, and returning to the station, +took the first train back to Hull. As they sat smoking that evening after +dinner they once more attacked the problem which was baffling them. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me,” Hilliard asserted, “that we should +concentrate on the smuggling idea first, not because I quite believe in it, but +because it’s the only one we have. And that brings us again to the same +point—the unloading of the <i>Girondin</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman not replying, he continued: +</p> + +<p> +“Any attempt involves a preliminary visit to see how the land lies. Now +we can’t approach that place in the daytime; if we try to slip round +secretly we shall be spotted from those windows or from the wharf; on the other +hand, if we invent some tale and go openly, we give ourselves away if they have +our descriptions or photographs. Therefore we must go at night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” +</p> + +<p> +“Obviously we can only approach the place by land or water. If we go by +land we have either to shin up on the pier from the shore, which we’re +not certain we can do, or else risk making a noise climbing over the galvanized +iron fence. Besides we might leave footmarks or other traces. But if we go by +water we can muffle our oars and drop down absolutely silently to the wharf. +There are bound to be steps, and it would be easy to get up without making any +noise.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman’s emphatic nod expressed his approval. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” he cried warmly. “What about getting a boat to-morrow +and having a try that night?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think we should. There’s another thing about it too. If there +should be an alarm we could get away by the river far more easily than across +the country. It’s a blessing there’s no moon.” +</p> + +<p> +Next day the object of their search was changed. They wanted a small, handy +skiff on hire. It did not turn out an easy quest, but by the late afternoon +they succeeded in obtaining the desired article. They purchased also +close-fitting caps and rubber-soled shoes, together with some food for the +night, a couple of electric torches, and a yard of black cloth. Then, shortly +before dusk began to fall, they took their places and pulled out on the great +stream. +</p> + +<p> +It was a pleasant evening, a fitting close to a glorious day. The air was soft +and balmy, and a faint haze hung over the water, smoothing and blurring the +sharp outlines of the buildings of the town and turning the opposite bank into +a gray smudge. Not a breath was stirring, and the water lay like plate glass, +unbroken by the faintest ripple. The spirit of adventure was high in the two +men as they pulled down the great avenue of burnished gold stretching westwards +towards the sinking sun. +</p> + +<p> +The tide was flowing, and but slight effort was needed to keep them moving +up-stream. As darkness grew they came nearer inshore, until in the fading light +they recognized the railway station at Hassle. There they ceased rowing, +drifting slowly onwards until the last faint haze of light had disappeared from +the sky. +</p> + +<p> +They had carefully muffled their oars, and now they turned north and began +sculling gently inshore. Several lights had come out, and presently they +recognized the railway signals and cabin at the distillery sidings. +</p> + +<p> +“Two or three hundred yards more,” said Hilliard in low tones. +</p> + +<p> +They were now close to the beach, and they allowed themselves to drift on until +the dark mass of the wharf loomed up ahead. Then Hilliard dipped his oars and +brought the boat silently alongside. +</p> + +<p> +As they had imagined from their distant view of it, the wharf was identically +similar in construction to that on the River Lesque. Here also were the two +lines of piles like the letter <i>V</i>, one, in front vertical, the other +raking to support the earthwork behind. Here in the same relative position were +the steps, and to these Hilliard made fast the painter with a slip hitch that +could be quickly released. Then with the utmost caution both men stepped +ashore, and slowly mounting the steps, peeped out over the deck of the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +As far as they could make out in the gloom, the arrangement here also was +similar to that in France. Lines of narrow gauge tramway, running parallel from +the hut towards the water, were connected along the front of the wharf by a +cross road and turn-tables. Between the lines were stacks of pit-props, and +Decauville trucks stood here and there. But these details they saw afterwards. +What first attracted their attention was that lights shone in the third and +fourth windows from the left hand end of the shed. The manager evidently was +still about. +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll go back to the boat and wait,” Hilliard whispered, and +they crept down the steps. +</p> + +<p> +At intervals of half an hour one or other climbed up and had a look at the +windows. On the first two occasions the light was unchanged, on the third it +had moved to the first and second windows, and on the fourth it had gone, +apparently indicating that the manager had moved from his sitting-room to his +bedroom and retired. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better wait at least an hour more,” Hilliard whispered +again. +</p> + +<p> +Time passed slowly in the darkness under the wharf, and in a silence broken +only by the gentle lapping of the water among the piles. The boat lay almost +steady, except when a movement of one of its occupants made it heel slightly +over and started a series of tiny ripples. It was not cold, and had the men not +been so full of their adventure they could have slept. At intervals Hilliard +consulted his luminous-dialed watch, but it was not until the hands pointed to +the half-hour after one that they made a move. Then once more they softly +ascended to the wharf above. +</p> + +<p> +The sides of the structure were protected by railings which ran back to the +gables of the tin house, the latter stretching entirely across the base of the +pier. Over the space thus enclosed the two friends passed, but it speedily +became apparent that here nothing of interest was to be found. Beyond the +stacks of props and wagons there was literally nothing except a rusty steam +winch, a large water butt into which was led the down spout from the roof, a +tank raised on a stand and fitted with a flexible pipe, evidently for supplying +crude oil for the ship’s engines, and a number of empty barrels in which +the oil had been delivered. With their torch carefully screened by the black +cloth the friends examined these objects, particularly the oil tank which, +forming as it did a bridge between ship and shore, naturally came in for its +share of suspicion. But, they were soon satisfied that neither it nor any of +the other objects were connected with their quest, and retreating to the edge +of the wharf, they held a whispered consultation. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was for attempting to open one of the doors in the shed at the end +away from the manager’s room, but Merriman, obsessed with the idea of +seeing the unloading of the <i>Girondin</i>, urged that the contents of the +shed were secondary, and that their efforts should be confined to discovering a +hiding place from which the necessary observations could be made. +</p> + +<p> +“If there was any way of getting inside one of these stacks of +props,” he said, “we could keep a perfect watch. I could get in +now, for example; you relieve me tomorrow night; I relieve you the next night, +and so on. Nothing could be unloaded that we wouldn’t see. But,” he +added regretfully, “I doubt even if we could get inside that we should be +hidden. Besides, they might take a notion to load the props up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Afraid that is hardly the scheme,” Hilliard answered, then went on +excitedly: “But, there’s that barrel! Perhaps we could get into +that.” +</p> + +<p> +“The barrel! That’s the ticket.” Merriman was excited in his +turn. “That is, if it has a lid.” +</p> + +<p> +They retraced their steps. With the tank they did not trouble; it was a +galvanized iron box with the lid riveted on, and moreover was full of oil; but +the barrel looked feasible. +</p> + +<p> +It was an exceptionally large cask or butt, with a lid which projected over its +upper rim and which entirely protected the interior from view. It was placed in +the corner beside the right hand gable of the shed, that is, the opposite end +of the manager’s rooms, and the wooden down spout from the roof passed in +through a slot cut in the edge of the lid. A more ideal position for an +observation post could hardly have been selected. +</p> + +<p> +“Try to lift the lid,” whispered Hilliard. +</p> + +<p> +They found it was merely laid on the rim, cleats nailed on below preventing it +from slipping off. They raised it easily and Hilliard flashed in a beam from +his electric torch. The cask was empty, evidently a result of the long drought. +</p> + +<p> +“That’ll do,” Merriman breathed. “That’s all we +want to see. Come away.” +</p> + +<p> +They lowered the cover and stood for a moment. Hilliard still wanted to try the +doors of the shed, but Merriman would not hear of it. +</p> + +<p> +“Come away,” he whispered again. “We’ve done well. Why +spoil it?” +</p> + +<p> +They returned to the boat and there argued it out. Merriman’s proposal +was to try to find out when the <i>Girondin</i> was expected, then come the +night before, bore a few eyeholes in the cask, and let one of them, properly +supplied with provisions, get inside and assume watch. The other one would row +away, rest and sleep during the day, and return on the following night, when +they would exchange roles, and so on until the <i>Girondin</i> left. In this +way, he asserted, they must infallibly discover the truth, at least about the +smuggling. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think we could stand twenty-four hours in that barrel?” +Hilliard questioned. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course we could stand it. We’ve got to. Come on, Hilliard, +it’s the only way.” +</p> + +<p> +It did not require much persuasion to get Hilliard to fall in with the +proposal, and they untied their painter and pulled silently away from the +wharf. The tide had turned, and soon they relaxed their efforts and let the +boat drift gently downstream. The first faint light appeared in the eastern sky +as they floated past Hassle, and for an hour afterwards they lay in the bottom +of the boat, smoking peacefully and entranced by the gorgeous pageant of the +coming day. +</p> + +<p> +Not wishing to reach Hull too early, they rowed inshore and, landing in a +little bay, lay down in the lush grass and slept for three or four hours. Then +re-embarking, they pulled and drifted on until, between seven and eight +o’clock, they reached the wharf at which they had hired their boat. An +hour later they were back at their hotel, recuperating from the fatigues of the +night with the help of cold baths and a substantial breakfast. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a> +CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +THE UNLOADING OF THE “GIRONDIN”</h2> + +<p> +After breakfast Hilliard disappeared. He went out ostensibly to post a letter, +but it was not until nearly three o’clock that he turned up again. +</p> + +<p> +“Sorry, old man,” he greeted Merriman, “but when I was going +to the post office this morning an idea struck me, and it took me longer to +follow up than I anticipated. I’ll tell you. I suppose you realize that +life in that barrel won’t be very happy for the victim?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’ll be damnable,” Merriman agreed succinctly, “but +we needn’t worry about that; we’re in for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, quite,” Hilliard returned. “But just for that reason we +don’t want more of it than is necessary. We could easily bury ourselves +twenty-four hours too soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Meaning?” +</p> + +<p> +“Meaning that we mustn’t go back to the wharf until the night +before the <i>Girondin</i> arrives.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t see how we can be sure of that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor did I till I posted my letter. Then I got my idea. It seemed worth +following up, so I went round the shipping offices until I found a file of +Lloyd’s List. As you know it’s a daily paper which gives the +arrivals and departures of all ships at the world’s ports. My notion was +that if we could make a list of the <i>Girondin’s</i> Ferriby arrivals +and departures, say, during the last three months, and if we found she ran her +trip regularly, we could forecast when she would be next due. Follow me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Rather.” +</p> + +<p> +“I had no trouble getting out my list, but I found it a bit +disappointing. The trip took either ten, eleven, or twelve days, and for a long +time I couldn’t discover the ruling factor. Then I found it was Sunday. +If you omit each Sunday the <i>Girondin</i> is in port, the round trip always +takes the even ten days. I had the Lesque arrival and departure for that one +trip when we were there, so I was able to make out the complete cycle. She +takes two days in the Lesque to load, three to run to Hull, two at Ferriby to +discharge, and three to return to France. Working from that and her last call +here, she should be due back early on Friday morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good!” Merriman exclaimed. “Jolly good! And today is +Thursday. We’ve just time to get ready.” +</p> + +<p> +They went out and bought a one-inch auger and a three-sixteenths bradawl, a +thick footstool and a satchel. This latter they packed with a loaf, some +cheese, a packet of figs, a few bottles of soda water and a flask of whisky. +These, with their caps, rubber shoes, electric torches and the black cloth, +they carried to their boat; then returning to the hotel, they spent the time +resting there until eleven o’clock. Solemnly they drew lots for the first +watch, recognizing that the matter was by no means a joke, as, if unloading +were carried on by night, relief might be impossible during the ship’s +stay. But Merriman, to whom the fates were propitious, had no fear of his +ability to hold out even for this period. +</p> + +<p> +By eleven-thirty they were again sculling up the river. The weather was as +perfect as that of the night before, except that on this occasion a faint +westerly breeze had covered the surface of the water with myriads of tiny +wavelets, which lapped and gurgled round the stem of their boat as they drove +it gently through them. They did not hurry, and it was after one before they +moored to the depot steps. +</p> + +<p> +All was dark and silent above, as, carrying their purchases, they mounted to +the wharf and crept stealthily to the barrel. Carefully they raised the lid, +and Merriman, standing on the footstool, with some difficulty squeezed himself +inside. Hilliard then lifted the footstool on to the rim and lowered the lid on +to it, afterwards passing in through the opening thus left the satchel of food +and the one-inch auger. +</p> + +<p> +A means of observation now remained to be made. Two holes, they thought, should +afford all the view necessary, one looking towards the front of the wharf, and +the other at right angles, along the side of the shed. Slowly, from the inside, +Merriman began to bore. He made a sound like the nibbling of a mouse, but +worked at irregular speeds so as not to suggest human agency to anyone who +might be awake and listening. Hilliard, with his hand on the outside of the +barrel, stopped the work when he felt the point of the auger coming through, +and he himself completed the hole from the outside with his bradawl. This gave +an aperture imperceptible on the rough exterior, but large within, and enabled +the watcher to see through a much wider angle than he could otherwise have +done. Hilliard then once more raised the lid, allowing Merriman to lift the +footstool within, where it was destined to act as a seat for the observer. +</p> + +<p> +All was now complete, and with a whispered exchange of good wishes, Hilliard +withdrew, having satisfied himself by a careful look round that no traces had +been left. Regaining the boat, he loosed the painter and pulled gently away +into the night. +</p> + +<p> +Left to himself in the confined space and inky blackness of the cask, Merriman +proceeded to take stock of his position. He was anxious if possible to sleep, +not only to pass some of the time, which at the best would inevitably be +terribly long, but also that he might be the more wakeful when his attention +should be required. But his unusual surroundings stimulated his imagination, +and he could not rest. +</p> + +<p> +He was surprised that the air was so good. Fortunately, the hole through the +lid which received the down spout was of large dimensions, so that even though +he might not have plenty of air, he would be in no danger of asphyxiation. +</p> + +<p> +The night was very still. Listening intently, he could not hear the slightest +sound. The silence and utter darkness indeed soon became overpowering, and he +took his watch from his pocket that he might have the companionship of its +ticking and see the glimmering hands and ring of figures. +</p> + +<p> +He gave himself up for the thousandth time to the consideration of the main +problem. What were the syndicate people doing? Was Mr. Coburn liable to +prosecution, to penal servitude? Was it possible that by some twist of the +legal mind, some misleading circumstantial evidence, Miss +Coburn—Madeleine—could be incriminated? Oh, if he but knew what was +wrong, that he might be able to help! If he could but get her out of it, and +for her sake Mr. Coburn! If they were once safe he could pass on his knowledge +to the police and be quit of the whole business. But always there was this +enveloping cloak of ignorance baffling him at every turn. He did not know what +was wrong, and any step he attempted might just precipitate the calamity he +most desired to avoid. +</p> + +<p> +Suppose he went and asked her? This idea had occurred to him many times before, +and he had always rejected it as impracticable. But suppose he did? The danger +was that she might be alarmed or displeased, that she might refuse to admit +there was anything wrong and forbid him to refer to the matter again or even +send him away altogether. And he felt he was not strong enough to risk that. +No, he must know where he stood first. He must understand his position, so as +not to bungle the thing. Hilliard was right. They must find out what the +syndicate was doing. There was no other way. +</p> + +<p> +So the hours dragged slowly away, but at last after interminable ages had gone +by, Merriman noticed two faint spots of light showing at his eyeholes. Seating +himself on his footstool, he bent forward and put his eye first to one and then +to the other. +</p> + +<p> +It was still the cold, dead light of early dawn before the sun had come to +awaken color and sharpen detail, but the main outlines of objects were already +clear. As Merriman peered out he saw with relief that no mistake had been made +as to his outlooks. From one hole or the other he could see the entire area of +the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +It was about five a.m., and he congratulated himself that what he hoped was the +most irksome part of his vigil was over. Soon the place would awaken to life, +and the time would then pass more quickly in observation of what took place. +</p> + +<p> +But the three hours that elapsed before anything happened seemed even longer +than those before dawn. Then, just as his watch showed eight o’clock, he +heard a key grind in a lock, a door opened, and a man stepped out of the shed +on the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +He was a young fellow, slight in build, with an extremely alert and intelligent +face, but a rather unpleasant expression. The sallowness of his complexion was +emphasized by his almost jet black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in a +loose gray Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers, but wore no hat. He moved forward +three or four feet and stood staring downstream towards Hull. +</p> + +<p> +“I see her, Tom,” he called out suddenly to someone in the shed +behind. “She’s just coming round the point.” +</p> + +<p> +There was another step and a second man appeared. He was older and looked like +a foreman. His face was a contrast to that of the other. In it the expression +was good—kindly, reliable, honest—but ability was not marked. He +looked a decent, plodding, stupid man. He also stared eastward. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” he said slowly. “She’s early.” +</p> + +<p> +“Two hours,” the first agreed. “Didn’t expect her till +between ten and eleven.” +</p> + +<p> +The other murmured something about “getting things ready,” and +disappeared back into the shed. Presently came the sounds of doors being +opened, and some more empty Decauville trucks were pushed out on to the wharf. +At intervals both men reappeared and looked down-stream, evidently watching the +approach of the ship. +</p> + +<p> +Some half an hour passed, and then an increase of movement seemed to announce +her arrival. The manager walked once more down the wharf, followed by the +foreman and four other men—apparently the whole staff—among whom +was the bovine-looking fellow whom the friends had tried to pump on their first +visit to the locality. Then came a long delay during which Merriman could catch +the sound of a ship’s telegraph and the churning of the screw, and at +last the bow of the <i>Girondin</i> appeared, slowly coming in. Ropes were +flung, caught, slipped over bollards, drawn taut, made fast—and she was +berthed. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Beamish was on the bridge, and as soon as he could, the manager jumped +aboard and ran up the steps and joined him there. In a few seconds both men +disappeared into the captain’s cabin. +</p> + +<p> +The foreman and his men followed on board and began in a leisurely way to get +the hatches open, but for at least an hour no real activity was displayed. Then +work began in earnest. The clearing of the hatches was completed, the +ship’s winches were started, and the unloading of the props began. +</p> + +<p> +This was simply a reversal of the procedure they had observed at the clearing. +The props were swung out in bundles by the <i>Girondin’s</i> crew, +lowered on to the Decauville trucks, and pushed by the depot men back through +the shed, the empty trucks being returned by another road, and brought by means +of the turn-tables to the starting point. The young manager watched the +operations and took a tally of the props. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman kept a close eye on the proceedings, and felt certain he was +witnessing everything that was taking place. Every truckload of props passed +within ten feet of his hiding place, and he was satisfied that if anything +other than props were put ashore he would infallibly see it. But the close +watching was a considerable strain, and he soon began to grow tired. He had +some bread and fruit and a whisky and soda, and though he would have given a +good deal for a smoke, he felt greatly refreshed. +</p> + +<p> +The work kept on without intermission until one o’clock, when the men +knocked off for dinner. At two they began again, and worked steadily all +through the afternoon until past seven. During all that time only two +incidents, both trifling, occurred to relieve the monotony of the proceedings. +Early in the forenoon Bulla appeared, and under his instructions the end of the +flexible hose from the crude oil tank was carried aboard and connected by a +union to a pipe on the lower deck. A wheel valve at the tank was turned, and +Merriman could see the hose move and stiffen as the oil began to flow through +it. An hour later the valve was turned off, the hose relaxed, the union was +uncoupled and the hose, dripping black oil, was carried back and left in its +former place on the wharf. The second incident was that about three +o’clock Captain Beamish and Bulla left the ship together and went out +through the shed. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was now horribly tired, and his head ached intolerably from the strain +and the air of the barrel, which had by this time become very impure. But he +reflected that now when the men had left was the opportunity of the +conspirators. The time for which he had waited was approaching, and he nerved +himself to resist the drowsiness which was stealing over him and which +threatened the success of his vigil. +</p> + +<p> +But hour after hour slowly dragged past and nothing happened. Except for the +occasional movement of one of the crew on the ship, the whole place seemed +deserted. It was not till well after ten, when dusk had fallen, that he +suddenly heard voices. +</p> + +<p> +At first he could not distinguish the words, but the tone was Bulla’s, +and from the sounds it was clear the engineer and some others were approaching. +Then Beamish spoke: +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better keep your eyes open anyway,” he said. +“Morton says they only stayed at work about a week. They’re off +somewhere now. Morton couldn’t discover where, but he’s trying to +trace them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not afraid of them,” returned the manager’s voice. +“Even if they found this place, which of course they might, they +couldn’t find out anything else. We’ve got too good a site.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, don’t make the mistake of underestimating their +brains,” counseled Beamish, as the three men moved slowly down the wharf. +Merriman, considerably thrilled, watched them go on board and disappear into +the captain’s cabin. +</p> + +<p> +So it was clear, then, that he and Hilliard were seriously suspected by the +syndicate and were being traced by their spy! What luck would the spy have? And +if he succeeded in his endeavor, what would be their fortune? Merriman was no +coward, but he shivered slightly as he went over in his mind the steps of their +present quest, and realized how far they had failed to cover their traces, how +at stage after stage they had given themselves away to anyone who cared to make +a few inquiries. What fools, he thought, they were not to have disguised +themselves! Simple disguises would have been quite enough. No doubt they would +not have deceived personal friends, but they would have made all the difference +to a stranger endeavoring to trace them from descriptions and those confounded +photographs. Then they should not have travelled together to Hull, still less +have gone to the same hotel. It was true they had had the sense to register +under false names, but that would be but a slight hindrance to a skillful +investigator. But their crowning folly, in Merriman’s view, was the +hiring of the boat and the starting off at night from the docks and arriving +back there in the morning. What they should have done, he now thought bitterly, +was to have taken a boat at Grimsby or some other distant town and kept it +continuously, letting no one know when they set out on or returned from their +excursions. +</p> + +<p> +But there was no use in crying over spilt milk. Merriman repeated to himself +the adage, though he did not find it at all comforting. Then his thoughts +passed on to the immediate present, and he wondered whether he should not try +to get out of the barrel and emulate Hilliard’s exploit in boarding the +<i>Girondin</i> and listening to the conversation in the captain’s cabin. +But he soon decided he must keep to the arranged plan, and make sure nothing +was put ashore from the ship under cover of darkness. +</p> + +<p> +Once again ensued a period of waiting, during which the time dragged terribly +heavily. Everything without was perfectly still, until at about half past +eleven the door of the captain’s cabin opened and its three occupants +came out into the night. The starboard deck light was on and by its light +Merriman could see the manager take his leave, cross the gangway, pass up the +wharf and enter the shed. Bulla went down towards his cabin door and Beamish, +snapping off the deck light, returned to his. In about fifteen minutes his +light also went out and complete darkness and silence reigned. +</p> + +<p> +Some two hours later Merriman, who had kept awake and on guard only by the most +determined effort, heard a gentle tap on the barrel and a faint +“Hist!” The lid was slowly raised, and to his intense relief he was +able to stand upright and greet Hilliard crouching without. +</p> + +<p> +“Any news?” queried the latter in the faintest of whispers. +“Absolutely none. Not a single thing came out of that boat but props. I +had a splendid view all the time. Except this, +Hilliard”—Merriman’s whisper became more +intense—“They suspect us and are trying to trace us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let them try,” breathed Hilliard. “Here, take this +in.” +</p> + +<p> +He handed over the satchel of fresh food and took out the old one. Then +Merriman climbed out, held up the lid until Hilliard had taken his place, +wished his friend good luck, and passing like a shadow along the wharf, +noiselessly descended the steps and reached the boat. A few seconds later he +had drifted out of sight of the depot, and was pulling with long, easy strokes +down-stream. +</p> + +<p> +The air and freedom felt incredibly good after his long confinement, and it was +a delight to stretch his muscles at the oars. So hard did he row that it was +barely three when he reached the boat slip in Hull. There he tied up the skiff +and walked to the hotel. Before four he was sound asleep in his room. +</p> + +<p> +That evening about seven as he strolled along the waterfront waiting until it +should be time to take out his boat, he was delighted to observe the +<i>Girondin</i> pass out to sea. He had dreaded having to take another +twenty-four hours’ trick in the cask, which would have been necessary had +the ship not left that evening. Now all that was needed was a little care to +get Hilliard out, and the immediate job would be done. +</p> + +<p> +He took out the boat about eleven and duly reached the wharf. All was in +darkness, and he crept to the barrel and softly raised the lid. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was exhausted from the long strain, but with his friend’s help +he succeeded in clambering out, having first examined the floor of the barrel +to see that nothing had been overlooked, as well as plugging the two holes with +corks. They regained the boat in silence, and it was not until they were some +distance from the wharf that either spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“My goodness! Merriman,” Hilliard said at last, “but that was +an awful experience! You left the air in that cursed barrel bad, and it got +steadily worse until I thought I should have died or had to lift the lid and +give the show away. It was just everything I could do to keep going till the +ship left.” +</p> + +<p> +“But did you see anything?” Merriman demanded eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“See anything? Not a blessed thing! We are barking up the wrong tree, +Merriman. I’ll stake my life nothing came out of that boat but props. No; +what those people are up to I don’t know, but there’s one thing a +dead cert, and that is that they’re not smuggling.” +</p> + +<p> +They rowed on in silence, Hilliard almost sick with weariness and +disappointment, Merriman lost in thought over their problem. It was still early +when they reached their hotel, and they followed Merriman’s plan of the +morning before and went straight to bed. +</p> + +<p> +Next day they spent in the hotel lounge, gloomily smoking and at intervals +discussing the affair. They had admitted themselves outwitted—up to the +present at all events. And neither could suggest any further step. There seemed +to be no line of investigation left which might bear better fruit. They agreed +that the brandy smuggling theory must be abandoned, and they had nothing to +take its place. +</p> + +<p> +“We’re fairly up against it as far as I can see,” Hilliard +admitted despondently. “It’s a nasty knock having to give up the +only theory we were able to think of, but it’s a hanged sight worse not +knowing how we are going to carry on the inquiry.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is true,” Merriman returned, Madeleine Coburn’s face +rising before his imagination, “but we can’t give it up for all +that. We must go on until we find something.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all very well. What are we to go on doing?” +</p> + +<p> +Silence reigned for several minutes and then Hilliard spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid it means Scotland Yard after all.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman sat up quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not that, not that!” he protested, as he had protested in similar +terms on a previous occasion when the same suggestion had been made. “We +must keep away from the police at all costs.” He spoke earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +“I know your views,” Hilliard answered, “and agree with them. +But if neither of us can suggest an alternative, what else remains?” +</p> + +<p> +This was what Merriman had feared and he determined to play the one poor trump +in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“The number plates,” he suggested. “As I said before, that is +the only point at which we have actually come up against this mystery. Why not +let us start in on it? If we knew why those plates were changed, the chances +are we should know enough to clear up the whole affair.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard, who was suffering from the reaction of his night of stress, took a +depressed view and did not welcome the suggestion. He seemed to have lost heart +in the inquiry, and again urged dropping it and passing on their knowledge to +Scotland Yard. But this course Merriman strenuously opposed, pressing his view +that the key to the mystery was to be found in the changing of the lorry +numbers. Finally they decided to leave the question over until the following +day, and to banish the affair from their minds for that evening by a visit to a +music hall. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a> +CHAPTER IX.<br /> +THE SECOND CARGO</h2> + +<p> +Merriman was awakened in the early hours of the following morning by a push on +the shoulder and, opening his eyes, he was amazed to see Hilliard, dressed only +in his pajamas, leaning over him. On his friend’s face was an expression +of excitement and delight which made him a totally different man from the +gloomy pessimist of the previous day. +</p> + +<p> +“Merriman, old man,” he cried, though in repressed tones—it +was only a little after five—“I’m frightfully sorry to stir +you up, but I just couldn’t help it. I say, you and I are a nice pair of +idiots!” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman grunted. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he murmured +sleepily. +</p> + +<p> +“Talking about?” Hilliard returned eagerly. “Why, this +affair, of course! I see it now, but what I don’t see is how we missed it +before. The idea struck me like a flash. Just while you’d wink I saw the +whole thing!” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman, now thoroughly aroused, moved with some annoyance. +</p> + +<p> +“For Heaven’s sake, explain yourself,” he demanded. +“What whole thing?” +</p> + +<p> +“How they do it. We thought it was brandy smuggling but we couldn’t +see how it was done. Well, I see now. It’s brandy smuggling right enough, +and we’ll get them this time. We’ll get them, Merriman, we’ll +get them yet.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was bubbling over with excitement. He could not remain still, but +began to pace up and down the room. His emotion was infectious, and Merriman +began to feel his heart beat quicker as he listened. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard went on: +</p> + +<p> +“We <i>thought</i> there might be brandy, in fact we couldn’t +suggest anything else. But we didn’t <i>see</i> any brandy; we saw +pit-props. Isn’t that right?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” Merriman returned impatiently. “Get on. What +next?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all,” Hilliard declared with a delighted laugh. +“That’s the whole thing. Don’t you see it now?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman felt his anger rising. +</p> + +<p> +“Confound it all, Hilliard,” he protested. “If you +haven’t anything better to do than coming round wakening—” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, don’t get on your hind legs,” Hilliard interrupted with +another ecstatic chuckle. “What I say is right-enough. Look here, +it’s perfectly simple. We thought brandy would be unloaded! And +what’s more, we both sat in that cursed barrel and watched it being done! +But all we saw coming ashore was pit-props, Merriman, <i>pit-props!</i> Now +don’t you see?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman suddenly gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” he cried breathlessly. “It was <i>in</i> the +props?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it was in the props!” Hilliard repeated triumphantly. +“Hollow props; a few hollow ones full of brandy to unload in their shed, +many genuine ones to sell! What do you think of that, Merriman? Got them at +last, eh?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman lay still as he tried to realize what this idea involved. Hilliard, +moving jerkily about the room as if he were a puppet controlled by wires, went +on speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it out in bed before I came along. All they’d have to do +would be to cut the props in half and bore them out, attaching a screwed ring +to one half and a screwed socket to the other so that they’d screw +together like an ordinary gas thimble. See?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Then they’d get some steel things like oxygen gas cylinders to fit +inside. They’d be designed of such a thickness that their weight would be +right; that their weight plus the brandy would be equal to the weight of the +wood bored out.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused and looked at Merriman. The latter nodded again. +</p> + +<p> +“The rest would be as easy as tumbling off a log. At night Coburn and +company would screw off the hollow ends, fill the cylinders with brandy, screw +on the end again, and there you have your props—harmless, innocent +props—ready for loading up on the <i>Girondin</i>. Of course, +they’d have them marked. Then when they’re being unloaded that +manager would get the marked ones put aside—they could somehow be +defective, too long or too short or too thin or too anything you like—he +would find some reason for separating them out—and then at night he would +open the things and pour out the brandy, screw them up again and—there +you are!” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard paused dramatically, like a conjurer who has just drawn a rabbit from +a lady’s vanity bag. +</p> + +<p> +“That would explain that Ferriby manager sleeping in the shed,” +Merriman put in. +</p> + +<p> +“So it would. I hadn’t thought of that.” +</p> + +<p> +“And,” Merriman went on, “there’d be enough genuine +props carried on each trip to justify the trade.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. A very few faked ones would do all they wanted—say two +or three per cent. My goodness, Merriman, it’s a clever scheme; they +deserve to win. But they’re not going to.” Again he laughed +delightedly. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was thinking deeply. He had recovered his composure, and had begun to +weigh the idea critically. +</p> + +<p> +“They mightn’t empty the brandy themselves at all,” he said +slowly. “What’s to prevent them running the faked props to the firm +who plants the brandy?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true,” Hilliard returned. “That’s another +idea. My eyes, what possibilities the notion has!” +</p> + +<p> +They talked on for some moments, then Hilliard, whose first excitement was +beginning to wane, went back to his room for some clothes. In a few minutes he +returned full of another side of the idea. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s just work out,” he suggested, “how much you +could put into a prop. Take a prop say nine inches in diameter and nine feet +long. Now you can’t weaken it enough to risk its breaking if it +accidentally falls. Suppose you bored a six-inch hole down its center. That +would leave the sides one and half inches thick, which should be ample. What do +you think?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take it at that anyway,” answered Merriman. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Now how long would it be? If we bore too deep a hole we may +split the prop. What about two feet six inches into each end? Say a five-foot +tube?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take it at that,” Merriman repeated. +</p> + +<p> +“How much brandy could you put into a six-inch tube, five feet +long?” He calculated aloud, Merriman checking each step. “That +works out at a cubic foot of brandy, six and a quarter gallons, fifty pints or +four hundred glasses-four hundred glasses per prop.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused, looked at his friend, and resumed: +</p> + +<p> +“A glass of brandy in France costs you sixpence; in England it costs you +half-a-crown. Therefore, if you can smuggle the stuff over you make a profit of +two shillings a glass. Four hundred glasses at two shillings. There’s a +profit of £40 a prop, Merriman!” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman whistled. He was growing more and more impressed. The longer he +considered the idea, the more likely it seemed. He listened eagerly as +Hilliard, once again excitedly pacing the room, resumed his calculations. +</p> + +<p> +“Now you have a cargo of about seven thousand props. Suppose you assume +one per cent of them are faked, that would be seventy. We don’t know how +many they have, of course, but one out of every hundred is surely a +conservative figure. Seventy props means £2,800 profit per trip. <i>And</i> +they have a trip every ten days—say thirty trips a year to be on the safe +side—£84,000 a year profit! My eyes, Merriman, it would be worth running +some risks for £84,000 a year!” +</p> + +<p> +“Risks?” cried Merriman, now as much excited as his friend. +“They’d risk hell for it! I bet, Hilliard, you’ve got it at +last. £84,000 a year! But look here,”—his voice +changed—“you have to divide it among the members.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true, you have,” Hilliard admitted, “but even +so—how many are there? Beamish, Bulla, Coburn, Henri, the manager here, +and the two men they spoke of, Morton and Archer—that makes seven. That +would give them £12,000 a year each. It’s still jolly well worth +while.” +</p> + +<p> +“Worth while? I should just say so.” Merriman lay silently +pondering the idea. Presently he spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course those figures of yours are only guesswork.” +</p> + +<p> +“They’re only guesswork,” Hilliard agreed with a trace of +impatience in his manner, “because we don’t know the size of the +tubes and the number of the props, but it’s not guesswork that they can +make a fortune out of smuggling in that way. We see now that the thing can be +done, and <i>how</i> it can be done. That’s something gained +anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded and sat up in bed. +</p> + +<p> +“Hand me my pipe and baccy out of that coat pocket like a good +man,” he asked, continuing slowly: +</p> + +<p> +“It’ll be some job, I fancy, proving it. We shall have to see first +if the props are emptied at that depot, and if not we shall have to find out +where they’re sent, and investigate. I seem to see a pretty long program +opening out. Have you any plans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not a plan,” Hilliard declared cheerfully. “No time to make +’em yet. But we shall find a way somehow.” +</p> + +<p> +They went on discussing the matter in more detail. At first the testing of +Hilliard’s new theory appeared a simple matter, but the more they thought +it over the more difficult it seemed to become. For one thing there would be +the investigations at the depot. Whatever unloading of the brandy was carried +on there would probably be done inside the shed and at night. It would +therefore be necessary to find some hiding place within the building from which +the investigations could be made. This alone was an undertaking bristling with +difficulties. In the first place, all the doors of the shed were locked and +none of them opened without noise. How were they without keys to open the doors +in the dark, silently and without leaving traces? Observations might be +required during the entire ten-day cycle, and that would mean that at some time +each night one of these doors would have to be opened and shut to allow the +watcher to be relieved. And if the emptying of the props were done at night how +were they to ensure that this operation should not coincide with the visit of +the relief? And this was all presupposing that a suitable hiding place could be +found inside the building in such a position that from it the operations in +question could be overlooked. +</p> + +<p> +Here no doubt were pretty serious obstacles, but even were they all +successfully overcome it did not follow that they would have solved the +problem. The faked props might be loaded up and forwarded to some other depot, +and, if so, this other depot might be by no means easy to find. Further, if it +were found, nocturnal observation of what went on within would then become +necessary. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to the friends that all they had done up to the present would be the +merest child’s play in comparison to what was now required. During the +whole of that day and the next they brooded over the problem, but without +avail. The more they thought about it the more hopeless it seemed. Even +Hilliard’s cheery optimism was not proof against the wave of depression +which swept over him. +</p> + +<p> +Curiously enough it was to Merriman, the plodding rather than the brilliant, +that light first came. They were seated in the otherwise empty hotel lounge +when he suddenly stopped smoking, sat motionless for nearly a minute, and then +turned eagerly to his companion. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Hilliard,” he exclaimed. “I wonder if there +mightn’t be another way out after all—a scheme for making them +separate the faked and the genuine props? Do you know Leatham—Charlie +Leatham of Ellerby, somewhere between Selby and Boughton? No? Well, he owns a +group of mines in that district. He’s as decent a soul as ever breathed, +and is just rolling in money. Now,—how would it do if we were to go to +Charlie and tell him the whole thing, and ask him to approach these people to +see if they would sell him a cargo of props—an entire cargo. I should +explain that he has a private wharf for lighters on one of those rivers up +beyond Goole, but the approach is too shallow for a sea-going boat. Now, why +shouldn’t he tell these people about his wharf, saying he had heard the +<i>Girondin</i> was shallow in the draught, and might get up? He would then say +he would take an entire cargo on condition that he could have it at his own +place and so save rail carriage from Ferriby. That would put the syndicate in a +hole. They couldn’t let any of the faked props out of their possession, +and if they agreed to Leatham’s proposal they’d have to separate +out the faked props from the genuine, and keep the faked aboard. On their way +back from Leatham’s they would have to call at Ferriby to put these faked +ones ashore, and if we are not utter fools we should surely be able to get hold +of them then. What do you think, Hilliard?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard smote his thigh. +</p> + +<p> +“Bravo!” he cried with enthusiasm. “I think it’s just +splendid. But is there any chance your friend would take a cargo? It’s +rather a large order, you know. What would it run into? Four or five thousand +pounds?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why shouldn’t he? He has to buy props anyway, and these are good +props and they would be as cheap as any he could get elsewhere. Taking them at +his own wharf would be good business. Besides, 7,000 props is not a big thing +for a group of mines. There are a tremendous lot used.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the syndicate may not agree,” Merriman went on. “And yet +I think they will. It would look suspicious for them to refuse so good an +offer.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard nodded. Then a further idea seemed to strike him and he sat up +suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +“But, Merriman, old man,” he exclaimed, “you’ve +forgotten one thing. If they sent a cargo of that kind they’d send only +genuine props. They wouldn’t risk the others.” +</p> + +<p> +But Merriman was not cast down. +</p> + +<p> +“I dare say you’re right,” he admitted, “but we can +easily prevent that. Suppose Leatham arranges for a cargo for some indefinite +date ahead, then on the day after the <i>Girondin</i> leaves France he goes to +Ferriby and says some other consignment has failed him, and could they let him +have the next cargo? That would meet the case, wouldn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove, Merriman, but you’re developing the detective instinct +and no mistake! I think the scheme’s worth trying anyway. How can you get +in touch with your friend?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll phone him now that we shall be over tomorrow to see +him.” +</p> + +<p> +Leatham was just leaving his office when Merriman’s call reached him. +</p> + +<p> +“Delighted to see you and meet your friend,” he answered. +“But couldn’t you both come over now and stay the night? You would +be a perfect godsend to me, for Hilda’s in London and I have the house to +myself.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman thanked him, and later on the two friends took the 6.35 train to +Ellerby. Leatham’s car was waiting for them at the station, and in a few +minutes they had reached the mineowner’s house. +</p> + +<p> +Charles Leatham was a man of about five-and-thirty, tall, broad, and of +muscular build. He had a strong, clean-shaven face, a kindly though direct +manner, and there was about him a suggestion of decision and efficiency which +inspired the confidence of those with whom he came in contact. +</p> + +<p> +“This is very jolly,” he greeted them. “How are you, old man? +Glad to meet you, Hilliard. This is better than the lonely evening I was +expecting.” +</p> + +<p> +They went into dinner presently, but it was not until the meal was over and +they were stretched in basket chairs on the terrace in the cool evening air +that Merriman reverted to the subject which had brought them together. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid,” he began, “it’s only now when I am +right up against it that I realize what appalling cheek we show in coming to +you like this, and when you hear what we have in our minds, I’m afraid +you will think so too. As a matter of fact, we’ve accidentally got hold +of information that a criminal organization of some kind is in operation. For +various reasons our hands are tied about going to the police, so we’re +trying to play the detectives ourselves, and now we’re up against a +difficulty we don’t see our way through. We thought if we could interest +you sufficiently to induce you to join us, we might devise a scheme.” +</p> + +<p> +Amazement had been growing on Leatham’s face while Merriman was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“Sounds like the <i>New Arabian Nights!</i>” he exclaimed. +“You’re not by any chance pulling my leg?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman reassured him. +</p> + +<p> +“The thing’s really a bit serious,” he continued. “If +what we suspect is going on, the parties concerned won’t be squeamish +about the means they adopt to keep their secret. I imagine they’d have a +short way with meddlers.” +</p> + +<p> +Leatham’s expression of astonishment did not decrease, but “By +Jove!” was all he said. +</p> + +<p> +“For that reason we can only tell you about it in confidence.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman paused and glanced questioningly at the other, who nodded without +replying. +</p> + +<p> +“It began when I was cycling from Bayonne to Bordeaux,” Merriman +went on, and he told his host about his visit to the clearing, his voyage of +discovery with Hilliard and what they had learned in France, their trip to +Hull, the Ferriby depot and their adventures thereat, ending up by explaining +their hollow pit-prop idea, and the difficulty with which they found themselves +faced. +</p> + +<p> +Leatham heard the story with an interest which could hardly fail to gratify its +narrator. When it was finished he expressed his feelings by giving vent to a +long and complicated oath. Then he asked how they thought he could help. +Merriman explained. The mineowner rather gasped at first, then he laughed and +slapped his thigh. +</p> + +<p> +“By the Lord Harry!” he cried, “I’ll do it! As a matter +of fact I want the props, but I’d do it anyway to see you through. If +there’s anything at all in what you suspect it’ll make the +sensation of the year.” +</p> + +<p> +He thought for a moment, then went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I shall go down to that depot at Ferriby tomorrow, have a look at the +props, and broach the idea of taking a cargo. It’ll be interesting to +have a chat with that manager fellow, and you may bet I’ll keep my eyes +open. You two had better lie low here, and in the evening we’ll have +another talk and settle what’s to be done.” +</p> + +<p> +The next day the friends “lay low,” and evening saw them once more +on the terrace with their host. It seemed that he had motored to Ferriby about +midday. The manager had been polite and even friendly, had seemed pleased at +the visit of so influential a customer, and had shown him over the entire +concern without the slightest hesitation. He had appeared delighted at the +prospect of disposing of a whole cargo of props, and had raised no objection to +the <i>Girondin</i> unloading at Leatham’s wharf. The price was moderate, +but not exceptionally so. +</p> + +<p> +“I must admit,” Leatham concluded, “that everything appeared +very sound and businesslike. I had a look everywhere in that shed and +enclosure, and I saw nothing even remotely suspicious. The manager’s +manner, too, was normal and it seems to me that either he’s a jolly good +actor or you two chaps are on a wild goose chase.” +</p> + +<p> +“We may be about the hollow props,” Merriman returned, “and +we may be about the brandy smuggling. But there’s no mistake at all about +something being wrong. That’s certain from what Hilliard +overheard.” +</p> + +<p> +Leatham nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“I know all that,” he said, “and when we’ve carried out +this present scheme we shall know something more. Now let’s see. When +does that blessed boat next leave France?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thursday morning, we reckon,” Hilliard told him. +</p> + +<p> +“Then on Friday afternoon I shall call up those people and pitch my yarn +about my consignment of props having gone astray, and ask if they can send +their boat direct here. How’s that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing could be better.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I think for the present you two had better clear out. Our +connection should not be known. And don’t go near London either. That +chap Morton has lost you once, but he’ll not do it a second time. Go and +tramp the Peak District, or something of that kind. Then you’ll be wanted +back in Hull on Saturday.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s that for?” both men exclaimed in a breath. +</p> + +<p> +“That blessed barrel of yours. You say the <i>Girondin</i> will leave +France on Thursday night. That means she will be in the Humber on Sunday night +or Monday morning. Now you reckoned she would unload here and put the faked +props ashore and load up oil at Ferriby on her way out. But she mightn’t. +She might go into Ferriby first. It would be the likely thing to do, in fact, +for then she’d get here with nothing suspicious aboard and could unload +everything. So I guess you’ll have to watch in your barrel on Sunday, and +that means getting into it on Saturday night.” +</p> + +<p> +The two friends swore and Leatham laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“Good heavens,” Hilliard cried, “it means about four more +nights of the damned thing. From Saturday night to Sunday night for the +arrival; maybe until Monday night if she lies over to discharge the faked props +on Monday. Then another two nights or maybe three to cover her departure. I +tell you it’s a tall order.” +</p> + +<p> +“But think of the prize,” Leatham smiled maliciously. “As a +matter of fact I don’t see any other way.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no other way,” Merriman declared with decision. “We +may just set our teeth and go through with it.” +</p> + +<p> +After further discussion it was arranged that the friends would leave early +next day for Harrogate. There Leatham would wire them on Friday the result of +his negotiations about the <i>Girondin</i>. They could then return to Hull and +get out their boat on Saturday should that be necessary. When about midnight +they turned in, Leatham was quite as keen about the affair as his guests, and +quite as anxious that their joint experiment should be crowned with success. +</p> + +<p> +The two friends spent a couple of lazy days amusing themselves in Harrogate, +until towards evening on the Friday Merriman was called to the telephone. +</p> + +<p> +“That’ll be Leatham,” he exclaimed. “Come on, Hilliard, +and hear what he has to say.” +</p> + +<p> +It was the mineowner speaking from his office. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve just rung up our friends,” he told them, “and +that business is all right. There was some delay about it at first, for +Benson—that’s the manager—was afraid he hadn’t enough +stock of props for current orders. But on looking up his records he found he +could manage, so he is letting the ship come on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jolly good, Leatham.” +</p> + +<p> +“The <i>Girondin</i> is expected about seven tomorrow evening. Benson +then asked about a pilot. It seems their captain is a certified pilot of the +Humber up to Ferriby, but he could not take the boat farther. I told him +I’d lend him the man who acted for me, and what I’ve arranged is +this, I shall send Angus Menzies, the master of one of my river tugs, to the +wharf at Ferriby about six on Saturday evening. When the <i>Girondin</i> comes +up he can go aboard and work her on here. Menzies is a good man, and I shall +drop a hint that I’ve bought the whole cargo, and to keep his eyes open +that nothing is put ashore that I don’t get. That’ll be a still +further check.” +</p> + +<p> +The friends expressed their satisfaction at this arrangement, and it was +decided that as soon as the investigation was over all three should meet and +compare results at Leatham’s house. +</p> + +<p> +Next evening saw the two inquirers back at their hotel in Hull. They had +instructed the owner of their hired boat to keep it in readiness for them, and +about eleven o’clock, armed with the footstool and the satchel of food, +they once more got on board and pulled out on to the great stream. Merriman not +wishing to spend longer in the barrel than was absolutely necessary, they went +ashore near Hassle and had a couple of hours’ sleep, and it was well past +four when they reached the depot. The adventure was somewhat more risky than on +the previous occasion, owning to the presence of a tiny arc of moon. But they +carried out their plans without mishap, Merriman taking his place in the cask, +and Hilliard returning to Hull with the boat. +</p> + +<p> +If possible, the slow passage of the heavily weighted hours until the following +evening was even more irksome to the watcher than on the first occasion. +Merriman felt he would die of weariness and boredom long before anything +happened, and it was only the thought that he was doing it for Madeleine Coburn +that kept him from utter collapse. +</p> + +<p> +At intervals during the morning, Benson, the manager, or one of the other men +came out for a moment or two on the wharf, but no regular work went on there. +During the interminable hours of the afternoon no one appeared at all, the +whole place remaining silent and deserted, and it was not until nearly six that +the sound of footsteps fell on Merriman’s weary ears. He heard a gruff +voice saying: “Ah’m no so sairtain o’ it mesel’,” +which seemed to accord with the name of Leatham’s skipper, and then came +Benson’s voice raised in agreement. +</p> + +<p> +The two men passed out of the shed and moved to the edge of the wharf, pursuing +a desultory discussion, the drift of which Merriman could not catch. The +greater part of an hour passed, when first Benson and then Menzies began to +stare eastwards down the river. It seemed evident to Merriman that the +<i>Girondin</i> was in sight, and he began to hope that something more +interesting would happen. But the time dragged wearily for another half-hour, +until he heard the bell of the engine-room telegraph and the wash of the screw. +A moment later the ship appeared, drew alongside, and was berthed, all +precisely as had happened before. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the gangway was lowered, Benson sprang aboard, and running up the +ladder to the bridge, eagerly addressed Captain Beamish. Merriman could not +hear what was said, but he could see the captain shaking his head and making +little gestures of disapproval. He watched him go to the engine room tube and +speak down it. It was evidently a call to Bulla, for almost immediately the +engineer appeared and ascended to the bridge, where all three joined in a brief +discussion. Finally Benson came to the side of the ship and shouted something +to Menzies, who at once went on board and joined the group on the bridge. +Merriman saw Benson introduce him to the others, and then apparently explain +something to him. Menzies nodded as if satisfied and the conversation became +general. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was considerably thrilled by this new development. He imagined that +Benson while, for the benefit of Menzies, ostensibly endeavoring to make the +arrangements agreed on, had in reality preceded the pilot on board in order to +warn the captain of the proposal, and arrange with him some excuse for keeping +the ship where she was for the night. Bulla had been sent for to acquaint him +with the situation, and it was not until all three were agreed as to their +story that Menzies was invited to join the conclave. To Merriman it certainly +looked as if the men were going to fall into the trap which he and his friends +had prepared, and he congratulated himself on having adhered to his program and +hidden himself in the barrel, instead of leaving the watching to be done by +Menzies, as he had been so sorely tempted to do. For it was clear to him that +if any secret work was to be done Menzies would be got out of the way until it +was over. Merriman was now keenly on the alert, and he watched every movement +on the ship or wharf with the sharpness of a lynx. Bulla presently went below, +leaving the other three chatting on the bridge, then a move was made and, the +engineer reappearing, all four entered the cabin. Apparently they were having a +meal, for in about an hour’s time they emerged, and bringing canvas +chairs to the boat deck, sat down and began to smoke—all except Bulla, +who once again disappeared below. In a few moments he emerged with one of the +crew, and began to superintend the coupling of the oil hose. The friends had +realized the ship would have to put in for oil, but they had expected that an +hour’s halt would have sufficed to fill up. But from the delay in +starting and the leisurely way the operation was being conducted, it looked as +if she was not proceeding that night. +</p> + +<p> +In about an hour the oiling was completed, and Bulla followed his friends to +the captain’s cabin, where the latter had retired when dusk began to +fall. An hour later they came out, said “Good-night,” and +separated, Benson coming ashore, Bulla and Menzies entering cabins on the main +deck, and Captain Beamish snapping off the deck light and re-entering his own +room. +</p> + +<p> +“Now or never,” thought Merriman, as silence and darkness settled +down over the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +But apparently it was to be never. Once again the hours crept slowly by and not +a sign of activity became apparent. Nothing moved on either ship or wharf, +until about two in the morning he saw dimly in the faint moonlight the figure +of Hilliard to relieve him. +</p> + +<p> +The exchange was rapidly effected, and Hilliard took up his watch, while his +friend pulled back into Hull, and following his own precedent, went to the +hotel and to bed. +</p> + +<p> +The following day Merriman took an early train to Goole, returning immediately. +This brought him past the depot, and he saw that the <i>Girondin</i> had left. +</p> + +<p> +That night he again rowed to the wharf and relieved Hilliard. They had agreed +that in spite of the extreme irksomeness of a second night in the cask it was +essential to continue their watch, lest the <i>Girondin</i> should make another +call on her way to sea and then discharge the faked props. +</p> + +<p> +The remainder of the night and the next day passed like a hideous dream. There +being nothing to watch for in the first part of his vigil, Merriman tried to +sleep, but without much success. The hours dragged by with an incredible +deliberation, and during the next day there was but slight movement on the +wharf to occupy his attention. And then just before dark he had the further +annoyance of learning that his long-drawn-out misery had been unnecessary. He +saw out in the river the <i>Girondin</i> passing rapidly seawards. +</p> + +<p> +Their plan then had failed. He was too weary to think consecutively about it, +but that much at least was clear. When Hilliard arrived some five hours later, +he had fallen into a state of partial coma, and his friend had considerable +trouble in rousing him to make the effort necessary to leave his hiding place +with the requisite care and silence. +</p> + +<p> +The next evening the two friends left Hull by a late train, and reaching +Leatham’s house after dusk had fallen, were soon seated in his +smoking-room with whiskies and sodas at their elbows and Corona Coronas in +their mouths. All three were somewhat gloomy, and their disappointment and +chagrin were very real. Leatham was the first to put their thoughts into words. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said, drawing at his cigar, “I suppose we +needn’t say one thing and think another. I take it our precious plan has +failed?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s about the size of it,” Hilliard admitted grimly. +</p> + +<p> +“Your man saw nothing?” Merriman inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“He saw you,” the mineowner returned. “He’s a very +dependable chap, and I thought it would be wise to give him a hint that we +suspected something serious, so he kept a good watch. It seems when the ship +came alongside at Ferriby, Benson told the captain not to make fast as he had +to go further up the river. But the captain said he thought they had better +fill up with oil first, and he sent to consult the engineer, and it was agreed +that when they were in they might as well fill up as it would save a call on +the outward journey. Besides, no one concerned was on for going up in the +dark—there are sandbanks, you know, and the navigation’s bad. They +gave Menzies a starboard deck cabin—that was on the wharf side—and +he sat watching the wharf through his porthole for the entire night. There +wasn’t a thing unloaded, and there wasn’t a movement on the wharf +until you two changed your watch. He saw that, and it fairly thrilled him. +After that not another thing happened until the cook brought him some coffee +and they got away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty thorough,” Hilliard commented. “It’s at least a +blessing to be sure beyond a doubt nothing was unloaded.” +</p> + +<p> +“We’re certain enough of that,” Leatham went on, “and +we’re certain of something else too. I arranged to drop down on the wharf +when the discharging was about finished, and I had a chat with the captain; +superior chap, that. I told him I was interested in his ship, for it was the +largest I have ever seen up at my wharf, and that I had been thinking of +getting one something the same built. I asked him if he would let me see over +her, and he was most civil and took me over the entire boat. There was no part +of her we didn’t examine, and I’m prepared to swear there were no +props left on board. So we may take it that whatever else they’re up to, +they’re not carrying brandy in faked pit-props. Nor, so far as I can see, +in anything else either.” +</p> + +<p> +The three men smoked in silence for some time and then Hilliard spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose, Leatham, you can’t think of any other theory, or +suggest anything else that we should do.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t suggest what you should do,” returned Leatham, +rising to his feet and beginning to pace the room. “But I know what I +should do in your place. I’d go down to Scotland Yard, tell them what I +know, and then wash my hands of the whole affair.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard sighed. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid we shall have no option,” he said slowly, +“but I needn’t say we should much rather learn something more +definite first.” +</p> + +<p> +“I dare say, but you haven’t been able to. Either these fellows are +a deal too clever for you, or else you are on the wrong track altogether. And +that’s what <i>I</i> think. I don’t believe there’s any +smuggling going on there at all. It’s some other game they’re on +to. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t believe it’s +anything so crude as smuggling.” +</p> + +<p> +Again silence fell on the little group, and then Merriman, who had for some +time been lost in thought, made a sudden movement. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” he exclaimed, “but we have been fools over this +thing! There’s another point we’ve all missed, which alone proves +it couldn’t have been faked props. Here, Hilliard, this was your theory, +though I don’t mean to saddle you with more imbecility than myself. But +anyway, according to your theory, what happened to the props after they were +unloaded?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard stared at this outburst. +</p> + +<p> +“After they were unloaded?” he repeated. “Why, returned of +course for the next cargo.” +</p> + +<p> +“But that’s just it,” cried Merriman. “That’s +just what wasn’t done. We’ve seen that boat unloaded twice, and on +neither occasion were any props loaded to go back.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a point, certainly; yes,” Leatham interposed. +“I suppose they would have to be used again and again? Each trip’s +props couldn’t be destroyed after arrival, and new ones made for the next +cargo?” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard shook his head reluctantly. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he declared. “Impossible. Those things would cost a lot +of money. You see, no cheap scheme, say of shipping bottles into hollowed +props, would do. The props would have to be thoroughly well made, so that they +wouldn’t break and give the show away if accidentally dropped. They +wouldn’t pay unless they were used several times over. I’m afraid +Merriman’s point is sound, and we may give up the idea.” +</p> + +<p> +Further discussion only strengthened this opinion, and the three men had to +admit themselves at a total loss as to their next move. The only suggestion in +the field was that of Leatham, to inform Scotland Yard, and that was at last +approved by Hilliard as a counsel of despair. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s nothing else for it that I can see,” he observed +gloomily. “We’ve done our best on our own and failed, and we may +let someone else have a shot now. My leave’s nearly up anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman said nothing at the time, but next day, when they had taken leave of +their host and were in train for King’s Cross, he reopened the subject. +</p> + +<p> +“I needn’t say, Hilliard,” he began, “I’m most +anxious that the police should not be brought in, and you know the reason why. +If she gets into any difficulty about the affair, you understand my +life’s at an end for any good it’ll do me. Let’s wait a while +and think over the thing further, and perhaps we’ll see daylight before +long.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard made a gesture of impatience. +</p> + +<p> +“If you can suggest any single thing that we should do that we +haven’t done, I’m ready to do it. But if you can’t, I +don’t see that we’d be justified in keeping all that knowledge to +ourselves for an indefinite time while we waited for an inspiration. Is not +that reasonable?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s perfectly reasonable,” Merriman admitted, “and I +don’t suggest we should wait indefinitely. What I propose is that we wait +for a month. Give me another month, Hilliard, and I’ll be satisfied. I +have an idea that something might be learned from tracing that lorry number +business, and if you have to go back to work I’ll slip over by myself to +Bordeaux and see what I can do. And if I fail I’ll see her, and try to +get her to marry me in spite of the trouble. Wait a month, Hilliard, and by +that time I shall know where I stand.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was extremely unwilling to agree to this proposal. Though he realized +that he could not hand over to his superiors a complete case against the +syndicate, he also saw that considerable kudos was still possible if he +supplied information which would enable their detectives to establish one. And +every day he delayed increased the chance of someone else finding the key to +the riddle, and thus robbing him of his reward. Merriman realized the position, +and he therefore fully appreciated the sacrifice Hilliard was risking when +after a long discussion that young man gave his consent. +</p> + +<p> +Two days later Hilliard was back at his office, while Merriman, after an +argument with his partner not far removed from a complete break, was on his way +once more to the south of France. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"></a> +CHAPTER X.<br /> +MERRIMAN BECOMES DESPERATE</h2> + +<p> +The failure of the attempt to learn the secret of the Pit-Prop Syndicate +affected Merriman more than he could have believed possible. His interest in +the affair was not that of Hilliard. Neither the intellectual joy of solving a +difficult problem for its own sake, nor the kudos which such a solution might +bring, made much appeal to him. His concern was simply the happiness of the +girl he loved, and though, to do him justice, he did not think overmuch of +himself, he recognized that any barrier raised between them was the end for him +of all that made life endurable. +</p> + +<p> +As he lay back with closed eyes in the corner seat of a first-class compartment +in the boat train from Calais he went over for the thousandth time the details +of the problem as it affected himself. Had Mr. Coburn rendered himself liable +to arrest or even to penal servitude, and did his daughter know it? The +anxious, troubled look which Merriman had on different occasions surprised on +the girl’s expressive face made him fear both these possibilities. But if +they were true did it stop there? Was her disquietude due merely to knowledge +of her father’s danger, or was she herself in peril also? Merriman +wondered could she have such knowledge and not be in peril herself. In the eyes +of the law would it not be a guilty knowledge? Could she not be convicted as an +accessory? +</p> + +<p> +If it were so he must act at once if he were to save her. But how? He writhed +under the terrible feeling of impotence produced by his ignorance of the +syndicate’s real business. If he were to help Madeleine he must know what +the conspirators were doing. +</p> + +<p> +And he had failed to learn. He had failed, and Hilliard had failed, and neither +they nor Leatham had been able to suggest any method by which the truth might +be ascertained. +</p> + +<p> +There was, of course, the changing of the number plates. A trained detective +would no doubt be able to make something of that. But Merriman felt that +without even the assistance of Hilliard, he had neither the desire nor the +ability to tackle it. +</p> + +<p> +He pondered the question, as he had pondered it for weeks, and the more he +thought, the more he felt himself driven to the direct course—to see +Madeleine, put the problem to her, ask her to marry him and come out of it all. +But there were terrible objections to this plan, not the least of which was +that if he made a blunder it might be irrevocable. She might not hear him at +all. She might be displeased by his suggestion that she and her father were in +danger from such a cause. She might decide not to leave her father for the very +reason that he was in danger. And all these possibilities were, of course, in +addition to the much more probable one that she would simply refuse him because +she did not care about him. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman did not see his way clearly, and he was troubled. Once he had made up +his mind he was not easily turned from his purpose, but he was slow in making +it up. In this case, where so much depended on his decision, he found his doubt +actually painful. +</p> + +<p> +Mechanically he alighted at the Gare du Nord, crossed Paris, and took his place +in the southern express at the Quai d’Orsay. Here he continued wrestling +with his problem, and it was not until he was near his destination that he +arrived at a decision. He would not bother about further investigations. He +would go out and see Madeleine, tell her everything, and put his fate into her +hands. +</p> + +<p> +He alighted at the Bastide Station in Bordeaux, and driving across to the city, +put up at the Gironde Hotel. There he slept the night, and next day after lunch +he took a taxi to the clearing. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the vehicle on the main road, he continued on foot down the lane and +past the depot until he reached the manager’s house. +</p> + +<p> +The door was opened by Miss Coburn in person. On seeing her visitor she stood +for a moment quite motionless while a look of dismay appeared in her eyes and a +hot flush rose on her face and then faded, leaving it white and drawn. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” she gasped faintly. “It’s you!” She still +stood holding the door, as if overcome by some benumbing emotion. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman had pulled off his hat. +</p> + +<p> +“It is I, Miss Coburn,” he answered gently. “I have come over +from London to see you. May I not come in?” +</p> + +<p> +She stepped back. +</p> + +<p> +“Come in, of course,” she said, making an obvious effort to infuse +cordiality into her tone. “Come in here.” +</p> + +<p> +He fumbled with his coat in the hall, and by the time he followed her into the +drawing-room she had recovered her composure. +</p> + +<p> +She began rather breathlessly to talk commonplaces. At first he answered in the +same strain, but directly he made a serious attempt to turn the conversation to +the subject of his call she adroitly interrupted him. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll have some tea?” she said presently, getting up and +moving towards the door. +</p> + +<p> +“Er-no-no, thanks, Miss Coburn, not any. I wanted really—” +</p> + +<p> +“But <i>I</i> want some tea,” she persisted, smiling. “Come, +you may help me to get it ready, but you must have some to keep me +company.” +</p> + +<p> +He had perforce to obey, and during the tea-making she effectually prevented +any serious discussion. But when the meal was over and they had once more +settled down in the drawing-room he would no longer be denied. +</p> + +<p> +“Forgive me,” he entreated, “forgive me for bothering you, +but it’s so desperately important to me. And we may be interrupted. +<i>Do</i> hear what I’ve got to say.” +</p> + +<p> +Without waiting for permission he plunged into the subject. Speaking hoarsely, +stammering, contradicting himself, boggling over the words, he yet made himself +clear. He loved her; had loved her from that first day they had met; he loved +her more than anything else in the world; he—She covered her face with +her hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” she cried wildly. “Don’t go on! Don’t say +it!” She made a despairing gesture. “I can’t listen. I tried +to stop you.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman felt as if a cold weight was slowly descending upon his heart. +</p> + +<p> +“But I will speak,” he cried hoarsely. “It’s my life +that’s at stake. Don’t tell me you can’t listen. Madeleine! I +love you. I want you to marry me. Say you’ll marry me. Madeleine! Say +it!” +</p> + +<p> +He dropped on his knees before her and seized her hands in his own. +</p> + +<p> +“My darling,” he whispered fiercely. “I love you enough for +us both. Say you’ll marry me. Say—” +</p> + +<p> +She wrenched her hands from him. “Oh!” she cried as if heartbroken, +and burst into an uncontrollable flood of tears. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was maddened beyond endurance by the sight +</p> + +<p> +“What a brute I am!” he gasped. “Now I’ve made you +cry.” +</p> + +<p> +“For pity’s sake! Do stop it! Nothing matters about anything else +if only you stop!” +</p> + +<p> +He was almost beside himself with misery as he pleaded with her. But soon he +pulled himself together and began to speak more rationally. +</p> + +<p> +“At least tell me the reason,” he besought. “I know +I’ve no right to ask, but it matters so much. Have pity and tell me, is +it someone else?” +</p> + +<p> +She shook her head faintly between her sobs. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank goodness for that anyway. Tell me once again. Is it that you +don’t like me?” +</p> + +<p> +Again she shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +“You <i>do</i> like me!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “You do, +Madeleine. Say it! Say that you do!” +</p> + +<p> +She made a resolute effort for self-control. +</p> + +<p> +“You know I do, but—” she began in a tremulous whisper. In a +paroxysm of overwhelming excitement he interrupted her. +</p> + +<p> +“Madeleine,” he cried wildly, again seizing her hands, “you +don’t—it couldn’t be possible that you—that you +<i>love</i> me?” +</p> + +<p> +This time she did not withdraw her hands. Slowly she raised her eyes to his, +and in them he read his answer. In a moment she was in his arms and he was +crushing her to his heart. +</p> + +<p> +For a breathless space she lay, a happy little smile on her lips, and then the +moment passed. “Oh!” she cried, struggling to release herself, +“what have I done? Let me go! I shouldn’t have—” +</p> + +<p> +“Darling,” he breathed triumphantly. “I’ll never let +you go as long as I live! You love me! What else matters?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no,” she cried again, her tears once more flowing. “I +was wrong. I shouldn’t have allowed you. It can never be.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed savagely. +</p> + +<p> +“Never be?” he repeated. “Why, dear one, it <i>is</i>. +I’d like to know the person or thing that could stop it now!” +</p> + +<p> +“It can never be,” she repeated in a voice of despair. “You +don’t understand. There are obstacles.” +</p> + +<p> +She argued. He scoffed first, then he pleaded. He demanded to be told the +nature of the barrier, then he besought, but all to no purpose. She would say +no more than that it could never be. +</p> + +<p> +And then—suddenly the question of the syndicate flashed into his mind, +and he sat, almost gasping with wonder as he realized that he had entirely +forgotten it! He had forgotten this mysterious business which had occupied his +thoughts to the exclusion of almost all else for the past two months! It seemed +to him incredible. Yet so it was. +</p> + +<p> +There surged over him a feeling of relief, so that once more he all but +laughed. He turned to Madeleine. +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” he cried triumphantly, “the obstacle. And +it’s just nothing at all. It’s this syndicate business that your +father has got mixed up in. Now tell me! Isn’t that it?” +</p> + +<p> +The effect of his words on the girl was instantaneous. She started and then sat +quite still, while the color slowly drained from her face, leaving it bleached +and deathlike. A look of fear and horror grew in her eyes, and her fingers +clasped until the knuckles showed white. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” she stammered brokenly, “what do you mean by +that?” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman tried once more to take her hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Dear one,” he said caressingly, “don’t let what I said +distress you. We know the syndicate is carrying on something that—well, +perhaps wouldn’t bear too close investigation. But that has nothing to do +with us. It won’t affect our relations.” +</p> + +<p> +The girl seemed transfixed with horror. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>We</i> know?” she repeated dully. “Who are we?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Hilliard; Hilliard and I. We found out quite by accident that there +was something secret going on. We were both interested; Hilliard has a mania +for puzzles, and besides he thought he might get some kudos if the business was +illegal and he could bring it to light, while I knew that because of Mr. +Coburn’s connection with it the matter might affect you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes?” She seemed hardly able to frame the syllable between her dry +lips. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was profoundly unhappy. He felt it was out of the question for him to +tell her anything but the exact truth. Whether she would consider he had acted +improperly in spying on the syndicate he did not know, but even at the risk of +destroying his own chance of happiness he could not deceive her. +</p> + +<p> +“Dear one,” he said in a low tone, “don’t think any +worse of me than you can help, and I will tell you everything. You remember +that first day that I was here, when you met me in the lane and we walked to +the mill?” +</p> + +<p> +She nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“You may recall that a lorry had just arrived, and that I stopped and +stared at it? Well, I had noticed that the number plate had been +changed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” she exclaimed, “I was afraid you had.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I saw it, though it conveyed nothing to me. But I was interested, +and one night in London, just to make conversation in the club, I mentioned +what I had seen. Hilliard was present, and he joined me on the way home and +insisted on talking over the affair. As I said, he has a mania for puzzles, and +the mystery appealed to him. He was going on that motorboat tour across France, +and he suggested that I should join him and that we should call here on our +way, so as to see if we could find the solution. Neither of us thought then, +you understand, that there was anything wrong; he was merely interested. I +didn’t care about the mystery, but I confess I leaped at the idea of +coming back in order to meet you again, and on the understanding that there was +to be nothing in the nature of spying, I agreed to his proposal.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman paused, but the girl, whose eyes were fixed intently on his face, made +no remark, and he continued: +</p> + +<p> +“While we were here, Hilliard, who is very observant and clever, saw one +or two little things which excited his suspicion, and without telling me, he +slipped on board the <i>Girondin</i> and overheard a conversation between Mr. +Coburn, Captain Beamish, Mr. Bulla, and Henri. He learned at once that +something serious and illegal was in progress, but he did not learn what it +was.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then there <i>was</i> spying,” she declared accusingly. +</p> + +<p> +“There was,” he admitted. “I can only say that under the +circumstances he thought himself justified.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” she ordered shortly. +</p> + +<p> +“We returned then to England, and were kept at our offices for about a +week. But Hilliard felt that we could not drop the matter, as we should then +become accomplices. Besides, he was interested. He proposed we should try to +find out more about it. This time I agreed, but I would ask you, Madeleine, to +believe me when I tell you my motive, and to judge me by it. He spoke of +reporting what he had learned to the police, and if I hadn’t agreed to +help him he would have done so. I wanted at all costs to avoid that, because if +there was going to be any trouble I wanted Mr. Coburn to be out of it first. +Believe me or not, that was my only reason for agreeing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do believe you,” she said, “but finish what you have to +tell me.” +</p> + +<p> +“We learned from Lloyd’s List that the <i>Girondin</i> put into +Hull. We went there and at Ferriby, seven miles up-stream, we found the depot +where she discharged the props. You don’t know it?” +</p> + +<p> +She shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s quite like this place; just a wharf and shed, with an +enclosure between the river and the railway. We made all the inquiries and +investigations we could think of, but we learned absolutely nothing. But that, +unfortunately, is the worst of it. Hilliard is disgusted with our failure and +appears determined to tell the police.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” cried the girl with an impatient gesture. “Why +can’t he let it alone? It’s not his business.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman shrugged his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what he said at all events. I had the greatest difficulty +in getting him to promise even to delay. But he has promised, and we have a +month to make our plans. I came straight over to tell you, and to ask you to +marry me at once and come away with me to England.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, no, no!” she cried, putting up her hand as if to shield +herself from the idea. “Besides, what about my father?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve thought about him too,” Merriman returned. “We +will tell him the whole thing, and he will be able to get out before the crash +comes.” +</p> + +<p> +For some moments she sat in silence; then she asked had Hilliard any idea of +what was being done. +</p> + +<p> +“He suggested brandy smuggling, but it was only a theory. There was +nothing whatever to support it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Brandy smuggling? Oh, if it only were!” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman stared in amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“It wouldn’t be so bad as what I had feared,” the girl added, +answering his look. +</p> + +<p> +“And that was—? Do trust me, Madeleine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do trust you, and I will tell you all I know; it isn’t much. I +was afraid they were printing and circulating false money.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was genuinely surprised. +</p> + +<p> +“False money?” he repeated blankly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; English Treasury notes. I thought they were perhaps printing them +over here, and sending some to England with each trip of the <i>Girondin</i>. +It was a remark I accidentally overheard that made me think so. But, like you, +it was only a guess. I had no proof.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me,” Merriman begged. +</p> + +<p> +“It was last winter when the evenings closed in early. I had had a +headache and I had gone to rest for a few minutes in the next room, the +dining-room, which was in darkness. The door between it and this room was +almost but not quite closed. I must have fallen asleep, for I suddenly became +conscious of voices in here, though I had heard no one enter. I was going to +call out when a phrase arrested my attention. I did not mean to listen, but +involuntarily I stayed quiet for a moment. You understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. It was the natural thing to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Captain Beamish was speaking. He was just finishing a sentence and I +only caught the last few words. ‘So that’s a profit of six +thousand, seven hundred and fifty pounds,’ he said; ‘fifty pounds +loss on the props, and six thousand seven hundred netted over the other. Not +bad for one trip!’” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” Merriman exclaimed in amazement. “No wonder you +stopped!” +</p> + +<p> +“I couldn’t understand what was meant, and while I sat undecided +what to do I heard my father say, ‘No trouble planting the stuff?’ +Captain Beamish answered, ‘Archer said not, but then Archer +is—Archer. He’s planting it in small lots—ten here, twenty +there, fifty in t’other place; I don’t think he put out more than +fifty at any one time. And he says he’s only learning his way round, and +that he’ll be able to form better connections to get rid of it.’ +Then Mr. Bulla spoke, and this was what upset me so much and made me think, +‘Mr. Archer is a wonderful man,’ he said with that horrible fat +chuckle of his, ‘he would plant stuff on Old Nick himself with the whole +of the C.I.D. looking on.’ I was bewildered and rather horrified, and I +did not wait to hear any more. I crept away noiselessly, and I didn’t +want to be found as it were listening. Even then I did not understand that +anything was wrong, but it happened that the very next day I was walking +through the forest near the lane, and I noticed Henri changing the numbers on +the lorry. He didn’t see me, and he had such a stealthy surreptitious +air, that I couldn’t but see it was not a joke. Putting two and two +together I felt something serious was going on, and that night I asked my +father what it was.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well done!” Merriman exclaimed admiringly. +</p> + +<p> +“But it was no use. He made little of it at first, but when I pressed him +he said that against his will he had been forced into an enterprise which he +hated and which he was trying to get out of. He said I must be patient and we +should get away from it as quickly as possible. But since then,” she +added despondently, “though I have returned to the subject time after +time he has always put me off, saying that we must wait a little longer.” +</p> + +<p> +“And then you thought of the false notes?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but I had no reason to do so except that I couldn’t think of +anything else that would fit the words I had overheard. Planting stuff by tens +or twenties or fifties seemed to—” +</p> + +<p> +There was a sudden noise in the hall and Madeleine broke off to listen. +</p> + +<p> +“Father,” she whispered breathlessly. “Don’t say +anything.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman had just time to nod when the door opened and Mr. Coburn appeared on +the threshold. For a moment he stood looking at his daughter’s visitor, +while the emotions of doubt, surprise and annoyance seemed to pass successively +through his mind. Then he advanced with outstretched hand and a somewhat +satirical smile on his lips. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, it is the good Merriman,” he exclaimed. “Welcome once +more to our humble abode. And where is brother Hilliard? You don’t mean +to say you have come without him?” +</p> + +<p> +His tone jarred on Merriman, but he answered courteously: “I left him in +London. I had business bringing me to this neighborhood, and when I reached +Bordeaux I took the opportunity to run out to see you and Miss Coburn.” +</p> + +<p> +The manager replied suitably, and the conversation became general. As soon as +he could with civility, Merriman rose to go. Mr. Coburn cried out in protest, +but the other insisted. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn had become more cordial, and the two men strolled together across +the clearing. Merriman had had no opportunity of further private conversation +with Madeleine, but he pressed her hand and smiled at her encouragingly on +saying good-bye. +</p> + +<p> +As the taxi bore him swiftly back towards Bordeaux, his mind was occupied with +the girl to the exclusion of all else. It was not so much that he thought +definitely about her, as that she seemed to fill all his consciousness. He felt +numb, and his whole being ached for her as with a dull physical pain. But it +was a pain that was mingled with exultation, for if she had refused him, she +had at least admitted that she loved him. Incredible thought! He smiled +ecstatically, then, the sense of loss returning, once more gazed gloomily ahead +into vacancy. As the evening wore on his thoughts turned towards what she had +said about the syndicate. Her forged note theory had come to him as a complete +surprise, and he wondered whether she really had hit on the true solution of +the mystery. The conversation she had overheard undoubtedly pointed in that +direction. “Planting stuff” was, he believed, the technical phrase +for passing forged notes, and the reference to “tens,” +“twenties,” and “fifties,” tended in the same +direction. Also “forming connections to get rid of it” seemed to +suggest the finding of agents who would take a number of notes at a time, to be +passed on by ones and twos, no doubt for a consideration. +</p> + +<p> +But there was the obvious difficulty that the theory did not account for the +operations as a whole. The elaborate mechanism of the pit-prop industry was not +needed to provide a means of carrying forged notes from France to England. They +could be secreted about the person of a traveller crossing by any of the +ordinary routes. Hundreds of notes could be sewn into the lining of an +overcoat, thousands carried in the double bottom of a suitcase. Of course, so +frequent a traveller would require a plausible reason for his journeys, but +that would present no difficulty to men like those composing the syndicate. In +any case, by crossing in rotation by the dozen or so well-patronized routes +between England and the Continent, the continuity of the travelling could be +largely hidden. Moreover, thought Merriman, why print the notes in France at +all? Why not produce them in England and so save the need for importation? +</p> + +<p> +On the whole there seemed but slight support for the theory and several strong +arguments against it, and he felt that Madeleine must be mistaken, just as he +and Hilliard had been mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! how sick of the whole business he was! He no longer cared what the +syndicate was doing. He never wanted to hear of it again. He wanted Madeleine, +and he wanted nothing else. His thoughts swung back to her as he had seen her +that afternoon; her trim figure, her daintiness, her brown eyes clouded with +trouble, her little shell-like ears escaping from the tendrils of her hair, her +tears.... He broke out once more into a cold sweat as he thought of those +tears. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he began wondering what his own next step should be, and he soon +decided he must see her again, and with as little delay as possible. +</p> + +<p> +The next afternoon, therefore, he once more presented himself at the house in +the clearing. This time the door was opened by an elderly servant, who handed +him a note and informed him that Mr. and Miss Coburn had left home for some +days. +</p> + +<p> +Bitterly disappointed he turned away, and in the solitude of the lane he opened +the note. It read: +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“<i>Friday</i>. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“Dear Mr. Merriman,—I feel it is quite impossible that we should +part without a word more than could be said at our interrupted interview this +afternoon, so with deep sorrow I am writing to you to say to you, dear Mr. +Merriman, ‘Good-bye.’ I have enjoyed our short friendship, and all +my life I shall be proud that you spoke as you did, but, my dear, it is just +because I think so much of you that I could not bring your life under the +terrible cloud that hangs over mine. Though it hurts me to say it, I have no +option but to ask you to accept the answer I gave you as final, and to forget +that we met.<br /> + “I am leaving home for some time, and I beg of you not to give both +of us more pain by trying to follow me. Oh, my dear, I cannot say how grieved I +am. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“Your sincere friend,<br /> +“Madeleine Coburn.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was overwhelmed utterly by the blow. Mechanically he regained the +taxi, where he lay limply back, gripping the note and unconscious of his +position, while his bloodless lips repeated over and over again the phrase, +“I’ll find her. I’ll find her. If it takes me all my life +I’ll find her and I’ll marry her.” +</p> + +<p> +Like a man in a state of coma he returned to his hotel in Bordeaux, and there, +for the first time in his life, he drank himself into forgetfulness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"></a> +CHAPTER XI.<br /> +AN UNEXPECTED ALLY</h2> + +<p> +For several days Merriman, sick at heart and shaken in body, remained on at +Bordeaux, too numbed by the blow which had fallen on him to take any decisive +action. He now understood that Madeleine Coburn had refused him because she +loved him, and he vowed he would rest neither day nor night till he had seen +her and obtained a reversal of her decision. But for the moment his energy had +departed, and he spent his time smoking in the Jardin and brooding over his +troubles. +</p> + +<p> +It was true that on three separate occasions he had called at the +manager’s house, only to be told that Mr. and Miss Coburn were still from +home, and neither there nor from the foreman at the works could he learn their +addresses or the date of their return. He had also written a couple of scrappy +notes to Hilliard, merely saying he was on a fresh scent, and to make no move +in the matter until he heard further. Of the Pit-Prop Syndicate as apart from +Madeleine he was now profoundly wearied, and he wished for nothing more than +never again to hear its name mentioned. +</p> + +<p> +But after a week of depression and self-pity his natural good sense reasserted +itself, and he began seriously to consider his position. He honestly believed +that Madeleine’s happiness could best be brought about by the fulfilment +of his own, in other words by their marriage. He appreciated the motives which +had caused her to refuse him, but he hoped that by his continued persuasion he +might be able, as he put it to himself, to talk her round. Her very flight from +him, for such he believed her absence to be, seemed to indicate that she +herself was doubtful of her power to hold out against him, and to this extent +he drew comfort from his immediate difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +He concluded before trying any new plan to call once again at the clearing, in +the hope that Mr. Coburn at least might have returned. The next afternoon, +therefore, saw him driving out along the now familiar road. It was still hot, +with the heavy enervating heat of air held stagnant by the trees. The freshness +of early summer had gone, and there was a hint of approaching autumn in the +darker greenery of the firs, and the overmaturity of such shrubs and wild +flowers as could find along the edge of the road a precarious roothold on the +patches of ground not covered by pine needles. Merriman gazed unceasingly ahead +at the straight white ribbon of the road, as he pondered the problem of what he +should do if once again he should be disappointed in his quest. Madeleine could +not, he thought, remain indefinitely away. Mr. Coburn at all events would have +to return to his work, and it would be a strange thing if he could not obtain +from the father some indication of his daughter’s whereabouts. +</p> + +<p> +But his call at the manager’s house was as fruitless on this occasion as +on those preceding. The woman from whom he had received the note opened the +door and repeated her former statement. Mr. and Miss Coburn were still from +home. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman turned away disconsolately, and walked slowly back across the clearing +and down the lane. Though he told himself he had expected nothing from the +visit, he was nevertheless bitterly disappointed with its result. And worse +than his disappointment was his inability to see his next step, or even to +think of any scheme which might lead him to the object of his hopes. +</p> + +<p> +He trudged on down the lane, his head sunk and his brows knitted, only half +conscious of his surroundings. Looking up listlessly as he rounded a bend, he +stopped suddenly as if turned to stone, while his heart first stood still, then +began thumping wildly as if to choke him. A few yards away and coming to meet +him was Madeleine! +</p> + +<p> +She caught sight of him at the same instant and stopped with a low cry, while +an expression of dread came over her face. So for an appreciable time they +stood looking at one another, then Merriman, regaining the power of motion, +sprang forward and seized her hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Madeleine! Madeleine!” he cried brokenly. “My own one! My +beloved!” He almost sobbed as he attempted to strain her to his heart. +</p> + +<p> +But she wrenched herself from him. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no!” she gasped. “You must not! I told you. It cannot +be.” +</p> + +<p> +He pleaded with her, fiercely, passionately, and at last despairingly. But he +could not move her. Always she repeated that it could not be. +</p> + +<p> +“At least tell me this,” he begged at last. “Would you marry +me if this syndicate did not exist; I mean if Mr. Coburn was not mixed up with +it?” +</p> + +<p> +At first she would not answer, but presently, overcome by his persistence, she +burst once again into tears and admitted that her fear of disgrace arising +through discovery of the syndicate’s activities was her only reason for +refusal. +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said Merriman resolutely, “I will go back with you +now and see Mr. Coburn, and we will talk over what is to be done.” +</p> + +<p> +At this her eyes dilated with terror. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no!” she cried again. “He would be in danger. He would +try something that might offend the others, and his life might not be safe. I +tell you I don’t trust Captain Beamish and Mr. Bulla. I don’t think +they would stop at anything to keep their secret. He is trying to get out of +it, and he must not be hurried. He will do what he can.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, my dearest,” Merriman remonstrated, “it could do no +harm, to talk the matter over with him. That would commit him to +nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +But she would not hear of it. +</p> + +<p> +“If he thought my happiness depended on it,” she declared, +“he would break with them at all costs. I could not risk it. You must go +away. Oh, my dear, you must go. Go, go!” she entreated almost +hysterically, “it will be best for us both.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman, though beside himself with suffering, felt he could no longer +disregard her. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall go,” he answered sadly, “since you require it, but I +will never give you up. Not until one of us is dead or you marry someone +else—I will never give you up. Oh, Madeleine, have pity and give me some +hope; something to keep me alive till this trouble is over.” +</p> + +<p> +She was beginning to reply when she stopped suddenly and stood listening. +</p> + +<p> +“The lorry!” she cried. “Go! Go!” Then pointing wildly +in the direction of the road, she turned and fled rapidly back towards the +clearing. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman gazed after her until she passed round a corner of the lane and was +lost to sight among the trees. Then, with a weight of hopeless despair on his +heart, he began to walk towards the road. The lorry, driven by Henri, passed +him at the next bend, and Henri, though he saluted with a show of respect, +smiled sardonically as he noted the other’s woebegone appearance. +</p> + +<p> +But Merriman neither knew nor cared what the driver thought. Almost physically +sick with misery and disappointment, he regained his taxi and was driven back +to Bordeaux. +</p> + +<p> +The next few days seemed to him like a nightmare of hideous reality and +permanence. He moved as a man in a dream, living under a shadow of almost +tangible weight, as a criminal must do who has been sentenced to early +execution. The longing to see Madeleine again, to hear the sound of her voice, +to feel her presence, was so intense as to be almost unendurable. Again and +again he said to himself that had she cared for another, had she even told him +that she could not care for him, he would have taken his dismissal as +irrevocable and gone to try and drag out the remainder of his life elsewhere as +best he could. But he was maddened to think that the major difficulty—the +overwhelming, insuperable difficulty—of his suit had been overcome. She +loved him! Miraculous and incredible though it might seem—though it +was—it was the amazing truth. And that being so, it was beyond bearing +that a mere truckling to convention should be allowed to step in and snatch +away the ecstasy of happiness that was within his grasp. And worse still, this +truckling to convention was to save <i>him!</i> What, he asked himself, did it +matter about <i>him?</i> Even if the worst happened and she suffered shame +through her father, wasn’t all he wanted to be allowed to share it with +her? And if narrow, stupid fools did talk, what matter? They could do without +their companionship. +</p> + +<p> +Fits of wild rage alternated with periods of cold and numbing despair, but as +day succeeded day the desire to be near her grew until it could no longer be +denied. He dared not again attempt to force himself into her presence, lest she +should be angry and shatter irrevocably the hope to which he still clung with +desperation. But he might without fear of disaster be nearer to her for a time. +He hired a bicycle, and after dark had fallen that evening he rode out to the +lane, and leaving his machine on the road, walked to the edge of the clearing. +It was a perfect night, calm and silent, though with a slight touch of chill in +the air. A crescent moon shone soft and silvery, lighting up pallidly the open +space, gleaming on the white wood of the freshly cut stumps, and throwing black +shadows from the ghostly looking buildings. It was close on midnight, and +Merriman looked eagerly across the clearing to the manager’s house. He +was not disappointed. There, in the window that he knew belonged to her room, +shone a light. +</p> + +<p> +He slowly approached, keeping on the fringe of the clearing and beneath the +shadow of the trees. Some shrubs had taken root on the open ground, and behind +a clump of these, not far from the door, he lay down, filled his pipe, and gave +himself up to his dreams. The light still showed in the window, but even as he +looked it went out, leaving the front of the house dark and, as it seemed to +him, unfriendly and forbidding. “Perhaps she’ll look out before +going to bed,” he thought, as he gazed disconsolately at the blank, +unsympathetic opening. But he could see no movement therein. +</p> + +<p> +He lost count of time as he lay dreaming of the girl whose existence had become +more to him than his very life, and it was not until he suddenly realized that +he had become stiff and cramped from the cold that he looked at his watch. +Nearly two! Once more he glanced sorrowfully at the window, realizing that no +comfort was to be obtained therefrom, and decided he might as well make his way +back, for all the ease of mind he was getting. +</p> + +<p> +He turned slowly to get up, but just as he did so he noticed a slight movement +at the side of the house before him, and he remained motionless, gazing +intently forward. Then, spellbound, he watched Mr. Coburn leave by the side +door, walk quickly to the shed, unlock a door, and disappear within. +</p> + +<p> +There was something so secretive in the way the manager looked around before +venturing into the open, and so stealthy about his whole walk and bearing, that +Merriman’s heart beat more quickly as he wondered if he was now on the +threshold of some revelation of the mystery of that outwardly innocent place. +Obeying a sudden instinct, he rose from his hiding-place in the bushes and +crept silently across the sward to the door by which the other had entered. +</p> + +<p> +It was locked, and the whole place was dark and silent. Were it not for what he +had just seen, Merriman would have believed it deserted. But it was evident +that some secret and perhaps sinister activity was in progress within, and for +the moment he forgot even Madeleine in his anxiety to learn its nature. +</p> + +<p> +He crept silently round the shed, trying each door and peering into each +window, but without result. All remained fast and in darkness, and though he +listened with the utmost intentness of which he was capable, he could not catch +any sound. +</p> + +<p> +His round of the building completed, he paused in doubt. Should he retire while +there was time, and watch for Mr. Coburn’s reappearance with perhaps some +of his accomplices, or should he wait at the door and tackle him on the matter +when he came out? His first preference was for the latter course, but as he +thought it over he felt it would be better to reserve his knowledge, and he +turned to make for cover. +</p> + +<p> +But even as he did so he heard the manager say in low harsh tones: “Hands +up now, or I fire!” and swinging round, he found himself gazing into the +bore of a small deadly-looking repeating pistol. +</p> + +<p> +Automatically he raised his arms, and for a few moments both men stood +motionless, staring perplexedly at one another. Then Mr. Coburn lowered the +pistol and attempted a laugh, a laugh nervous, shaky, and without merriment. +His lips smiled, but his eyes remained cold and venomous. +</p> + +<p> +“Good heavens, Merriman, but you did give me a start,” he cried, +making an evident effort to be jocular. “What in all the world are you +doing here at this hour? Sorry for my greeting, but one has to be careful here. +You know the district is notorious for brigands.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was not usually very prompt to meet emergencies. He generally realized +when it was too late what he ought to have said or done in any given +circumstances. But on this occasion a flash of veritable inspiration revealed a +way by which he might at one and the same time account for his presence, disarm +the manager’s suspicions, and perhaps even gain his point with regard to +Madeleine. He smiled back at the other. +</p> + +<p> +“Sorry for startling you. Mr. Coburn. I have been looking for you for +some days to discuss a very delicate matter, and I came out late this evening +in the hope of attracting your attention after Miss Coburn had retired, so that +our chat could be quite confidential. But in the darkness I fell and hurt my +knee, and I spent so much time in waiting for it to get better that I was +ashamed to go to the house. Imagine my delight when, just as I was turning to +leave, I saw you coming down to the shed, and I followed with the object of +trying to attract your attention.” +</p> + +<p> +He hardly expected that Mr. Coburn would have accepted his statement, but +whatever the manager believed privately, he gave no sign of suspicion. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad your journey was not fruitless,” he answered +courteously. “As a matter of fact, my neuralgia kept me from sleeping, +and I found I had forgotten my bottle of aspirin down here, where I had brought +it for the same purpose this morning. It seemed worth the trouble of coming for +it, and I came.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke Mr. Coburn took from his pocket and held up for Merriman’s +inspection a tiny phial half full of white tablets. +</p> + +<p> +It was now Merriman’s turn to be sceptical, but he murmured polite +regrets in as convincing a way as he was able. “Let us go back into my +office,” the manager continued. “If you want a private chat you can +have it there.” +</p> + +<p> +He unlocked the door, and passing in first, lit a reading lamp on his desk. +Then relocking the door behind his visitor and unostentatiously slipping the +key into his pocket, he sat down at the desk, waved Merriman to a chair, and +producing a box of cigars, passed it across. +</p> + +<p> +The windows, Merriman noticed, were covered by heavy blinds, and it was evident +that no one could see into the room, nor could the light be observed from +without. The door behind him was locked, and in Mr. Coburn’s pocket was +the key as well as a revolver, while Merriman was unarmed. Moreover, Mr. Coburn +was the larger and heavier, if not the stronger man of the two. It was true his +words and manner were those of a friend, but the cold hatred in his eyes +revealed his purpose. Merriman instantly realized he was in very real personal +danger, and it was borne in on him that if he was to get out of that room +alive, it was to his own wits he must trust. +</p> + +<p> +But he was no coward, and he did not forget to limp as he crossed the room, nor +did his hand shake as he stretched it out to take a cigar. When he came within +the radius of the lamp he noticed with satisfaction that his coat was covered +with fragments of moss and leaves, and he rather ostentatiously brushed these +away, partly to prove to the other his calmness, and partly to draw attention +to them in the hope that they would be accepted as evidence of his fall. +</p> + +<p> +Fearing lest if they began a desultory conversation he might be tricked by his +astute opponent into giving himself away, he left the latter no opportunity to +make a remark, but plunged at once into his subject. +</p> + +<p> +“I feel myself, Mr. Coburn,” he began, “not a little in your +debt for granting me this interview. But the matter on which I wish to speak to +you is so delicate and confidential, that I think you will agree that any +precautions against eavesdroppers are justifiable.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke at first somewhat formally, but as interest in his subject quickened, +he gradually became more conversational. +</p> + +<p> +“The first thing I have to tell you,” he went on, “may not be +very pleasant hearing to you, but it is a matter of almost life and death +importance to me. I have come, Mr. Coburn, very deeply and sincerely to love +your daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn frowned slightly, but he did not seem surprised, nor did he reply +except by a slight bow. Merriman continued: +</p> + +<p> +“That in itself need not necessarily be of interest to you, but there is +more to tell, and it is in this second point that the real importance of my +statement lies, and on it hinges everything that I have to say to you. +Madeleine, sir, has given me a definite assurance that my love for her is +returned.” +</p> + +<p> +Still Mr. Coburn made no answer, save then by another slight inclination of his +head, but his eyes had grown anxious and troubled. +</p> + +<p> +“Not unnaturally,” Merriman resumed, “I begged her to marry +me, but she saw fit to decline. In view of the admission she had just made, I +was somewhat surprised that her refusal was so vehement. I pressed her for the +reason, but she utterly declined to give it. Then an idea struck me, and I +asked her if it was because she feared that your connection with this syndicate +might lead to unhappiness. At first she would not reply nor give me any +satisfaction, but at last by persistent questioning, and only when she saw I +knew a great deal more about the business than she did herself, she admitted +that that was indeed the barrier. Not to put too fine a point on it—it is +better, is it not, sir, to be perfectly candid—she is living in terror +and dread of your arrest, and she won’t marry me for fear that if it were +to happen she might bring disgrace on me.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn had not moved during this speech, except that his face had become +paler and the look of cold menace in his eyes seemed charged with a still more +vindictive hatred. Then he answered slowly: +</p> + +<p> +“I can only assume, Mr. Merriman, that your mind has become temporarily +unhinged, but even with such an excuse, you cannot really believe that I am +going to wait here and listen to you making such statements.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman bent forward. +</p> + +<p> +“Sir,” he said earnestly, “I give you my word of honor and +earnestly ask you to believe that I am approaching you as a friend. I am myself +an interested party. I have sought this interview for Madeleine’s sake. +For her sake, and for her sake only, I have come to ask you to discuss with me +the best way out of the difficulty.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn rose abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +“The best way out of the difficulty,” he declared, no longer +attempting to disguise the hatred he felt, “is for you to take yourself +off and never to show your face here again. I am amazed at you.” He took +his automatic pistol out of his pocket. “Don’t you know that you +are completely in my power? If I chose I could shoot you like a dog and sink +your body in the river, and no one would ever know what had become of +you.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman’s heart was beating rapidly. He had the uncomfortable suspicion +that he had only to turn his back to get a bullet into it. He assumed a +confidence he was far from feeling. +</p> + +<p> +“On the contrary, Mr. Coburn,” he said quietly, “it is you +who are in our power. I’m afraid you don’t quite appreciate the +situation. It is true you could shoot me now, but if you did, nothing could +save you. It would be the rope for you and prison for your confederates, and +what about your daughter then? I tell you, sir, I’m not such a fool as +you take me for. Knowing what I do, do you think it likely I should put myself +in your power unless I knew I was safe?” +</p> + +<p> +His assurance was not without its effect. The other’s face grew paler and +he sat heavily down in his chair. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll hear what you have to say,” he said harshly, though +without letting go his weapon. +</p> + +<p> +“Then let me begin at the beginning. You remember that first evening I +was here, when you so kindly supplied me with petrol? Sir, you were correct +when you told Captain Beamish and Mr. Bulla that I had noticed the changing of +the lorry number plate. I had.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn started slightly, but he did not speak, and Merriman went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I was interested, though the thing conveyed nothing to me. But some time +later I mentioned it casually, and Hilliard, who has a mania for puzzles, +overheard. He suggested my joining him on his trip, and calling to see if we +could solve it. You, Mr. Coburn, said another thing to your friends—that +though I might have noticed about the lorry, you were certain neither Hilliard +nor I had seen anything suspicious at the clearing. There, sir, you were wrong. +Though at that time we could not tell what was going on, we knew it was +something illegal.” +</p> + +<p> +Coburn was impressed at last. He sat motionless, staring at the speaker. As +Merriman remained silent, he moved. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” he said hoarsely, licking his dry lips. +</p> + +<p> +“I would ask you please to visualize the situation when we left. Hilliard +believed he was on the track of a criminal organization, carrying on illicit +operations on a large scale. He believed that by lodging with the police the +information he had gained, the break-up of the organization and the capture of +its members would be assured, and that he would stand to gain much kudos. But +he did not know what the operations were, and he hesitated to come forward, +lest by not waiting and investigating further he should destroy his chance of +handing over to the authorities a complete case. He was therefore exceedingly +keen that we should carry on inquiries at what I may call the English end of +the business. Such was Hilliard’s attitude. I trust I make myself +clear.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Coburn nodded without speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“My position was different. I had by that time come to care for +Madeleine, and I saw the effect any disclosure must have on her. I therefore +wished things kept secret, and I urged Hilliard to carry out his second idea +and investigate further so as to make his case complete. He made my assistance +a condition of agreement, and I therefore consented to help him.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn was now ghastly, and was listening with breathless earnestness to +his visitor. Merriman realized what he had always suspected, that the man was +weak and a bit of a coward, and he began to believe his bluff would carry him +through. +</p> + +<p> +“I need not trouble you,” he went on, “with all the details +of our search. It is enough to say that we found out what we wanted. We went to +Hull, discovered the wharf at Ferriby, made the acquaintance of Benson, and +witnessed what went on there. We know all about Archer and how he plants your +stuff, and Morton, who had us under observation and whom we properly tricked. I +don’t claim any credit for it; all that belongs to Hilliard. And I admit +we did not learn certain small details of your scheme. But the main points are +clear—clear enough to get convictions anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +After a pause to let his words create their full effect, Merriman continued: +</p> + +<p> +“Then arose the problem that had bothered us before. Hilliard was wild to +go to the authorities with his story; on Madeleine’s account I still +wanted it kept quiet. I needn’t recount our argument. Suffice it to say +that at last we compromised. Hilliard agreed to wait for a month. For the sake +of our friendship and the help I had given him, he undertook to give me a month +to settle something about Madeleine. Mr. Coburn, nearly half that month is gone +and I am not one step farther on.” +</p> + +<p> +The manager wiped the drops of sweat from his pallid brow. Merriman’s +quiet, confident manner, with its apparent absence of bluff or threat, had had +its effect on him. He was evidently thoroughly frightened, and seemed to think +it no longer worth while to plead ignorance. As Merriman had hoped and +intended, he appeared to conclude that conciliation would be his best chance. +</p> + +<p> +“Then no one but you two know so far?” he asked, a shifty, sly look +passing over his face. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman read his thoughts and bluffed again. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes and no,” he answered. “No one but we two know at +present. On the other hand, we have naturally taken all reasonable precautions. +Hilliard prepared a full statement of the matter which we both signed, and this +he sent to his banker with a request that unless he claimed it in person before +the given date, the banker was to convey it to Scotland Yard. If anything +happens to me here, Hilliard will go at once to the Yard, and if anything +happens to him our document will be sent there. And in it we have suggested +that if either of us disappear, it will be equivalent to adding murder to the +other charges made.” +</p> + +<p> +It was enough. Mr. Coburn sat, broken and completely cowed. To Merriman he +seemed suddenly to have become an old man. For several minutes silence reigned, +and then at last the other spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want me to do?” he asked, in a tremulous voice, hardly +louder than a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman’s heart leaped. +</p> + +<p> +“To consider your daughter, Mr. Coburn,” he answered promptly. +“All I want is to marry Madeleine, and for her sake I want you to get out +of this thing before the crash comes.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn once more wiped the drops of sweat from his forehead. +</p> + +<p> +“Good lord!” he cried hoarsely. “Ever since it started I have +been trying to get out of it. I was forced into it against my will and I would +give my soul if I could do as you say and get free. But I can’t—I +can’t.” +</p> + +<p> +He buried his head in his hands and sat motionless, leaning on his desk. +</p> + +<p> +“But your daughter, Mr. Coburn,” Merriman persisted. “For her +sake something must be done.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn shook his clenched fists in the air. +</p> + +<p> +“Damnation take you!” he cried, with a sudden access of rage, +“do you think I care about myself? Do you think I’d sit here and +listen to you talking as you’ve done if it wasn’t for her? I tell +you I’d shoot you as you sit, if I didn’t know from my own +observation that she is fond of you. I swear it’s the only thing that has +saved you.” He rose to his feet and began pacing jerkily to and fro. +“See here,” he continued wildly, “go away from here before I +do it. I can’t stand any more of you at present. Go now and come back on +Friday night at the same time, and I’ll tell you of my decision. +Here’s the key,” he threw it down on the desk. “Get out quick +before I do for you!” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman was for a moment inclined to stand his ground, but, realizing that not +only had he carried his point as far as he could have expected, but also that +his companion was in so excited a condition as hardly to be accountable for his +actions, he decided discretion was the better part, and merely saying: +“Very well, Friday night,” he unlocked the door and took his leave. +</p> + +<p> +On the whole he was well pleased with his interview. In the first place, he had +by his readiness escaped an imminent personal danger. What was almost as +important, he had broken the ice with Mr. Coburn about Madeleine, and the +former had not only declared that he was aware of the state of his +daughter’s feelings, but he had expressed no objection to the proposed +match. Further, an understanding as to Mr. Coburn’s own position had been +come to. He had practically admitted that the syndicate was a felonious +conspiracy, and had stated that he would do almost anything to get out of it. +Finally he had promised a decision on the whole question in three days’ +time. Quite a triumph, Merriman thought. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand he had given the manager a warning of the danger which the +latter might communicate to his fellow-conspirators, with the result that all +of them might escape from the net in which Hilliard, at any rate, wished to +enmesh them. And just to this extent he had become a co-partner in their crime. +And though it was true that he had escaped from his immediate peril, he had +undoubtedly placed himself and Hilliard in very real danger. It was by no means +impossible that the gang would decide to murder both of the men whose knowledge +threatened them, in the hope of bluffing the bank manager out of the letter +which they would believe he held. Merriman had invented this letter on the spur +of the moment and he would have felt a good deal happier if he knew that it +really existed. He decided that he would write to Hilliard immediately and get +him to make it a reality. +</p> + +<p> +A great deal, he thought, depended on the character of Coburn. If he was weak +and cowardly he would try to save his own skin and let the others walk into the +net. Particularly might he do this if he had suffered at their hands in the way +he suggested. On the other hand, a strong man would undoubtedly consult his +fellow-conspirators and see that a pretty determined fight was made for their +liberty and their source of gain. +</p> + +<p> +He had thought of all this when it suddenly flashed into his mind that Mr. +Coburn’s presence in the shed at two in the morning in itself required a +lot of explanation. He did not for a moment believe the aspirin story. The man +had looked so shifty while he was speaking, that even at the time Merriman had +decided he was lying. What then could he have been doing? +</p> + +<p> +He puzzled over the questions but without result. Then it occurred to him that +as he was doing nothing that evening he might as well ride out again to the +clearing and see if any nocturnal activities were undertaken. +</p> + +<p> +Midnight therefore found him once more ensconced behind a group of shrubs in +full view of both the house and the shed. It was again a perfect night, and +again he lay dreaming of the girl who was so near in body and in spirit, and +yet so infinitely far beyond his reach. +</p> + +<p> +Time passed slowly, but the hours wore gradually round until his watch showed +two o’clock. Then, just as he was thinking that he need hardly wait much +longer, he was considerably thrilled to see Mr. Coburn once more appear at the +side door of the house, and in the same stealthy, secretive way as on the +previous night, walk hurriedly to the shed and let himself in by the office +door. +</p> + +<p> +At first Merriman thought of following him again in the hope of learning the +nature of these strange proceedings, but a moment’s thought showed him he +must run no risk of discovery. If Coburn learned that he was being spied on he +would at once doubt Merriman’s statement that he knew the +syndicate’s secret. It would be better, therefore, to lie low and await +events. +</p> + +<p> +But the only other interesting event that happened was that some fifteen +minutes later the manager left the shed, and with the same show of secrecy +returned to his house, disappearing into the side door. +</p> + +<p> +So intrigued was Merriman by the whole business that he determined to repeat +his visit the following night also. He did so, and once again witnessed Mr. +Coburn’s stealthy walk to the shed at two a.m., and his equally stealthy +return at two-fifteen. +</p> + +<p> +Rack his brains as he would over the problem of these nocturnal visits, +Merriman could think of no explanation. What for three consecutive nights could +bring the manager down to the sawmill? He could not imagine, but he was clear +it was not the pit-prop industry. +</p> + +<p> +If the <i>Girondin</i> had been in he would have once more suspected smuggling, +but she was then at Ferriby. No, it certainly did not work in with smuggling. +Still less did it suggest false note printing, unless—Merriman’s +heart beat more quickly as a new idea entered his mind. Suppose the notes were +printed there, at the mill! Suppose there was a cellar under the engine house, +and suppose the work was done at night? It was true they had not seen signs of +a cellar, but if this surmise was correct it was not likely they would. +</p> + +<p> +At first sight this theory seemed a real advance, but a little further thought +showed it had serious objections. Firstly, it did not explain Coburn’s +nightly visits. If the manager had spent some hours in the works it might have +indicated the working of a press, but what in that way could be done in fifteen +minutes? Further, and this seemed to put the idea quite out of court, if the +notes were being produced at the clearing, why the changing of the lorry +numbers? That would then be a part of the business quite unconnected with the +illicit traffic. After much thought, Merriman had to admit to himself that here +was one more of the series of insoluble puzzles with which they found +themselves faced. +</p> + +<p> +The next night was Friday, and in accordance with the arrangement made with Mr. +Coburn, Merriman once again went out to the clearing, presenting himself at the +works door at two in the morning. Mr. Coburn at once opened to his knock, and +after locking the door, led the way to his office. There he wasted no time in +preliminaries. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve thought this over, Merriman,” he said, and his manner +was very different from that of the previous interview, “and I’m +bound to say that I’ve realized that, though interested, your action +towards me has been correct not to say generous. Now I’ve made up my mind +what to do, and I trust you will see your way to fall in with my ideas. There +is a meeting of the syndicate on Thursday week. I should have been present in +any case, and I have decided that, whatever may be the result, I will tell them +I am going to break with them. I will give ill-health as my reason for this +step, and fortunately or unfortunately I can do this with truth, as my heart is +seriously diseased. I can easily provide the necessary doctor’s +certificates. If they accept my resignation, well and good—I will +emigrate to my brother in South America, and you and Madeleine can be married. +If they decline, well”—Mr. Coburn shrugged his +shoulders—“your embarrassment will be otherwise removed.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused. Merriman would have spoken, but Mr. Coburn held up his hand for +silence and went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I confess I have been terribly upset for the last three days to discover +my wisest course, and even now I am far from certain that my decision is best. +I do not want to go back on my former friends, and on account of Madeleine I +cannot go back on you. Therefore, I cannot warn the others of their danger, but +on the other hand I won’t give your life into their hands. For if they +knew what I know now, you and Hilliard would be dead men inside twenty-four +hours.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Coburn spoke simply and with a certain dignity, and Merriman found himself +disposed not only to believe what he had heard, but even to understand and +sympathize with the man in the embarrassing circumstances in which he found +himself. That his difficulties were of his own making there could be but little +doubt, but how far he had put himself in the power of his associates through +deliberate evil-doing, and how far through mistakes or weakness, there was of +course no way of learning. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of an hour’s discussion, Mr. Coburn had agreed at all costs to +sever his connection with the syndicate, to emigrate to his brother in Chile, +and to do his utmost to induce his daughter to remain in England to marry +Merriman. On his side, Merriman undertook to hold back the lodging of +information at Scotland Yard for one more week, to enable the other’s +arrangements to be carried out. +</p> + +<p> +There being nothing to keep him in Bordeaux, Merriman left for London that day, +and the next evening he was closeted with Hilliard in the latter’s rooms, +discussing the affair. Hilliard at first was most unwilling to postpone their +visit to the Yard but he agreed on Merriman’s explaining that he had +pledged himself to the delay. +</p> + +<p> +So the days, for Merriman heavily weighted with anxiety and suspense, began +slowly to drag by. His fate and the fate of the girl he loved hung in the +balance, and not the least irksome feature of his position was his own utter +impotence. There was nothing that he could do—no action which would take +him out of himself and ease the tension of his thoughts. As day succeeded day +and the silence remained unbroken, he became more and more upset. At the end of +a week he was almost beside himself with worry and chagrin, so much so that he +gave up attending his office altogether, and was only restrained from rushing +back to Bordeaux by the knowledge that to force himself once more on Madeleine +might be to destroy, once and for ever, any hopes he might otherwise have had. +</p> + +<p> +It was now four days since the Thursday on which Mr. Coburn had stated that the +meeting of the syndicate was to have been held, and only three days to the date +on which the friends had agreed to tell their story at Scotland Yard. What if +he received no news during those three days? Would Hilliard agree to a further +postponement? He feared not, and he was racked with anxiety as to whether he +should cross that day to France and seek another interview with Mr. Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +But, even as he sat with the morning paper in his hand, news was nearer than he +imagined. Listlessly he turned over the sheets, glancing with but scant +attention to the headlines, automatically running his eyes over the paragraphs. +And when he came to one headed “Mystery of a Taxi-cab,” he +absent-mindedly began to read it also. +</p> + +<p> +But he had not gone very far when his manner changed. Starting to his feet, he +stared at the column with horror-stricken eyes, while his face grew pallid and +his pipe dropped to the floor from his open mouth. With the newspaper still +tightly grasped in his hand, he ran three steps at a time down the stairs of +his flat, and calling a taxi, was driven to Scotland Yard. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"></a> +PART TWO.<br /> +THE PROFESSIONALS</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"></a> +CHAPTER XII.<br /> +MURDER!</h2> + +<p> +Almost exactly fifteen hours before Merriman’s call at Scotland Yard, to +wit, about eight o’clock on the previous evening, Inspector Willis of the +Criminal Investigation Department was smoking in the sitting-room of his tiny +house in Brixton. George Willis was a tall, somewhat burly man of +five-and-forty, with heavy, clean-shaven, expressionless features which would +have made his face almost stupid, had it not been redeemed by a pair of the +keenest of blue eyes. He was what is commonly known as a safe man, not exactly +brilliant, but plodding and tenacious to an extraordinary degree. His forte was +slight clues, and he possessed that infinite capacity for taking pains which +made his following up of them approximate to genius. In short, though a trifle +slow, he was already looked on as one of the most efficient and reliable +inspectors of the Yard. +</p> + +<p> +He had had a heavy day, and it was with a sigh of relief that he picked up the +evening paper and stretched himself luxuriously in his easy-chair. But he was +not destined to enjoy a long rest. Hardly had he settled himself to his +satisfaction when the telephone bell rang. He was wanted back at the Yard +immediately. +</p> + +<p> +He swore under his breath, then, calling the news to his wife, he slipped on +his waterproof and left the house. The long spell of fine weather had at last +broken, and the evening was unpleasant, indeed unusually inclement for +mid-September. All day the wind had been gusty and boisterous, and now a fine +drizzle of rain had set in, which was driven in sheets against the grimy +buildings and whirled in eddies round the street corners. Willis walked quickly +along the shining pavements, and in a few minutes reached his destination. His +chief was waiting for him. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, Willis,” the great man greeted him, “I’m glad you +weren’t out. A case has been reported which I want you to take over; a +suspected murder; man found dead in a taxi at King’s Cross.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir,” Willis answered unemotionally. “Any details +forward?” +</p> + +<p> +“None, except that the man is dead and that they’re holding the +taxi at the station. I have asked Dr. Horton to come round, and you had both +better get over there as quickly as possible.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir,” Willis replied again, and quickly left the room. +</p> + +<p> +His preparations were simple. He had only to arrange for a couple of plain +clothes men and a photographer with a flashlight apparatus to accompany him, +and to bring from his room a handbag containing his notebook and a few other +necessary articles. He met the police doctor in the corridor and, the others +being already in waiting, the five men immediately left the great building and +took a car to the station. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the case, inspector, do you know?” Dr. Horton +inquired as they slipped deftly through the traffic. +</p> + +<p> +“The Chief said suspected murder; man found dead in a taxi at +King’s Cross. He had no details.” +</p> + +<p> +“How was it done?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t know, sir. Chief didn’t say.” +</p> + +<p> +After a few brief observations on the inclemency of the weather, conversation +waned between the two men, and they followed the example of their companions, +and sat watching with a depressed air the rain-swept streets and the hurrying +foot passengers on the wet pavements. All five were annoyed at being called +out, as all were tired and had been looking forward to an evening of relaxation +at their homes. +</p> + +<p> +They made a quick run, reaching the station in a very few minutes. There a +constable identified the inspector. +</p> + +<p> +“They’ve taken the taxi round to the carrier’s yard at the +west side of the station, sir,” he said to Willis. “If you’ll +follow me, I’ll show you the way.” +</p> + +<p> +The officer led them to an enclosed and partially roofed area at the back of +the parcels office, where the vans from the shops unloaded their traffic. In a +corner under the roof and surrounded by a little knot of men stood a taxi-cab. +As Willis and his companions approached, a sergeant of police separated himself +from the others and came forward. +</p> + +<p> +“We have touched nothing, sir,” he announced. “When we found +the man was dead we didn’t even move the body.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite right, sergeant. It’s murder, I suppose?” +</p> + +<p> +“Looks like it, sir. The man was shot.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shot? Anything known of the murderer?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not much, I’m afraid, sir. He got clear away in Tottenham Court +Road, as far as I can understand it. But you’ll hear what the driver has +to say.” +</p> + +<p> +Again the Inspector nodded, as he stepped up to the vehicle. +</p> + +<p> +“Here’s Dr. Newman,” the sergeant continued, indicating an +exceedingly dapper and well-groomed little man with medico written all over +him. “He was the nearest medical man we could get.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis turned courteously to the other. +</p> + +<p> +“An unpleasant evening to be called out, doctor,” he remarked. +“The man’s dead, I understand? Was he dead when you arrived?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but only a very little time. The body was quite warm.” +</p> + +<p> +“And the cause of death?” +</p> + +<p> +“Seeing that I could do nothing, I did not move the body until you +Scotland Yard gentlemen had seen it, and therefore I cannot say professionally. +But there is a small hole in the side of the coat over the heart.” The +doctor spoke with a slightly consequential air. +</p> + +<p> +“A bullet wound?” +</p> + +<p> +“A bullet wound unquestionably.” +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis picked up an acetylene bicycle lamp which one of the men had +procured and directed its beam into the cab. +</p> + +<p> +The corpse lay in the back corner seat on the driver’s side, the head +lolling back sideways against the cushions and crushing into a shapeless mass +the gray Homburg hat. The mouth and eyes were open and the features twisted as +if from sudden pain. The face was long and oval, the hair and eyes dark, and +there was a tiny black mustache with waxed ends. A khaki colored waterproof, +open in front, revealed a gray tweed suit, across the waistcoat of which shone +a gold watch chain. Tan shoes covered the feet. On the left side of the body +just over the heart was a little round hole in the waterproof coat Willis +stooped and smelled the cloth. +</p> + +<p> +“No blackening and no smell of burned powder,” he thought. +“He must have been shot from outside the cab.” But he found it hard +to understand how such a shot could have been fired from the populous streets +of London. The hole also seemed too far round towards the back of the body to +suggest that the bullet had come in through the open window. The point was +puzzling, but Willis pulled himself up sharply with the reminder that he must +not begin theorizing until he had learned all the facts. +</p> + +<p> +Having gazed at the gruesome sight until he had impressed its every detail on +his memory, he turned to his assistant. “Get ahead with your flashlight, +Kirby,” he ordered. “Take views from all the angles you can. The +constable will give you a hand. Meantime, sergeant, give me an idea of the +case. What does the driver say?” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s here, sir,” the officer returned, pointing to a small, +slight individual in a leather coat and cap, with a sallow, frightened face and +pathetic, dog-like eyes which fixed themselves questioningly on Willis’s +face as the sergeant led their owner forward. +</p> + +<p> +“You might tell me what you know, driver.” +</p> + +<p> +The man shifted nervously from one foot to the other. +</p> + +<p> +“It was this way, sir,” he began. He spoke earnestly, and to +Willis, who was accustomed to sizing up rapidly those with whom he dealt, he +seemed a sincere and honest man. “I was driving down Piccadilly from Hyde +Park Corner looking out for a fare, and when I gets just by the end of Bond +Street two men hails me. One was this here man what’s dead, the other was +a big, tall gent. I pulls in to the curb, and they gets in, and the tall gent +he says ‘King’s Cross.’ I starts off by Piccadilly Circus and +Shaftesbury Avenue, but when I gets into Tottenham Court Road about the corner +of Great Russell Street, one of them says through the tube, ‘Let me down +here at the corner of Great Russell Street,’ he sez. I pulls over to the +curb, and the tall gent he gets out and stands on the curb and speaks in to the +other one. Then I shall follow by the three o’clock tomorrow,’ he +sez, and he shuts the door and gives me a bob and sez, ‘That’s for +yourself,’ he sez, ‘and my friend will square up at the +station,’ he sez. I came on here, and when this here man opens the +door,” he indicated a porter standing by, “why, the man’s +dead. And that’s all I knows about it.” +</p> + +<p> +The statement was made directly and convincingly, and Willis frowned as he +thought that such apparently simple cases proved frequently to be the most +baffling in the end. In his slow, careful way he went over in his mind what he +had heard, and then began to try for further details. +</p> + +<p> +“At what time did you pick up the men?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“About half past seven, or maybe twenty to eight” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see where they were coming from?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir. They were standing on the curb, and the tall one he holds up +his hand for me to pull over.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would you know the tall man again?” +</p> + +<p> +The driver shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know as I should, sir. You see, it was raining, and he had +his collar up round his neck and his hat pulled down over his eyes, so as I +couldn’t right see his face.” +</p> + +<p> +“Describe him as best you can.” +</p> + +<p> +“He was a tall man, longer than what you are, and broad too. A big man, I +should call him.” +</p> + +<p> +“How was he dressed?” +</p> + +<p> +“He had a waterproof, khaki color—about the color of your +own—with the collar up round his neck.” +</p> + +<p> +“His hat?” +</p> + +<p> +“His hat was a soft felt, dark, either brown or green, I couldn’t +rightly say, with the brim turned down in front.” +</p> + +<p> +“And his face? Man alive, you must have seen his face when he gave you +the shilling.” +</p> + +<p> +The driver stared helplessly. Then he answered: +</p> + +<p> +“I couldn’t be sure about his face, not with the way he had his +collar up and his hat pulled down. It was raining and blowing something +crool.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did the other man reply when the tall one spoke into the cab?” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t hear no reply at all, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis thought for a moment and then started on another tack. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you hear a shot?” he asked sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“I heard it, sir, right enough, but I didn’t think it was a shot at +the time, and I didn’t think it was in my cab. It was just when we were +passing the Apollo Theater, and there was a big block of cars setting people +down, and I thought it was a burst tire. ‘There’s somebody’s +tire gone to glory,’ I sez to myself, but I give it no more thought, for +it takes you to be awake to drive up Shaftesbury Avenue when the theaters are +starting.” +</p> + +<p> +“You said you didn’t think the shot was in your cab; why do you +think so now?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was the only sound like a shot, sir, and if the man has been shot, it +would have been then.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded shortly. There was something puzzling here. If the shot had been +fired by the other occupant of the cab, as the man’s evidence seemed to +indicate, there would certainly have been powder blackening on the coat. If +not, and if the bullet had entered from without, the other passenger would +surely have stopped the car and called a policeman. Presently he saw that some +corroborative evidence might exist. If the bullet came from without the +left-hand window must have been down, as there was no hole in the glass. In +this case the wind, which was blowing from the north-west, would infallibly +have driven in the rain, and drops would still show on the cushions. He must +look for them without delay. +</p> + +<p> +He paused to ask the driver one more question, whether he could identify the +voice which told him through the speaking tube to stop with that of the man who +had given him the shilling. The man answering affirmatively, Willis turned to +one of the plain clothes men. +</p> + +<p> +“You have heard this driver’s statement, Jones,” he said. +“You might get away at once and see the men who were on point duty both +at the corner of Great Russell Street where the tall man got out, and in +Piccadilly, where both got in. Try the hotels thereabouts, the Albemarle and +any others you can think of. If you can get any information follow it up and +keep me advised at the Yard of your movements.” +</p> + +<p> +The man hurried away and Willis moved over once more to the taxi. The assistant +had by this time finished his flashlight photographs, and the inspector, +picking up the bicycle lamp, looked again into the interior. A moment’s +examination showed him there were no raindrops on the cushions, but his search +nevertheless was not unproductive. Looking more carefully this time than +previously, he noticed on the floor of the cab a dark object almost hidden +beneath the seat. He drew it out. It was a piece of thick black cloth about a +yard square. +</p> + +<p> +Considerably mystified, he held it up by two corners, and then his puzzle +became solved. In the cloth were two small holes, and round one of them the +fabric was charred and bore the characteristic smell of burned powder. It was +clear what had been done. With the object doubtless of hiding the flash as well +as of muffling the report, the murderer had covered his weapon with a double +thickness of heavy cloth. No doubt it had admirably achieved its purpose, and +Willis seized it eagerly in the hope that it might furnish him with a clue as +to its owner. +</p> + +<p> +He folded it and set it aside for further examination, turning back to the +body. Under his direction it was lifted out, placed on an ambulance stretcher +provided by the railwaymen, and taken to a disused office close by. There the +clothes were removed and, while the doctors busied themselves with the remains, +Willis went through the pockets and arranged their contents on one of the +desks. +</p> + +<p> +The clothes themselves revealed but little information. The waterproof and +shoes, it is true, bore the makers’ labels, but both these articles were +the ready-made products of large firms, and inquiry at their premises would be +unlikely to lead to any result. None of the garments bore any name or +identifiable mark. +</p> + +<p> +Willis then occupied himself the contents of the pockets. Besides the gold +watch and chain, bunch of keys, knife, cigarette case, loose coins and other +small objects which a man such as the deceased might reasonably be expected to +carry, there were two to which the inspector turned with some hope of help. +</p> + +<p> +The first was a folded sheet of paper which proved to be a receipted hotel +bill. It showed that a Mr. Coburn and another had stayed in the Peveril Hotel +in Russell Square during the previous four days. When Willis saw it he gave a +grunt of satisfaction. It would doubtless offer a ready means to learn the +identity of the deceased, as well possibly as of the other, in whom Willis was +already even more interested. Moreover, so good a clue must be worked without +delay. He called over the second plain clothes man. +</p> + +<p> +“Take this bill to the Peveril, Matthews,” he ordered. “Find +out if the dead man is this Coburn, and if possible get on the track of his +companion. If I don’t get anything better here I shall follow you round, +but keep the Yard advised of your movements in any case.” +</p> + +<p> +Before the man left Willis examined the second object. It was a pocket-book, +but it proved rather disappointing. It contained two five pound Bank of England +notes, nine one pound and three ten shilling Treasury notes, the return half of +a third-class railway ticket from Hull to King’s Cross, a Great Northern +cloakroom ticket, a few visiting cards inscribed “Mr. Francis +Coburn,” and lastly, the photograph by Cramer of Regent Sweet of a pretty +girl of about twenty. +</p> + +<p> +Willis mentally noted the three possible clues these articles seemed to +suggest; inquiries in Hull, the discovery of the girl through Messrs. Cramer, +and third and most important, luggage or a parcel in some Great Northern +cloakroom, which on recovery might afford him help. The presence of the money +also seemed important, as this showed that the motive for the murder had not +been robbery. +</p> + +<p> +Having made a parcel of the clothes for transport to the Yard, reduced to +writing the statements of the driver and of the porter who had made the +discovery, and arranged with the doctors as to the disposal of the body, Willis +closed and locked the taxi, and sent it in charge of a constable to Scotland +Yard. Then with the cloakroom ticket he went round to see if he could find the +office which had issued it. +</p> + +<p> +The rooms were all shut for the night, but an official from the +stationmaster’s office went round with him, and after a brief search they +found the article for which the ticket was a voucher. It was a small suitcase, +locked, and Willis brought it away with him, intending to open it at his +leisure. His work at the station being by this time complete, he returned to +the Yard, carrying the suitcase. There, though it was growing late, he forced +the lock, and sat down to examine the contents. But from them he received no +help. The bag contained just the articles which a man in middle-class +circumstances would naturally carry on a week or a fortnight’s +trip—a suit of clothes, clean linen, toilet appliances, and such like. +Nowhere could Willis find anything of interest. +</p> + +<p> +Telephone messages, meanwhile, had come in from the two plain clothes men. +Jones reported that he had interviewed all the constables who had been on point +duty at the places in question, but without result. Nor could any of the staffs +of the neighboring hotels or restaurants assist him. +</p> + +<p> +The call from the Peveril conveyed slightly more information. The manageress, +so Matthews said, had been most courteous and had sent for several members of +her staff in the hope that some of them might be able to answer his questions. +But the sum total of the knowledge he had gained was not great. In the first +place, it was evident that the deceased was Mr. Coburn himself. It appeared +that he was accompanied by a Miss Coburn, whom the manageress believed to be +his daughter. He had been heard addressing her as Madeleine. The two had +arrived in time for dinner five days previously, registering “F. Coburn +and Miss Coburn,” and had left about eleven on the morning of the murder. +On each of the four days of their stay they had been out a good deal, but they +had left and returned at different hours, and, therefore, appeared not to have +spent their time together. They seemed, however, on very affectionate terms. No +address had been left to which letters might be forwarded, and it was not known +where the two visitors had intended to go when they left. Neither the +manageress nor any of the staff had seen anyone resembling the tall man. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis was considerably disappointed by the news. He had hoped that +Mr. Coburn’s fellow-guest would have been the murderer, and that he would +have left some trace from which his identity could have been ascertained. +However, the daughter’s information would no doubt be valuable, and his +next care must be to find her and learn her story. +</p> + +<p> +She might of course save him the trouble by herself coming forward. She would +be almost certain to see an account of the murder in the papers, and even if +not, her father’s disappearance would inevitably lead her to communicate +with the police. +</p> + +<p> +But Willis could not depend on this. She might, for example, have left the +previous day on a voyage, and a considerable time might elapse before she +learned of the tragedy. No; he would have to trace her as if she herself were +the assassin. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at his watch and was surprised to learn that it was after one +o’clock. Nothing more could be done that night, and with a sigh of relief +he turned his steps homewards. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning he was back at the Yard by eight o’clock. His first care was +to re-examine the taxi by daylight for some mark or article left by its recent +occupants. He was extraordinarily thorough and painstaking, scrutinizing every +inch of the floor and cushions, and trying the door handles and window straps +for finger marks, but without success. He went over once again the clothes the +dead man was wearing as well as those in the suitcase, took prints from the +dead man’s fingers, and began to get things in order for the inquest. +Next, he saw Dr. Horton, and learned that Mr. Coburn had been killed by a +bullet from an exceedingly small automatic pistol, one evidently selected to +make the minimum of noise and flash, and from which a long carry was not +required. +</p> + +<p> +When the details were complete he thought it would not be too early to call at +the Peveril and begin the search for Miss Coburn. He therefore sent for a taxi, +and a few minutes later was seated in the office of the manageress. She +repeated what Matthews had already told him, and he personally interviewed the +various servants with whom the Coburns had come in contact. He also searched +the rooms they had occupied, examined with a mirror the blotting paper on a +table at which the young lady had been seen to write, and interrogated an +elderly lady visitor with whom she had made acquaintance. +</p> + +<p> +But he learned nothing. The girl had vanished completely, and he could see no +way in which he might be able to trace her. +</p> + +<p> +He sat down in the lounge and gave himself up to thought. And then suddenly an +idea flashed into his mind. He started, sat for a moment rigid, then gave a +little gasp. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” he muttered. “But I’m a blamed idiot. How in +Hades did I miss that?” +</p> + +<p> +He sprang to his feet and hurried out of the lounge. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"></a> +CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +A PROMISING CLUE</h2> + +<p> +The consideration which had thus suddenly occurred to Inspector Willis was the +extraordinary importance of the fact that the tall traveller had spoken through +the tube to the driver. He marveled how he could have overlooked its +significance. To speak through a taxi tube one must hold up the mouthpiece, and +that mouthpiece is usually made of vulcanite or some similar substance. What +better surface, Willis thought delightedly but anxiously, could be found for +recording finger-prints? If only the tall man had made the blunder of omitting +to wear gloves, he would have left evidence which might hang him! And he, +Willis, like the cursed imbecile that he was, had missed the point! Goodness +only knew if he was not already too late. If so, he thought grimly, it was all +up with his career at the Yard. +</p> + +<p> +He ran to the telephone. A call to the Yard advised him that the taxi driver, +on being informed he was no longer required, had left with his vehicle. He +rapidly rang up the man’s employers, asking them to stop the cab directly +they came in touch with it, then hurrying out of the hotel, he hailed a taxi +and drove to the rank on which the man was stationed. +</p> + +<p> +His luck was in. There were seven vehicles on the stand, and his man, having +but recently arrived, had only worked up to the middle of the queue. The sweat +was standing in large drops on Inspector Willis’s brow as he eagerly +asked had the tube been touched since leaving Scotland Yard, and his relief +when he found he was still in time was overwhelming. Rather unsteadily he +entered the vehicle and ordered the driver to return to the Yard. +</p> + +<p> +On arrival he was not long in making his test. Sending for his finger-print +apparatus, he carefully powdered the vulcanite mouthpiece, and he could +scarcely suppress a cry of satisfaction when he saw shaping themselves before +his eyes three of the clearest prints he had ever had the good fortune to come +across. On one side of the mouthpiece was the mark of a right thumb, and on the +other those of a first and second finger. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” he muttered to himself, “that was a near thing. If I +had missed it, I could have left the Yard for good and all. It’s the +first thing the Chief would have asked about.” +</p> + +<p> +His delight was unbounded. Here was as perfect and definite evidence as he +could have wished for. If he could find the man whose fingers fitted the marks, +that would be the end of his case. +</p> + +<p> +He left the courtyard intending to return to the Peveril and resume the tracing +of Miss Coburn, but before he reached the door of the great building he was +stopped. A gentleman had called to see him on urgent business connected with +the case. +</p> + +<p> +It was Merriman—Merriman almost incoherent with excitement and distress. +He still carried the newspaper in his hand, which had so much upset him. Willis +pulled forward a chair, invited the other to be seated, and took the paper. The +paragraph was quite short, and read: +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“MYSTERY OF A TAXI-CAB +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“A tragedy which recalls the well-known detective novel <i>The Mystery of +the Hansom Cab</i> occurred last evening in one of the most populous +thoroughfares in London. It appears that about eight o’clock two men +engaged a taxi in Piccadilly to take them to King’s Cross. Near the +Oxford Street end of Tottenham Court Road the driver was ordered to stop. One +of the men alighted, bade good-night to his companion, and told the driver to +proceed to King’s Cross, where his friend would settle up. On reaching +the station there was no sign of the friend, and a search revealed him lying +dead in the taxi with a bullet wound in his heart. From papers found on the +body the deceased is believed to be a Mr. Francis Coburn, but his residence has +not yet been ascertained.” +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis laid down the paper and turned to his visitor. +</p> + +<p> +“You are interested in the case, sir?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“I knew him, I think,” Merriman stammered. “At least I know +someone of the name. I—” +</p> + +<p> +Willis glanced keenly at the newcomer. Here was a man who must, judging by his +agitation, have been pretty closely connected with Francis Coburn. Suspicious +of everyone, the detective recognized that there might be more here than met +the eye. He drew out his notebook. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad you called, sir,” he said pleasantly. “We shall be +very pleased to get any information you can give us. What was your friend +like?” +</p> + +<p> +His quiet, conversational manner calmed the other. +</p> + +<p> +“Rather tall,” he answered anxiously, “with a long pale face, +and small, black, pointed mustache.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid, sir, that’s the man. I think if you don’t +mind you had better see if you can identify him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I want to,” Merriman cried, leaping to his feet “I must know +at once.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis rose also. +</p> + +<p> +“Then come this way.” +</p> + +<p> +They drove quickly across town. A glance was sufficient to tell Merriman that +the body was indeed that of his former acquaintance. His agitation became +painful. +</p> + +<p> +“You’re right!” he cried. “It is he! And it’s my +fault. Oh, if I had only done what she said! If I had only kept out of +it!” +</p> + +<p> +He wrung his hands in his anguish. +</p> + +<p> +Willis was much interested. Though this man could not be personally +guilty—he was not tall enough, for one thing—he must surely know +enough about the affair to put the inspector on the right track. The latter +began eagerly to await his story. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman for his part was anxious for nothing so much as to tell it. He was +sick to death of plots and investigations and machinations, and while driving +to the Yard he had made up his mind that if the dead man were indeed +Madeleine’s father, he would tell the whole story of his and +Hilliard’s investigations into the doings of the syndicate. When, +therefore, they were back in the inspector’s room, he made a determined +effort to pull himself together and speak calmly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he said, “I know him. He lived near Bordeaux with his +daughter. She will be absolutely alone. You will understand that I must go out +to her by the first train, but until then I am at your service. +</p> + +<p> +“You are a relation perhaps?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, only an acquaintance, but—I’m going to tell you the +whole story, and I may as well say, once for all, that it is my earnest hope +some day to marry Miss Coburn.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis bowed and inquired, “Is Miss Coburn’s name Madeleine?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” Merriman answered, surprise and eagerness growing in his +face. +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” Willis went on, “you will be pleased to learn that +she is not in France—at least, I think not. She left the Peveril Hotel in +Russell Square about eleven o’clock yesterday morning.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman sprang to his feet. +</p> + +<p> +“In London?” he queried excitedly. “Where? What +address?” +</p> + +<p> +“We don’t know yet, but we shall soon find her. Now, sir, you +can’t do anything for the moment, and I am anxious to hear your story. +Take your own time, and the more details you can give me the better.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman controlled himself with an effort. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said slowly, sitting down again, “I <i>have</i> +something to tell you, inspector. My friend Hilliard—Claud Hilliard of +the Customs Department—and I have made a discovery. We have accidentally +come on what we believe is a criminal conspiracy, we don’t know for what +purpose, except that it is something big and fraudulent. We were coming to the +Yard in any case to tell what we had learned, but this murder has precipitated +things. We can no longer delay giving our information. The only thing is that I +should have liked Hilliard to be here to tell it instead of me, for our +discovery is really due to him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can see Mr. Hilliard afterwards. Meantime tell me the story +yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman thereupon related his and Hilliard’s adventures and experiences +from his own first accidental visit to the clearing when he noticed the +changing of the lorry number, right up to his last meeting with Mr. Coburn, +when the latter expressed his intention of breaking away from the gang. He hid +nothing, explaining without hesitation his reasons for urging the delay in +informing the authorities, even though he quite realized his action made him to +some extent an accomplice in the conspiracy. +</p> + +<p> +Willis was much more impressed by the story than he would have admitted. Though +it sounded wild and unlikely, then was a ring of truth in Merriman’s +manner which went far to convince the other of its accuracy. He did not believe +either that anyone could have invented such a story. It’s very +improbability was an argument for its truth. +</p> + +<p> +And if it were true, what a vista it opened up to himself! The solution of the +murder problem would be gratifying enough but it was a mere nothing compared to +the other. If he could search out and bring to naught such a conspiracy as +Merriman’s story indicated, he would be a made man. It would be the +crowning point of his career, and would bring him measurably nearer to that +cottage and garden in the country to which for years past he had been looking +forward. Therefore no care and trouble would be too great to spend on the +matter. +</p> + +<p> +Putting away thoughts of self, therefore, and deliberately concentrating on the +matter in hand, he set himself to consider in detail what his visitor had told +him and get the story clear in his mind. Then slowly and painstakingly he began +to ask questions. +</p> + +<p> +“I take it, Mr. Merriman, that your idea is that Mr. Coburn was murdered +by a member of the syndicate?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and I think he foresaw his fate. I think when he told them he was +going to break with them they feared he might betray them, and wanted to be on +the safe side.” +</p> + +<p> +“Any of them a tall, stoutly built man?” +</p> + +<p> +“Captain Beamish is tall and strongly built, but I should not say he was +stout.” +</p> + +<p> +“Describe him.” +</p> + +<p> +“He stooped and was a little round-shouldered, but even then he was tall. +If he had held himself up he would have been a big man. He had a heavy face +with a big jaw, thin lips, and a vindictive expression.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis, though not given to jumping to conclusions, felt suddenly thrilled, and +he made up his mind that an early development in the case would be the taking +of the impressions of Captain Beamish’s right thumb and forefinger. +</p> + +<p> +He asked several more questions and, going over the story again, took copious +notes. Then for some time he sat in silence considering what he had heard. +</p> + +<p> +At first sight he was inclined to agree with Merriman, that the deceased had +met his death at the hands of a member of the syndicate, and if so, it was not +unlikely that all or most of the members were party to it. From the mere +possibility of this it followed that the most urgent thing for the moment was +to prevent the syndicate suspecting his knowledge. He turned again to his +visitor. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you realize, Mr. Merriman, that if all these details you have +given me are correct, you yourself are in a position of some danger?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know it, but I am not afraid. It is the possible danger to Miss Coburn +that has upset me so much.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand, sir,” the inspector returned sympathetically, +“but it follows that for both your sakes you must act very cautiously, so +as to disarm any suspicions these people may have of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am quite in your hands, inspector.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. Then let us consider your course of action. Now, first of all +about the inquest. It will be held this evening at five o’clock. You will +have to give evidence, and we shall have to settle very carefully what that +evidence will be. No breath of suspicion against the syndicate must leak +out.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“You must identify the deceased, and, if asked, you must tell the story +of your two visits to the clearing. You must speak without the slightest +hesitation. But you must of course make no mention of the changing of the lorry +numbers or of your suspicions, nor will you mention your visit to Hull. You +will explain that you went back to the clearing on the second occasion because +it was so little out of your way and because you were anxious to meet the +Coburns again, while your friend wanted to see the forests of Les +Landes.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman again nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Then both you and your friend must avoid Scotland Yard. It is quite +natural that you should rush off here as you did, but it would not be natural +for you to return. And there is no reason why Mr. Hilliard should come at all. +If I want to see either of you I shall ring up and arrange a place of meeting. +And just two other things. The first is that I need hardly warn you to be as +circumspect in your conversation as in your evidence. Keep in mind that each +stranger that you may meet may be Morton or some other member of the gang. The +second is that I should like to keep in touch with you for the remainder of the +day in case any question might crop up before the inquest. Where will you +be?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall stay in my club, Rover’s, in Cranbourne Street. You can +ring me up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” Willis answered, rising to his feet. “Then let me say +again how pleased I am to have met you and heard your story. Five +o’clock, then, if you don’t hear to the contrary.” +</p> + +<p> +When Merriman had taken his leave the inspector sat on at his desk, lost in +thought. This case bade fair to be the biggest he had ever handled, and he was +anxious to lay his plans so as to employ his time to the best advantage. Two +clearly defined lines of inquiry had already opened out, and he was not clear +which to follow. In the first place, there was the obvious routine +investigation suggested directly by the murder. That comprised the finding of +Miss Coburn, the learning of Mr. Coburn’s life history, the tracing of +his movements during the last four or five days, the finding of the purchaser +of the black cloth, and the following up of clues discovered during these +inquiries. The second line was that connected with the activities of the +syndicate, and Willis was inclined to believe that a complete understanding of +these would automatically solve the problem of the murder. He was wondering +whether he should not start an assistant on the routine business of the +tragedy, while himself concentrating on the pit-prop business, when his +cogitations were brought to an end by a messenger. A lady had called in +connection with the case. +</p> + +<p> +“Miss Madeleine Coburn,” thought Willis, as he gave orders for her +to be shown to his room, and when she entered he instantly recognized the +original of the photograph. +</p> + +<p> +Madeleine’s face was dead white and there was a strained look of horror +in her eyes, but she was perfectly calm and sell-possessed. +</p> + +<p> +“Miss Coburn?” Willis said, as he rose and bowed. “I am +afraid I can guess why you have called. You saw the account in the +paper?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” She hesitated. “Is it—my father?” +</p> + +<p> +Willis told her as gently as he could. She sat quite still for a few moments, +while he busied himself with some papers, then she asked to see the body. When +they had returned to Willis’s room he invited her to sit down again. +</p> + +<p> +“I very deeply regret, Miss Coburn,” he said, “to have to +trouble you at this time with questions, but I fear you will have to give +evidence at the inquest this afternoon, and it will be easier for yourself to +make a statement now, so that only what is absolutely necessary need be asked +you then.” +</p> + +<p> +Madeleine seemed stunned by the tragedy, and she spoke as if in a dream. +</p> + +<p> +“I am ready to do what is necessary.” +</p> + +<p> +He thanked her, and began by inquiring about her father’s history. Mr. +Coburn, it appeared, had had a public school and college training, but, his +father dying when he was just twenty, and leaving the family in somewhat poor +circumstances, he had gone into business as a clerk in the Hopwood +Manufacturing Company, a large engineering works in the Midlands. In this, he +had risen until he held the important position of cashier, and he and his wife +and daughter had lived in happiness and comfort during the latter’s +girlhood. But some six years previous to the tragedy which had just taken place +a change had come over the household. In the first place, Mrs. Coburn had +developed a painful illness and had dragged out a miserable existence for the +three years before her death. At the same time, whether from the expense of the +illness or from other causes Miss Coburn did not know, financial embarrassment +seemed to descend on her father. One by one their small luxuries were cut off, +then their house had to be given up, and they had moved to rooms in a rather +poor locality of the town. Their crowning misfortune followed rapidly. Mr. +Coburn gave up his position at the works, and for a time actual want stared +them in the face. Then this Pit-Prop Syndicate had been formed, and Mr. Coburn +had gone into it as the manager of the loading station. Miss Coburn did not +know the reason of his leaving the engineering works, but she suspected there +had been friction, as his disposition for a time had changed, and he had lost +his bright manner and vivacity. He had, however, to a large extent recovered +while in France. She was not aware, either, of the terms on which he had +entered the syndicate, but she imagined he shared in the profits instead of +receiving a salary. +</p> + +<p> +These facts, which Willis obtained by astute questioning, seemed to him not a +little suggestive. From what Mr. Coburn had himself told Merriman, it looked as +if there had been some secret in his life which had placed him in the power of +the syndicate, and the inspector wondered whether this might not be connected +with his leaving the engineering works. At all events inquiries there seemed to +suggest a new line of attack, should such become necessary. +</p> + +<p> +Willis then turned to the events of the past few days. It appeared that about a +fortnight earlier, Mr. Coburn announced that he was crossing to London for the +annual meeting of the syndicate, and, as he did not wish his daughter to be +alone at the clearing, it was arranged that she should accompany him. They +travelled by the <i>Girondin</i> to Hull, and coming on to London, put up at +the Peveril. Mr. Coburn had been occupied off and on during the four days they +had remained there, but the evenings they had spent together in amusements. On +the night of the murder, Mr. Coburn was to have left for Hull to return to +France by the <i>Girondin</i>, his daughter going by an earlier train to +Eastbourne, where she was to have spent ten days with an aunt. Except for what +Mr. Coburn had said about the meeting of the syndicate, Madeleine did not know +anything of his business in town, nor had she seen any member of the syndicate +after leaving the ship. +</p> + +<p> +Having taken notes of her statements, Willis spoke of the inquest and repeated +the instructions he had given Merriman as to the evidence. Then he told her of +the young man’s visit, and referring to his anxiety on her behalf, asked +if he might acquaint him with her whereabouts. She thankfully acquiesced, and +Willis, who was anxious that her mind should be kept occupied until the +inquest, pushed his good offices to the extent of arranging a meeting between +the two. +</p> + +<p> +The inquest elicited no further information. Formal evidence of identification +was given, the doctors deposed that death was due to a bullet from an +exceedingly small bore automatic pistol, the cab driver and porter told their +stories, and the jury returned the obvious verdict of murder against some +person or persons unknown. The inspector’s precautions were observed, and +not a word was uttered which could have given a hint to any member of the +Pit-Prop Syndicate that the <i>bona fides</i> of his organization was +suspected. +</p> + +<p> +Two days later, when the funeral was over, Merriman took Miss Coburn back to +her aunt’s at Eastbourne. No word of love passed his lips, but the young +girl seemed pleased to have his company, and before parting from her he +obtained permission to call on her again. He met the aunt for a few moments, +and was somewhat comforted to find her a kind, motherly woman, who was +evidently sincerely attached to the now fatherless girl. He had told Madeleine +of his interview with her father, and she had not blamed him for his part in +the matter, saying that she had believed for some time that a development of +the kind was inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +So, for them, the days began to creep wearily past. Merriman paid as frequent +visits to Eastbourne as he dared, and little by little he began to hope that he +was making progress in his suit. But try as he would, he could not bring the +matter to a head. The girl had evidently had a more severe shock than they had +realized at first, and she became listless and difficult to interest in passing +events. He saw there was nothing for it but to wait, and he set himself to bide +his time with the best patience he could muster. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"></a> +CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +A MYSTIFYING DISCOVERY</h2> + +<p> +Inspector Willis was more than interested in his new case. The more he thought +over it, the more he realized its dramatic possibilities and the almost +world-wide public interest it was likely to arouse, as well as the importance +which his superiors would certainly attach to it; in other words, the influence +a successful handling of it would have on his career. +</p> + +<p> +He had not been idle since the day of the inquest, now a week past. To begin +with he had seen Hilliard secretly, and learned at first hand all that that +young man could tell him. Next he had made sure that the finger-prints found on +the speaking tube were not those of Mr. Coburn, and he remained keenly anxious +to obtain impressions from Captain Beamish’s fingers to compare with the +former. But inquiries from the port officials at Hull, made by wire on the +evening of the inquest, showed that the <i>Girondin</i> would not be back at +Ferriby for eight days. There had been no object, therefore, in his leaving +London immediately, and instead he had busied himself by trying to follow up +the deceased’s movements in the metropolis, and learn with whom he had +associated during his stay. In his search for clues he had even taken the hint +from Merriman’s newspaper and bought a copy of <i>The Mystery of a Hansom +Cab</i>, but though he saw that this clever story might easily have inspired +the crime, he could find from it no help towards its solution. +</p> + +<p> +He had also paid a flying visit to the manager of the Hopwood Manufacturing +Company in Sheffield, where Coburn had been employed. From him he had learned +that Madeleine’s surmise was correct, and that there had been +“friction” before her father left. In point of fact a surprise +audit had revealed discrepancies in the accounts. Some money was missing, and +what was suspiciously like an attempt to falsify the books had taken place. But +the thing could not be proved. Mr. Coburn had paid up, but though his plea that +he had made a genuine clerical error had been accepted, his place had been +filled. The manager expressed the private opinion that there was no doubt of +his subordinate’s guilt, saying also that it was well known that during +the previous months Coburn had been losing money heavily through gambling. +Where he had obtained the money to meet the deficit the manager did not know, +but he believed someone must have come forward to assist him. +</p> + +<p> +This information interested Willis keenly, supporting, as it seemed to do, his +idea that Coburn was in the power of the syndicate or one of its members. If, +for example, one of these men, on the lookout for helpers in his conspiracy, +had learned of the cashier’s predicaments it was conceivable that he +might have obtained his hold by advancing the money needed to square the matter +in return for a signed confession of guilt. This was of course the merest +guesswork, but it at least indicated to Willis a fresh line of inquiry in case +his present investigation failed. +</p> + +<p> +And with the latter he was becoming exceedingly disappointed. With the +exception of the facts just mentioned, he had learned absolutely nothing to +help him. Mr. Coburn might as well have vanished into thin air when he left the +Peveril Hotel, for all the trace he had left. Willis could learn neither where +he went nor whom he met on any one of the four days he had spent in London. He +congratulated himself, therefore, that on the following day the <i>Girondin</i> +would be back at Ferriby, and he would then be able to start work on the +finger-print clue. +</p> + +<p> +That evening he settled himself with his pipe to think over once more the facts +he had already learned. As time passed he found himself approaching more and +more to the conclusion reached by Hilliard and Merriman several weeks +before—that the secret of the syndicate was the essential feature of the +case. What were these people doing? That was the question which at all costs he +must answer. +</p> + +<p> +His mind reverted to the two theories already in the field. At first sight that +of brandy smuggling seemed tenable enough, and he turned his attention to the +steps by which the two young men had tried to test it. At the loading end their +observations were admittedly worthless, but at Ferriby they seemed to have made +a satisfactory investigation. Unless they had unknowingly fallen asleep in the +barrel, it was hard to see how they could have failed to observe contraband +being set ashore, had any been unloaded. But he did not believe they had fallen +asleep. People were usually conscious of awakening. Besides there was the +testimony of Menzies, the pilot. It was hardly conceivable that this man also +should have been deceived. At the same time Willis decided he must interview +him, so as to form his own opinion of the man’s reliability. +</p> + +<p> +Another possibility occurred to him which none of the amateur investigators +appeared to have thought of. North Sea trawlers were frequently used for +getting contraband ashore. Was the <i>Girondin</i> transferring illicit cargo +to such vessels while at sea? +</p> + +<p> +This was a question Inspector Willis felt he could not solve. It would be a +matter for the Customs Department. But he knew enough about it to understand +that immense difficulties would have to be overcome before such a scheme could +be worked. Firstly, there was the size of the fraud. Six months ago, according +to what Miss Coburn overheard, the syndicate were making £6,800 per trip, and +probably, from the remarks then made, they were doing more today. And £6,800 +meant—the inspector buried himself in calculations—at least one +thousand gallons of brandy. Was it conceivable that trawlers could get rid of +one thousand gallons every ten days—One hundred gallons a day? Frankly he +thought it impossible. In fact, in the face of the Customs officers’ +activities, he doubted if such a thing could be done by any kind of machinery +that could be devised. Indeed, the more Willis pondered the smuggling theory, +the less likely it seemed to him, and he turned to consider the possibilities +of Miss Coburn’s suggestion of false note printing. +</p> + +<p> +Here at once he was met by a fact which he had not mentioned to Merriman. As it +happened, the circulation of spurious Treasury notes was one of <i>the</i> +subjects of interest to Scotland Yard at the moment. Notes <i>were</i> being +forged and circulated in large numbers. Furthermore, the source of supply was +believed to be some of the large towns in the Midlands, Leeds being +particularly suspected. But Leeds was on the direct line through Ferriby, and +comparatively not far away. Willis felt that it was up to him to explore to the +uttermost limit all the possibilities which these facts opened up. +</p> + +<p> +He began by looking at the matter from the conspirators’ point of view. +Supposing they had overcome the difficulty of producing the notes, how would +they dispose of them? +</p> + +<p> +Willis could appreciate the idea of locating the illicit press in France. +Firstly, it would be obvious to the gang that the early discovery of a fraud of +the kind was inevitable. Its existence, indeed, would soon become common +property. But this would but slightly affect its success. It was the finding of +the source of supply that mattered, and the difficulty of this was at once the +embarrassment of the authorities and the opportunity of the conspirators. +</p> + +<p> +Secondly, English notes were to be forged and circulated in England, therefore +it was from the English police that the source of supply must be hidden. And +how better could this be done than by taking it out of England altogether? The +English police would look in England for what they wanted. The attention of the +French police, having no false French notes to deal with, would not be aroused. +It seemed to Willis that so far he was on firm ground. +</p> + +<p> +The third point was that, granting the first two, some agency would be required +to convey the forged notes from France to England. But here a difficulty arose. +The pit-prop plan seemed altogether too elaborate and cumbrous for all that was +required. Willis, as Merriman had done earlier, pictured the passenger with the +padded overcoat and the double-bottomed handbag. This traveller, it seemed, +would meet the case. +</p> + +<p> +But did he? Would there not, with him, be a certain risk? There would be a +continuous passing through Customs houses, frequent searchings of the faked +suitcase. Accidents happen. Suppose the traveller held on to his suitcase too +carefully? Some sharp-eyed Customs officer might become suspicious. Suppose he +didn’t hold on carefully enough and it were lost? Yes, there would be +risks. Small, doubtless, but still risks. And the gang couldn’t afford +them. +</p> + +<p> +As Willis turned the matter over in his mind, he came gradually to the +conclusion that the elaboration of the pit-prop business was no real argument +against its having been designed merely to carry forged notes. As a business, +moreover, it would pay or almost pay. It would furnish a secret method of +getting the notes across at little or no cost. And as a blind, Willis felt that +nothing better could be devised. The scheme visualized itself to him as +follows. Somewhere in France, probably in some cellar in Bordeaux, was +installed the illicit printing-press. There the notes were produced. By some +secret method they were conveyed to Henri when his lorry-driving took him into +the city, and he in turn brought them to the clearing and handed them over to +Coburn. Captain Beamish and Bulla would then take charge of them, probably +hiding them on the <i>Girondin</i> in some place which would defy a surprise +Customs examination. Numbers of such places, Willis felt sure, could be +arranged, especially in the engine room. The cylinders of a duplicate set of +pumps, disused on that particular trip, occurred to him as an example. After +arrival at Ferriby there would be ample opportunity for the notes to be taken +ashore and handed over to Archer, and Archer “could plant stuff on Old +Nick himself.” +</p> + +<p> +The more he pondered over it, the more tenable this theory seemed to Inspector +Willis. He rose and began pacing the room, frowning heavily. More than tenable, +it seemed a sound scheme cleverly devised and carefully worked out. Indeed he +could think of no means so likely to mislead and delude suspicious authorities +in their search for the criminals as this very plan. +</p> + +<p> +Two points, however, think as he might, he could not reconcile. One was that +exasperating puzzle of the changing of the lorry number plates, the other how +the running of a second boat to Swansea would increase the profits of the +syndicate. +</p> + +<p> +But everything comes to him who waits, and at last he got an idea. What if the +number of the lorry was an indication to the printers of the notes as to +whether Henri was or was not in a position to take over a consignment? Would +some such sign be necessary? If Henri suspected he was under observation, or if +he had to make calls in unsuitable places, he would require a secret method of +passing on the information to his accomplices. And if so, could a better scheme +be devised than that of showing a prearranged number on his lorry? Willis did +not think so, and he accepted the theory for what it was worth. +</p> + +<p> +Encouraged by his progress, he next tackled his second difficulty—how the +running of a second boat would dispose of more notes. But try as he would he +could arrive at no conclusion which would explain the point. It depended +obviously on the method of distribution adopted, and of this part of the affair +he was entirely ignorant. Failure to account for this did not therefore +necessarily invalidate the theory as a whole. +</p> + +<p> +And with the theory as a whole he was immensely pleased. As far as he could see +it fitted all the known facts, and bore the stamp of probability to an even +greater degree than that of brandy smuggling. +</p> + +<p> +But theories were not enough. He must get ahead with his investigation. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly next morning he began his new inquiry by sending a telegram. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“To B<small>EAMISH</small>, Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate, Ferriby, +Hull.<br /> + “Could you meet me off London train at Paragon Station at 3.9 +tomorrow re death of Coburn. I should like to get back by 4.0. If not would +stay and go out to Ferriby. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“W<small>ILLIS</small>,<br /> +“Scotland Yard.” +</p> + +<p> +He travelled that same day to Hull, having arranged for the reply to be sent +after him. Going to the first-class refreshment room at the Paragon, he had a +conversation with the barmaid in which he disclosed his official position, and +passed over a ten-shilling note on account for services about to be rendered. +Then, leaving by the evening train, he returned to Doncaster, where he spent +the night. +</p> + +<p> +On the next day he boarded the London train which reaches Hull at 3.9. At +Paragon Station he soon singled out Beamish from Merriman’s description. +</p> + +<p> +“Sorry for asking you to come in, Captain Beamish,” he apologized, +“but I was anxious if possible to get back to London tonight. I heard of +you from Miss Coburn and Mr. Merriman, both of whom read of the tragedy in the +papers, and severally came to make inquiries at the Yard. Lloyd’s +Register told me your ship came in here, so I came along to see you in the hope +that you might be able to give me some information about the dead man which +might suggest a line of inquiry as to his murderer.” +</p> + +<p> +Beamish replied politely and with a show of readiness and candor. +</p> + +<p> +“No trouble to meet you, inspector. I had to come up to Hull in any case, +and I shall be glad to tell you anything I can about poor Coburn. Unfortunately +I am afraid it won’t be much. When our syndicate was starting we wanted a +manager for the export end. Coburn applied, there was a personal interview, he +seemed suitable and he was appointed on trial. I know nothing whatever about +him otherwise, except that he made good, and I may say that in the two years of +our acquaintance I always found him not only pleasant and agreeable to deal +with, but also exceedingly efficient in his work.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis asked a number of other questions—harmless questions, easily +answered about the syndicate and Coburn’s work, ending up with an +expression of thanks for the other’s trouble and an invitation to adjourn +for a drink. +</p> + +<p> +Beamish accepting, the inspector led the way to the first-class refreshment +room and approached the counter opposite the barmaid whose acquaintance he had +made the previous day. +</p> + +<p> +“Two small whiskies, please,” he ordered, having asked his +companion’s choice. +</p> + +<p> +The girl placed the two small tumblers of yellow liquid before her customers +and Willis added a little water to each. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, here’s yours,” he said, and raising his glass to his +lips, drained the contents at a draught. Captain Beamish did the same. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector’s offer of a second drink having been declined, the two men +left the refreshment room, still chatting about the murdered man. Ten minutes +later Captain Beamish saw the inspector off in the London train. But he did not +know that in the van of that train there was a parcel, labelled to +“Inspector Willis, passenger to Doncaster by 4.0 p.m.,” which +contained a small tumbler, smelling of whisky, and carefully packed up so as to +prevent the sides from being rubbed. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector was the next thing to excited when, some time later, he locked +the door of his bedroom in the Stag’s Head Hotel at Doncaster and, +carefully unpacking the tumbler, he took out his powdering apparatus and +examined it for prints. With satisfaction he found his little ruse had +succeeded. The glass bore clearly defined marks of a right thumb and two +fingers. +</p> + +<p> +Eagerly he compared the prints with those he had found on the taxi call-tube. +And then he suffered disappointment keen and deep. The two sets were +dissimilar. +</p> + +<p> +So his theory had been wrong, and Captain Beamish was not the murderer after +all! He realized now that he had been much more convinced of its truth than he +had had any right to be, and his chagrin was correspondingly greater. He had +indeed been so sure that Beamish was his man that he had failed sufficiently to +consider other possibilities, and now he found himself without any alternative +theory to fall back on. +</p> + +<p> +But he remained none the less certain that Coburn’s death was due to his +effort to break with the syndicate, and that it was to the syndicate that he +must look for light on the matter. There were other members of it—he knew +of two, Archer and Morton, and there might be more—one of whom might be +the man he sought. It seemed to him that his next business must be to find +those other members, ascertain if any of them were tall men, and if so, obtain +a copy of their finger-prints. +</p> + +<p> +But how was this to be done? Obviously from the shadowing of the members whom +he knew, that was, Captain Beamish, Bulla, and Benson, the Ferriby manager. Of +these, Beamish and Bulla were for the most part at sea; therefore, he thought, +his efforts should be concentrated on Benson. +</p> + +<p> +It was with a view to some such contingency that he had alighted at Doncaster +instead of returning to London, and he now made up his mind to return on the +following day to Hull and, the <i>Girondin</i> having by that time left, to see +what he could learn at the Ferriby depot. +</p> + +<p> +He spent three days shadowing Benson, without coming on anything in the +slightest degree suspicious. The manager spent each of the days at the wharf +until about six o’clock. Then he walked to Ferriby Station and took the +train to Hull, where he dined, spent the evening at some place of amusement, +and returned to the depot by a late train. +</p> + +<p> +On the fourth day, as the same program seemed to be in prowess, Willis came to +the conclusion that he was losing time and must take some more energetic step. +He determined that if Benson left the depot in the evening as before, he would +try to effect an entrance to his office and have a look through his papers. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after six, from the hedge behind which he had concealed himself, he saw +Benson appear at the door in the corrugated iron fence, and depart in the +direction of Ferriby. The five employees had left about an hour earlier, and +the inspector believed the works were entirely deserted. +</p> + +<p> +After giving Benson time to get clear away, he crept from his hiding place, and +approaching the depot, tried the gate in the fence. It was locked, but few +locks were proof against the inspector’s prowess, and with the help of a +bent wire he was soon within the enclosure. He closed the gate behind him and, +glancing carefully round, approached the shed. +</p> + +<p> +The door of the office was also locked, but the bent wire conquered it too, and +in a couple of minutes he pushed it open, passed through, and closed it behind +him. +</p> + +<p> +The room was small, finished with yellow matchboarded walls and ceiling, and +containing a closed roll-top desk, a table littered with papers, a vertical +file, two cupboards, a telephone, and other simple office requisites. Two doors +led out of it, one to the manager’s bedroom, the other to the shed. +Thinking that those could wait, Willis settled down to make an examination of +the office. +</p> + +<p> +He ran rapidly though methodically through the papers on the table without +finding anything of interest. All referred to the pit-prop industry, and seemed +to indicate that the business was carried on efficiently. Next he tackled the +desk, picking the lock with his usual skill. Here also, though he examined +everything with meticulous care, his search was fruitless. +</p> + +<p> +He moved to the cupboards. One was unfastened and contained old ledgers, +account books and the like, none being of any interest. The other cupboard was +locked, and Willis’s quick eyes saw that the woodwork round the keyhole +was much scratched, showing that the lock was frequently used. Again the wire +was brought into requisition, and in a moment the door swung open, revealing to +the inspector’s astonished gaze—a telephone. +</p> + +<p> +Considerably puzzled, he looked round to the wall next the door. Yes, he had +not been mistaken; there also was affixed a telephone. He crossed over to it, +and following with his eye the run of the wires, saw that it was connected to +those which approached the shed from across the railway. +</p> + +<p> +With what, then, did this second instrument communicate? There were no other +wires approaching the shed, nor could he find any connection to which it could +be attached. +</p> + +<p> +He examined the instrument more closely, and then he saw that it was not of the +standard government pattern. It was marked “The A. M. Curtiss Co., +Philadelphia, Pa.” It was therefore part of a private installation and, +as such, illegal, as the British Government hold the monopoly for all +telephones in the country. At least it would be illegal if it were connected +up. +</p> + +<p> +But was it? The wires passed through the back of the cupboard into the wall, +and, looking down, Willis saw that one of the wall sheeting boards, reaching +from the cupboard to the floor, had at some time been taken out and replaced +with screws. +</p> + +<p> +To satisfy his curiosity he took out his combination pocket knife, and deftly +removing the screws, pulled the board forward. His surprise was not lessened +when he saw that the wires ran down inside the wall and, heavily insulated, +disappeared into the ground beneath the shed. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it possible that they have a cable?” thought the puzzled man, +as he replaced the loose board and screwed it fast. +</p> + +<p> +The problem had to stand over, as he wished to complete his investigation of +the remainder of the building. But though he searched the entire premises with +the same meticulous thoroughness that he had displayed in dealing with the +papers, he came on nothing else which in any way excited his interest. +</p> + +<p> +He let himself out and, relocking the various doors behind him, walked to +Hassle and from there returned to his hotel in Hull. +</p> + +<p> +He was a good deal intrigued by his discovery of the secret telephone. That it +was connected up and frequently used he was certain, both from the elaboration +of its construction and from the marking round the cupboard keyhole. He +wondered if he could without discovery tap the wires and overhear the business +discussed. Had the wires been carried on poles the matter would have been +simple, but as things were he would have to make his connection under the loose +board and carry his cable out through the wall and along the shore to some +point at which the receiver would be hidden—by no means an easy matter. +</p> + +<p> +But in default of something better he would have tried it, had not a second +discovery he made later on the same evening turned his thoughts into an +entirely new channel. +</p> + +<p> +It was in thinking over the probable purpose of the telephone that he got his +idea. It seemed obvious that it was used for the secret side of the enterprise, +and if so, would it not most probably connect the import depot of the secret +commodity with that of its distribution? Ferriby wharf was the place of import, +but the distribution, as the conversations overheard indicated, lay not in the +hands of Benson but of Archer. What if the telephone led to Archer? +</p> + +<p> +There was another point. The difficulty of laying a secret land wire would be +so enormous that in the nature of things the line must be short. It must either +lead, Willis imagined, to the southern bank of the estuary or to somewhere +quite near. +</p> + +<p> +But if both these conclusions were sound, it followed that Archer himself must +be found in the immediate neighborhood. Could he learn anything from following +up this idea? +</p> + +<p> +He borrowed a directory of Hull and began looking up all the Archers given in +the alphabetical index. There were fifteen, and of these one immediately +attracted his attention. It read: +</p> + +<p> +“Archer, Archibald Charles, The Elms, Ferriby.” +</p> + +<p> +He glanced at his watch. It was still but slightly after ten. Taking his hat he +walked to the police station and saw the sergeant on duty. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir,” said the man in answer to his inquiry. “I know +the gentleman. He is the managing director of Ackroyd and Holt’s +distillery, about half-way between Ferriby and Hassle.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what is he like in appearance?” Willis continued, concealing +the interest this statement had aroused. +</p> + +<p> +“A big man, sir,” the sergeant answered. “Tall, and broad +too. Clean shaven, with heavy features, very determined looking.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis had food for thought as he returned to his hotel. Merriman had been +thrilled when he learned of the proximity of the distillery to the +syndicate’s depot, seeing therein an argument in favor of the brandy +smuggling theory. This new discovery led Willis at first to take the same view, +but the considerations which Hilliard had pointed out occurred to him also, and +though he felt a little puzzled, he was inclined to dismiss the matter as a +coincidence. +</p> + +<p> +Though after his recent experience he was even more averse to jumping to +conclusions than formerly, Willis could not but believe that he was at last on +a hopeful scent. At all events his first duty was clear. He must find this +Archibald Charles Archer, and obtain prints of his fingers. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning found him again at Ferriby, once more looking southwards from the +concealment of a cluster of bushes. But this time the object of his attention +was no longer the syndicate’s depot. Instead he focused his powerful +glasses on the office of the distillery. +</p> + +<p> +About nine-thirty a tall, stoutly built man strode up to the building and +entered. His dress indicated that he was of the employer class, and from the +way in which a couple of workmen touched their caps as he passed, Willis had no +doubt he was the managing director. +</p> + +<p> +For some three hours the inspector lay hidden, then he suddenly observed the +tall man emerge from the building and walk rapidly in the direction of Ferriby. +Immediately the inspector crept down the hedge nearer to the road, so as to see +his quarry pass at close quarters. +</p> + +<p> +It happened that as the man came abreast of Willis, a small two-seater +motor-car coming from the direction of Ferriby also reached the same spot. But +instead of passing, it slowed down and its occupant hailed the tall man. +</p> + +<p> +“Hallo, Archer,” he shouted. “Can I give you a lift?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks,” the big man answered. “It would be a kindness. I +have unexpectedly to go into Hull, and my own car is out of order.” +</p> + +<p> +“Run you in in quarter of an hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“No hurry. If I am in by half past one it will do. I am lunching with +Frazer at the Criterion at that time.” +</p> + +<p> +The two-seater stopped, the big man entered, and the vehicle moved away. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as it was out of sight, Willis emerged from his hiding-place, and +hurrying to the station, caught the 1.17 train to Hull. Twenty minutes later he +passed through the swing doors of the Criterion. +</p> + +<p> +The hotel, as is well known, is one of the most fashionable in Hull, and at the +luncheon hour the restaurant was well filled. Glancing casually round, Willis +could see his new acquaintance seated at a table in the window, in close +conversation with a florid, red-haired individual of the successful business +man type. +</p> + +<p> +All the tables in the immediate vicinity were occupied, and Willis could not +get close by in the hope of overhearing some of the conversation, as he had +intended. He therefore watched the others from a distance, and when they had +moved to the lounge he followed them. +</p> + +<p> +He heard them order coffee and liqueurs, and then a sudden idea came into his +head. Rising, he followed the waiter through the service door. +</p> + +<p> +“I want a small job done,” he said, while a ten-shilling note +changed hands. “I am from Scotland Yard, and I want the finger-prints of +the men who have just ordered coffee. Polish the outsides of the liqueur +glasses thoroughly, and only lift them by the stems. Then when the men have +gone let me have the glasses.” +</p> + +<p> +He returned to the lounge, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing Archer +lift his glass by the bowl between the finger and thumb of his right hand, to +empty his liqueur into his coffee. Hall an hour later he was back in his hotel +with the carefully packed glass. +</p> + +<p> +A very few minutes sufficed for the test. The impressions showed up well, and +this time the inspector gave a sigh of relief as he compared them with those of +the taxi speaking-tube. They were the same. His quest was finished. Archer was +the murderer of Francis Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +For a minute or two, in his satisfaction, the inspector believed his work was +done. He had only to arrest Archer, take official prints of his fingers, and he +had all the necessary proof for a conviction. But a moment’s +consideration showed him that his labors were very far indeed from being over. +What he had accomplished was only a part of the task he had set himself. It was +a good deal more likely that the other members of the syndicate were +confederates in the murder as well as in the illicit trade. He must get his +hands on them too. But if he arrested Archer he would thereby destroy all +chance of accomplishing the greater feat. The very essence of success lay in +lulling to rest any doubts that their operations were suspect which might have +entered into the minds of the members of the syndicate. No, he would do nothing +at present, and he once more felt himself up against the question which had +baffled Hilliard and Merriman—What was the syndicate doing? Until he had +answered this, therefore, he could not rest. +</p> + +<p> +And how was it to be done? After some thought he came to the conclusion that +his most promising clue was the secret telephone, and he made up his mind the +next day he would try to find its other end, and if necessary tap the wires and +listen in to any conversation which might take place. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"></a> +CHAPTER XV.<br /> +INSPECTOR WILLIS LISTENS IN</h2> + +<p> +Inspector Willis was a good deal exercised by the question of whether or not he +should have Archer shadowed. If the managing director conceived the slightest +suspicion of his danger he would undoubtedly disappear, and a man of his +ability would not be likely to leave many traces. On the other hand Willis +wondered whether even Scotland Yard men could shadow him sufficiently +continuously to be a real safeguard, without giving themselves away. And if +that happened he might indeed arrest Archer, but it would be good-bye to any +chance of getting his confederates. +</p> + +<p> +After anxious thought he decided to take the lesser risk. He would not bring +assistants into the matter, but would trust to his own skill to carry on the +investigation unnoticed by the distiller. +</p> + +<p> +Though the discovery of Archer’s identity seemed greatly to strengthen +the probability that the secret telephone led to him, Willis could not state +this positively, and he felt it was the next point to be ascertained. The same +argument that he had used before seemed to apply—that owing to the +difficulty of wiring, the point of connection must be close to the depot. +Archer’s office was not more than three hundred yards away, while his +house, The Elms, was over a mile. The chances were therefore in favor of the +former. +</p> + +<p> +It followed that he must begin by searching Archer’s office for the other +receiver, and he turned his attention to the problem of how this could best be +done. +</p> + +<p> +And first, as to the lie of the offices. He called at the Electric Generating +Station, and having introduced himself confidentially to the manager in his +official capacity, asked to see the man whose business it was to inspect the +lights of the distillery. From him he had no difficulty in obtaining a rough +plan of the place. +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that the offices were on the first floor, fronting along the line, +Archer’s private office occupying the end of the suite and the corner of +the building nearest to the syndicate’s wharf, and therefore to Ferriby. +The supervisor believed that it had two windows looking to the front and side +respectively, but was not sure. +</p> + +<p> +That afternoon Inspector Willis returned to the distillery, and secreting +himself in the same hiding place as before, watched until the staff had left +the building. Then strolling casually along the lane, he observed that the two +telephone wires which approached across the fields led to the third window from +the Ferriby end of the first floor row. +</p> + +<p> +“That’ll be the main office,” he said to himself, “but +there will probably be an extension to Archer’s own room. Now I +wonder—” +</p> + +<p> +He looked about him. The hedge bounding the river side of the lane ran up to +the corner of the building. After another hasty glance round Willis squeezed +through and from immediately below scrutinized the side window of the managing +director’s room. And then he saw something which made him chuckle with +pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +Within a few inches of the architrave of the window there was a down-spout, and +from the top of the window to the spout he saw stretching what looked like a +double cord. It was painted the same color as the walls, and had he not been +looking out specially he would not have seen it. A moment’s glance at the +foot of the spout showed him his surmise was correct. Pushed in behind it and +normally concealed by it were two insulated wires, which ran down the wall from +the window and disappeared into the ground with the spout. +</p> + +<p> +“Got it first shot,” thought the inspector delightedly, as he moved +away so as not to attract the attention of any chance onlooker. +</p> + +<p> +Another idea suddenly occurred to him and, after estimating the height and +position of the window, he turned and ran his eye once more over his +surroundings. About fifty yards from the distillery, and behind the hedge +fronting the lane, stood the cottage which Hilliard and Merriman had noticed. +It was in a bad state of repair, having evidently been unoccupied for a long +time. In the gable directly opposite the managing director’s office was a +broken window. Willis moved round behind the house, and once again producing +his bent wire, in a few moments had the back door open. Slipping inside, he +passed through the damp-smelling rooms and up the decaying staircase until he +reached the broken window. From it, as he had hoped, he found he had a good +view into the office. +</p> + +<p> +He glanced at his watch. It was ten minutes past seven. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll do it tonight,” he murmured, and quietly leaving the +house, he hurried to Ferriby Station and so to Hull. +</p> + +<p> +Some five hours later he left the city again, this time by motor. He stopped at +the end of the lane which ran past the distillery, dismissed the vehicle, and +passed down the lane. He was carrying a light, folding ladder, a spade, a field +telephone, a coil of insulated wire, and some small tools. +</p> + +<p> +The night was very dark. The crescent moon would not rise for another couple of +hours, and a thick pall of cloud cut off all light from the stars. A faint wind +stirred the branches of the few trees in the neighborhood and sighed across the +wide spaces of open country. The inspector walked slowly, being barely able to +see against the sky the tops of the hedges which bounded the lane. Except for +himself no living creature seemed to be abroad. +</p> + +<p> +Arrived at his destination, Willis felt his way to the gap in the hedge which +he had used before, passed through, and with infinite care raised his ladder to +the window of Archer’s office. He could not see the window, but he +checked the position of the ladder by the measurements from the hedge. Then he +slowly ascended. +</p> + +<p> +He found he had gauged his situation correctly, and he was soon on the sill of +the window, trying with his knife to push back the hasp. This he presently +accomplished, and then, after an effort so great that he thought he would be +beaten, he succeeded in raising the sash. A minute later he was in the room. +</p> + +<p> +His first care was to pull down the thick blinds of blue holland with which the +windows were fitted. Then tip-toeing to the door, he noiselessly shot the bolt +in the lock. +</p> + +<p> +Having thus provided against surprise, he began his investigation. There in the +top corner of the side window were the wires. They followed the miter of the +window architrave—white-enameled to match—and then, passing down +for a few inches at the outside of the moldings, ran along the picture rail +round the room, concealed in the groove behind it. Following in the same way +the miter of the architrave, they disappeared though a door in the back wall of +the office. +</p> + +<p> +Willis softly opened the door, which was not locked, and peered into a small +store, evidently used for filing. The wires were carried down the back of the +architrave molding and along the top of the wainscoting, until finally they +disappeared into the side of one of a series of cupboards which lined the wall +opposite the door. The cupboard was locked, but with the help of the bent wire +it soon stood open and Willis, flashing in a beam from his electric torch, saw +with satisfaction that he had attained at least one of his objects. A telephone +receiver similar to that at the syndicate’s depot was within. +</p> + +<p> +He examined the remaining contents of the room, but found nothing of interest +until he came to the door. This was solidly made and edged with rubber, and he +felt sure that it would be almost completely sound-proof. It was, moreover, +furnished with a well-oiled lock. +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty complete arrangement,” Willis thought as he turned back to +the outer office. Here he conducted another of his meticulous examinations, but +unfortunately with a negative result. +</p> + +<p> +Having silently unlocked the door and pulled up the blinds, he climbed out on +the window sill and closed the window. He was unable to refasten the hasp, and +had therefore to leave this evidence of his visit, though he hoped and believed +it would not be noticed. +</p> + +<p> +Lifting down the ladder, he carried it to the cottage and hid it therein. Part +of his task was done, and he must wait for daylight to complete the remainder. +</p> + +<p> +When some three hours later the coming dawn had made objects visible, he again +emerged armed with his tools and coil of insulated wire. Digging a hole at the +bottom of the down-pipe, he connected his wires just below the ground level to +those of the telephone. Then inserting his spade along the face of the wall +from the pipe to the hedge, he pushed back the adjoining soil, placed the wires +in the narrow trench thus made, and trod the earth back into place. When the +hole at the down-spout had been filled, practically no trace remained of the +disturbance. +</p> + +<p> +The ground along the inside of the hedge being thickly grown over with weeds +and grass, he did not think it necessary to dig a trench for the wire, simply +bedding it beneath the foliage. But he made a spade cut across the sward from +the hedge to the cottage door, sank in the wire and trod out the cut. Once he +had passed the tiny cable beneath the front door he no longer troubled to hide +it but laid it across the floors and up the stairs to the broken window. There +he attached the field receiver, affixing it to his ear so as to be ready for +eventualities. +</p> + +<p> +It was by this time half past six and broad daylight, but Willis had seen no +sign of life and he believed his actions had been unobserved. He ate a few +sandwiches, then lighting his pipe, lay down on the floor and smoked +contentedly. +</p> + +<p> +His case at last was beginning to prosper. The finding of Coburn’s +murderer was of course an event of outstanding importance, and now the +discovery of the telephone was not only valuable for its own sake, but was +likely to bring in a rich harvest of information from the messages he hoped to +intercept. Indeed he believed he could hardly fail to obtain from this source a +definite indication of the nature and scope of the conspiracy. +</p> + +<p> +About eight o’clock he could see from his window a number of workmen +arrive at the distillery, followed an hour later by a clerical staff. After +them came Archer, passing from his car to the building with his purposeful +stride. Almost immediately he appeared in his office, sat down at his desk, and +began to work. +</p> + +<p> +Until nearly midday Willis watched him going through papers, dictating letters, +and receiving subordinates. Then about two minutes to the hour he saw him look +at his watch, rise, and approach the door from the other office, which was in +Willis’s line of vision behind the desk. He stooped over the lock as if +turning the key, and then the watcher’s excitement rose as the other +disappeared out of sight in the direction of the filing room. +</p> + +<p> +Willis was not disappointed. Almost immediately he heard the faint call of the +tiny buzzer, and then a voice—Archer’s voice, he believed, from +what he had heard in the hotel lounge called softly, “Are you +there?” +</p> + +<p> +There was an immediate answer. Willis had never heard Benson speak, but he +presumed that the reply must be from him. +</p> + +<p> +“Anything to report?” Archer queried. +</p> + +<p> +“No. Everything going on as usual.” +</p> + +<p> +“No strangers poking round and asking questions?” +</p> + +<p> +“And no traces of a visitor while you were away?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. It’s probably a false alarm. Beamish may have been +mistaken.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so, but he seemed very suspicious of that Scotland Yard +man—said he was sure he was out for more than he pretended. He thought he +was too easily satisfied with the information he got, and that some of his +questions were too foolish to be genuine.” +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis sat up sharply. This was a blow to his dignity, and he felt +not a little scandalized. But he had no time to consider his feelings. Archer +was speaking again. +</p> + +<p> +“I think we had better be on the safe side. If you have the slightest +suspicion don’t wait to report to me. Wire at once to Henri at the +clearing this message—take it down so that there’ll be no +mistake—‘Six hundred four-foot props wanted. If possible send next +cargo.’ Got that? He will understand. It is our code for ‘Suspect +danger. Send blank cargoes until further notice.’ Then if a search is +made nothing will be found, because there won’t be anything there to +find.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good. It’s a pity to lose the money, but I expect +you’re right.” +</p> + +<p> +“We can’t take avoidable risks. Now about yourself. I see you +brought no stuff up last night?” +</p> + +<p> +“Couldn’t. I had a rotten bilious attack. I started, but had to go +back to bed again. Couldn’t stand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Better?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, all right now, thanks.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’ll bring the usual up tonight?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Now, what about ten forty-five for tomorrow?” +</p> + +<p> +“Right.” +</p> + +<p> +The switch snapped, and in a few seconds the watcher saw Archer return to his +office, bend for a moment over the lock of the door, then reseat himself at his +desk. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got them now,” he thought triumphantly. +“I’ve got them at last. Tonight I’ll take them red-handed in +whatever they’re doing.” He smiled in anticipation. “By +Jove,” he went on, “it was lucky they sent nothing up last night, +or they would have taken <i>me</i> red-handed, and that might have been the end +of me!” +</p> + +<p> +He was greatly impressed by the excellence of the telephone scheme. There was +nothing anywhere about it to excite suspicion, and it kept Archer in touch with +the illicit undertaking, while enabling him to hold himself absolutely aloof +from all its members. If the rest of the organization was as good, it was not +surprising that Hilliard and Merriman had been baffled. +</p> + +<p> +But the puzzle was now solved, the mystery at an end. That night, so Willis +assured himself, the truth would be known. +</p> + +<p> +He remained in his hiding place all day, until, indeed, he had watched the +workers at the distillery leave and the gray shadows of evening had begun to +descend. Then he hid the telephone and wire in a cupboard, stealthily left the +house, and after a rapid glance round hurried along the lane towards Ferriby. +</p> + +<p> +He caught the 6.57 train to Hull, and in a few minutes was at the police +station. There he saw the superintendent, and after a little trouble got him to +fall in with the plan which he had devised. +</p> + +<p> +As a result of their conference a large car left the city shortly before nine, +in which were seated Inspector Willis and eight picked constables in plain +clothes. They drove to the end of the Ferriby Lane, where the men dismounted, +and took cover behind some shrubs, while the car returned towards Hull. +</p> + +<p> +It was almost, but not quite dark. There was no moon, but the sky was clear and +the stars were showing brightly. A faint air, in which there was already a +touch of chill, sighed gently through the leaves, rising at intervals almost to +a breeze, then falling away again to nothing. Lights were showing here and +there—yellow gleams from unshaded windows, signal lamps from the railway, +navigation lights from the river. Except for the sound of the retreating car +and the dull roar of a distant train, the night was very still, a night, in +fact, pre-eminently suitable for the inspector’s purpose. +</p> + +<p> +The nine men moved silently down the lane at intervals of a few minutes, their +rubber-shod feet making no sound on the hard surface. Willis went first, and as +the others reached him he posted them in the positions on which he had +previously decided. One man took cover behind the hedge of the lane, a short +distance on the distillery side of the wharf, another behind a pile of old +material on the railway at the same place, a third hid himself among some +bushes on the open ground between the railway and the river, while a fourth +crept as near to the end of the wharf as the tide would allow, so as to watch +approaches from the water. When they were in position, Willis felt convinced no +one could leave the syndicate’s depot for the distillery without being +seen. +</p> + +<p> +The other four men he led on to the distillery, placing them in a similar +manner on its Ferriby side. If by some extraordinary chance the messenger with +the “stuff” should pass the first cordon, the second, he was +satisfied, would take him. He left himself free to move about as might appear +desirable. +</p> + +<p> +The country was extraordinarily deserted. Not one of the nine men had seen a +living soul since they left their motor, and Willis felt certain that his +dispositions had been carried out in absolute secrecy. +</p> + +<p> +He crossed the fence on to the railway. By climbing half-way up the ladder of a +signal he was able to see the windows of the shed over the galvanized fence. +All were in darkness, and he wondered if Benson had gone on his customary +expedition into Hull. +</p> + +<p> +To satisfy himself on this point he hid beneath a wagon which was standing on +the siding close to the gate in the fence. If the manager were returning by his +usual train he would be due in a few minutes, and Willis intended to wait and +see. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before a sharp footfall told that someone was coming along the +lane. The unknown paused at the stile, climbed over; and, walking more +carefully across the rails, approached the door. Willis, whose eyes were +accustomed to the gloom, could make out the dim form of a man, showing like a +smudge of intensified blackness against the obscurity beyond. He unlocked the +door, passed through, slammed it behind him, and his retreating steps sounded +from within. Finally another door closed in the distance and silence again +reigned. +</p> + +<p> +Willis crawled out from beneath his truck and once more climbed the signal +ladder. The windows of Benson’s office were now lighted up, but the +blinds being drawn, the inspector could see nothing within. +</p> + +<p> +After about half an hour he observed the same phenomenon as Hilliard and +Merriman had witnessed—the light was carried from the office to the +bedroom, and a few minutes later disappeared altogether. +</p> + +<p> +The ladder on which he was standing appearing to Willis to offer as good an +observation post as he could hope to get, he climbed to the little platform at +the top, and seating himself, leaned back against the timber upright and +continued his watch. +</p> + +<p> +Though he was keenly interested by his adventure, time soon began to drag. It +was cramped on the little seat, and he could not move freely for fear of +falling off. Then to his dismay he began to grow sleepy. He had of course been +up all the previous night, and though he had dozed a little during his vigil in +the deserted house, he had not really rested. He yawned, stretched himself +carefully, and made a determined effort to overcome his drowsiness. +</p> + +<p> +He was suddenly and unexpectedly successful. He got the start of his life, and +for a moment he thought an earthquake had come. The signal post trembled and +swayed while with a heavy metallic clang objects moved through the darkness +near his head. He gripped the rail, and then he laughed as he remembered that +railway signals were movable. This one had just been lowered for a train. +</p> + +<p> +Presently it roared past him, enveloping him in a cloud of steam, which for an +instant was lit bright as day by the almost white beam that poured out of the +open door of the engine firebox. Then, the steam clearing, there appeared a +strip of faintly lit ground on either side of the flying carriage roofs; it +promptly vanished; red tail Lamps appeared, leaping away; there was a rattle of +wheels over siding connections, and with a rapidly decreasing roar the +visitation was past. For a moment there remained the quickly moving spot of +lighted steam, then it too vanished. Once again the signal post swayed as the +heavy mechanism of the arm dropped back into the “on” position, and +then all was once more still. +</p> + +<p> +The train had effectually wakened Willis, and he set himself with a renewed +vigor to this task. Sharply he watched the dark mass of the shed with its +surrounding enclosure, keenly he listened for some sound of movement within. +But all remained dark and silent. +</p> + +<p> +Towards one in the morning he descended from his perch and went the round of +his men. All were alert, and all were unanimous that no one had passed. +</p> + +<p> +The time dragged slowly on. The wind had risen somewhat and clouds were banking +towards the north-west. It grew colder, and Willis fancied there must be a +touch of frost. +</p> + +<p> +About four o’clock he went round his pickets for the second time. He was +becoming more and more surprised that the attempt had been delayed so long, and +when some two hours later the coming dawn began to brighten the eastern sky and +still no sign had been observed, his chagrin waxed keen. As the light +increased, he withdrew his men to cover, and about seven o’clock, when it +was no longer possible that anything would be attempted, he sent them by ones +and twos to await their car at the agreed rendezvous. +</p> + +<p> +He was more disappointed at the failure of his trap than he would have believed +possible. What, he wondered, could have happened? Why had the conspirators +abandoned their purpose? Had he given himself away? He went over in his mind +every step he had taken, and he did not see how any one of them could have +become known to his enemies, or how any of his actions could have aroused their +suspicions. No; it was not, he felt sure, that they had realized their danger. +Some other quite accidental circumstance had intervened to cause them to +postpone the transfer of the “stuff” for that night But what +extraordinary hard luck for him! He had obtained his helpers from the +superintendent only after considerable trouble, and the difficulty of getting +them again would be much greater. And not the least annoying thing was that he, +a London man, one, indeed, of the best men at the Yard, had been made to look +ridiculous in the eyes of these provincial police! +</p> + +<p> +Dog-tired and hungry though he was, he set his teeth and determined that he +would return to the cottage in the hope of learning the reason of his failure +from the conversation which he expected would take place between Archer and +Benson at a quarter to eleven that day. +</p> + +<p> +Repeating, therefore, his proceedings of the previous morning, he regained his +point of vantage at the broken window. Again he watched the staff arrive, and +again observed Archer enter and take his place at his desk. He was desperately +sleepy, and it required all the power of his strong will to keep himself awake. +But at last his perseverance was rewarded, and at 10.45 exactly he saw Archer +bolt his door and disappear towards the filing room. A moment later the buzzer +sounded. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you there?” once again came in Archer’s voice, followed +by the astounding phrase, “I see you brought up that stuff last +night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I brought up two hundred and fifty,” was Benson’s +amazing reply. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis gasped. He could scarcely believe his ears. So he had been +tricked after all! In spite of his carefully placed pickets, in spite of his +own ceaseless watchfulness, he had been tricked. Two hundred and fifty of the +illicit somethings had been conveyed, right under his and his men’s +noses, from the depot to the distillery. Almost choking with rage and amazement +he heard Archer continue: +</p> + +<p> +“I had a lucky deal after our conversation yesterday, got seven hundred +unexpectedly planted. You may send up a couple of hundred extra tonight if you +like.” +</p> + +<p> +“Right. I shall,” Benson answered, and the conversation ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis swore bitterly as he lay back on the dusty floor and pillowed +his head on his hands. And then while he still fumed and fretted, outraged +nature asserted herself and he fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +He woke, ravenously hungry, as it was getting dusk, and he did not delay long +in letting himself out of the house, regaining the lane, and walking to Ferriby +Station. An hour later he was dining at his hotel in Hull. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"></a> +CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +THE SECRET OF THE SYNDICATE</h2> + +<p> +A night’s rest made Willis once more his own man, and next morning he +found that his choking rage had evaporated, and that he was able to think +calmly and collectedly over the failure of his plans. +</p> + +<p> +As he reconsidered in detail the nature of the watch he had kept, he felt more +than ever certain that his cordons had not been broken through. No one, he felt +satisfied, could have passed unobserved between the depot and the distillery. +</p> + +<p> +And in spite of this the stuff had been delivered. Archer and Benson were not +bluffing to put him off the scent. They had no idea they were overheard, and +therefore had no reason to say anything except the truth. +</p> + +<p> +How then was the communication being made? Surely, he thought, if these people +could devise a scheme, he should be able to guess it. He was not willing to +admit his brain inferior to any man’s. +</p> + +<p> +He lit his pipe and drew at it slowly as he turned the question over in his +mind. And then a possible solution occurred to him. What about a subterranean +connection? Had these men driven a tunnel? +</p> + +<p> +Here undoubtedly was a possibility. To drive three hundred yards of a heading +large enough for a stooping man to pass through, would be a simple matter to +men who had shown the skill of these conspirators. The soil was light and +sandy, and they could use without suspicion as much timber as they required to +shore up their work. It was true they would have to pass under the railway, but +that again was a matter of timbering. +</p> + +<p> +Their greatest difficulty, he imagined, would be in the disposal of the surplus +earth. He began to figure out what it would mean. The passageway could hardly +be less than four feet by five, to allow for lining, and this would amount to +about two yards of material to the yard run, or say six hundred or seven +hundred cubic yards altogether. Could this have been absorbed in the filling of +the wharf? He thought so. The wharf was a large structure, thirty yards by +thirty at least and eight or nine feet high; more than two thousand cubic yards +of filling would have been required for it. The disposal of the earth, +therefore, would have presented no difficulty. All that came out of the tunnel +could have gone into the wharf three times over. +</p> + +<p> +A tunnel seemingly being a practical proposition, he turned his attention to +his second problem. How could he find out whether or not it had been made? +</p> + +<p> +Obviously only from examination at one or other end. If it existed it must +connect with cellars at the depot and the distillery. And of these there could +be no question of which he ought to search. The depot was not only smaller and +more compact, but it was deserted at intervals. If he could not succeed at the +syndicate’s enclosure he would have no chance at the larger building. +</p> + +<p> +It was true he had already searched it without result, but he was not then +specially looking for a cellar, and with a more definite objective he might +have better luck. He decided that if Benson went up to Hull that night he would +have another try. +</p> + +<p> +He took an afternoon train to Ferriby, and walking back towards the depot, took +cover in the same place that he had previously used. There, sheltered by a +hedge, he watched for the manager’s appearance. +</p> + +<p> +The weather had, from the inspector’s point of view, changed for the +worse. The sunny days had gone, and the sky was overladen with clouds. A cold +wind blew in gustily from the south-east, bringing a damp fog which threatened +every minute to turn to rain, and flecking the lead-colored waters of the +estuary with spots of white. Willis shivered and drew up his collar higher +round his ears as he crouched behind the wet bushes. +</p> + +<p> +“Confound it,” he thought, “when I get into that shed I shall +be dripping water all over the floor.” +</p> + +<p> +But he remained at his post, and in due course he was rewarded by seeing Benson +appear at the door in the fence, and after locking it behind him, start off +down the railway towards Ferriby. +</p> + +<p> +As before, Willis waited until the manager had got clear away, then slipping +across the line, he produced his bent wire, opened the door, and five minutes +later stood once more in the office. +</p> + +<p> +From the nature of the case it seemed clear that the entrance to the cellar, if +one existed, would be hidden. It was therefore for secret doors or moving +panels that he must look. +</p> + +<p> +He began by ascertaining the thickness of all the walls, noting the size of the +rooms so as to calculate those he could not measure directly. He soon found +that no wall was more than six inches thick, and none could therefore contain a +concealed opening. +</p> + +<p> +This narrowed his search. The exit from the building could only be through a +trap-door in the floor. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly he set to work in the office, crawling torch in hand along the +boards, scrutinizing the joints between them for any that were not closed with +dust, feeling for any that might be loose. But all to no purpose. The boards +ran in one length across the floor and were obviously firmly nailed down on +fixed joists. +</p> + +<p> +He went to the bedroom, rolling aside the mats which covered the floor and +moving the furniture back and forwards. But here he had no better result. +</p> + +<p> +The remainder of the shed was floored with concrete, and a less meticulous +examination was sufficient to show that the surface was unbroken. Nor was there +anything either on the wharf itself or in the enclosure behind the shed which +could form a cover to a flight of steps. +</p> + +<p> +Sorely disappointed, Willis returned once more to the office, and sitting down, +went over once again in his mind what he had done, trying to think if there was +a point on the whole area of the depot which he had overlooked. He could recall +none except the space beneath a large wardrobe in the next room which, owing to +its obvious weight, he had not moved. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose I had better make sure,” he said to himself, though he +did not believe so massive a piece of furniture could have been pulled +backwards and forwards without leaving scratches on the floor. +</p> + +<p> +He returned to the bedroom. The wardrobe was divided into two portions, a +single deep drawer along the bottom, and above it a kind of large cupboard with +a central door. He seized its end. It was certainly very heavy; in fact, he +found himself unable to move it. +</p> + +<p> +He picked up his torch and examined the wooden base. And then his interest +grew, for he found it was strongly stitch-nailed to the floor. +</p> + +<p> +Considerably mystified, he tried to open the door. It was locked, and though +with his wire he eventually shot back the bolt, the trouble he had, proved that +the lock was one of first quality. Indeed, it was not a cupboard lock screwed +to the inside of the door as might have been expected, but a small-sized +mortice lock hidden in the thickness of the wood, and the keyhole came through +to the inside; just the same arrangement as is usual in internal house doors. +</p> + +<p> +The inside of the wardrobe revealed nothing of interest. Two coats and +waistcoats, a sweater, and some other clothes were hanging from hooks at the +back. Otherwise the space was empty. +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” he wondered as he stood staring in, “should it be +necessary to lock up clothes like these?” +</p> + +<p> +His eyes turned to the drawer below, and he seized the handles and gave a sharp +pull. The drawer was evidently locked. Once again he produced his wire, but for +the first time it failed him. He flashed a beam from his lamp into the hole, +and then he saw the reason. +</p> + +<p> +The hole was a dummy. It entered the wood but did not go through it. It was not +connected to a lock. +</p> + +<p> +He passed the light round the edges of the drawer. If there was no lock to +fasten it why had he been unable to open it? He took out his penknife and tried +to push the blade into the surrounding space. It would not penetrate, and he +saw that there was no space, but merely a cut half an inch deep in the wood. +There was no drawer. What seemed a drawer was merely a blind panel. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis grew more and more interested. He could not see why all that +space should be wasted, as it was clear from the way in which the wardrobe was +finished that economy in construction had not been the motive. +</p> + +<p> +Once again he opened the door of the upper portion, and putting his head inside +passed the beam of the lamp over the floor. This time he gave a little snort of +triumph. The floor did not fit tight to the sides. All round was a space of +some eighth of an inch. +</p> + +<p> +“The trap-door at last,” he muttered, as he began to feel about for +some hidden spring. At last, pressing down on one end of the floor, he found +that it sank and the other end rose in the air, revealing a square of inky +blackness out of which poured a stream of cold, damp air, and through which he +could hear, with the echoing sound peculiar to vaults, the splashing and +churning of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +His torch revealed a flight of steps leading down into the darkness. Having +examined the pivoted floor to make sure there was no secret catch which could +fasten and imprison him below, he stepped on to the ladder and began to +descend. Then the significance of the mortice lock in the wardrobe door +occurred to him, and he stopped, drew the door to behind him, and with his wire +locked it. Descending farther he allowed the floor to drop gently into place +above his head, thus leaving no trace of his passage. +</p> + +<p> +He had by this time reached the ground, and he stood flashing his torch about +on his surroundings. He was in a cellar, so low in the roof that except +immediately beneath the stairs he could not stand upright. It was square, some +twelve feet either way, and from it issued two passages, one apparently running +down under the wharf, the other at right angles and some two feet lower in +level, leading as if towards the distillery. Down the center of this latter ran +a tiny tramway of about a foot gauge, on which stood three kegs on four-wheeled +frames. In the upper side of each keg was fixed a tun-dish, to the under side a +stop-cock. Two insulated wires came down through the ceiling below the cupboard +in which the telephone was installed, and ran down the tunnel towards the +distillery. +</p> + +<p> +The walls and ceiling of both cellar and passages were supported by pit-props, +discolored by the damp and marked by stains of earthy water which had oozed +from the spaces between. They glistened with moisture, but the air, though cold +and damp, was fresh. That and the noise of the waves which reverberated along +the passage under the wharf seemed to show that there was an open connection to +the river. +</p> + +<p> +The cellar was empty except for a large wooden tun or cask which reached almost +to the ceiling, and a gunmetal hand pump. Pipes led from the latter, one to the +tun, the other along the passage under the wharf. On the side of the tun and +connected to it at top and bottom was a vertical glass tube protected by a +wooden casing, evidently a gauge, as beside it was a scale headed +“gallons,” and reading from 0 at the bottom to 2,000 at the top. A +dark-colored liquid filled the tube up to the figure 1,250. There was a wooden +spigot tap in the side of the tun at floor level, and the tramline ran beneath +this so that the wheeled kegs could be pushed below it and filled. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector gazed with an expression of almost awe on his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord!” he muttered. “Is it brandy after all?” +</p> + +<p> +He stooped and smelled the wooden tap, and the last doubt was removed from his +mind. +</p> + +<p> +He gave vent to a comprehensive oath. Right enough it was hard luck! Here he +had been hoping to bring off a forged note coup which would have made his name, +and the affair was a job for the Customs Department after all! Of course a +pretty substantial reward would be due to him for his discovery, and there was +his murder case all quite satisfactory, but forged notes were more in his line, +and he felt cheated out of his due. +</p> + +<p> +But now that he was so far he might as well learn all he could. The more +complete the case he gave in, the larger the reward. Moreover, his own +curiosity was keenly aroused. +</p> + +<p> +The cellar being empty save for the tun, the pump, and the small tramway and +trucks, he turned, and flashing his light before him, walked slowly along the +passage down which ran the pipe. He was, he felt sure, passing under the wharf +and heading towards the river. +</p> + +<p> +Some sixty feet past the pump the floor of the passage came to an abrupt end, +falling vertically as by an enormous step to churning waters of the river some +six feet below. At first in the semi-darkness Willis thought he had reached the +front of the wharf, but he soon saw he was still in the cellar. The roof ran on +at the same level for some twenty feet farther, and the side walls, here about +five feet apart, went straight down from it into the water. Across the end was +a wall, sloping outwards at the bottom and made of horizontal pit-props +separated by spaces of two or three inches. Willis immediately realized that +these props must be those placed behind the inner or raking row of piles which +supported the front of the wharf. +</p> + +<p> +Along one side wall for its whole length was nailed a series of horizontal +laths twelve inches apart. What their purpose was he did not know, but he saw +that they made a ladder twenty feet wide, by which a man could work his way +from the passage to the end wall and reach the water at any height of the tide. +</p> + +<p> +Above this ladder was an object which at first puzzled the inspector, then as +he realized its object, it became highly illuminating. On a couple of brackets +secured to the wall lay a pipe of thin steel covered with thick black baize, +and some sixteen feet long by an inch in diameter. Through it ran the light +copper pipe which was connected at its other end to the pump. At the end of the +passage this pipe had several joints like those of a gas bracket, and was +folded on itself concertina-wise. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector stepped on to the ladder and worked his way across it to the +other end of the steel pipe, close by the end wall. The copper pipe protruded +and ended in a filling like the half of a union. As Willis gazed he suddenly +grasped its significance. +</p> + +<p> +The side of the <i>Girondin</i>, he thought, would lie not more than ten feet +from where he was standing. If at night someone from within the cellar were to +push the end of the steel tube out through one of the spaces between the +horizontal timbers of the end wall, it could be inserted into a porthole, +supposing one were just opposite. The concertina joints would make it flexible +and allow it to extend, and the baize covering would prevent its being heard +should it inadvertently strike the side of the ship. The union on the copper +tube could then be fixed to some receptacle on board, the brandy being pumped +from the ship to the tun. +</p> + +<p> +And no outsider could possibly be any the wiser! Given a dark night and careful +operators, the whole thing would be carried out invisibly and in absolute +silence. +</p> + +<p> +Now Willis saw the object of the peculiar construction of the front of the +wharf. It was necessary to have two lines of piles, so that the deck between +might overshadow and screen from view the openings between the horizontal beams +at the front of the cellar. He stood marvelling at the ingenuity of the plan. +No wonder Hilliard and Merriman had been baffled. +</p> + +<p> +But if he were to finish his investigations, he must no longer delay. He worked +back across the side of the cellar, regained the passage, and returned to the +pump-room. Then turning into the other passage, he began to walk as quickly as +possible along it. +</p> + +<p> +The tunnel was barely four feet high by three wide, and he found progress very +tiring. After a slight curve at the mouth it ran straight and almost dead +level. Its construction was the same as that of the cellar, longitudinal timber +lining supported behind verticals and lintels spaced about six feet apart. When +he had gone about two hundred yards it curved sharply to the left, ran heavily +timbered for some thirty yards in the new direction, and then swung round to +the right again. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose the railway crosses here,” Willis thought, as he passed +painfully round the bends. +</p> + +<p> +The sweat stood in drops on his forehead when he reached the end, and he +breathed a sigh of relief as he realized he could once more stand upright and +stretch his cramped back. He found himself in another cellar, this time about +six feet by twelve. The tramway ran along it, stopping at the end wall. The +place was otherwise empty, save for a wooden grating or tun-dish with a hinged +lid which was fixed between the rails near the entrance. The telephone wires, +which had followed the tunnel all the way, here vanished into the roof. +</p> + +<p> +Willis concluded he must be standing beneath some part of the distillery, and a +very little thought was required to make clear to him the <i>raison +d’être</i> of what he saw. He pictured the kegs being pushed under the +tap of the large tun in the pump-room and filled with brandy pumped in from the +<i>Girondin</i>. In imagination he saw Benson pushing his loaded trucks through +the tunnel—a much easier thing to do than to walk without something to +step over—stopping them one by one over the grating and emptying the +contents therein. No doubt that grating was connected to some vat or tun buried +still deeper beneath the distillery, in which the brandy mingled with the other +brandy brought there by more legitimate means, and which was sold without +documentary evidence of its surprising increase in bulk. +</p> + +<p> +It was probable, thought Willis, that some secret door must connect the chamber +in which he stood with the distillery, but a careful search revealed no trace +of any opening, and he was forced to the conclusion that none existed. +Accordingly, he turned and began to retrace his steps through the tunnel. +</p> + +<p> +The walk back seemed even longer and more irksome than his first transit, and +he stopped here and there and knelt down in order to straighten his aching +back. As he advanced, the booming sound of the waves, which had died down to a +faint murmur at the distillery, grew louder and louder. At last he reached the +pump-cellar, and was just about to step out of the tunnel when his eye caught +the flicker of a light at the top of the step-ladder. Someone was coming down! +</p> + +<p> +Willis instantly snapped off his own light, and for the fraction of a second he +stood transfixed, while his heart thumped and his hand slid round to his +revolver pocket. Breathlessly he watched a pair of legs step on to the ladder +and begin to descend the steps. +</p> + +<p> +Like a flash he realized what he must do. If this was Benson coming to +“take up stuff,” to remain in the tunnel meant certain discovery. +But if only he could reach the passage under the wharf he might be safe. There +was nothing to bring Benson into it. +</p> + +<p> +But to cross the cellar he must pass within two feet of the ladder, and the man +was half-way down. For a moment it looked quite hopeless, then unexpectedly he +got his chance. The man stopped to lock the wardrobe door. When he had +finished, Willis was already across the cellar and hurrying down the other +passage. Fortunately the noise of the waves drowned all other sounds. +</p> + +<p> +By the time the unknown had reached the bottom of the ladder, Willis had +stepped on to the cross laths and was descending by them. In a moment he was +below the passage level. He intended, should the other approach, to hide +beneath the water in the hope that in the darkness his head would not be seen. +</p> + +<p> +But the light remained in the cellar, and Willis raised himself and cautiously +peeped down the passage. Then he began to congratulate himself on what he had +just been considering his misfortune. For, watching there in the darkness, he +saw Benson carry out the very operations he had imagined were performed. The +manager wheeled the kegs one by one beneath the great barrel, filled them from +the tap, and then, setting his lamp on the last of the three, pushed them +before him down the tunnel towards the distillery. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis waited until he judged the other would be out of sight, then +left his hiding-place and cautiously returned to the pump-room. The gauge now +showed 1,125 gallons, and he noted that 125 gallons was put up per trip. He +rapidly ascended the steps, passed out through the wardrobe, and regained the +bedroom. A few minutes later he was once more out on the railway. +</p> + +<p> +He had glanced at his watch in the building and found that it was but little +after ten. Benson must therefore have returned by an earlier train than usual. +Again the inspector congratulated himself that events had turned out as they +had, for though he would have had no fear of his personal safety had he been +seen, premature discovery might have allowed the other members of the gang to +escape. +</p> + +<p> +The last train for Hull having left, he started to walk the six miles to the +city. The weather had still further changed for the worse, and now half a gale +of wind whirled round him in a pandemonium of sound and blew blinding squalls +of rain into his eyes. In a few moments he was soaked to the skin, and the +buffeting of the wind made his progress slow. But he struggled on, too well +pleased by the success of his evening’s work to mind the discomfort. +</p> + +<p> +And as he considered the affair on the following morning he felt even more +satisfied. He had indeed done well! Not only had he completed what he set out +to do—to discover the murderer of Coburn—but he had accomplished +vastly more. He had brought to light one of the greatest smuggling conspiracies +of modern times. It was true he had not followed up and completed the case +against the syndicate, but this was not his business. Smuggling was not dealt +with by Scotland Yard. It was a matter for the Customs Department. But if only +it had been forged notes! He heaved a sigh as he thought of the kudos which +might have been his. +</p> + +<p> +But when he had gone so far, he thought he might as well make certain that the +brandy was discharged as he imagined. He calculated that the <i>Girondin</i> +would reach Ferriby on the following day, and he determined to see the +operation carried out. +</p> + +<p> +He followed the plan of Hilliard and Merriman to the extent of hiring a boat in +Hull and sculling gently down towards the wharf as dusk fell. He had kept a +watch on the river all day without seeing the motor ship go up, but now she +passed him a couple of miles above the city. He turned inshore when he saw her +coming, lest Captain Beamish’s binoculars might reveal to him a familiar +countenance. +</p> + +<p> +He pulled easily, timing himself to arrive at the wharf as soon as possible +after dark. The evening was dry, but the south-easterly wind still blew cold +and raw, though not nearly so strongly as on the night of his walk. +</p> + +<p> +There were a couple of lights on the <i>Girondin</i>, and he steered by these +till the dark mass of her counter, looming up out of the night, cut them off. +Slipping round her stern, as Hilliard had done in the River Lesque, he +unshipped his oars and guided the boat by his hands into the V-shaped space +between the two rows of piles fronting the wharf. As he floated gently forward +he felt between the horizontal props which held back the filling until he came +to a vacant space, then knowing he was opposite the cellar, he slid the boat +back a few feet, tied her up, and settled down to wait. +</p> + +<p> +Though sheltered from the wind by the hull, it was cold and damp under the +wharf. The waves were lapping among the timbers, and the boat moved uneasily at +the end of her short painter. The darkness was absolute—an inky blackness +unrelieved by any point of light. Willis realized that waiting would soon +become irksome. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not so very long before the work began. He had been there, he +estimated, a couple of hours when he saw, not ten feet away, a dim circle of +light suddenly appear on the <i>Girondin’s</i> side. Someone had turned +on a faint light in a cabin whose open porthole was immediately opposite the +cellar. Presently Willis, watching breathlessly, saw what he believed was the +steel pipe impinge on and enter the illuminated ring. It remained projecting +into the porthole for some forty minutes, was as silently withdrawn, the +porthole was closed, a curtain drawn across it, and the light turned up within. +The brandy had been discharged. +</p> + +<p> +The thing had been done inaudibly, and invisibly to anyone on either wharf or +ship. Marvelling once more at the excellence and secrecy of the plan, Willis +gently pushed his boat out from among the piles and rowed back down the river +to Hull. There he tied the boat up, and returning to his hotel, was soon fast +asleep. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of his delight at the discovery, he could not but realize that much +still remained to be done. Though he had learned how the syndicate was making +its money, he had not obtained any evidence of the complicity of its members in +the murder of Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +Who, in addition to Archer, could be involved? There were, of course, Beamish, +Bulla, Benson, and Henri. There was also a man, Morton, whose place in the +scheme of things had not yet been ascertained. He, Willis realized, must be +found and identified. But were these all? He doubted it. It seemed to him that +the smuggling system required more helpers than these. He now understood how +the brandy was got from the ship to the distillery, and he presumed it was +loaded at the clearing in the same manner, being brought there in some unknown +way by the motor lorries. But there were two parts of the plan of which nothing +was yet known. Firstly, where was the brandy obtained from originally, and, +secondly, how was it distributed from the distillery? It seemed to Willis that +each of these operations would require additional accomplices. And if so, these +persons might also have been implicated in Coburn’s death. +</p> + +<p> +He thought over the thing for three solid hours before coming to a decision. At +the end of that time he determined to return to London and, if his chief +approved, lay the whole facts before the Customs Departments of both England +and France, asking them to investigate the matter in their respective +countries. In the meantime he would concentrate on the question of complicity +in the murder. +</p> + +<p> +He left Hull by an afternoon train, and that night was in London. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"></a> +CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +“ARCHER PLANTS STUFF”</h2> + +<p> +Willis’s chief at the Yard was not a little impressed by his +subordinate’s story. He congratulated the inspector on his discovery, +commended him for his restraint in withholding action against Archer until he +had identified his accomplices, and approved his proposals for the further +conduct of the case. Fortified by this somewhat unexpected approbation, Willis +betook himself forthwith to the headquarters of the Customs Department and +asked to see Hilliard. +</p> + +<p> +The two men were already acquainted. As has been stated, the inspector had +early called at Hilliard’s rooms and learned all that the other could +tell him of the case. But for prudential reasons they had not met since. +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard was tremendously excited by the inspector’s news, and eagerly +arranged the interview with his chief which Willis sought. The great man was +not engaged, and in a few minutes the others were shown into his presence. +</p> + +<p> +“We are here, sir,” Willis began, when the necessary introductions +had been made, “to tell you jointly a very remarkable story. Mr. Hilliard +would doubtless have told you his part long before this, had I not specially +asked him not to. Now, sir, the time has come to put the facts before you. +Perhaps as Mr. Hilliard’s story comes before mine in point of time, he +should begin.” +</p> + +<p> +Hilliard thereupon began. He told of Merriman’s story in the +Rovers’ Club, his own idea of smuggling based on the absence of return +cargoes, his proposition to Merriman, their trip to France and what they +learned at the clearing. Then he described their visit to Hull, their +observations at the Ferriby wharf, the experiment carried out with the help of +Leatham, and, finally, what Merriman had told him of his second visit to +Bordeaux. +</p> + +<p> +Willis next took up the tale and described the murder of Coburn, his inquiries +thereinto and the identification of the assassin, and his subsequent +discoveries at Ferriby, ending up by stating the problem which still confronted +him, and expressing the hope that the chief in dealing with the smuggling +conspiracy would co-operate with him in connection with the murder. +</p> + +<p> +The latter had listened with an expression of amazement, which towards the end +of the inspector’s statement changed to one of the liveliest +satisfaction. He gracefully congratulated both men on their achievements, and +expressed his gratification at what had been discovered and his desire to +co-operate to the full with the inspector in the settling up of the case. +</p> + +<p> +The three men then turned to details. To Hilliard’s bitter disappointment +it was ruled that, owing to his being known to at least three members of the +gang, he could take no part in the final scenes, and he had to be content with +the honor of, as it were, a seat on the council of war. For nearly an hour they +deliberated, at the end of which time it had been decided that Stopford Hunt, +one of the Customs Department’s most skillful investigators, should +proceed to Hull and tackle the question of the distribution of the brandy. +Willis was to go to Paris, interest the French authorities in the Bordeaux end +of the affair, and then join Hunt in Hull. +</p> + +<p> +Stopford Hunt was an insignificant-looking man of about forty. All his +characteristics might be described as being of medium quality. He was five feet +nine in height, his brown hair was neither fair nor dark, his dress suggested +neither poverty nor opulence, and his features were of the type known as +ordinary. In a word, he was not one whose appearance would provoke a second +glance or who would be credited with taking an important part in anything that +might be in progress. +</p> + +<p> +But for his job these very peculiarities were among his chief assets. When he +hung about in an aimless, loafing way, as he very often did, he was overlooked +by those whose actions he was so discreetly watching, and where mere loafing +would look suspicious, he had the inestimable gift of being able to waste time +in an <i>affairé</i> and preoccupied manner. +</p> + +<p> +That night Willis crossed to Paris, and next day he told his story to the +polite chief of the French Excise. M. Max was almost as interested as his +English <i>confrère</i>, and readily promised to have the French end of the +affair investigated. That same evening the inspector left for London, going on +in the morning to Hull. +</p> + +<p> +He found Hunt a shrewd and capable man of the world, as well as a pleasant and +interesting companion. +</p> + +<p> +They had engaged a private sitting-room at their hotel, and after dinner they +retired thither to discuss their plan of campaign. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish,” said Willis, when they had talked for some moments, +“that you would tell me something about how this liquor distribution +business is worked. It’s outside my job, and I’m not clear on the +details. If I understood I could perhaps help you better.” +</p> + +<p> +Hunt nodded and drew slowly at his pipe. +</p> + +<p> +“The principle of the thing,” he answered, “is simple enough, +though in detail it becomes a bit complicated. The first thing we have to +remember is that in this case we’re dealing, not with distillers, but +with rectifiers. Though in loose popular phraseology both businesses are +classed under the term ‘distilling,’ in reality there is a +considerable difference between them. Distillers actually produce the spirit in +their buildings, rectifiers do not. Rectifiers import the spirit produced by +distillers, and refine or prepare it for various specified purposes. The check +required by the Excise authorities is therefore different in each case. With +rectifiers it is only necessary to measure the stuff that goes into and comes +out of the works. Making due allowance for variation during treatment, these +two figures will balance if all is right.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded, and Hunt resumed. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, the essence of all fraud is that more stuff goes out of the works +than is shown on the returns. That is, of course, another way of saying that +stuff is sold upon which duty has not been paid. In the case of a rectifying +house, where there is no illicit still, more also comes in than is shown. In +the present instance you yourself have shown how the extra brandy enters. Our +job is to find out how it leaves.” +</p> + +<p> +“That part of it is clear enough anyway,” Willis said with a smile. +“But brandy smuggling is not new. There must surely be recognized ways of +evading the law?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite. There are. But to follow them you must understand how the output +is measured. For every consignment of stuff that leaves the works a permit or +certificate is issued and handed to the carrier who removes it. This is a kind +of way-bill, and of course a block is kept for the inspection of the surveying +officer. It contains a note of the quantity of stuff, date and hour of +starting, consignee’s name and other information, and it is the authority +for the carrier to have the liquor in his possession. An Excise officer may +stop and examine any dray or lorry carrying liquor, or railway wagon, and the +driver or other official must produce his certificate so that his load may be +checked by it. All such what I may call surprise examinations, together with +the signature of the officer making them, are recorded on the back of the +certificate. When the stuff is delivered, the certificate is handed over with +it to the consignee. He signs it on receipt. It then becomes his authority for +having the stuff on his premises, and he must keep it for the Excise +officer’s inspection. Do you follow me so far?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perfectly.” +</p> + +<p> +“The fraud, then, consists in getting more liquor away from the works +than is shown on the certificates, and I must confess it is not easy. The +commonest method, I should think, is to fill the kegs or receptacles slightly +fuller than the certificate shows. This is sometimes done simply by putting +extra stuff in the ordinary kegs. It is argued that an Excise officer cannot by +his eye tell a difference of five or six per cent; that, for example, +twenty-six gallons might be supplied on a twenty-five gallon certificate +without anyone being much the wiser. Variants of this method are to use +slightly larger kegs, or, more subtly, to use the normal sized kegs of which +the wood at the ends has been thinned down, and which therefore when filled to +the same level hold more, while showing the same measure with a dipping rod. +But all these methods are risky. On the suspicion the contents of the kegs are +measured and the fraud becomes revealed.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis, much interested, bent forward eagerly as the other, after a pause to +relight his pipe, continued: +</p> + +<p> +“Another common method is to send out liquor secretly, without a permit +at all. This may be done at night, or the stuff may go through an underground +pipe, or be hidden in innocent looking articles such as suitcases or petrol +tins. The pipe is the best scheme from the operator’s point of view, and +one may remain undiscovered for months, but the difficulty usually is to lay it +in the first instance. +</p> + +<p> +“A third method can be used only in the case of rectifiers and it +illustrates one of the differences between rectifiers and distillers. Every +permit for the removal of liquor from a distillery must be issued by the excise +surveyor of the district, whereas rectifiers can issue their own certificates. +Therefore in the case of rectifiers there is the possibility of the issuing of +forged or fraudulent certificates. Of course this is not so easy as it sounds. +The certificates are supplied in books of two hundred by the Excise +authorities, and the blocks must be kept available for the supervisor’s +scrutiny. Any certificates can be obtained from the receivers of the spirit and +compared with the blocks. Forged permits are very risky things to work with, as +all genuine ones bear the government watermark, which is not easy to reproduce. +In fact, I may say about this whole question of liquor distribution generally, +that fraud has been made so difficult that the only hope of those committing it +is to avoid arousing suspicion. Once suspicion is aroused, discovery follows +almost as a matter of course.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s hopeful for us,” Willis smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” the other answered, “though I fancy this case will be +more difficult than most. There is another point to be taken into consideration +which I have not mentioned, and that is, how the perpetrators of the frauds are +going to get their money. In the last resort it can only come in from the +public over the counters of the licensed premises which sell the smuggled +spirits. But just as the smuggled liquor cannot be put through the books of the +house selling it, so the money received for it cannot be entered either. This +means that someone in authority in each licensed house must be involved. It +also carries with it a suggestion, though only a suggestion, the houses in +question are tied houses. The director of a distillery company would have more +hold on the manager of their own tied houses than over an outsider.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Willis nodded without replying, and Hunt went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Now it happens that these Ackroyd & Holt people own some very large +licensed houses in Hull, and it is to them I imagine, that we should first +direct our attention.” +</p> + +<p> +“How do you propose to begin?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think we must first find out how the Ferriby liquor is sent to these +houses. By the way, you probably know that already. You watched the distillery +during working hours, didn’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +The inspector admitted it. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see any lorries?” +</p> + +<p> +“Any number; large blue machines. I noticed them going and coming in the +Hull direction loaded up with barrels.” +</p> + +<p> +Hunt seemed pleased. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” he commented. “That’s a beginning anyway. Our +next step must be to make sure that all these lorries carry certificates. We +had better begin tomorrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis did not quite see how the business was to be done, but he forbore to ask +questions, agreeing to fall in with his companion’s arrangements. +</p> + +<p> +These arrangements involved the departure from their hotel by taxi at six +o’clock the next morning. It was not fully light as they whirled out +along the Ferriby road, but the sky was clear and all the indications pointed +to a fine day. +</p> + +<p> +They dismounted at the end of the lane leading to the works, and struck off +across the fields, finally taking up their position behind the same thick hedge +from which Willis had previously kept watch. +</p> + +<p> +They spent the whole of that day, as well as of the next two, in their +hiding-place, and at the end of that time they had a complete list of all +lorries that entered or left the establishment during that period. No vehicles +other than blue lorries appeared, and Hunt expressed himself as satisfied that +if the smuggled brandy was not carried by them it must go either by rail or at +night. +</p> + +<p> +“We can go into those other contingencies later if necessary,” he +said, “but on the face of it I am inclined to back the lorries. They +supply the tied houses in Hull, which would seem the obvious places for the +brandy to go, and, besides, railway transit is too well looked after to attract +the gang. I think we’ll follow this lorry business through first on +spec.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you’ll compare the certificate blocks with the list I +made?” Willis asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. That will show if all carry certificates. But I don’t +want to do that yet. Before alarming them I want to examine the contents of a +few of the lorries. I think we might do that tomorrow.” +</p> + +<p> +The next morning, therefore, the two detectives again engaged a taxi and ran +out along the Ferriby road until they met a large blue lorry loaded with +barrels and bearing on its side the legend “Ackroyd & Holt Ltd, +Licensed Rectifiers.” When it had lumbered past on its way to the city, +Hunt called to the driver and ordered him to follow it. +</p> + +<p> +The chase led to the heart of the town, ending in a street which ran parallel +to the Humber Dock. There the big machine turned in to an entry. +</p> + +<p> +“The Anchor Bar,” Hunt said, in satisfied tones. “We’re +in luck. It’s one of the largest licensed houses in Hull.” +</p> + +<p> +He jumped out and disappeared after the lorry, Willis following. The vehicle +had stopped in a yard at the back of the great public house, where were more +barrels than the inspector ever remembered having seen together, while the +smell of various liquors hung heavy in the air. Hunt, having shown his +credentials, demanded the certificate for the consignment. This was immediately +produced by the driver, scrutinized, and found in order. Hunt then proceeded to +examine the consignment itself, and Willis was lost in admiration at the +rapidity as well as the thoroughness of his inspection. He tested the nature of +the various liquids, measured their receptacles, took drippings in each cask, +and otherwise satisfied himself as to the quality and quantity. Finally he had +a look over the lorry, then expressing himself satisfied, he endorsed the +certificate, and with a few civil words to the men in charge, the two +detectives took their leave. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all square anyway,” Hunt remarked, as they reentered +their taxi. “I suppose we may go and do the same thing again.” +</p> + +<p> +They did. Three times more on that day, and four times on the next day they +followed Messrs. Ackroyd & Holt’s lorries, in every instance with the +same result. All eight consignments were examined with the utmost care, and all +were found to be accurately described on the accompanying certificate. The +certificates themselves were obviously genuine, and everything about them, so +far as Hunt could see, was in order. +</p> + +<p> +“Doesn’t look as if we are going to get it that way,” he +commented, as late that second evening they sat once more discussing matters in +their private sitting-room. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think you have frightened them into honesty by our +persistence?” Willis queried. +</p> + +<p> +“No doubt,” the other returned. “But that couldn’t +apply to the first few trips. They couldn’t possibly have foretold that +we should examine those consignments yesterday, and today I expect they thought +their visitation was over. But we have worked it as far as it will go. We shall +have to change our methods.” +</p> + +<p> +The inspector looked his question and Hunt continued: +</p> + +<p> +“I think tomorrow I had better go out to the works and have a look over +these certificate blocks. But I wonder if it would be well for you to come? +Archer has seen you in that hotel lounge, and at all events he has your +description.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall not go,” Willis decided. “See you when you get +back.” +</p> + +<p> +Hunt, after showing his credentials, was received with civility at Messrs. +Ackroyd & Holt’s. When he had completed the usual examination of +their various apparatus he asked for certain books. He took them to a desk, and +sitting down, began to study the certificate blocks. +</p> + +<p> +His first care was to compare the list of outward lorries which he and Willis +had made with the blocks for the same period. A short investigation convinced +him that here also everything was in order. There was a certificate for every +lorry which had passed out, and not only so, but the number of the lorry, the +day and hour at which it left and the load were all correct so far as his +observations had enabled him to check them. It was clear that here also he had +drawn blank, and for the fiftieth time he wondered with a sort of rueful +admiration how the fraud was being worked. +</p> + +<p> +He was idly turning over the leaves of the blocks, gazing vacantly at the lines +of writing while he pondered his problem when his attention was attracted to a +slight difference of color in the ink of an entry on one of the blocks. The +consignment was a mixed one, containing different kinds of spirituous liquors. +The lowest entry was for three twenty-five gallon kegs of French brandy. This +entry was slightly paler than the remain order. +</p> + +<p> +At first Hunt did not give the matter serious thought. The page had evidently +been blotted while the ink was wet, and the lower items should therefore +naturally be the fainter. But as he looked more closely he saw that this +explanation would not quite meet the case. It was true that the lower two or +three items above that of the brandy grew gradually paler in proportion to +their position down the sheet, and to this rule Archer’s signature at the +bottom was no exception. In these Hunt could trace the gradual fading of color +due to the use of blotting paper. But he now saw that this did not apply to the +brandy entry. It was the palest of all—paler even than Archer’s +name, which was below it. +</p> + +<p> +He sat staring at the sheet, whistling softly through his teeth and with his +brow puckered into a frown, as he wondered whether the obvious suggestion that +the brandy item had been added after the sheet had been completed, was a sound +deduction. He could think of no other explanation, but he was loath to form a +definite opinion on such slight evidence. +</p> + +<p> +He turned back through the blocks to see if they contained other similar +instances, and as he did so his interest grew. Quite a number of the pages +referring to mixed consignment had for their last item kegs of French brandy. +He scrutinized these entries with the utmost care. A few seemed normal enough, +but others showed indications which strengthened his suspicions. In three more +the ink was undoubtedly paler than the remainder of the sheet, in five it was +darker, while in several others the handwriting appeared slightly +different—more upright, more sloping, more heavily or more lightly leaned +on. When Hunt had examined all the instances he could find stretching over a +period of three months, he was convinced that his deduction was correct. The +brandy items had been written at a different time from the remainder, and this +could only mean that they had been added after the certificate was complete. +</p> + +<p> +His interest at last keenly aroused, he began to make an analysis of the blocks +in question in the hope of finding some other peculiarity common to them which +might indicate the direction in which the solution might lie. +</p> + +<p> +And first as to the consignees. Ackroyd & Holt evidently supplied a very +large number of licensed houses, but of these the names of only five appeared +on the doubtful blocks. But these five were confined to houses in Hull, and +each was a large and important concern. +</p> + +<p> +“So far, so good,” thought Hunt, with satisfaction. “If +they’re not planting their stuff in those five houses, I’m a +Dutchman!” +</p> + +<p> +He turned back to the blocks and once again went through them. This time he +made an even more suggestive discovery. Only one lorry-man was concerned in the +transport of the doubtful consignments. All the lorries in question had been in +charge of a driver called Charles Fox. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt remembered the man. He had driven three of the eight lorries Hunt himself +had examined, and he had been most civil when stopped, giving the investigator +all possible assistance in making his inspection. Nor had he at any time +betrayed embarrassment. And now it seemed not improbable that this same man was +one of those concerned in the fraud. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt applied himself once again to a study of the blocks, and then he made a +third discovery, which, though he could not at first see its drift, struck him +nevertheless as being of importance. He found that the faked block was always +one of a pair. Within a few pages either in front of or behind it was another +block containing particulars of a similar consignment, identical, in fact, +except that the brandy item was missing. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt was puzzled. That he was on the track of the fraud he could not but +believe, but he could form no idea as to how it was worked. If he were right so +far, the blocks had been made out in facsimile in the first instance, and later +the brandy item had been added to one of each pair. Why? He could not guess. +</p> + +<p> +He continued his examination, and soon another interesting fact became +apparent. Though consignments left the works at all hours of the day, those +referred to by the first one of each between the hours of four and five. +Further, the number of minutes past one and past four were always identical on +each pair. That showed the brandy item was nearly always the later of the two, +but occasionally the stuff had gone with the one o’clock trip. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt sat in the small office, of which he had been given undisturbed +possession, pondering over his problem and trying to marshal the facts that he +had learned in such a way as to extract their inner meaning. As far as he could +follow them they seemed to show that three times each day driver Charles Fox +took a lorry of various liquors into Hull. The first trip was irregular, that +is, he left at anything between seven-thirty and ten-thirty a.m., and his +objective extended over the entire city. The remaining two trips were regular. +Of these the first always left between one and two and the second the same +number of minutes past four; both were invariably to the same one of the five +large tied houses already mentioned; the load of each was always identical +except that one—generally the second—had some kegs of brandy +additional, and, lastly, the note of this extra brandy appeared always to have +been added to the certificate after the latter had been made out. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt could make nothing of it. In the evening he described his discoveries to +Willis, and the two men discussed the affair exhaustively, though still without +result. +</p> + +<p> +That night Hunt could not sleep. He lay tossing from side to side and racking +his brains to find a solution. He felt subconsciously that it was within his +reach, and yet he could not grasp it. +</p> + +<p> +It was not far from dawn when a sudden idea flashed into his mind, and he lay +thrilled with excitement as he wondered if at last he held the clue to the +mystery. He went over the details in his mind, and the more he thought over his +theory the more likely it seemed to grow. +</p> + +<p> +But how was he to test it? Daylight had come before he saw his way; but at last +he was satisfied, and at breakfast he told Willis his idea and asked his help +to carry out his plan. +</p> + +<p> +“You’re not a photographer, by any chance?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not A1, but I dabble a bit at it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. That will save some trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +They called at a photographic outfitter’s, and there, after making a +deposit, succeeded in hiring two large-size Kodaks for the day. With these and +a set of climbing irons they drove out along the Ferriby road, arriving at the +end of the lane to the works shortly after midday. There they dismissed their +taxi. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as they were alone their actions became somewhat bewildering to the +uninitiated. Along one side of the road ran a seven-foot wall bounding the +plantation of a large villa. Over this Willis, with the help of his friend, +clambered. With some loose stones he built himself a footing at the back, so +that he could just look over the top. Then having focused his camera for the +middle of the road, he retired into obscurity behind his defences. +</p> + +<p> +His friend settled to his satisfaction, Hunt buckled on the climbing irons, and +crossing the road, proceeded to climb a telegraph pole which stood opposite the +lane. He fixed his camera to the lower wires—carefully avoiding possible +short-circuitings—and having focused it for the center of the road, +pulled a pair of pliers from his pocket and endeavored to simulate, the actions +of a lineman at work. By the time these preparations were complete it was close +on one o’clock. +</p> + +<p> +Some half-hour later a large blue lorry came in sight bearing down along the +lane. Presently Hunt was able to see that the driver was Fox. He made a +prearranged sign to his accomplice behind the wall, and the latter, camera in +hand, stood up and peeped over. As the big vehicle swung slowly round into the +main road both men from their respective positions photographed it. Hunt, +indeed, rapidly changing the film, took a second view as the machine retreated +down the road towards Hull. +</p> + +<p> +When it was out of sight, Hunt descended and with some difficulty climbed the +wall to his colleague. There in the shade of the thick belt of trees both men +lay down and smoked peacefully until nearly four o’clock. Then once more +they took up their respective positions, watched until about half an hour later +the lorry again passed out and photographed it precisely as before. That done, +they walked to Hassle station, and took the first train to Hull. +</p> + +<p> +By dint of baksheesh they persuaded the photographer to develop their films +there and then, and that same evening they had six prints. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened they turned out exceedingly good photographs. Their definition +was excellent, and each view included the whole of the lorry. The friends +found, as Hunt had hoped and intended, that owing to the height from which the +views had been taken, each several keg of the load showed out distinctly. They +counted them. Each picture showed seventeen. +</p> + +<p> +“You see?” cried Hunt triumphantly. “The same amount of stuff +went out on each load! We shall have them now, Willis!” +</p> + +<p> +Next day Hunt returned to Ferriby works ostensibly to continue his routine +inspection. But in three minutes he had seen what he wanted. Taking the +certificate book, he looked up the blocks of the two consignments they had +photographed, and he could have laughed aloud in his exultation as he saw that +what he had suspected was indeed the fact. The two certificates were identical +except that to the second an item of four kegs of French brandy had been added! +Hunt counted the barrels. The first certificate showed thirteen and the last +seventeen. +</p> + +<p> +“Four kegs of brandy smuggled out under our noses yesterday,” he +thought delightedly. “By Jove! but it’s a clever trick. Now to test +the next point.” +</p> + +<p> +He made an excuse for leaving the works, and returning to Hull, called at the +licensed house to which the previous afternoon’s consignment had been +dispatched. There he asked to see the certificates of the two trips. On seeing +his credentials these were handed up without demur, and he withdrew with them +to his hotel. +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” he cried to Willis, who was reading in the lounge, +“and see the final act in the drama.” +</p> + +<p> +They retired to their private room, and there Hunt spread the two certificates +on the table. Both men stared at them, and Hunt gave vent to a grunt of +satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +“I was right,” he cried delightedly. “Look here! Why I can +see it with the naked eye!” +</p> + +<p> +The two certificates were an accurate copy of their blocks. They were dated +correctly, both bore Fox’s name as driver, and both showed consignments +of liquor, identical except for the additional four kegs of brandy on the +second. There was, furthermore, no sign that this had been added after the +remainder. The slight lightening in the color towards the bottom of the sheet, +due to the use of blotting paper, was so progressive as almost to prove the +whole had been written at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +The first certificate was timed 1.15 p.m., the second 4.15 p.m., and it was to +the 4 of this second hour that Hunt’s eager finger pointed. As Willis +examined it he saw that the lower strokes were fainter than the remainder. +Further, the beginning of the horizontal stroke did not quite join the first +vertical stroke. +</p> + +<p> +“You see?” Hunt cried excitedly. “That figure is a forgery. +It was originally a 1, and the two lower strokes have been added to make it a +4. The case is finished!” +</p> + +<p> +Willis was less enthusiastic. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not so sure of that,” he returned cautiously. “I +don’t see light all the way through. Just go over it again, will +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why to me it’s as clear as daylight,” the other asserted +impatiently. “See here. Archer decides, let us suppose, that he will send +out four kegs, or one hundred gallons, of the smuggled brandy to the Anchor +Bar. What does he do? He fills out certificates for two consignments each of +which contains an identical assortment of various liquors. The brandy he shows +on one certificate only. The blocks are true copies of the certificates except +that the brandy is not entered on either. The two blocks he times for a quarter +past one and past four respectively, but both certificates he times for a +quarter past one. He hands the two certificates to Fox. Then he sends out on +the one o’clock lorry the amount of brandy shown on one of the +certificates.” +</p> + +<p> +Hunt paused and looked interrogatively at his friend, then, the latter not +replying, he resumed: +</p> + +<p> +“You follow now the position of affairs? In the office is Archer with his +blocks, correctly filled out as to time but neither showing the brandy. On the +one o’clock lorry is Fox, with one hundred gallons of brandy among his +load. In his pocket are the two certificates, both timed for one o’clock, +one showing the brandy and the other not.” +</p> + +<p> +The inspector nodded as Hunt again looked at him. +</p> + +<p> +“Now suppose,” the latter went on, “that the one +o’clock lorry gets through to its destination unchallenged, and the stuff +is unloaded. The manager arranges that the four kegs of brandy will disappear. +He takes over the certificate which does not show brandy, signs it, and the +transaction is complete. Everything is in order, and he has got four kegs +smuggled in.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” Willis interjected. +</p> + +<p> +“On the other hand, suppose the one o’clock trip is held up by an +exciseman. This time Fox produces the other certificate, the one which shows +the brandy. Once again everything is in order, and the Excise officer +satisfied. It is true that on this occasion Fox has been unable to smuggle out +his brandy, and on that which he carries duty must be paid, but this rare +contingency will not matter to him as long as his method of fraud remains +concealed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Seems very sound so far.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so. Let us now consider the four o’clock trip. Fox arrives +back at the works with one of the two certificates still in his pocket, and the +make up of his four o’clock load depends on which it is. He attempts no +more smuggling that day. If his remaining certificate shows brandy he carries +brandy, if not, he leaves it behind. In either case his certificate is in order +if an Excise officer holds him up. That is, when he has attended to one little +point. He has to add two strokes to the 1 of the hour to make it into a 4. The +ease of doing this explains why these two hours were chosen. Is that all +clear?” +</p> + +<p> +“Clear, indeed, except for the one point of how the brandy item is added +to the correct block.” +</p> + +<p> +“Obviously Archer does that as soon as he learns how the first trip has +got on. If the brandy was smuggled out on the first trip, it means that Fox is +holding the brandy-bearing certificate for the second, and Archer enters brandy +on his second block. If, on the contrary, Fox has had his first load examined, +Archer will make his entry on the first block.” +</p> + +<p> +“The scheme,” Willis declared, “really means this. If Archer +wants to smuggle out one hundred gallons of brandy, he has to send out another +hundred legitimately on the same day? If he can manage to send out two hundred +altogether then one hundred will be duty clear, but in any case he must pay on +one hundred?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right. It works out like that.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a great scheme. The only weak point that I can see is that an +Excise officer who has held up one of the trips might visit the works and look +at the certificate block before Archer gets it altered.” +</p> + +<p> +Hunt nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought of that,” he said, “and it can be met quite +easily. I bet the manager telephones Archer on receipt of the stuff. I am going +into that now. I shall have a note kept at the Central of conversations to +Ferriby. If Archer doesn’t get a message by a certain time, I bet he +assumes the plan has miscarried for that day and fills in the brandy on the +first block.” +</p> + +<p> +During the next two days Hunt was able to establish the truth of his surmise. +At the same time Willis decided that his co-operation in the work at Hull was +no longer needed. For Hunt there was still plenty to be done. He had to get +direct evidence against each severally of the managers of the five tied houses +in question, as well as to ascertain how and to whom they were passing on the +“stuff,” for that they were receiving more brandy than could be +sold over their own counters was unquestionable. But he agreed with Willis that +these five men were more than likely in ignorance of the main conspiracy, each +having only a private understanding with Archer. But whether or not this was +so, Willis did not believe he could get any evidence that they were implicated +in the murder of Coburn. +</p> + +<p> +The French end of the affair, he thought, the supply of the brandy in the first +instance, was more promising from this point of view, and the next morning he +took an early train to London as a preliminary to starting work in France. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"></a> +CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +THE BORDEAUX LORRIES</h2> + +<p> +Two days later Inspector Willis sat once again in the office of M. Max, the +head of the French Excise Department in Paris. The Frenchman greeted him +politely, but without enthusiasm. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, monsieur,” he said, “you have not received my letter? +No? I wrote to your department yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +“It hadn’t come, sir, when I left,” Willis returned. +“But perhaps if it is something I should know, you could tell me the +contents?” +</p> + +<p> +“But certainly, monsieur. It is easily done. A thousand regrets, but I +fear my department will not be of much service to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir?” Willis looked his question. +</p> + +<p> +“I fear not. But I shall explain,” M. Max gesticulated as he +talked. “After your last visit here I send two of my men to Bordeaux. +They make examination, but at first they see nothing suspicious. When the +<i>Girondin</i> comes in they determine to test your idea of the brandy +loading. They go in a boat to the wharf at night. They pull in between the rows +of piles. They find the spaces between the tree trunks which you have +described. They know there must be a cellar behind. They hide close by; they +see the porthole lighted up; they watch the pipe go in, all exactly as you have +said. There can be no doubt brandy is secretly loaded at the Lesque.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seemed the likely thing, sir,” Willis commented. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, but it was good to think of. I wish to congratulate you on finding +it out.” M. Max made a little bow. “But to continue. My men wonder +how the brandy reaches the sawmill. Soon they think that the lorries must bring +it. They think so for two reasons. First, they can find no other way. The +lorries are the only vehicles which approach; nothing goes by water; there +cannot be a tunnel, because there is no place for the other end. There remains +only the lorries. Second, they think it is the lorries because the drivers +change the numbers. It is suspicious, is it not? Yes? You understand me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perfectly, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. My men then watch the lorries. They get help from the police at +Bordeaux. They find the firewood trade is a nothing.” M. Max shrugged his +shoulders. “There are five firms to which the lorries go, and of the +five, four—” His gesture indicated a despair too deep for words. +“To serve them, it is but a blind; so my men think. But the fifth firm, +it is that of Raymond Fils, one of the biggest distilleries of Bordeaux. That +Raymond Fils are sending out the brandy suggests itself to my men. At last the +affair marches.” +</p> + +<p> +M. Max paused, and Willis bowed to signify his appreciation of the point. +</p> + +<p> +“My men visit Raymond Fils. They search into everything. They find the +law is not broken. All is in order. They are satisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, sir, if these people are smuggling brandy into +England—” Willis was beginning when the other interrupted him. +</p> + +<p> +“But yes, monsieur, I grasp your point. I speak of French law; it is +different from yours. Here duty is not charged on just so much spirit as is +distilled. We grant the distiller a license, and it allows him to distill any +quantity up to the figure the license bears. But, monsieur, Raymond Fils +are—how do you say it?—well within their limit? Yes? They do not +break the French law.” +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore, sir, you mean you cannot help further?” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear monsieur, what would you? I have done my best for you. I make +inquiries. The matter is not for me. With the most excellent wish to assist, +what more can I?” +</p> + +<p> +Willis, realizing he could get no more, rose. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, sir, except to accept on my own part and that of my department +our hearty thanks for what you have done. I can assure you, sir, I quite +understand your position, and I greatly appreciate your kindness.” +</p> + +<p> +M. Max also had risen. He politely repeated his regrets, and with mutual +compliments the two men parted. +</p> + +<p> +Willis had once spent a holiday in Paris, and he was slightly acquainted with +the city. He strolled on through the busy streets, brilliant in the pale autumn +sunlight, until he reached the Grands Boulevards. There entering a café, he sat +down, called for a bock, and settled himself to consider his next step. +</p> + +<p> +The position created by M. Max’s action was disconcerting. Willis felt +himself stranded, literally a stranger in a strange land, sent to carry out an +investigation among a people whose language he could not even speak! He saw at +once that his task was impossible. He must have local help or he could proceed +no further. +</p> + +<p> +He thought of his own department. The Excise had failed him. What about the +Sûreté? +</p> + +<p> +But a very little thought convinced him that he was even less likely to obtain +help from this quarter. He could only base an appeal on the possibility of a +future charge of conspiracy to murder, and he realized that the evidence for +that was too slight to put forward seriously. +</p> + +<p> +What was to be done? So far as he could see, but one thing. He must employ a +private detective. This plan would meet the language difficulty by which he was +so completely hung up. +</p> + +<p> +He went to a call office and got his chief at the Yard on the long distance +wire. The latter approved his suggestion, and recommended M. Jules Laroche of +the Rue du Sommerard near the Sorbonne. Half an hour later Willis reached the +house. +</p> + +<p> +M. Laroche proved to be a tall, unobtrusive-looking man of some five-and-forty, +who had lived in London for some years and spoke as good English as Willis +himself. He listened quietly and without much apparent interest to what his +visitor had to tell him, then said he would be glad to take on the job. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better go to Bordeaux this evening, so as to start fresh +tomorrow,” Willis suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Two o’clock at the d’Orsay station,” the other +returned. “We have just time. We can settle our plans in the +train.” +</p> + +<p> +They reached the St Jean station at Bordeaux at 10.35 that night, and drove to +the Hotel d’Espagne. They had decided that they could do nothing until +the following evening, when they would go out to the clearing and see what a +search of the mill premises might reveal. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning Laroche vanished, saying he had friends in the town whom he wished +to look up, and it was close on dinner-time before he put in an appearance. +</p> + +<p> +“I have got some information that may help,” he said, as Willis +greeted him. “Though I’m not connected with the official force, we +are very good friends and have worked into each other’s hands. I happen +to know one of the officers of the local police, and he got me the information. +It seems that a M. Pierre Raymond is practically the owner of Raymond Fils, the +distillers you mentioned. He is a man of about thirty, and the son of one of +the original brothers. He was at one time comfortably off, and lived in a +pleasant villa in the suburbs. But latterly he has been going the pace, and +within the last two years he let his villa and bought a tiny house next door to +the distillery, where he is now living. It is believed his money went at Monte +Carlo, indeed it seems he is a wrong ’un all round. At all events he is +known to be hard up now.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you think he moved in so that he could load up that brandy at +night?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what I think,” Laroche admitted. “You see, +there is the motive for it as well. He wouldn’t join the syndicate unless +he was in difficulties. I fancy M. Pierre Raymond will be an interesting +study.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded. The suggestion was worth investigation, and he congratulated +himself on getting hold of so excellent a colleague as this Laroche seemed to +be. +</p> + +<p> +The Frenchman during the day had hired a motor bicycle and sidecar, and as dusk +began to fall the two men left their hotel and ran out along the Bayonne road +until they reached the Lesque. There they hid their vehicle behind some shrubs, +and reaching the end of the lane, turned down it. +</p> + +<p> +It was pitch dark among the trees, and they had some difficulty in keeping the +track until they reached the clearing. There a quarter moon rendered objects +dimly visible, and Willis at once recognized his surroundings from the +description he had received from Hilliard and Merriman. +</p> + +<p> +“You see, somebody is in the manager’s house,” he whispered, +pointing to a light which gleamed in the window. “If Henri has taken over +Coburn’s job he may go down to the mill as Coburn did. Hadn’t we +better wait and see?” +</p> + +<p> +The Frenchman agreeing, they moved round the fringe of trees at the edge of the +clearing, just as Merriman had done on a similar occasion some seven weeks +earlier, and as they crouched in the shelter of a clump of bushes in front of +the house, they might have been interested to know that it was from these same +shrubs that that disconsolate sentimentalist had lain dreaming of his lady +love, and from which he had witnessed her father’s stealthy journey to +the mill. +</p> + +<p> +It was a good deal colder tonight than on that earlier occasion when watch was +kept on the lonely house. The two men shivered as they drew their collars +higher round their necks, and crouched down to get shelter from the bitter +wind. They had resigned themselves to a weary vigil, during which they dared +not even smoke. +</p> + +<p> +But they had not to wait so long after all. About ten the light went out in the +window and not five minutes later they saw a man appear at the side door and +walk towards the mill. They could not see his features, though Willis assumed +he was Henri. Twenty minutes later they watched him return, and then all once +more was still. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better give him an hour to get to bed,” Willis whispered. +“If he were to look out it wouldn’t do for him to see two +detectives roaming about his beloved clearing.” +</p> + +<p> +“We might go at eleven,” Laroche proposed, and so they did. +</p> + +<p> +Keeping as much as possible in the shelter of the bushes, they approached the +mill. Willis had got a sketch-plan of the building from Merriman, and he moved +round to the office door. His bent wire proved as efficacious with French locks +as with English, and in a few moments they stood within, with the door shut +behind them. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Willis, carefully shading the beam of his electric +torch, “let’s see those lorries first of all.” +</p> + +<p> +As has already been stated, the garage was next to the office, and passing +through the communicating door, the two men found five of the ponderous +vehicles therein. A moment’s examination of the number plates showed that +on all the machines the figures were separate from the remainder of the +lettering, being carried on small brass plates which dropped vertically into +place through slots in the main castings. But the joint at each side of the +number was not conspicuous because similar vertical lines were cut into the +brass between each letter of the whole legend. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s good,” Laroche observed. “Make a thing +unnoticeable by multiplying it!” +</p> + +<p> +Of the five lorries, two were loaded with firewood and three empty. The men +moved round examining them with their torches. +</p> + +<p> +“Hallo,” Laroche called suddenly in a low voice, “what have +we here, Willis?” +</p> + +<p> +The inspector crossed over to the other, who was pointing to the granolithic +floor in front of him. One of the empty lorries was close to the office wall, +and the Frenchman stood between the two. On the floor were three drops of some +liquid. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you smell them?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +Willis knelt down and sniffed, then slowly got up again. +</p> + +<p> +“Good man,” he said, with a trace of excitement in his manner. +“It’s brandy right enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” returned the other. “Security has made our nocturnal +friend careless. The stuff must have come from this lorry, I fancy.” +</p> + +<p> +They turned to the vehicle and examined it eagerly. For some time they could +see nothing remarkable, but presently it gave up its secret The deck was +double! Beneath it was a hollow space some six feet by nine long, and not less +than three inches deep. And not only so. This hollow space was continued up +under the unusually large and wide driver’s seat, save for a tiny +receptacle for petrol. In a word the whole top of the machine was a vast secret +tank. +</p> + +<p> +The men began measuring and calculating, and they soon found that no less than +one hundred and fifty gallons of liquid could be carried therein. +</p> + +<p> +“One hundred and fifty gallons of brandy per trip!” Willis +ejaculated. “Lord! It’s no wonder they make it pay.” +</p> + +<p> +They next tackled the problem of how the tank was filled and emptied, and at +last their perseverance was rewarded. Behind the left trailing wheel, under the +framing, was a small hinged door about six inches square and fastened by a +spring operated by a mock rivet head. This being opened, revealed a cavity +containing a pipe connected to the tank and fitted with a stop-cock and the +half of a union coupling. +</p> + +<p> +“The pipe which connects with that can’t be far away,” +Laroche suggested. “We might have a look round for it.” +</p> + +<p> +The obvious place was the wall of the office, which ran not more than three +feet from the vehicle. It was finished with vertical tongued and V-jointed +sheeting, and a comparatively short search revealed the loose board the +detectives were by this time expecting. Behind it was concealed a pipe, jointed +concertina-wise, and ending in the other half of the union coupling. It was +evident the joints would allow the half coupling to be pulled out and connected +with that on the lorry. The pipe ran down through the floor, showing that the +lorry could be emptied by gravity. +</p> + +<p> +“A good safe scheme,” Laroche commented. “If I had seen that +lorry a hundred times I should never have suspected a tank. It’s well +designed.” +</p> + +<p> +They turned to examine the other vehicles. All four were identical in +appearance with the first, but all were strictly what they seemed, containing +no secret receptacle. +</p> + +<p> +“Merriman said they had six lorries,” Willis remarked. “I +wonder where the sixth is.” +</p> + +<p> +“At the distillery, don’t you think?” the Frenchman returned. +“Those drops prove that manager fellow has just been unloading this one. +I expect he does it every night. But if so, Raymond must load a vehicle every +night too.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true. We may assume the job is done every night, because +Merriman watched Coburn come down here three nights running. It was certainly +to unload the lorry.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless; and he probably came at two in the morning on account of his +daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“That means there are two tank lorries,” Willis went on, continuing +his own line of thought. “I say, Laroche, let’s mark this one so +that we may know it again.” +</p> + +<p> +They made tiny scratches on the paint at each corner of the big vehicle, then +Willis turned back to the office. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d like to find that cellar while we’re here,” he +remarked. “We know there is a cellar, for those Customs men saw the +<i>Girondin</i> loaded from it. We might have a look round for the +entrance.” +</p> + +<p> +Then ensued a search similar to that which Willis had carried out in the depot +at Ferriby, except that in this case they found what they were looking for in a +much shorter time. In the office was a flat roll-topped desk, with the usual +set of drawers at each side of the central knee well, and when Willis found it +was clamped to the floor he felt he need go no further. On the ground in the +knee well, and projecting out towards the revolving chair in front, was a mat. +Willis raised it, and at once observed a joint across the boards where in +ordinary circumstances no joint should be. He fumbled and pressed and pulled, +and in a couple of minutes he had the satisfaction of seeing the floor under +the well rise and reveal the head of a ladder leading down into the darkness +below. +</p> + +<p> +“Here we are,” he called softly to Laroche, who was searching at +the other side of the room. +</p> + +<p> +The cellar into which the two detectives descended was lined with timber like +that at Ferriby. Indeed the two were identical, except that only one +passage—that under the wharf—led out of this one. It contained a +similar large tun with a pipe leading down the passage under the wharf, on +which was a pump. The only difference was in the connection of the pipes. At +Ferriby the pump conveyed from the wharf to the tun, here it was from the tun +to the wharf. The pipe from the garage came down through the ceiling and ran +direct into the tun. +</p> + +<p> +The two men walked down the passage towards the river. Here also the +arrangement was the same as at Ferriby, and they remained only long enough for +Willis to point out to the Frenchman how the loading apparatus was worked. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said the former, as they returned to the office, +“that’s not so bad for one day. I suppose it’s all we can do +here. If we can learn as much at that distillery we shall soon have all we +want.” +</p> + +<p> +Laroche pointed to a chair. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down a moment,” he invited. “I have been thinking over +that plan we discussed in the train, of searching the distillery at night, and +I don’t like it. There are too many people about, and we are nearly +certain to be seen. It’s quite different from working a place like +this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite,” Willis answered rather testily. “I don’t like +it either, but what can we do?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll tell you what I should do.” Laroche leaned forward and +checked his points on his fingers. “That lorry had just been unloaded. +It’s empty now, and if our theory is correct it will be taken to the +distillery tomorrow and left there over-night to be filled up again. +Isn’t that so?” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded impatiently and the other went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Now, it is clear that no one can fill up that tank without leaving +finger-prints on the pipe connections in that secret box. Suppose we clean +those surfaces now, and suppose we come back here the night after tomorrow, +<i>before</i> the man here unloads, we could get the prints of the person who +filled up in the distillery.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” Willis asked sharply, “and how would that help +us?” +</p> + +<p> +“This way. Tomorrow you will be an English distiller with a forest you +could get cheap near your works. You have an idea of running your stills on +wood fires. You naturally call to see how M. Raymond does it, and you get shown +over his works. You have prepared a plan of your proposals. You hand it to him +when he can’t put it down on a desk. He holds it between his fingers and +thumb, and eventually returns it to you. You go home and use powder. You have +his finger-prints. You compare the two sets.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis was impressed. The plan was simple, and it promised to gain for them all +the information they required without recourse to a hazardous nocturnal visit +to the distillery. But he wished he had thought of it himself. +</p> + +<p> +“We might try it,” he admitted, without enthusiasm. “It +couldn’t do much harm anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +They returned to the garage, opened the secret lid beneath the lorry, and with +a cloth moistened with petrol cleaned the fittings. Then after a look round to +make sure that nothing had been disturbed, they let themselves out of the shed, +regained the lane and their machine, and some forty minutes later were in +Bordeaux. +</p> + +<p> +On reconsideration they decided that as Raymond might have obtained +Willis’s description from Captain Beamish, it would be wiser for Laroche +to visit the distillery. Next morning, therefore, the latter bought a small +writing block, and taking an inside leaf, which he carefully avoided touching +with his hands, he drew a cross-section of a wood-burning fire-box copied from +an illustration in a book of reference in the city library, at the same time +reading up the subject so as to be able to talk on it without giving himself +away. Then he set out on his mission. +</p> + +<p> +In a couple of hours he returned. +</p> + +<p> +“Got that all right,” he exclaimed, as he rejoined the inspector. +“I went and saw the fellow; said I was going to start a distillery in the +Ardennes where there was plenty of wood, and wanted to see his plant. He was +very civil, and took me round and showed me everything. There is a shed there +above the still furnaces with hoppers for the firewood to go down, and in it +was standing the lorry—<i>the</i> lorry, I saw our marks on the corner. +It was loaded with firewood, and he explained that it would be emptied last +thing before the day-shift left, so as to do the stills during the night. Well, +I got a general look round the concern, and I found that the large tuns which +contain the finished brandy were just at the back of the wall of the shed where +the lorry was standing. So it is easy to see what happens. Evidently there is a +pipe through the wall, and Raymond comes down at night and fills up the +lorry.” +</p> + +<p> +“And did you get his finger-prints?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have ’em here.” +</p> + +<p> +Locking the door of their private room, Laroche took from his pocket the sketch +he had made. +</p> + +<p> +“He held this up quite satisfactorily,” he went on, “and +there should be good prints.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis had meanwhile spread a newspaper on the table and taken from his +suitcase a small bottle of powdered lamp-black and a camel’s-hair brush. +Laying the sketch on the newspaper he gently brushed some of the black powder +over it, blowing off the surplus. To the satisfaction of both men, there showed +up near the left bottom corner the distinct mark of a left thumb. +</p> + +<p> +“Now the other side.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis turned the paper and repeated the operation on the back. There he got +prints of a left fore and second finger. +</p> + +<p> +“Excellent, clear prints, those,” Willis commented, continuing: +“And now I have something to tell you. While you were away I have been +thinking over this thing, and I believe I’ve got an idea.” +</p> + +<p> +Laroche looked interested, and the other went on slowly: +</p> + +<p> +“There are two brandy-carrying lorries. Every night one of these lies at +the distillery and the other at the clearing; one is being loaded and the other +unloaded; and every day the two change places. Now we may take it that neither +of those lorries is sent to any other place in the town, lest the brandy tanks +might be discovered. For the same reason, they probably only make the one run +mentioned per day. Is that right so far?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should think so,” Laroche replied cautiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Let us suppose these two lorries are Nos. 1 and 2. No. 1 goes +to the distillery say every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and returns on the +other three days, while No. 2 does vice versa, one trip each day remember. And +this goes on day after day, week after week, month after month. Now is it too +much to assume that sooner or later someone is bound to notice this—some +worker at the clearing or the distillery, some policeman on his beat, some +clerk at a window over-looking the route? And if anyone notices it will he not +wonder why it <i>always</i> happens that these two lorries go to this one place +and to no other, while the syndicate has six lorries altogether trading into +the town? And if this observer should mention his discovery to someone who +could put two and two together, suspicion might be aroused, investigation +undertaken, and presently the syndicate is up a tree. Now do you see what +I’m getting at?” +</p> + +<p> +Laroche had been listening eagerly, and now he made a sudden gesture. +</p> + +<p> +“But of course!” he cried delightedly. “The changing of the +numbers!” +</p> + +<p> +“The changing of the numbers,” Willis repeated. “At least, it +looks like that to me. No. 1 does the Monday run to the distillery. They change +the number plate, and No. 4 does it on Wednesday, while No. 1 runs to some +other establishment, where it can be freely examined by anyone who is +interested. How does it strike you?” +</p> + +<p> +“You have got it. You have certainly got it.” Laroche was more +enthusiastic than the inspector had before seen him. “It’s what you +call a cute scheme, quite on par with the rest of the business. They +didn’t leave much to chance, these! And yet it was this very precaution +that gave them away.” +</p> + +<p> +“No doubt, but that was an accident.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t,” said the Frenchman sententiously, “make +<i>anything</i> completely watertight.” +</p> + +<p> +The next night they went out to the clearing, and as soon as it was dark once +more entered the shed. There with more powder—white this time-they tested +the tank lorry for finger-marks. As they had hoped, there were several on the +secret fittings, among others a clear print of a left thumb on the rivet head +of the spring. +</p> + +<p> +A moment’s examination only was necessary. The prints were those of M. +Pierre Raymond. +</p> + +<p> +Once again Inspector Willis felt that he ought to have completed his case, and +once again second thoughts showed him that he was as far away from that desired +end as ever. He had been trying to find accomplices in the murder of Coburn, +and by a curious perversity, instead of finding them he had bit by bit solved +the mystery of the Pit-Prop Syndicate. He had shown, firstly, that they were +smuggling brandy, and, secondly, how they were doing it. For that he would no +doubt get a reward, but such was not his aim. What he wanted was to complete +his own case and get the approval of his own superiors and bring promotion +nearer. And in this he had failed. +</p> + +<p> +For hours he pondered over the problem, then suddenly an idea which seemed +promising flashed into his mind. He thought it over with the utmost care, and +finally decided that in the absence of something better he must try it. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning the two men travelled to Paris, and Willis, there taking leave +of his colleague, crossed to London, and an hour later was with his chief at +the Yard. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"></a> +CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +WILLIS SPREADS HIS NET</h2> + +<p> +Though Inspector Willis had spent so much time out of London in his following +up of the case, he had by no means lost sight of Madeleine Coburn and Merriman. +The girl, he knew, was still staying with her aunt at Eastbourne, and the local +police authorities, from whom he got his information, believed that her youth +and health were reasserting themselves, and that she was rapidly recovering +from the shock of her father’s tragic death. Merriman haunted the town. +He practically lived at the George, going up and down daily to his office, and +spending as many of his evenings and his Sundays at Mrs. Luttrell’s as he +dared. +</p> + +<p> +But though the young man had worn himself almost to a shadow by his efforts, he +felt that the realization of his hopes was as far off as ever. Madeleine had +told him that she would not marry him until the mystery of her father’s +murder was cleared up and the guilty parties brought to justice, and he was +becoming more and more afraid that she would keep her word. In vain he implored +her to consider the living rather than the dead, and not to wreck his life and +her own for what, after all, was but a sentiment. +</p> + +<p> +But though she listened to his entreaties and was always kind and gentle, she +remained inflexible in her resolve. Merriman felt that his only plan, failing +the discovery of Mr. Coburn’s assassin, was unobtrusively to keep as much +as possible in her company, in the hope that she would grow accustomed to his +presences and perhaps in time come to need it. +</p> + +<p> +Under these circumstances his anxiety as to the progress of the case was very +great, and on several occasions he had written to Willis asking him how his +inquiry was going on. But the inspector had not been communicative, and +Merriman had no idea how matters actually stood. +</p> + +<p> +It was therefore with feelings of pleasurable anticipation that he received a +telephone call from Willis at Scotland Yard. +</p> + +<p> +“I have just returned from Bordeaux,” the inspector said, +“and I am anxious to have a chat with Miss Coburn on some points that +have arisen. I should be glad of your presence also, if possible. Can you +arrange an interview?” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you want her to come to town?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not necessarily; I will go to EASTBOURNE if more convenient. But our +meeting must be kept strictly secret. The syndicate must not get to +know.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman felt excitement and hope rising within him. +</p> + +<p> +“Better go to Eastbourne then,” he advised. “Come down with +me tonight by the 5.20 from Victoria.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” Willis answered, “we mustn’t be seen together. I +shall meet you at the corner of the Grand Parade and Carlisle Road at nine +o’clock.” +</p> + +<p> +This being agreed on, both men began to make their arrangements. In +Merriman’s case these consisted in throwing up his work at the office and +taking the first train to Eastbourne. At five o’clock he was asking for +Miss Coburn at Mrs. Luttrell’s door. +</p> + +<p> +“Dear Madeleine,” he said, when he had told her his news, +“you must not begin to expect things. It may mean nothing at all. +Don’t build on it.” +</p> + +<p> +But soon he had made her as much excited as he was himself. He stayed for +dinner, leaving shortly before nine to keep his appointment with Willis. Both +men were to return to the house, when Madeleine would see them alone. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis did not travel by Merriman’s train. Instead he caught +the 5.35 to Brighton, dined there, and then slipping out of the hotel, motored +over to Eastbourne. Dismissing his vehicle at the Grand Hotel, he walked down +the Parade and found Merriman at the rendezvous. In ten minutes they were in +Mrs. Luttrell’s drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry, Miss Coburn,” Willis began politely, “to intrude +on you in this way, but the fact is, I want your help and indirectly the help +of Mr. Merriman. But it is only fair, I think, to tell you first what has +transpired since we last met. I must warn you, however, that I can only do so +in the strictest confidence. No whisper of what I am going to say must pass the +lips of either of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I promise,” said Merriman instantly. +</p> + +<p> +“And I,” echoed Madeleine. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t require that assurance,” Willis went on. “It +is sufficient that you understand the gravity of the situation. Well, after the +inquest I set to work,” and he briefly related the story of his +investigations in London and in Hull, his discoveries at Ferriby, his proof +that Archer was the actual murderer, the details of the smuggling organization +and, finally, his suspicion that the other members of the syndicate were privy +to Mr. Coburn’s death, together with his failure to prove it. +</p> + +<p> +His two listeners heard him with eager attention, in which interest in his +story was mingled with admiration of his achievement. +</p> + +<p> +“So Hilliard was right about the brandy after all!” Merriman +exclaimed. “He deserves some credit for that. I think he believed in it +all the time, in spite of our conclusion that we had proved it impossible. +<i>By</i> Jove! <i>How</i> you can be had!” +</p> + +<p> +Willis turned to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be disappointed about your part in it, sir,” he +advised. “I consider that you and Mr. Hilliard did uncommonly well. I may +tell you that I thought so much of your work that I checked nothing of what you +had done.” +</p> + +<p> +Merriman colored with pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +“Jolly good of you to say so, I’m sure, inspector,” he said; +“but I’m afraid most of the credit for that goes to +Hilliard.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was your joint work I was speaking of,” Willis insisted. +“But now to get on to business. As I said, my difficulty is that I +suspect the members of the syndicate of complicity in Mr. Coburn’s death, +but I can’t prove it. I have thought out a plan which may or may not +produce this proof. It is in this that I want your help.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Inspector,” cried Madeleine reproachfully, “need you ask +for it?” +</p> + +<p> +Willis laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think so. But I can’t very well come in and command +it, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course you can,” Madeleine returned. “You know very well +that in such a cause Mr. Merriman and I would do <i>anything</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe it, and I am going to put you to the test. I’ll tell you +my idea. It has occurred to me that these people might be made to give +themselves away. Suppose they had one of their private meetings to discuss the +affairs of the syndicate, and that, unknown to them, witnesses could be present +to overhear what was said. Would there not at least be a sporting chance that +they would incriminate themselves?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes!” said Merriman, much interested. “Likely enough. But I +don’t see how you could arrange that.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis smiled slightly. +</p> + +<p> +“I think it might be managed,” he answered. “If a meeting +were to take place we could easily learn where it was to be held and hear what +went on. But the first point is the difficulty—the question of the +holding of the meeting. In the ordinary course there might be none for months. +Therefore we must take steps to have one summoned. And that,” he turned +to Madeleine, “is where I want your help.” +</p> + +<p> +His hearers stared, mystified, and Willis resumed. +</p> + +<p> +“Something must happen of such importance to the welfare of the syndicate +that the leaders will decide that a full conference of the members is +necessary. So far as I can see, you alone can cause that something to happen. I +will tell you how. But I must warn you that I fear it will rake up painful +memories.” +</p> + +<p> +Madeleine, her lips parted, was hanging on his words. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” she said quickly, “we have settled all that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” said Willis, taking a sheet of paper from his pocket. +“I have here the draft of a letter which I want you to write to Captain +Beamish. You can phrase it as you like; in fact I want it in your own words. +Read it over and you will understand.” +</p> + +<p> +The draft ran as follows: +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“S<small>ILVERDALE</small> R<small>OAD</small>,<br /> +“E<small>ASTBOURNE</small>. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“D<small>EAR</small> C<small>APTAIN</small> +B<small>EAMISH</small>,—In going over some papers belonging to my late +father, I learn to my surprise that he was not a salaried official of your +syndicate, but a partner. It seems to me, therefore, that as his heir I am +entitled to his share of the capital of the concern, or at all events to the +interest on it. I have to express my astonishment that no recognition of this +fact has as yet been made by the syndicate.<br /> + “I may say that I have also come on some notes relative to the +business of the syndicate, which have filled me with anxiety and dismay, but +which I do not care to refer to in detail in writing.<br /> + “I think I should like an interview with you to hear your explanation +of these two matters, and to discuss what action is to be taken with regard to +them. You could perhaps find it convenient to call on me here, or I could meet +you in London if you preferred it. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“Yours faithfully,<br /> +“M<small>ADELEINE</small> C<small>OBURN</small>.” +</p> + +<p> +Madeleine made a grimace as she read this letter. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” she cried, “but how could I do that? I didn’t +find any notes, you know, and besides—it would be so +dreadful—acting as a decoy—” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s something more important than that,” Merriman burst +in indignantly. “Do you realize, Mr. Inspector, that if Miss Coburn were +to send that letter she would put herself in very real danger?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all,” Willis answered quietly. “You have not heard my +whole scheme. My idea is that when Beamish gets that letter he will lay it +before Archer, and they will decide that they must find out what Miss Coburn +knows, and get her quieted about the money. They will say: ‘We +didn’t think she was that kind, but it’s evident she is out for +what she can get. Let’s pay her a thousand or two a year as interest on +her father’s alleged share—it will be a drop in the bucket to us, +but it will seem a big thing to her—and that will give us a hold on her +keeping silence, if she really does know anything.’ Then Beamish will ask +Miss Coburn to meet him, probably in London. She will do so, not alone, but +with some near friend, perhaps yourself, Mr. Merriman, seeing you were at the +clearing and know something of the circumstances. You will be armed, and in +addition I shall have a couple of men from the Yard within call—say, +disguised as waiters, if a restaurant is chosen for the meeting. You, Miss +Coburn, will come out in a new light at that meeting. You will put up a bluff. +You will tell Captain Beamish you know he is smuggling brandy, and that the +money he offers won’t meet the case at all. You must have £25,000 down +paid as the value of your father’s share in the concern, and in such a +way as will raise no suspicion that you knew what was in progress. The +interview we can go into in detail later, but it must be so arranged that +Beamish will see Mr. Merriman’s hand in the whole thing. On the £25,000 +being paid the incriminating notes will be handed over. You will explain that +as a precautionary measure you have sent them in a sealed envelope to your +solicitor, together with a statement of the whole case, with instructions to +open the same that afternoon if not reclaimed before that by yourself in +person. Now with regard to your objection, Miss Coburn. I quite realize what an +exceedingly nasty job this will be for you. In ordinary circumstances I should +not suggest it. But the people against whom I ask you to act did not hesitate +to lure your father into the cab in which they intended to shoot him. They did +this by a show of friendliness, and by playing on the trust he reposed in them, +and they did it deliberately and in cold blood. You need not hesitate from nice +feeling to act as I suggest in order to get justice for your father’s +memory.” +</p> + +<p> +Madeleine braced herself up. +</p> + +<p> +“I know you are right, and if there is no other way I shall not +hesitate,” she said, but there was a piteous look in her eyes. “And +you will help me, Seymour?” She looked appealingly at her companion. +</p> + +<p> +Merriman demurred on the ground that, even after taking all Willis’s +precautions, the girl would still be in danger, but she would not consider that +aspect of the question at all, and at last he was overborne. Madeleine with her +companion’s help then rewrote the letter in her own phraseology, and +addressed it to Captain Beamish, c/o Messrs. The Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate, +Ferriby, Hull. Having arranged that he would receive immediate telephonic +information of a reply, Willis left the house and was driven back to Brighton. +Next morning he returned to London. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Girondin</i>, he reckoned, would reach Ferriby on the following Friday, +and on the Thursday he returned to Hull. He did not want to be seen with Hunt, +as he expected the latter’s business would by this time be too well +known. He therefore went to a different hotel, ringing up the Excise man and +arranging a meeting for that evening. +</p> + +<p> +Hunt turned up about nine, and the two men retired to Willis’s bedroom, +where the inspector described his doings at Bordeaux. Then Hunt told of his +discoveries since the other had left. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got all I want at last,” he said. “You remember +we both realized that those five houses were getting in vastly more brandy than +they could possibly sell? Well, I’ve found out how they are getting rid +of the surplus.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis looked his question. +</p> + +<p> +“They are selling it round to other houses. They have three men doing +nothing else. They go in and buy anything from a bottle up to three or four +kegs, and there is always a good reason for the purchase. Usually it is that +they represent a publican whose stock is just out, and who wants a quantity to +keep him going. But the point is that all the purchases are perfectly in order. +They are openly made and the full price is paid. But, following it up, I +discovered that there is afterwards a secret rebate. A small percentage of the +price is refunded. This pays everyone concerned and ensures secrecy.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s well managed all through,” he commented. “They +deserved to succeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but they’re not going to. All the same my discoveries +won’t help you. I’m satisfied that none of these people know +anything of the main conspiracy.” +</p> + +<p> +Early on the following morning Willis was once more at work. Dawn had not +completely come when he motored from the city to the end of the Ferriby lane. +Ten minutes after leaving his car he was in the ruined cottage. There he +unearthed his telephone from the box in which he had hidden it, and took up his +old position at the window, prepared to listen in to whatever messages might +pass. +</p> + +<p> +He had a longer vigil than on previous occasions, and it was not until nearly +four that he saw Archer lock the door of his office and move towards the +filing-room. Almost immediately came Benson’s voice calling: “Are +you there?” +</p> + +<p> +They conversed as before for a few minutes. The <i>Girondin</i>, it appeared, +had arrived some hours previously with a cargo of “1375.” It was +clear that the members of the syndicate had agreed never to mention the word +“gallons.” It was, Willis presumed, a likely enough precaution +against eavesdroppers, and he thought how much sooner both Hilliard and himself +would have guessed the real nature of the conspiracy, had it not been observed. +</p> + +<p> +Presently they came to the subject about which Willis was expecting to hear. +Beamish, the manager explained, was there and wished to speak to Archer. +</p> + +<p> +“That you, Archer?” came in what Willis believed he recognized as +the captain’s voice. “I’ve had rather a nasty jar, a letter +from Madeleine Coburn. Wants Coburn’s share in the affair, and hints at +knowledge of what we’re really up to. Reads as if she was put up to it by +someone, probably that —— Merriman. Hold on a minute and I’ll +read it to you.” Then followed Madeleine’s letter. +</p> + +<p> +Archer’s reply was short but lurid, and Willis, not withstanding the +seriousness of the matter, could not help smiling. +</p> + +<p> +There was a pause, and then Archer asked: +</p> + +<p> +“When did you get that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, when we got in; but Benson tells me the letter has been waiting for +me for three days.” +</p> + +<p> +“You might read it again.” +</p> + +<p> +Beamish did so, and presently Archer went on: +</p> + +<p> +“In my opinion, we needn’t be unduly alarmed. Of course she may +know something, but I fancy it’s what you say; that Merriman is getting +her to put up a bluff. But it’ll take thinking over. I have an +appointment presently, and in any case we couldn’t discuss it adequately +over the telephone. We must meet. Could you come up to my house tonight?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, if you think it wise?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s not wise, but I think we must risk it. You’re not known +here. But come alone; Benson shouldn’t attempt it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Right. What time?” +</p> + +<p> +“What about nine? I often work in the evenings, and I’m never +disturbed. Come round to my study window and I shall be there. Tap lightly. The +window is on the right-hand side of the house as you come up the drive, the +fourth from the corner. You can slip round to it in the shadow of the bushes, +and keep on the grass the whole time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Right. Nine o’clock, then.” +</p> + +<p> +The switch of the telephone clicked, and presently Willis saw Archer reappear +in his office. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector was disappointed. He had hoped that the conspirators would have +completed their plans over the telephone, and that he would have had nothing to +do but listen to what they arranged. Now he saw that if he were to gain the +information he required, it would mean a vast deal more trouble, and perhaps +danger as well. +</p> + +<p> +He felt that at all costs he must be present at the interview in Archer’s +study, but the more he thought about it, the more difficult the accomplishment +of this seemed. He was ignorant of the plan of the house, or what +hiding-places, if any, there might be in the study, nor could he think of any +scheme by which he could gain admittance. Further, there was but little time in +which to make inquiries or arrangements, as he could not leave his present +retreat until dark, or say six o’clock. He saw the problem would be one +of the most difficult he had ever faced. +</p> + +<p> +But the need for solving it was paramount, and when darkness had set in he let +himself out of the cottage and walked the mile or more to Archer’s +residence. It was a big square block of a house, approached by a short winding +drive, on each side of which was a border of rhododendrons. The porch was in +front, and the group of windows to the left of it were lighted up—the +dining-room, Willis imagined. He followed the directions given to Beamish and +moved round to the right, keeping well in the shadow of the shrubs. The third +and fourth windows from the corner on the right side were also lighted up, and +the inspector crept silently up and peeped over the sill. The blinds were drawn +down, but that on the third window was not quite pulled to the bottom, and +through the narrow slit remaining he could see into the room. +</p> + +<p> +It was empty, but evidently only for the time being, as a cheerful fire burned +in the grate. Furnished as a study, everything bore the impress of wealth and +culture. By looking from each end of the slot in turn, nearly all the floor +area and more than half of the walls became visible, and a glance showed the +inspector that nowhere in his purview was there anything behind which he might +conceal himself, supposing he could obtain admission. +</p> + +<p> +But could he obtain admission? He examined the sashes. They were of steel, +hinged and opening inwards in the French manner, and were fastened by a handle +which could not be turned from without. Had they been the ordinary English +sashes fastened with snibs he would have had the window open in a few seconds, +but with these he could do nothing. +</p> + +<p> +He moved round the house examining the other windows. All were fitted with the +same type of sash, and all were fastened. The front door also was shut, and +though he might have been able to open it with his bent wire, he felt that to +adventure himself into the hall without any idea of the interior would be too +dangerous. Here, as always, he was hampered by the fact that discovery would +mean the ruin of his case. +</p> + +<p> +Having completed the circuit of the building, he looked once more through the +study window. At once he saw that his opportunity was gone. At the large desk +sat Archer busily writing. +</p> + +<p> +Various expedients to obtain admission to the house passed through his brain, +all to be rejected as impracticable. Unless some unexpected incident occurred +of which he could take advantage, he began to fear he would be unable to +accomplish his plan. +</p> + +<p> +As by this time it was half past eight, he withdrew from the window and took up +his position behind a neighboring shrub. He did not wish to be seen by Beamish, +should the latter come early to the rendezvous. +</p> + +<p> +He had, however, to wait for more than half an hour before a dark form became +vaguely visible in the faint light which shone through the study blinds. It +approached the window, and a tap sounded on the glass. In a moment the blind +went up, the sash opened, the figure passed through, the sash closed softly, +and the blind was once more drawn down. In three seconds Willis was back at the +sill. +</p> + +<p> +The slot under the blind still remained, the other window having been opened. +Willis first examined the fastening of the latter in the hope of opening the +sash enough to hear what was said, but to his disappointment he found it +tightly closed. He had therefore to be content with observation through the +slot. +</p> + +<p> +He watched the two men sit down at either side of the fire, and light cigars. +Then Beamish handed the other a paper, presumably Madeleine’s letter. +Archer having read it twice, a discussion began. At first Archer seemed to be +making some statement, to judge by the other’s rapt attention and the +gestures of excitement or concern which he made. But no word of the +conversation reached the inspector’s ears. +</p> + +<p> +He watched for nearly two hours, getting gradually more and more cramped from +his stooping position, and chilled by the sharp autumn air. During all that +time the men talked earnestly, then, shortly after eleven, they got up and +approached the window. Willis retreated quickly behind his bush. +</p> + +<p> +The window opened softly and Beamish stepped out to the grass, the light +shining on his strong, rather lowering face. Archer leaned out of the window +after him, and Willis heard him say in low tones, “Then you’ll +speak up at eleven?” to which the other nodded and silently withdrew. The +window closed, the blind was lowered, and all remained silent. +</p> + +<p> +Willis waited for some minutes to let the captain get clear away, then leaving +his hiding-place and again keeping on the grass, he passed down the drive and +out on to the road. He was profoundly disappointed. He had failed in his +purpose, and the only ray of light in the immediate horizon was that last +remark of Archer’s. If it meant, as he presumed it did, that the men were +to communicate by the secret telephone at eleven in the morning, all might not +yet be lost. He might learn then what he had missed tonight. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed hardly worth while returning to Hull. He therefore went to the Raven +Bar in Ferriby, knocked up the landlord, and by paying four or five times the +proper amount, managed to get a meal and some food for the next day. Then he +returned to the deserted cottage, he let himself in, closed the door behind +him, and lying down on the floor with his head on his arm, fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning found him back at his post at the broken window, with the +telephone receiver at his ear. His surmise at the meaning of Archer’s +remark at the study window proved to be correct, for precisely at eleven he +heard the familiar: “Are you there?” which heralded a conversation. +Then Beamish’s voice went on: +</p> + +<p> +“I have talked this business over with Benson, and he makes a suggestion +which I think is an improvement on our plan. He thinks we should have our +general meeting in London immediately after I have interviewed Madeleine +Coburn. The advantage of this scheme would be that if we found she possessed +really serious knowledge, we could immediately consider our next move, and I +could, if necessary, see her again that night. Benson thinks I should fix up a +meeting with her at say 10.30 or 11, that I could then join you at lunch at +1.30, after which we could discuss my report, and I could see the girl again at +4 or 5 o’clock. It seems to me a sound scheme. What do you say?” +</p> + +<p> +“It has advantages,” Archer answered slowly. “If you both +think it best, I’m quite agreeable. Where then should the meetings be +held?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the case of Miss Coburn there would be no change in our last +night’s arrangement; a private sitting-room at the Gresham would still do +excellently. If you’re going to town you could fix up some place for our +own meeting—preferably close by.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, I’m going up on Tuesday in any case, and I’ll +arrange something. I shall let Benson know, and he can tell you and the others. +I think we should all go up by separate trains. I shall probably go by the 5.3 +from Hull on the evening before. Let’s see, when will you be in +again?” +</p> + +<p> +“Monday week about midday, I expect. Benson could go up that morning, +Bulla and I separately by the 4, and Fox, Henri, and Raymond, if he comes, by +the first train next morning. How would that do?” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, I think. The meetings then will be on Tuesday at 11 and 1.30, +Benson to give you the address of the second. We can arrange at the meeting +about returning to Hull.” +</p> + +<p> +“Righto,” Beamish answered shortly, and the conversation ended. +</p> + +<p> +Willis for once was greatly cheered by what he had overheard. His failure on +the previous evening was evidently not going to be so serious as he had feared. +He had in spite of it gained a knowledge of the conspirators’ plans, and +he chuckled with delight as he thought how excellently his ruse was working, +and how completely the gang were walking into the trap which he had prepared. +As far as he could see, he held all the trump cards of the situation, and if he +played his hand carefully he should undoubtedly get not only the men, but the +evidence to convict them. +</p> + +<p> +To learn the rendezvous for the meeting of the syndicate he would have to +follow Archer to town, and shadow him as he did his business. This was +Saturday, and the managing director had said he was going on the following +Tuesday. From that there would be a week until the meeting, which would give +more than time to make the necessary arrangements. +</p> + +<p> +Willis remained in the cottage until dark that evening, then, making his way to +Ferriby station, returned to Hull. His first action on reaching the city was to +send a letter to Madeleine, asking her to forward Beamish’s reply to him +at the Yard. +</p> + +<p> +On Monday he began his shadowing of Archer, lest the latter should go to town +that day. But the distiller made no move until the Tuesday, travelling up that +morning by the 6.15 from Hull. +</p> + +<p> +At 12.25 they reached King’s Cross. Archer leisurely left the train, and +crossing the platform, stepped into a taxi and was driven away. Willis, in a +second taxi, followed about fifty yards behind. The chase led westwards along +the Euston Road until, turning to the left down Gower Street, the leading +vehicle pulled up at the door of the Gresham Hotel in Bedford Square. +Willis’s taxi ran on past the other, and through the backlight the +inspector saw Archer alight and pass into the hotel. +</p> + +<p> +Stopping at a door in Bloomsbury Street, Willis sat watching. In about five +minutes Archer reappeared, and again entering his taxi, was driven off +southwards. Willis’s car slid once more in behind the other, and the +chase recommenced. They crossed Oxford Street, and passing down Charing Cross +Road stopped at a small foreign restaurant in a narrow lane off Cranbourne +Street. +</p> + +<p> +Willis’s taxi repeated its previous maneuver, and halted opposite a shop +from where the inspector could see the other vehicle through the backlight. He +thought he had all the information he needed, but there was the risk that +Archer might not find the room he required at the little restaurant and have to +try elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +This second call lasted longer than the first, and a quarter of an hour had +passed before the distiller emerged and reentered his taxi. This time the chase +was short. At the Trocadero Archer got out, dismissed his taxi, and passed into +the building. Willis, following discreetly, was in time to see the other seat +himself at a table and leisurely take up the bill of fare. Believing the quarry +would remain where he was for another half hour at least, the inspector slipped +unobserved out of the room, and jumping once more into his taxi, was driven +back to the little restaurant off Cranbourne Street. He sent for the manager +and drew him aside. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m Inspector Willis from Scotland Yard,” he said with a +sharpness strangely at variance with his usual easy-going mode of address. +“See here.” He showed his credentials, at which the manager bowed +obsequiously. “I am following that gentleman who was in here inquiring +about a room a few minutes ago. I want to know what passed between you.” +</p> + +<p> +The manager, who was a sly, evil-looking person seemingly of Eastern blood, +began to hedge, but Willis cut him short with scant ceremony. +</p> + +<p> +“Now look here, my friend,” he said brusquely, “I +haven’t time to waste with you. That man that you were talking to is +wanted for murder, and what you have to decide is whether you’re going to +act with the police or against them. If you give us any, trouble you may find +yourself in the dock as an accomplice after the fact. In any case it’s +not healthy for a man in your position to run up against the police.” +</p> + +<p> +His bluff had more effect that it might have had with an Englishman in similar +circumstances, and the manager became polite and anxious to assist. Yes, the +gentleman had come about a room. He had ordered lunch in a private room for a +party of seven for 1.30 on the following Tuesday. He had been very particular +about the room, had insisted on seeing it, and had approved of it. It appeared +the party had some business to discuss after lunch, and the gentleman had +required a guarantee that they would not be interrupted. The gentleman had +given his name as Mr. Hodgson. The price had been agreed on. +</p> + +<p> +Willis in his turn demanded to see the room, and he was led upstairs to a small +and rather dark chamber, containing a fair-sized oval table surrounded by red +plush chairs, a red plush sofa along one side, and a narrow sideboard along +another. The walls supported tawdry and dilapidated decorations, in which +beveled mirrors and faded gilding bore a prominent part. Two large but quite +worthless oil paintings hung above the fireplace and the sideboard +respectively, and the window was covered with gelatine paper simulating stained +glass. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis stood surveying the scene with a frown on his brow. How on +earth was he to secrete himself in this barely furnished apartment? There was +not room under the sofa, still less beneath the sideboard. Nor was there any +adjoining room or cupboard in which he could hide, his keen ear pressed to the +keyhole. It seemed to him that in this case he was doing nothing but coming up +against one insoluble problem after another. Ruefully he recalled the +conversation in Archer’s study, and he decided that, whatever it cost in +time and trouble, there must be no repetition of that fiasco. +</p> + +<p> +He stood silently pondering over the problem, the manager obsequiously bowing +and rubbing his hands. And then the idea for which he was hoping flashed into +his mind. He walked to the wall behind the sideboard and struck it sharply. It +rang hollow. +</p> + +<p> +“A partition?” he asked. “What is behind it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Anozzer room, sair. A private room, same as dees.” +</p> + +<p> +“Show it to me.” +</p> + +<p> +The “ozzer room” was smaller, but otherwise similar to that they +had just left. The doors of the two rooms were beside each other, leading on to +the same passage. +</p> + +<p> +“This will do,” Willis declared. “Now look here, Mr. Manager, +I wish to overhear the conversation of your customers, and I may or may not +wish to arrest them. You will show them up and give them lunch exactly as you +have arranged. Some officers from the Yard and myself will previously have +hidden ourselves in here. See?” +</p> + +<p> +The manager nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“In the meantime I shall send a carpenter and have a hole made in that +partition between the two rooms, a hole about two feet by one, behind the upper +part of that picture that hangs above the sideboard. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +The manager wrung his hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Ach!” he cried. “But <i>meine Zimmern!</i> Mine rooms, zey +veel pe deestroyed!” +</p> + +<p> +“Your rooms will be none the worse,” Willis declared. “I will +have the damage made good, and I shall pay you reasonably well for everything. +You’ll not lose if you act on the square, but if not—” he +stared aggressively in the other’s face—“if the slightest +hint of my plan reaches any of the men—well, it will be ten years at +least.” +</p> + +<p> +“It shall be done! All shall happen as you say!” +</p> + +<p> +“It had better,” Willis rejoined, and with a menacing look he +strode out of the restaurant. +</p> + +<p> +“The Gresham Hotel,” he called to his driver, as he reentered his +taxi. +</p> + +<p> +His manner to the manageress of the Bedford Square hotel was very different +from that displayed to the German. Introducing himself as an inspector from the +Yard, he inquired the purpose of Archer’s call. Without hesitation he was +informed. The distiller had engaged a private sitting-room for a business +interview which was to take place at eleven o’clock on the following +Tuesday between a Miss Coburn, a Mr. Merriman, and a Captain Beamish. +</p> + +<p> +“So far so good,” thought Willis exultingly, as he drove off. +“They’re walking into the trap! I shall have them all. I shall have +them in a week.” +</p> + +<p> +At the Yard he dismissed his taxi, and on reaching his room he found the letter +he was expecting from Madeleine. It contained that from Beamish, and the latter +read: +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“F<small>ERRIBY</small>, Y<small>ORKS</small>,<br /> +“<i>Saturday</i>. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“D<small>EAR</small> M<small>ISS</small> C<small>OBURN</small>,—I +have just received your letter of 25th inst., and I hasten to reply.<br /> + “I am deeply grieved to learn that you consider yourself badly +treated by the members of the syndicate, and I may say at once that I feel +positive that any obligations which they may have contracted will be +immediately and honorably discharged.<br /> + “It is, however, news to me that your late father was a partner, as I +always imagined that he held his position as I do my own, namely, as a salaried +official who also receives a bonus based on the profits of the concern.<br /> + “With regard to the notes you have found on the operations of the +syndicate, it is obvious that these must be capable of a simple explanation, as +there was nothing in the operations complicated or difficult to +understand.<br /> + “I shall be very pleased to fall in with your suggestion that we +should meet and discuss the points at issue, and I would suggest 11 a.m. on +Tuesday, 10th prox., at the Gresham Hotel in Bedford Square, if this would suit +you. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“With kind regards,<br /> +“Yours sincerely,<br /> +“W<small>ALTER</small> B<small>EAMISH</small>.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis smiled as he read this effusion. It was really quite well worded, and +left the door open for any action which the syndicate might decide on. +“Ah, well, my friend,” he thought grimly, “you’ll get a +little surprise on Tuesday. You’ll find Miss Coburn is not to be caught +as easily as you think. Just you wait and see.” +</p> + +<p> +For the next three or four days Willis busied himself in preparing for his +great coup. First he went down again to Eastbourne via Brighton, and coached +Madeleine and Merriman in the part they were to play in the coming interview. +Next he superintended the making of the hole through the wall dividing the two +private rooms at the Cranbourne Street restaurant, and drilled the party of men +who were to occupy the annex. To his unbounded satisfaction, he found that +every word uttered at the table in the larger room was audible next door to +anyone standing at the aperture. Then he detailed two picked men to wait within +call of the private room at the Gresham during the interview between Madeleine +and Beamish. Finally, all his preparations in London complete, he returned to +Hull, and set himself, by means of the secret telephone, to keep in touch with +the affairs of the syndicate. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"></a> +CHAPTER XX.<br /> +THE DOUBLE CROSS</h2> + +<p> +Inspector Willis spent the Saturday before the fateful Tuesday at the telephone +in the empty cottage. Nothing of interest passed over the wire, except that +Benson informed his chief that he had had a telegram from Beamish saying that, +in order to reach Ferriby at the prearranged hour, he was having to sail +without a full cargo of props, and that the two men went over again the various +trains by which they and their confederates would travel to London. Both items +pleased Willis, as it showed him that the plans originally made were being +adhered to. +</p> + +<p> +On Monday morning, as the critical hour of his coup approached, he became +restless and even nervous—so far, that is, as an inspector of the Yard on +duty can be nervous. So much depended on the results of the next day and a +half! His own fate hung in the balance as well as that of the men against whom +he had pitted himself; Miss Coburn and Merriman too would be profoundly +affected however the affair ended, while to his department, and even to the +nation at large, his success would not be without importance. +</p> + +<p> +He determined he would, if possible, see the various members of the gang start, +travelling himself in the train with Archer, as the leader and the man most +urgently “wanted.” Benson, he remembered, was to go first. Willis +therefore haunted the Paragon station, watching the trains leave, and he was +well satisfied when he saw Benson get on board the 9.10 a.m. By means of a word +of explanation and the passing of a couple of shillings, he induced an official +to examine the traveller’s ticket, which proved to be a third return to +King’s Cross. +</p> + +<p> +Beamish and Bulla were to travel by the 4 p.m., and Willis, carefully disguised +as a deep-sea fisherman, watched them arrive separately, take their tickets, +and enter the train. Beamish travelled first, and Bulla third, and again the +inspector had their tickets examined, and found they were for London. +</p> + +<p> +Archer was to leave at 5.3, and Willis intended as a precautionary measure to +travel up with him and keep him under observation. Still in his +fisherman’s disguise, he took his own ticket, got into the rear of the +train, and kept his eye on the platform until he saw Archer pass, suitcase and +rug in hand. Then cautiously looking out, he watched the other get into the +through coach for King’s Cross. +</p> + +<p> +As the train ran past the depot at Ferriby, Willis observed that the +<i>Girondin</i> was not discharging pit-props, but instead was loading casks of +some kind. He had noted on the previous Friday, when he had been in the +neighborhood, that some wagons of these casks had been shunted inside the +enclosure, and were being unloaded by the syndicate’s men. The casks +looked like those in which the crude oil for the ship’s Diesel engines +arrived, and the fact that she was loading them unemptied—he presumed +them unemptied—seemed to indicate that the pumping plant on the wharf was +out of order. +</p> + +<p> +The 5.3 p.m. ran, with a stop at Goole, to Doncaster, where the through +carriage was shunted on to one of the great expresses from the north. More from +force of habit than otherwise, Willis put his head out of the window at Goole +to watch if anyone should leave Archer’s carriage. But no one did. +</p> + +<p> +At Doncaster Willis received something of a shock. As his train drew into the +station another was just coming out, and he idly ran his eye along the line of +coaches. A figure in the corner of a third-class compartment attracted his +attention. It seemed vaguely familiar, but it was already out of sight before +the inspector realized that it was a likeness to Benson that had struck him. He +had not seen the man’s face and at once dismissed the matter from his +mind with the careless thought that everyone has his double. A moment later +they pulled up at the platform. +</p> + +<p> +Here again he put out his head, and it was not long before he saw Archer alight +and, evidently leaving his suitcase and rug to keep his seat, move slowly down +the platform. There was nothing remarkable in this, as no less than seventeen +minutes elapsed between the arrival of the train from Hull and the departure of +that from London, and through passengers frequently left their carriage while +it was being shunted. At the same time Willis unostentatiously followed, and +presently saw Archer vanish into the first-class refreshment room. He took up a +position where he had a good view of the door, and waited for the other’s +reappearance. +</p> + +<p> +But the distiller was in no hurry. Ten minutes elapsed, and still he made no +sign. The express from the north thundered in, the engine hooked off, and +shunting began. The train was due out at 6.22, and now the hands of the great +clock pointed to 6.19. Willis began to be perturbed. Had he missed his quarry? +</p> + +<p> +At 6.20 he could stand it no longer, and at risk of meeting Archer, should the +latter at that moment decide to leave the refreshment room, he pushed open the +door and glanced in. And then he breathed freely again. Archer was sitting at a +table sipping what looked like a whisky and soda. As Willis looked he saw him +glance up at the clock—now pointing to 6.21—and calmly settle +himself more comfortably in his chair! +</p> + +<p> +Why, the man would miss the train! Willis, with a sudden feeling of +disappointment, had an impulse to run over and remind him of the hour at which +it left. But he controlled himself in time, slipped back to his post of +observation, and took up his watch. In a few seconds the train whistled, and +pulled majestically out of the station. +</p> + +<p> +For fifteen minutes Willis waited, and then he saw the distiller leave the +refreshment room and walk slowly down the platform. As Willis followed, it was +clear to him that the other had deliberately allowed his train to start without +him, though what his motive had been the inspector could not imagine. He now +approached the booking-office and apparently bought a ticket, afterwards +turning back down the platform. +</p> + +<p> +Willis slipped into a doorway until he had passed, then hurrying to the +booking-window, explained who he was and asked to what station the last comer +had booked. He was told “Selby,” and he retreated, exasperated and +puzzled beyond words. What <i>could</i> Archer be up to? +</p> + +<p> +He bought a time-table and began to study the possibilities. First he made +himself clear as to the lie of the land. The main line of the great East Coast +route from London to Scotland ran almost due north and south through Doncaster. +Eighteen miles to the north was Selby, the next important station. At Selby a +line running east and west crossed the other, leading in one direction to Leeds +and the west, in the other to Hull. +</p> + +<p> +About half-way between Selby and Hull, at a place called Staddlethorpe, a line +branched off and ran south-westerly through Goole to Doncaster. Selby, +Staddlethorpe, and Doncaster therefore formed a railway triangle, one of the +sides of which, produced, led to Hull. From this it followed, as indeed the +inspector had known, that passengers to and from Hull had two points of +connection with the main line, either direct to Selby, or through Goole to +Doncaster. +</p> + +<p> +He began to study the trains. The first northwards was the 4 p.m. dining-car +express from King’s Cross to Newcastle. It left Doncaster at 7.56 and +reached Selby at 8.21. Would Archer travel by it? And if he did, what would be +his next move? +</p> + +<p> +For nearly an hour Willis sat huddled up in the corner of a seat, his eye on +Archer in the distance, and his mind wrestling with the problem. For nearly an +hour he racked his brains without result, then suddenly a devastating idea +flashed before his consciousness, leaving him rigid with dismay. For a moment +his mind refused to accept so disastrous a possibility, but as he continued to +think over it he found that one puzzling and unrelated fact after another took +on a different complexion from that it had formerly borne; that, moreover, it +dropped into place and became part of a connected whole. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/fig03.jpg" width="468" height="500" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<p> +He saw now why Archer could not discuss Madeleine’s letter over the +telephone, but was able to arrange in that way for the interview with Beamish. +He understood why Archer, standing at his study window, had mentioned the call +at eleven next morning. He realized that Benson’s amendment was probably +arranged by Archer on the previous evening. He saw why the <i>Girondin</i> had +left the Lesque without her full cargo, and why she was loading barrels at +Ferriby. He knew who it was he had seen passing in the other train as his own +reached Doncaster, and he grasped the reason for Archer’s visit to Selby. +In a word, he saw he had been hoaxed—fooled—carefully, +systematically, and at every point. While he had been congratulating himself on +the completeness with which the conspirators had been walking into his net, he +had in reality been caught in theirs. He had been like a child in their hands. +They had evidently been watching and countering his every step. +</p> + +<p> +He saw now that his tapping of the secret telephone must have been discovered, +and that his enemies had used their discovery to mislead him. They must have +recognized that Madeleine’s letter was inspired by himself, and read his +motives in making her send it. They had then used the telephone to make him +believe they were falling into his trap, while their real plans were settled in +Archer’s study. +</p> + +<p> +What those plans were he believed he now understood. There would be no meetings +in London on the following day. The meetings were designed to bring him, +Willis, to the Metropolis and keep him there. By tomorrow the gang, convinced +that discovery was imminent, would be aboard the <i>Girondin</i> and on the +high seas. They were, as he expressed it to himself, “doing a +bunk.” +</p> + +<p> +Therefore of necessity the <i>Girondin</i> would load barrelled oil to drive +her to some country where Scotland Yard detectives did not flourish, and where +extradition laws were of no account. Therefore she must return light, or, he +suspected, empty, as there would be no time to unload. Moreover, a reason for +this “lightness” must be given him, lest he should notice the ship +sitting high out of the water, and suspect. And he now knew that it was really +Benson that he had seen returning to Ferriby via Goole, and that Archer was +doing the same via Selby. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up the trains from Selby to Ferriby. There was only one. It left +Selby at 9.19, fifty-eight minutes after the Doncaster train arrived there, and +reached Ferriby at 10.7. It was now getting on towards eight. He had nearly two +and a half hours to make his plans. +</p> + +<p> +Though Willis was a little slow in thought he was prompt in action. Feeling +sure that Archer would indeed travel by the 7.56 to Selby, he relaxed his watch +and went to the telephone call office. There he rang up the police station at +Selby, asking for a plain-clothes man and two constables to meet him at the +train to make an arrest. Also he asked for a fast car to be engaged to take him +immediately to Ferriby. He then called up the police in Hull, and had a long +talk with the superintendent. Finally it was arranged that a sergeant and +twelve men were to meet him on the shore at the back of the signal cabin near +the Ferriby depot, with a boat and a grappling ladder for getting aboard the +<i>Girondin</i>. This done, Willis hurried back to the platform, reaching it +just as the 7.56 came in. He watched Archer get on board, and then himself +entered another compartment. +</p> + +<p> +At Selby the quarry alighted, and passed along the platform towards the +booking-office. Willis’s police training instantly revealed to him the +plain-clothes man, and him he instructed to follow Archer and learn to what +station he booked. In a few moments the man returned to say it was Ferriby. +Then calling up the two constables, the four officers followed the distiller +into the first-class waiting room, where he had taken cover. Willis walked up +to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Archibald Charles Archer,” he said impressively, “I am +Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard. I have a warrant for your arrest on a charge +of murdering Francis Coburn in a cab in London on September 12 last. I have to +warn you that anything you say may be used in evidence.” +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the distiller seemed so overwhelmed with surprise as to be +incapable of movement, and before he could pull himself together there was a +click, and handcuffs gleamed on his wrists. Then his eyes blazed, and with the +inarticulate roar of a wild beast he flung himself wildly on Willis, and, +manacled as he was, attempted to seize his throat. But the struggle was brief. +In a moment the three other men had torn him off, and he stood glaring at his +adversary, and uttering savage curses. +</p> + +<p> +“You look after him, sergeant,” Willis directed a little +breathlessly, as he tried to straighten the remnants of his tie. “I must +go on to Ferriby.” +</p> + +<p> +A powerful car was waiting outside the station, and Willis, jumping in, offered +the driver an extra pound if he was at Ferriby within fifty minutes. He +reckoned the distance was about twenty-five miles, and he thought he should +maintain at average of thirty miles an hour. +</p> + +<p> +The night was intensely dark as the big vehicle swung out of Selby, eastward +bound. A slight wind blew in from the east, bearing a damp, searching cold, +more trying than frost. Willis, who had left his coat in the London train, +shivered as he drew the one rug the vehicle contained up round his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +The road to Howden was broad and smooth, and the car made fine going. But at +Howden the main road turned north, and speed on the comparatively inferior +cross roads to Ferriby had to be reduced. But Willis was not dissatisfied with +their progress when at 9.38, fifty-four minutes after leaving Selby, they +pulled up in the Ferriby lane, not far from the distillery and opposite the +railway signal cabin. +</p> + +<p> +Having arranged with the driver to run up to the main road, wait there until he +heard four blasts on the <i>Girondin’s</i> horn, and then make for the +syndicate’s depot, the inspector dismounted, and forcing his way through +the railway fence, crossed the rails and descended the low embankment on the +river side. A moment later, just as he reached the shore, the form of a man +loomed up dimly through the darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is there?” asked Willis softly. +</p> + +<p> +“Constable Jones, sir,” the figure answered. “Is that +Inspector Willis? Sergeant Hobbs is here with the boats.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis followed the other for fifty yards along the beach, until they came on +two boats, each containing half a dozen policemen. It was still very dark; and +the wind blew cold and raw. The silence was broken only by the lapping of the +waves on the shingle. Willis felt that the night was ideal for his purpose. +There was enough noise from wind and water to muffle any sounds that the men +might make in getting aboard the <i>Girondin</i>, but not enough to prevent him +overhearing any conversation which might be in progress. +</p> + +<p> +“We have just got here this minute, sir,” the sergeant said. +“I hope we haven’t kept you waiting.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just arrived myself,” Willis returned. “You have twelve +picked men?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Armed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. I need not remind you all not to fire except as a last resort. +What arrangements have you made for boarding?” +</p> + +<p> +“We have a ladder with hooks at the top for catching on the +taffrail.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your oars muffled?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Now listen, and see that you are clear about what you are to +do. When we reach the ship get your ladder into position, and I’ll go up. +You and the men follow. Keep beside me, sergeant. We’ll overhear what we +can. When I give the signal, rush in and arrest the whole gang. Do you +follow?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let us get under way.” +</p> + +<p> +They pushed off, passing like phantoms over the dark water. The ship carried a +riding light, to which they steered. She was lying, Willis knew, bow upstream. +The tide was flowing, and when they were close by they ceased rowing and +drifted down on to her stern. There the leading boat dropped in beneath her +counter, and the bowman made the painter fast to her rudder post. The second +boat’s painter was attached to the stern of the first, and the current +swung both alongside. The men, fending off, allowed their craft to come into +place without sound. The ladder was raised and hooked on, and Willis, climbing +up, stealthily raised his head above the taffrail. +</p> + +<p> +The port side of the ship was, as on previous occasions, in complete darkness, +and Willis jerked the ladder as a signal to the others to follow him. In a few +seconds the fourteen men stood like shadows on the lower deck. Then Willis, +tiptoeing forward, began to climb the ladder to the bridge deck, just as +Hilliard had done some four months earlier. As on that occasion, the starboard +side of the ship, next the wharf, was dimly lighted up. A light also showed in +the window of the captain’s cabin, from which issued the sound of voices. +</p> + +<p> +Willis posted his men in two groups at either end of the cabin, so that at a +given signal they could rush round in opposite directions and reach the door. +Then he and the sergeant crept forward and put their ears to the window. +</p> + +<p> +This time, though the glass was hooked back as before, the curtain was pulled +fully across the opening, so that the men could see nothing and only partially +hear what was said. Willis therefore reached in and very gradually pulled it a +little aside. Fortunately no one noticed the movement, and the talk continued +uninterruptedly. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector could now see in. Five men were squeezed round the tiny table. +Beamish and Bulla sat along one side, directly facing him. At the end was Fox. +The remaining two had their backs to the window, and were, the inspector +believed, Raymond and Henri. Before each man was a long tumbler of whisky and +soda, and a box of cigars lay on the table. All seemed nervous and excited, +indeed as if under an intolerable strain, and kept fidgeting and looking at +their watches. Conversation was evidently maintained with an effort, as a thing +necessary to keep them from a complete breakdown. Raymond was speaking: +</p> + +<p> +“And you saw him come out?” he was asking. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” Fox answered. “He came out sort of stealthy and looked +around. I didn’t know who it was then, but I knew no one had any business +in the cottage at that hour, so I followed him to Ferriby station. I saw his +face by the lamps there.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you knew him?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but I recognized him as having been around with that Excise +inspector, and I guessed he was on to something.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Oui, oui</i>. Yes?” the Frenchman interrogated. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, naturally I told the chief. He knew who it was.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Bien!</i> There is not—how do you say?—flies on Archer, +<i>n’est-ce pas?</i> And then?” +</p> + +<p> +“The chief guessed who it was from the captain’s +description.” +</p> + +<p> +Fox nodded his head at Beamish. “You met him, eh, captain?” +</p> + +<p> +“He stood me a drink,” the big man answered, “but what he did +it for I don’t know.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how did he get wise to the telephone?” Bulla rumbled. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t find out,” Fox replied, “but it showed he was +wise to the whole affair. Then there was that letter from Miss Coburn. That +gave the show away, because there could have been no papers like she said, and +she couldn’t have discovered anything then that she hadn’t known at +the clearing. Archer put Morton on to it, and he found that this Willis went +down to Eastbourne one night about two days before the letter came. So that was +that. Then he had me watch for him going to the telephone, and he has fooled +him about proper. I guess he’s in London now, arranging to arrest us all +tomorrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Bulla chuckled fatly. +</p> + +<p> +“As you say,” he nodded at Raymond, “there ain’t no +flies on Archer, what?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve always thought a lot of Archer,” Beamish remarked, +“but I never thought so much of him as that night we drew lots for who +should put Coburn out of the way. When he drew the long taper he never as much +as turned a hair. That’s the last time we had a full meeting, and we +never reckoned that this would be the next.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment a train passed going towards Hull. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s his train,” Fox cried. “He should be here +soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“How long does it take to get from the station?” Raymond inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“About fifteen minutes,” Captain Beamish answered. +“We’re time enough making a move.” +</p> + +<p> +The men showed more and more nervousness, but the talk dragged on for some +quarter of an hour. Suddenly from the wharf sounded the approaching footsteps +of a running man. He crossed the gangway and raced up the ladder to the +captain’s cabin. The others sprang to their feet as the door opened and +Benson appeared. +</p> + +<p> +“He hasn’t come!” he cried excitedly. “I watched at the +station and he didn’t get out!” +</p> + +<p> +Consternation showed on every face, and Beamish swore bitterly. There was a +variety of comments and conjectures. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s no other train?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only the express. It doesn’t stop here, but it stops at Hassle on +notice to the guard.” +</p> + +<p> +“He may have missed the connection at Selby,” Fox suggested. +“In that case he would motor.” +</p> + +<p> +Beamish spoke authoritatively. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish, Benson, you would go and ring up the Central and see if there +has been any message.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis whispered to the sergeant, who, beckoning to two of his men, crept +hurriedly down the port ladder to the lower deck. In a moment Benson followed +down the starboard or lighted side. Willis listened breathlessly above, heard +what he was expecting—a sudden scuffle, a muffled cry, a faint click, and +then silence. He peeped through the porthole. Fox was expounding his theory +about the railway connections, and none of those within had heard the sounds. +Presently the sergeant returned with his men. +</p> + +<p> +“Trussed him up to the davit pole,” he breathed in the +inspector’s ear. “<i>He</i> won’t give no trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis nodded contentedly. That was one out of the way out of six, and he had +fourteen on his side. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the men in the cabin continued anxiously discussing their +leader’s absence, until after a few minutes Beamish swore irritably. +</p> + +<p> +“Curse that fool Benson,” he growled. “What the blazes is +keeping him all this time? I had better go and hurry him up. If they’ve +got hold of Archer, it’s time we were out of this.” +</p> + +<p> +Willis’s hand closed on the sergeant’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Same thing again, but with three men,” he whispered. +</p> + +<p> +The four had hardly disappeared down the port ladder when Beamish left his +cabin and began to descend the starboard. Willis felt that the crisis was upon +him. He whispered to the remaining constables, who closed in round the cabin +door, then grasped his revolver, and stood tense. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly a wild commotion arose on the lower deck. There was a warning shout +from Beamish, instantly muffled, a tramp of feet, a pistol shot, and sounds of +a violent struggle. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment there was silence in the cabin, the men gazing at each other with +consternation on their faces. Then Bulla yelled: “Copped, by heck!” +and with an agility hardly credible in a man of his years, whipped out a +revolver, and sprang out of the cabin. Instantly he was seized by three +constables, and the four went swinging and lurching across the deck, Bulla +fighting desperately to turn his weapon on his assailants. At the same moment +Willis leaped to the door, and with his automatic levelled, shouted, +“Hands up, all of you! You are covered from every quarter!” +</p> + +<p> +Henri and Fox, who were next the door, obeyed as if in a stupor, but +Raymond’s hand flew out, and a bullet whistled past the inspector’s +head. Instantly Willis fired, and with a scream the Frenchman staggered back. +</p> + +<p> +It was the work of a few seconds for the remaining constables to dash in under +the inspector’s pistol and handcuff the two men in the cabin, and Willis +then turned to see how the contests on deck were faring. But these also were +over. Both Beamish and Bulla, borne down by the weight of numbers, had been +secured. +</p> + +<p> +The inspector next turned to examine Raymond. His shot had been well aimed. The +bullet had entered the base of the man’s right thumb, and passed out +through his wrist. His life was not in danger, but it would be many a long day +before he would again fire a revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Four blasts on the <i>Girondin’s</i> horn recalled Willis’s car, +and when, some three hours later, the last batch of prisoners was safely lodged +in the Hull police station, Willis began to feel that the end of his labors was +at last coming in sight. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The arrests supplied the inspector with fresh material on which to work. As a +result of his careful investigation of the movements of the prisoners during +the previous three years, the entire history of the Pit-Prop Syndicate was +unravelled, as well as the details of Coburn’s murder. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that the original idea of the fraud was Raymond’s. He looked +round for a likely English partner, selected Archer, broached the subject to +him, and found him willing to go in. Soon, from his dominating personality, +Archer became the leader. Details were worked out, and the necessary +confederates carefully chosen. Beamish and Bulla went in as partners, the four +being bound together by their joint liability. The other three members were +tools over whom the quartet had obtained some hold. In Coburn’s case, +Archer learned of the defalcations in time to make the erring cashier his +victim. He met the deficit in return for a signed confession of guilt and an I +O U for a sum that would have enabled the distiller to sell the other up, and +ruin his home and his future. +</p> + +<p> +An incompletely erased address in a pocket diary belonging to Beamish led +Willis to a small shop on the south side of London, where he discovered an +assistant who had sold a square of black serge to two men, about the time of +Coburn’s murder. The salesman remembered the transaction because his +customers had been unable to describe what they wanted otherwise than by the +word “cloth,” which was not the technical name for any of his +commodities. The fabric found in the cab was identical to that on the roll this +man stated he had used; moreover, he identified Beamish and Bulla as the +purchasers. +</p> + +<p> +Willis had a routine search made of the restaurants of Soho, and at last found +that in which the conspirators had held their meetings previous to the murder. +There had been two. At the first, so Willis learned from the description given +by the proprietor, Coburn had been present, but not at the second. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of all his efforts he was unable to find the shop at which the pistol +had been bought, but he suspected the transaction had been carried out by one +of the other members of the gang, in order as far as possible to share the +responsibility for the crime. +</p> + +<p> +On the <i>Girondin</i> was found the false bulkhead in Bulla’s cabin, +behind which was placed the hidden brandy tank. The connection for the shore +pipe was concealed behind the back of the engineer’s wash-hand basin, +which moved forward by means of a secret spring. +</p> + +<p> +On the <i>Girondin</i> was also found something over £700,000, mostly in +Brazilian notes, and Benson admitted later that the plan had been to scuttle +the <i>Girondin</i> off the coast of Bahia, take to the boats and row ashore at +night, remaining in Brazil at least till the hue and cry had died down. But +instead all seven men received heavy sentences. Archer paid for his crimes with +his life, the others got terms of from ten to fifteen years each. The managers +of the licensed houses in Hull were believed to have been in ignorance of the +larger fraud, and to have dealt privately and individually with Archer, and +they and their accomplices escaped with lighter penalties. +</p> + +<p> +The mysterious Morton proved to be a private detective, employed by Archer. He +swore positively that he had no knowledge of the real nature of the +syndicate’s operations, and though the judge’s strictures on his +conduct were severe, no evidence could be found against him, and he was not +brought to trial. +</p> + +<p> +Inspector Willis got his desired promotion out of the case, and there was +someone else who got more. About a month after the trial, in the Holy Trinity +Church, Eastbourne, a wedding was solemnized—Seymour Merriman and +Madeleine Coburn were united in the holy bonds of matrimony. And Hilliard, +assisting as best man, could not refrain from whispering in his friend’s +ear as they turned to leave the vestry, “Three cheers for the Pit-Prop +Syndicate!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIT-PROP SYNDICATE ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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