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The Pit Prop Syndicate

by Freeman Wills Croft

December, 1999  [Etext #2013]


The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Pit Prop Syndicate, by Croft
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The Pit Prop Syndicate

by Freeman Wills Croft




CONTENTS




PART ONE THE AMATEURS

1.   The Sawmill on the Lesque
2.   An Interesting Suggestion
3.   The Start of the Cruise
4.   A Commercial Proposition
5.   The Visit of the Girondin
6.   A Change of Venue
7.   The Ferriby Depot
8.   The Unloading of the Girondin
9.   The Second Cargo
10.  Merriman Becomes Desperate 
11.  An Unexpected Ally


PART TWO THE PROFESSIONALS

12.  Murder!
13.  A Promising Clue
14.  A Mystifying Discovery
15.  Inspector Willis Listens In
16.  The Secret of the Syndicate
17.  "Archer Plants Stuff"
18.  The Bordeaux Lorries
19.  Willis Spreads His Net
20.  The Double Cross






CHAPTER I

THE SAWMILL ON THE LESQUE

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.

"This confounded road has no end," he thought.  "I really must
stretch my legs a bit."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

"Curse it all," he muttered, "that's the second time that confounded
nut has left me in the soup."

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.

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.

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.

"Funny I didn't see that road," thought Merriman as he bumped along.

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.

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.

Merriman strode on, and suddenly, as he rounded one of the bends,
he got the surprise of his life.

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.

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.

As they drew abreast Merriman pulled off his cap.

"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.

She looked him over with a sharp, scrutinizing glance.  Apparently
satisfied, she smiled slightly and replied: .

"But certainly, monsieur.  Come to the mill and my father will get
you some.  He is the manager."

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.

"But you're English!" he cried in surprise.

She laughed lightly.

"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."

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. . . .

"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."

"Then you are a newcomer?"

"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."

She had turned with him, and they were now walking together between
the tall, straight stems of the trees.

"I'm a Londoner," said Merriman slowly.  "I wonder if we have any
mutual acquaintances?"

"It's hardly likely.  Since my mother died some years ago we have
lived very quietly, and gone out very little."

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.

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.

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.

"A sawmill!" Merriman exclaimed rather unnecessarily.

"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.

"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?"

"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."

"By Jove!" Merriman said again.  "Splendid!  And is that where you
live?"

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.

The girl nodded.

"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."

"I can imagine.  I wish we had 'em in London."

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."

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

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.

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.

"Oh, there is father," she cried, with barely disguised relief in
her tones.  "Come, won't you, and speak to him."

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.

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.

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.

His daughter greeted him, still with some perturbation in her manner.

"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."

The newcomer honored Merriman with a rapid though searching and
suspicious glance, but he replied politely, and in a cultured voice:

"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?"

"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."

"I'll give you two liters.  It's no trouble at all."  He turned
and spoke in rapid French to the driver.

"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.

"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:

"And so, sir, you're English?  It is not often that we have the
pleasure of meeting a fellow-countryman in these wilds."

"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."

"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?"

Merriman shook his head.

"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."

"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?"

"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."

"Yes, I think we are going to make it pay very well.  I suppose
you're not making a long stay?"

"Two days in Bordeaux, sir, then I'm off east to Aviguon."

"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?"

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.

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.

"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?"

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.

"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."

"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."

"I hope so," Miss Coburn rejoined, and quietly but decisively
changed the subject.

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 hall-hour
later was mounting the steps of his hotel in Bordeaux.

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.

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

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.



CHAPTER 2

AN INTERESTING SUGGESTION

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

"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."

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.

"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.

"And what happened?" asked Drake, another of the men, when he had
finished.

"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?"

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.

"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?"

"How do you mean?"

"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?"

Merriman joined in the laughter against him.

"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."

"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."

"Oh, stow it, Jelfs," said Hilliard, a thin-faced, eager-looking
young man who had not yet spoken.  "Have you no theory yourself,
Merriman?"

"None.  I was completely puzzled.  I would have mentioned it before,
only it seemed to be making a mountain out of nothing."

"I think Jelfs' question should be answered, you know," Drake said
critically, and after some more good-natured chaff the subject
dropped.

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.

"Are you walking?" the latter queried.  "If so I'll come along."

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.

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.

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.

"Come in for a last drink, won't you?" he invited.  "It's ages since
you've been here."

Merriman agreed, and soon the two friends were seated at another
open window in the small but comfortable sitting-room of the flat.

They chatted for some time, and then Hilliard turned the conversation
to the story Merriman had told in the club.

"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?"

Merriman laughed.

"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."

Hilliard nodded.

"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?"

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.

"Sorry I spoke, old man," Hilliard went on.  "Don't mind answering."

Merriman came to a decision.

"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."

Hilliard's eyes glistened.

"Quite a good little mystery," he said.  "I suppose the man couldn't
have been a relation, or even her fiancee?"

"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."

"And she did not account for it?"

"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."

There was silence for a moment, and then Merriman continued:

"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."

"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."

"Quite.  That's just what I thought.  But again, I may have been
mistaken."

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.

Three days later he had a note from Hilliard.

"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."

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.

"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."

Hilliard moved nervously, as if he found a difficulty in replying.
Merriman could see that he was excited, and his own interest
quickened.

"It's about that tale of yours," Hilliard said at length.  "I've
been thinking it over."

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.

"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."

His indecision had passed now, and he went on fluently and with a
certain excitement.

"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?"

Hilliard looked inquiringly at his friend.  The latter sat listening
carefully, but did not speak, and Hilliard answered his own question.

"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?"

"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."

"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?"

"Not at the moment.  But I don't see what that has to do with it."

"Quite possibly nothing, and yet it's an INTERESTING point."

"Don't see it."

"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?"

It was becoming evident that Hilliard was talking of something quite
definite, and Merriman's interest increased still further.

"I daresay I'm a frightful ass," he said, "but I'm blessed if I
know what you're driving at."

"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, a priori, it should be cheaper
to bring props from Norway than from France.  Do you follow me so
far?"

Merriman nodded.

"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?"

"Methods more up to date perhaps.  Things looked efficient, and
that manager seemed pretty wide-awake."

Hilliard shook his head.

"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."

Merriman was puzzled.

"But it must pay or they wouldn't go on with it.  Mr. Coburn said
it was paying well enough."

Hilliard bent forward eagerly.

"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?"

"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."

"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?"

Merriman gasped.

"By Jove, Hilliard!  You mean smuggling?"

Hilliard laughed delightedly.

"Of course I mean smuggling, what else?"

He waited for the idea to sink into his companion's brain, and then
went on:

"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?"

"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."

Hilliard eyed his friend narrowly and with some surprise, but he
only said:

"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."

"I don't believe there's anything in it."

"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."

Merriman's momentary annoyance was subsiding.

"Let's hear it anyway, old man," he said in conciliatory tones.

"You get your holidays shortly, don't you?"

"Monday week.  My partner is away now, but he'll be back on
Wednesday.  I go next."

"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?"

"Sounds jolly fascinating." Merriman had quite recovered his good
humor.  "But I'm not a yachtsman.  I know nothing about the
business."

"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?"

"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."

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 . . . 

Hilliard's voice broke in on his thoughts, and he realized his
friend had been speaking for some time.

"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."

"What size is she?" asked Merriman.

"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."

"But do you mean to tell me you would cross the Bay of Biscay in a
boat that size?"

"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."

"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?"

Hilliard nodded.

"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?"

"A1, Hilliard.  Nothing could be better."

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.




CHAPTER 3

THE START OF THE CRUISE

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.

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.

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 were true there was the
chance of his making some coup 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.

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. . . .

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.

"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.

Hilliard was waiting at the platform barrier.

"Hallo, old man," he cried.  "Jolly to see you.  Give me one of
your handbags.  I've got a taxi outside."

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.

"Some river, this," Merriman said, looking up and down the great
sweep of water.

"Rather.  I have the Swallow '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."

"Right-o," Merriman agreed.

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.

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.

"There she is," Hilliard cried, with a ring of pride in his voice.
"Isn't she a beauty?"

The Swallow 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.

"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."

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.

But, realizing it was expected of him, he began praising the boat,
until the unsuspecting Hilliard believed him as enthusiastic as
himself.

"Yes, she's all of that," he agreed.  "Come aboard and see the
cabin."

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.  

"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.

"Come below now," went on the proud owner, disappearing down a
steep flight of steps against one wall of the house.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"What is it?" he asked during a pause in the conversation.

"What is what?" returned Hilliard, looking uncomprehendingly at his
friend.

"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?"

"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."

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.

"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 fight 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."

Hilliard paused, while Merriman congratulated him on his journey.

"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."

"I told you there could be nothing really wrong," Merriman
interjected.

"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."

Hilliard paused and drew at his cigar.  Merriman did not speak.
He was leaning forward, his face showing the interest he felt.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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?"

"Change the number plate?" suggested Merriman with a smile.

"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 ln and out of a holder.
Then he hopped up into his place again and started off.  What do you
think of that?"

"Goodness only knows," Merriman returned slowly.  "An extraordinary
business."

"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!"

"Lord!" said Merriman tersely, now almost as much interested as his
friend.

"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?"

Merriman nodded and Hilliard resumed.

"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."

There was silence for some minutes after Hilliard ceased speaking,
then Merriman asked:

"How long did you say those lorries were away unloading?"

"About four hours."

"That would have given them time to unload in Bordeaux?"

"Yes; an hour and a half, the same out, and an hour in the city.
Yes, that part of it is evidently right enough."

Again silence reigned, and again Merriman broke it with a question.

"You have no theory yourself?"

"Absolutely none."

"Do you think that driver mightn't have some private game of his
own on - be somehow doing the syndicate?"

"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."

Merriman nodded.

"That's right," he agreed, continuing slowly: "Supposing for a
moment it was smuggling.  How would that help you to explain this
affair?"

"It wouldn't.  I can get no light anywhere."

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.

"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."

Hilliard nodded swiftly.

"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."

"I don't know that I do specially."

"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?"

"That may be all right for you, but I can't see that the affair is
any business of mine."

"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."

Merriman sat up sharply.

"In Heaven's name, what do you mean, Hilliard?" he cried fiercely.
"What possible danger could she be in?"

"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."

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.

"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."

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?"

Merriman nodded.

"What's the program then?" he asked.

"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?"

"Five?  No, I don't mind if we start now."

"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 Swallow and
turning in?"

They left the Jardin, and, sauntering slowly through the well-lighted
streets, reached the launch and went on board.



CHAPTER 4

A COMMERCIAL PROPOSITION

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 f0rwards 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.

"Good!" cried the latter cheerily.  "You're awake?  Quarter to five
and a fine day."

"Couldn't be," Merriman returned, stretching himself luxuriously.
"I heard it strike two not ten seconds ago."

Hilliard laughed.

"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."

Merriman got up and peeped out of the porthole above his locker.

"I suppose you tub over the side?" he inquired.  "Lord, what
sunlight!"

"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."

"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."

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.

"Lend a hand to cast off, like a stout fellow."

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.

"Going to be hot," Hilliard remarked.  "The bow first, if you don't
mind."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

"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."

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.

"We'll go round that next bend," he decided, "and look for a place
to anchor."

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.

"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."

"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.

"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."

Merriman took his cigar from his lips and sat up on the locker.

"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."

Hilliard sprang to his feet and held out his hand.

"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 should
be something."

"I shouldn't build too much on it."

"I'm not, but there is always the possibility."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

"There doesn't seem to be much to miss at present," Merriman
answered, looking idly over the deserted space.

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.

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.

                                                                     
                                                               
                            ""       trees          
            trees         ""
                         "" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>                  
                        ""                 >>>>>>>>>   trees    
 Observation Point (X) ""                           >          
                       ""    __             lane to**********                                      
                        ""  [__] sawmill      road ************             
                         ""                           >   
                          ""                            >     
                           ""         CLEARING           > 
             trees         ""  river landing             > trees
                           ""                           >     
                           ""     _ Manager's House     >                                                                                
                          ""     [_]                    >     
                         ""                          >       
                       ""                          >     trees 
    trees             ""                         >
                     "" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>               
                    ""             trees     
                    ""                                  
                                                 
[transcriber's note: to view map variable spacing must be disabled.]


"There doesn't seem to be much wrong here," Merriman said when they
had surveyed the scene for nearly an hour.

"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
obviously wrong.  If there is anything, in the nature of things it
won't be easy to find."

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.

Hilliard had been following every motion through his glass, and he
now thrust the instrument into his companion's hand, crying softly:

"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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"Seems a sound arrangement," Hilliard commented as they made their
inspection.

"Quite.  Anything I noticed before struck me as being efficient."

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.

Presently he turned and saw them.  Immediately they advanced and
Hilliard accosted him.

"Good-morning.  We are looking for Mr. Coburn.  Is he about?"

"No, monsieur," the man answered civilly, "he has gone into Bordeaux.
He won't be back until the afternoon."

"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."

The man smiled.  He seemed a superior type to the others and was
evidently a foreman.

"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.

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.

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.

"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."

"So I think too," Hilliard admitted.  "And yet, what about the game
with the number plates?  What's the idea of that?"

"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."

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"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."

Merriman stepped forward, his cap off.

"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."

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:

"Mr. Merriman, isn't it?  Of course I remember.  Won't you come in?
My father will be back directly."

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.

"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."

"How perfectly delightful," Miss Coburn replied.  "I envy you."

"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."

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. . . .

Presently a step in the hall announced Mr. Coburn's return.  "In
here, daddy," his daughter called, and the steps approached the door.

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.

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.

"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."

"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?"

Mr. Coburn agreed, continuing courteously:

"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."

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.

"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."

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.

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.

"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."

"There's nothing wrong at all events," Merriman asserted doggedly.

"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."

"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."

Hilliard smiled under cover of darkness.

"And miss our lunch and excursion with the Coburns to-morrow?" he
asked maliciously.

"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?"

"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?"

Merriman was silent for a few moments, then burst out:

"Well, hang it all, man, what do you suggest?"

During the evening an idea had occurred to Hilliard and he returned
to it now.

"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."

Merriman only grunted in reply, but Hilliard, realizing his
condition, was satisfied.

And Merriman, lying awake that night on the port locker of the
Swallow, began himself to realize his condition, and to understand
that his whole future life and happiness lay between the dainty
hands of Madeleine Coburn.



CHAPTER 5

THE VISIT OF THE "GIRONDIN"

Next morning found both the friends moody and engrossed with their
own thoughts.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

"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?"

"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."

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.

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.

"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."

Hilliard nodded and Mr. Coburn went on:

"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."

"That sounds very promising," Hilliard answered.  "I don't know much
about it, but I believe soft wood blocks are considered better than
hard."

"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."

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.

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.

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.

As they swung round the bend in sight of the wharf Mr. Coburn made
an exclamation.

"Hallo!" he cried.  "There's the Girondin.  She has made a good run.
We weren't expecting her for another three or four hours."

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.

"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."

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.

On reaching the wharf all four crossed the gangway to the deck of
the Girondin.  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.

"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.

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.

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 something if the sight of a stranger
upsets all these people in this way.

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.

"Good trip, captain?" the manager went on.  "You're ahead of
schedule."

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Accordingly when they reached the launch he turned to Merriman.

"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."

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.

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.

He pulled on with swift, silent strokes, and presently the dark
mass of the Girondin 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

>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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Presently other footsteps announced the approach of a second
individual, and in a moment Hilliard heard the captain's voice.

"Where are you, Bulla?"

"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.

"Confound that man Coburn," he heard Captain Beamish mutter.  "What
on earth is keeping him all this time?"

"The young visitors, doubtless," rumbled Bulla with a fat chuckle,
"our friends of the evening."

"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."

"Nothing particular, I should fancy.  Probably out doing some kind
of a holiday."

They passed round the deckhouse and Hilliard could not hear the
reply.  When they returned Captain Beamish was speaking.

" - 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."

"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."

"Archer suggests a second boat."

"Oh."  The engineer paused, then went on: "But that's no new
SUGGESTION.  That was proposed before ever the thing was started."

"I know, but the circumstances have changed.  Now we should - "

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 depot 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"And have you found out anything about them?" he asked Mr. Coburn.

"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."

"But you don't think they smell a rat?"

"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."

"You can't yourself account for his coming back?"

Again Mr. Coburn hesitated.

"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."

Bulla, the engineer, made a sudden gesture.

"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?"

The big man nodded.

"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."

"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."

"All the better for us, isn't it?" Bulla queried.

"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?"

"They haven't done anything suspicious themselves?"

"Not that I have seen."

"Never caught them trying to pump any of the men?"

"Never."

Captain Beamish moved impatiently.

"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?"

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.

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.

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:

"We were just talking of you, Henri.  The skipper wants to know - "
and the door closed.

Hilliard was not long in slipping back to his former position at the
porthole.

"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?"

Coburn ignored the question.

"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."

"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."

"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?"

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"Well," the former said, "There's one o'cl6ck.  We must be off."

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.

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.

Ten minutes later he was on board the launch.



CHAPTER 6

A CHANGE OF VENUE


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.

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.

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.

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.

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 pounds a year would compensate any one of them for the risk.
But that would mean a profit of from 4,000 to 6,000 pounds a year.
Hilliard realized that he was here on shaky ground, though the
balance of probability was in his favor.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
  
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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Girondin?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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?"

"I will," said Merriman, to his relief.

The Girondin 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.

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.

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 Girondin would drop down to sea on the
flood tide in the early morning.

"We shall have her company so far," Hilliard remarked.  "We must
start early, too, so as to make Bordeaux before dark."

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.

Five o'clock next morning saw the friends astir, and their first
sight on reaching the deck was the Girondin 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.

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 Girondin, 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.

"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?"

"Rather.  Even a landlubber like me can appreciate it.  But you
don't often have it like this, I bet."

"Oh, I don't know," Hilliard answered absently, and then, swinging
round and facing his friend, he went on:

"I say, Merriman, I've something to tell you that will interest you,
but I'm afraid it won't please you."

Merriman laughed contentedly.

"You arouse my curiosity anyway," he declared.  "Get on and let's
hear it."

Hilliard answered quietly, but he felt excitement arising in him
as he thought of the disclosure he was about to make.

"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."

"Tell me."

"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."

Merriman sat up eagerly, and listened intently as the other recounted
his adventure aboard the Girondin.  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.

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.

"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."

Hilliard took the bull by the horns.

"That Miss 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."

Merriman shook his head and groaned.

"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."

"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."

"But what is it?  Have you any theory?"

"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."

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.

"I suppose we couldn't leave it alone?  Is it our business after
all?"

"If we don't act we become accessories, and besides we leave that
girl to fight her own battles."

Merriman clenched his fists and once more silence reigned.  Presently
he spoke again:

"You had something in your mind?"

"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."

Merriman made a gesture of dissent.

"Not that, not that," he cried.  "Anything rather than the police." 

Hilliard gazed vacantly on the long line of the coast.

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"I suppose that is the only way," Merriman said doubtfully.  After
a pause Hilliard went on:

"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."

"The other end?"

"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"

"That's true."

"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."

"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?"

"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 Girondin would recognize it directly they saw it."

Merriman nodded without speaking and Hilliard continued:

"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
Girondin 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?"

"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."

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.

"Jolly good notion, that," he answered cordially.

"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."

"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."

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.

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.

"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 Girondin 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."

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 Girondin anyway."
He ran his finger down the columns.  "Ah!  what's this?  Motor ship
Girondin, 350 tons, built and so on.  'The Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate,
Ferriby, Hull.'  Hull, my son.  There we are."

"Hull!  I know Hull," Merriman remarked laconically.  "At least, I
was there once."

"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."

"What's the plan, then?  I'm on, provided I have a good sleep at
home tonight first."

"Same here," Hilliard agreed as he filled his pipe.  "I suppose Hull
by an early train tomorrow is the scheme."

Merriman borrowed his friend's pouch and refilled his pipe in his
turn.

"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."

"How so?"

"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?"

"I don't see it.  We gave a good reason for leaving."

"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?"

Hilliard sat up sharply.

"By Jove!" he cried.  "I never thought of that."

"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 if he hasn't had a letter
from France describing us and enclosing a copy of that group that
Captain Beamish took at the chateau."

Hilliard whistled.

"Lord!  It's not going to be so simple as it looks, is it?"

"It isn't.  And what's more, we can't afford to make any mistakes.
It's too dangerous."

Hilliard got up and began to pace the room.


"I don't care," he declared savagely.  "I'm going through with it
now no matter what happens."

"Oh, so am I, for the matter of that.  All I say is we shall have
to show a bit more intelligence this time."

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.

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.

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.



CHAPTER 7

THE FERRIBY DEPOT


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.

"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."

Merriman agreed, they called for a timetable, found there was a train
at 10.35, and going down to Paragon Station, got on board.

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.

"Now what about walking back to Hassle," Hilliard suggested, "and
seeing what we can see?"

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.
                                                                                  
                                                                              
     from                                                                              
       Ferriby                                        to Main Road                      
        *                Fields                           * * * * *                        
         *                                             *                                 
          *                                       *_*|                               
           *                                   *  [_]Ackroyd & Holt's                                                      
            *                           cottage[]    |                                               
             *         Lane              *     |     |                                                                                      
  Railway      * * * * * * * * * * * * *       |     |     to Hull                                                                    
                           
 #################################################################                          
                                                                                   
 from Ferriby  [ ]Syndicate's Depot                    ()signal box                                                              
                                 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                     
                                                        
 ~~~~~~        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                       
                                           
    ~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~to the sea~~~                                         
                                   
                River Humber                                                                        
                                                                                      

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.

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.

Hilliard stopped and stood looking over.

"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."

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.

"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."

Hilliard nodded as they turned away.

"I've just been thinking that.  They could carry on any tricks they
liked there and no one would be a bit the wiser.

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.

"I say, Hilliard, look there!" cried Merriman suddenly.

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."

"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?"

Hilliard was not so enthusiastic.

"I'm not so sure," he said slowly.  "You mean that it supports my
brandy smuggling theory?  Just how?"

"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?"

"You distinguish between distillers and rectifiers?"

"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."

Hilliard shook his head.

"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."

"It's a coincidence anyway."

"I don't see it.  In any case unless we can prove that the ship
brings brandy the question doesn't arise."

Merriman shrugged his shoulders good-humoredly.

"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 Girondin unloading.  If we can only get near
enough it would be impossible for them to discharge anything in bulk
without our seeing it.

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.

The two friends had already left the distillery half a mile behind,
when Hilliard stopped and looked at his watch.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Any place about here you can get a drink?"

The man slowly jerked his head to the left.

"Oop in village," he answered.  "Raven bar."

"Come along and show us the way and have a drink with us," Hilliard
invited.

The man grasped this and his eyes gleamed.

"Ay," he replied succinctly.

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.

"Any chance of a job where you're working?" Hilliard went on.  "My
pal and I would be glad to pick up something."

The man shook his head, apparently noticing nothing incongruous in
the question.

"Don't think it."

"No harm in asking the boss anyway.  Where might we find him?"

"Down at works likely.  He be there most times."

"I'd rather go to his house.  Can you tell where he lives?"

"Ay.  Down at works."

"But he doesn't sleep at the works surely?"

"Ay.  Sleeps in tin hut."

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.

"We thought there might be some stevedoring to do.  You've a steamer
in now and then, haven't you?"

The man admitted it, and after a deal of wearisome questioning they
learned that the Girondin called about every ten days, remaining for
about forty-eight hours, and that she was due in three or four days.

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.

"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 Girondin."

Merriman not replying, he continued:

"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."

"Well?"

"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."

Merriman's emphatic nod expressed his approval.

"Good," he cried warmly.  "What about getting a boat to-morrow and
having a try that night?"

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Two or three hundred yards more," said Hilliard in low tones.

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.

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 V, 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.

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.

"We'll go back to the boat and wait," Hilliard whispered, and they
crept down the steps.

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.

"We had better wait at least an hour more," Hilliard whispered again.

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.

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.

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 Girondin, 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.

"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."

"Afraid that is hardly the scheme," Hilliard answered, then went
on excitedly: "But, there's that barrel!  Perhaps we could get
into that."

"The barrel!  That's the ticket."  Merriman was excited in his turn.
"That is, if it has a lid."

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.

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.

"Try to lift the lid," whispered Hilliard.

They found it was merely laid on the rim, clats 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.

"That'll do," Merriman breathed.  "That's all we want to see.  Come
away."

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.

"Come away," he whispered again.  "We've done well.  Why spoil
it?"

They returned to the boat and there argued it out.  Merriman's
proposal was to try to find out when the Girondin 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 Girondin left.  In this
way, he asserted, they must infallibly discover the truth, at
least about the smuggling.

"Do you think we could stand twenty-four hours in that barrel?"
Hilliard questioned.

"Of course we could stand it.  We've got to.  Come on, Hilliard,
it's the only way."

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.

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.



CHAPTER 8

THE UNLOADING OF THE "GIRONDIN"


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.

"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?"

"It'll be damnable," Merriman agreed succinctly, "but we needn't
worry about that; we're in for it."

"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."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we mustn't go back to the wharf until the night before
the Girondin arrives."

"Don't see how we can be sure of that."

"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 Girondin's 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?"

"Rather."

"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 Girondin
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."

"Good!" Merriman exclaimed.  "Jolly good!  And today is Thursday.
We've just time to get ready."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"I see her, Tom," he called out suddenly to someone in the shed
behind.  "She's just coming round the point."

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.

"Ay," he said slowly.  "She's early."

"Two hours," the first agreed.  "Didn't expect her till between ten
and eleven."

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.

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 Girondin appeared, slowly coming in.  Ropes were
flung, caught, slipped over bollards, drawn taut, made fast - and
she was berthed.

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.

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.

This was simply a reversal of the procedure they had observed at the
clearing.  The props were swung out in bundles by the Girondin's
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

"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."

"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."

"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.

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.

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 Girondin 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.

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.

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.

"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."

"Let them try," breathed Hilliard.  "Here, take this in."

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.

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.

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 Girondin 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.

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.

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.

"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."

"But did you see anything?" Merriman demanded eagerly.

"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."

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.

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.

"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."

"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."

"That's all very well.  What are we to go on doing?"

Silence reigned for several minutes and then Hilliard spoke again.

"I'm afraid it means Scotland Yard after all."

Merriman sat up quickly.

"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.

"I know your views," Hilliard answered, "and agree with them.  But
if neither of us can suggest an alternative, what else remains?"

This was what Merriman had feared and he determined to play the
one poor trump in his hand.

"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."

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.



CHAPTER 9

THE SECOND CARGO


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.

"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!"

Merriman grunted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he murmured sleepily.

"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!"

Merriman, now thoroughly aroused, moved with some annoyance.

"For Heaven's sake, explain yourself," he demanded.  "What whole
thing?"

"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."

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.

Hilliard went on:

"We thought there might be brandy, in fact we couldn't suggest
anything else.  But we didn't see any brandy; we saw pit-props.
Isn't that right?"

"Well?" Merriman returned impatiently.  "Get on.  What next?"

"That's all," Hilliard declared with a delighted laugh.  "That's
the whole thing.  Don't you see it now?"

Merriman felt his anger rising.

"Confound it all, Hilliard," he protested.  "If you haven't
anything better to do than coming round wakening - "

"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, pit-props!
Now don't you see?"

Merriman suddenly gasped.

"Lord!" he cried breathlessly.  "It was in the props?"

"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?"

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.

"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?"

Merriman nodded.

"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."

He paused and looked at Merriman.  The latter nodded again.

"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 Girondin.
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!"

Hilliard paused dramatically, like a conjurer who has just drawn a
rabbit from a lady's vanity bag.

"That would explain that Ferriby manager sleeping in the shed,"
Merriman put in.

"So it would.  I hadn't thought of that."

"And," Merriman went on, "there'd be enough genuine props carried
on each trip to justify the trade."

"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.

Merriman was thinking deeply.  He had recovered his composure, and
had begun to weigh the idea critically.

"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?"

"That's true," Hilliard returned.  "That's another idea.  My eyes,
what possibilities the notion has!"

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.

"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?"

"Take it at that anyway," answered Merriman.

"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?"

"Take it at that," Merriman repeated.

"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."

He paused, looked at his friend, and resumed:

"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 pounds per prop, Merriman!"

Merriman whistled.  He was growing more and more im-
pressed.  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.

"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
pounds profit per trip.  And they have a trip every ten days - say
thirty trips a year to be on the safe side - 84,000 pounds a year
profit!  My eyes, Merriman, it would be worth running some risks
for 84,000 a year!"

"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 
pounds a year!  But look here," - his voice changed - "you have to
divide it among the members."

"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."

"Worth while?  I should just say so." Merriman lay silently pondering
the idea.  Presently he spoke again.

"Of course those figures of yours are only guesswork."

"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 how it can be done.  That's something gained anyway."

Merriman nodded and sat up in bed.

"Hand me my pipe and baccy out of that coat pocket like a good man,"
he asked, continuing slowly:

"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?"

"Not a plan," Hilliard declared cheerfully.  "No time to make 'em
yet.  But we shall find a way somehow."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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 Girondin 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?"

Hilliard smote his thigh.

"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?"

"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."

"That's true."

"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."

Hilliard nodded.  Then a further idea seemed to strike him and he
sat up suddenly.

"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."

But Merriman was not cast down.

"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 Girondin 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?"

"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?"

"I'll phone him now that we shall be over tomorrow to see him."

Leatham was just leaving his office when Merriman's call reached
him.

"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."

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.

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

"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."

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.

"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.

Amazement had been growing on Leatham's face while Merriman was
speaking.

"Sounds like the New Arabian Nights!" he exclaimed.  "You're not by
any chance pulling my leg?"

Merriman reassured him.

"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."

Leatham's expression of astonishment did not decrease, but "By Jove!"
was all he said.

"For that reason we can only tell you about it in confidence."

Merriman paused and glanced questioningly at the other, who nodded
without replying.

"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.

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.

"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."

He thought for a moment, then went on:

"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."

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
Girondin unloading at Leatham's wharf.  The price was moderate, but
not exceptionally so.

"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."

"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."

Leatham nodded.

"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?"

"Thursday morning, we reckon," Hilliard told him.

"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?"

"Nothing could be better."

"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."

"What's that for?" both men exclaimed in a breath.

"That blessed barrel of yours.  You say the Girondin 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."

The two friends swore and Leatham laughed.

"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."

"But think of the prize," Leatham smiled maliciously.  "As a matter
of fact I don't see any other way."

"There is no other way," Merriman declared with decision.  "We may
just set our teeth and go through with it."

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 Girondin.   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.

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.

"That'll be Leatham," he exclaimed.  "Come on, Hilliard, and hear
what he has to say."

It was the mineowner speaking from his office.

"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."

"Jolly good, Leatham."

"The Girondin 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 Girondin 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."

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.

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.  Rut they carried out their plans
without mishap, Merriman taking his place in the cask, and Hilliard
returning to Hull with the boat.

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.

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.

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 Girondin 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.

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.

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.

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.

"Now or never," thought Merriman, as silence and darkness settled
down over the wharf.

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.

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.

The following day Merriman took an early train to Goole, returning
immediately.  This brought him past the depot, and he saw that the
Girondin had left.

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
Girondin should make another call on her way to sea and then
discharge the faked props.

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 Girondin passing rapidly seawards.

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 biding place with the requisite care
and silence.

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.

"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?"

"That's about the size of it," Hilliard admitted grimly.

"Your man saw nothing?" Merriman inquired.

"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."

"Pretty thorough," Hilliard commented.  "It's at least a blessing
to be sure beyond a doubt nothing was unloaded."

"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."

The three men smoked in silence for some time and then Hilliard
spoke.

"I suppose, Leatham, you can't think of any other theory, or suggest
anything else that we should do."

"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."

Hilliard sighed.

"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."

"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 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."

Again silence fell on the little group, and then Merriman, who had
for some time been lost in thought, made a sudden movement.

"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?"

Hilliard stared at this outburst.

"After they were unloaded?" he repeated.  "Why, returned of course
for the next cargo."

"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."

"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?"

Hilliard shook his head reluctantly.

"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.

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.

"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."

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.  

"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."

Hilliard made a gesture of impatience.

"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?"

"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."

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.

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.



CHAPTER 10

MERRIMAN BECOMES DESPERATE


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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Oh!" she gasped faintly.  "It's you!" She still stood holding
the door, as if overcome by some benumbing emotion.

Merriman had pulled off his hat.

"It is I, Miss Coburn," he answered gently.  "I have come over from
London to see you.  May I not come in?"

She stepped back.

"Come in, of course," she said, making an obvious effort to infuse
cordiality into her tone.  "Come in here."

He fumbled with his coat in the hall, and by the time he followed
her into the drawing-room she had recovered her composure.

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.

"You'll have some tea?" she said presently, getting up and moving
towards the door.

"Er-no-no, thanks, Miss Coburn, not any.  I wanted really - "

"But 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."

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.

"Forgive me," he entreated, "forgive me for bothering you, but it's
so desperately important to me.  And we may be interrupted.  Do
hear what I've got to say."

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.

"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."

Merriman felt as if a cold weight was slowly descending upon his
heart.

"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!"
 
He dropped on his knees before her and seized her hands in his own.

"My darling," he whispered fiercely.  "I love you enough for us
both.  Say you'll marry me.  Say - "

She wrenched her hands from him.  "Oh!" she cried as if heartbroken,
and burst into an uncontrollable flood of tears.

Merriman was maddened beyond endurance by the sight

"What a brute I am!" he gasped.  "Now I've made you cry."

For pity's sake!  Do stop it!  Nothing matters about anything else
if only you stop!"

He was almost beside himself with misery as he pleaded with her.
But soon he pulled himself together and began to speak more
rationally.

"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?"

She shook her head faintly between her sobs.

"Thank goodness for that anyway.  Tell me once again.  Is it that
you don't like me?"

Again she shook her head.

"You do like me!" he exclaimed breathlessly.  "You do, Madeleine.
Say it!  Say that you do!"

She made a resolute effort for self-control.

"You know I do, but - " she began in a tremulous whisper.  In a
paroxysm of overwhelming excitement he interrupted her.

"Madeleine," he cried wildly, again seizing her hands, "you don't
 - it couldn't be possible that you - that you love me?"

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.

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 - "

"Darling," he breathed triumphantly.  "I'll never let you go as
long as I live!  You love me!  What else matters?"

"No, no," she cried again, her tears once more flowing.  "I was
wrong.  I shouldn't have allowed you.  It can never be."

He laughed savagely.

"Never be?" he repeated.  "Why, dear one, it is.  I'd like to know
the person or thing that could stop it now!"

"It can never be," she repeated in a voice of despair.  "You don't
understand.  There are obstacles."

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.

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.

There surged over him a feeling of relief, so that once more he all
but laughed.  He turned to Madeleine.

"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?"

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.

"Oh!" she stammered brokenly, "what do you mean by that?"

Merriman tried once more to take her hand.

"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."

The girl seemed transfixed with horror.

"We know?" she repeated dully.  "Who are we?"

"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."

"Yes?" She seemed hardly able to frame the syllable between her
dry lips.

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.

"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?"

She nodded.

"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."

"Ah," she exclaimed, "I was afraid you had."

"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."

Merriman paused, but the girl, whose eyes were fixed intently on
his face, made no remark, and he continued:

"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 Girondin 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."

"Then there was spying," she declared accusingly.

"There was," he admitted.  "I can only say that under the
circumstances he thought himself justified."

"Go on," she ordered shortly.

"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."

"I do believe you," she said, "but finish what you have to tell me."

"We learned from Lloyd's List that the Girondin 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?"

She shook her head.

"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."

"Oh!" cried the girl with an impatient gesture.  "Why can't he let
it alone?  It's not his business."

Merriman shrugged his shoulders.

"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."

"Oh, no, no, no!" she cried, putting up her hand as if to shield
herself from the idea.  "Besides, what about my father?"

"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."

For some moments she sat in silence; then she asked had Hilliard
any idea of what was being done.

"He suggested brandy smuggling, but it was only a theory.  There
was nothing whatever to support it."

"Brandy smuggling?  Oh, if it only were!"

Merriman stared in amazement.

"It wouldn't be so bad as what I had feared," the girl added,
answering his look.

"And that was - ?  Do trust me, Madeleine."

"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."

Merriman was genuinely surprised.

"False money?" he repeated blankly.

"Yes; English Treasury notes.  I thought they were perhaps printing
them over here, and sending some to England with each trip of the
Girondin.  It was a remark I accidentally overheard that made me
think so.  But, like you, it was only a guess.  I had no proof."

"Tell me," Merriman begged.

"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?"

"Of course.  It was the natural thing to do."

"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!'"

"Lord!" Merriman exclaimed in amazement.  "No wonder you stopped!"

"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."

"Well done!" Merriman exclaimed admiringly.

"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."

"And then you thought of the false notes?"

"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 - "

There was a sudden noise in the hall and Madeleine broke off to
listen.

"Father," she whispered breathlessly.  "Don't say anything."

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.

"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?"

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."

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bitterly disappointed he turned away, and in the solitude of the
lane he opened the note.  It read:

                                                        "Friday.

"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.

"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.

                                            "Your sincere friend,
                                            "Madeleine Coburn."


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."

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.



CHAPTER 11

AN UNEXPECTED ALLY


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

"Madeleine!  Madeleine!" he cried brokenly.  "My own one!  My
beloved!"  He almost sobbed as he attempted to strain her to his
heart.

But she wrenched herself from him.

"No, no!" she gasped.  "You must not!  I told you.  It cannot be."

He pleaded with her, fiercely, passionately, and at last despairingly.
But he could not move her.  Always she repeated that it could not be.

"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?"

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.

"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."

At this her eyes dilated with terror.

"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."

"But, my dearest," Merriman remonstrated, "it could do no harm, to
talk the matter over with him.  That would commit him to nothing."

But she would not hear of it.

"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."

Merriman, though beside himself with suffering, felt he could no
longer disregard her.

"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."

She was beginning to reply when she stopped suddenly and stood
listening.

"The lorry!" she cried.  "Go!  Go!"  Then pointing wildly in the
direction of the road, she turned and fled rapidly back towards
the clearing.

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.

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.

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 trucking to convention was
to save him!  What, he asked himself, did it matter about him?  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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

"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."

He hardly expected that Mr. Coburn would have accepted his statement,
but whatever the manager believed privately, he gave no sign of
suspicion.

"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."

As he spoke Mr. Coburn took from his pocket and held up for
Merriman's inspection a tiny phial half full of white tablets.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

He spoke at first somewhat formally, but as interest in his subject
quickened, he gradually became more conversational.

"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."

Mr. Coburn frowned slightly, but he did not seem surprised, nor did
he reply except by a slight bow.  Merriman continued:

"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."

Still Mr. Coburn made no answer, save then by another slight
inclination of his head, but his eyes had grown anxious and troubled.

"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."

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:

"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."

Merriman bent forward.

"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."

Mr. Coburn rose abruptly.

"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."

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.

"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?"

His assurance was not without its effect.  The other's face grew
paler and he sat heavily down in his chair.

"I'll hear what you have to say," he said harshly, though without
letting go his weapon.

"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."

Mr. Coburn started slightly, but he did not speak, and Merriman
went on:

"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."

Coburn was impressed at last.  He sat motionless, staring at the
speaker.  As Merriman remained silent, he moved.

"Go on," he said hoarsely, licking his dry lips.

"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."

Again Coburn nodded without speaking.

"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."

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.

"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."

After a pause to let his words create their full effect, Merriman
continued:

"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."

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.

"Then no one but you two know so far?" he asked, a shifty, sly look
passing over his face.

Merriman read his thoughts and bluffed again.

"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."

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.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, in a tremulous voice, hardly
louder than a whisper.

Merriman's heart leaped.

"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."

Mr. Coburn once more wiped the drops of sweat from his forehead.

"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."

He buried his head in his hands and sat motionless, leaning on his
desk.

"But your daughter, Mr. Coburn," Merriman persisted.  "For her sake
something must be done."

Mr. Coburn shook his clenched fists in the air.

"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!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If the Girondin 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.

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.

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.

"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."

He paused.  Merriman would have spoken, but Mr. Coburn held up his
hand for silence and went on:

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.




PART TWO

THE PROFESSIONALS



CHAPTER 12

MURDER!


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.

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.

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.

"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."

"Yes, sir," Willis answered unemotionally.  "Any details forward?"

"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."

"Yes, sir," Willis replied again, and quickly left the room.

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.

"What's the case, inspector, do you know?" Dr. Horton inquired as
they slipped deftly through the traffic.

"The Chief said suspected murder; man found dead in a taxi at King's
Cross.  He had no details."

"How was it done?"

"Don't know, sir.  Chief didn't say."

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.

They made a quick run, reaching the station in a very few minutes.
There a constable identified the inspector.

"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."

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.

"We have touched nothing, sir," he announced.  "When we found the
man was dead we didn't even move the body."

Willis nodded.

"Quite right, sergeant.  It's murder, I suppose?" 

"Looks like it, sir.  The man was shot."

"Shot?  Anything known of the murderer?"

"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."

Again the Inspector nodded, as he stepped up to the vehicle.

"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."

Willis turned courteously to the other.

"An unpleasant evening to be called out, doctor," he remarked.
"The man's dead, I understand?  Was he dead when you arrived?"

"Yes, but only a very little time.  The body was quite warm."

"And the cause of death?"

"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.

"A bullet wound?"

"A bullet wound unquestionably."

Inspector Willis picked up an acetylene bicycle lamp which one of
the men had procured and directed its beam into the cab.

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.

"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.

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?"

"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.

"You might tell me what you know, driver."

The man shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"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."

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.

"At what time did you pick up the men?" he inquired.

"About half past seven, or maybe twenty to eight"

"Did you see where they were coming from?"

"No, sir.  They were standing on the curb, and the tall one he holds
up his hand for me to pull over."

"Would you know the tall man again?"

The driver shook his head.

"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."

"Describe him as best you can."

"He was a tall man, longer than what you are, and broad too.  A big
man, I should call him."

"How was he dressed?"

"He had a waterproof, khaki color - about the color of your own -
with the collar up round his neck."

"His hat?"

"His hat was a soft felt, dark, either brown or green, I couldn't
rightly say, with the brim turned down in front."

"And his face?  Man alive, you must have seen his face when he gave
you the shilling."

The driver stared helplessly.  Then he answered:

"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."

"Did the other man reply when the tall one spoke into the cab?"

"Didn't hear no reply at all, sir."

Inspector Willis thought for a moment and then started on another
tack.

"Did you hear a shot?" he asked sharply.

"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."

"You said you didn't think the shot was in your cab; why do you
think so now?"

"It was the only sound like a shot, sir, and if the man has been
shot, it would have been then."

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But he learned nothing.  The girl had vanished completely, and he
could see no way in which he might be able to trace her.

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.

"Lord!" he muttered.  "But I'm a blamed idiot.  How in Hades did
I miss that?"

He sprang to his feet and hurried out of the lounge.



CHAPTER 13

A PROMISING CLUE


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 u.p.
with his career at the Yard.

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.

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.

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.

"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"

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.

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.

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:

                       "MYSTERY OF A TAXI-CAB

"A tragedy which recalls the well-known detective novel The Mystery
of the Hansom Cab 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."

Inspector Willis laid down the paper and turned to his visitor.

"You are interested in the case, sir?" he inquired.

"I knew him, I think," Merriman stammered.  "At least I know
someone of the name.  I - "

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.

"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?"

His quiet, conversational manner calmed the other.

"Rather tall," he answered anxiously, "with a long pale face, and
small, black, pointed mustache."

"I'm afraid, sir, that's the man.  I think if you don't mind you
had better see if you can identify him."

"I want to," Merriman cried, leaping to his feet "I must know at
once."

Willis rose also.

"Then come this way."

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.

"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!"

He wrung his hands in his anguish.

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.

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.

"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.

"You are a relation perhaps?"

"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."

Willis bowed and inquired, "Is Miss Coburn's name Madeleine?"

"Yes," Merriman answered, surprise and eagerness growing in his face.

"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."

Merriman sprang to his feet.

"In London?" he queried excitedly.  "Where?  What address?"

"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."

Merriman controlled himself with an effort.

"Well," he said slowly, sitting down again, "I have 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."

"I can see Mr. Hilliard afterwards.  Meantime tell me the story
yourself."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"I take it, Mr. Merriman, that your idea is that Mr. Coburn was
murdered by a member of the syndicate?"

"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."

"Any of them a tall, stoutly built man?"

"Captain Beamish is tall and strongly built, but I should not say
he was stout."

"Describe him."

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

"I know it, but I am not afraid.  It is the possible danger to Miss
Coburn that has upset me so much."

"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."

"I am quite in your hands, inspector."

"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."

Merriman nodded.

"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."

Merriman again nodded.

"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?"

"I shall stay in my club, Rover's, in Cranbourne Street.  You can
ring me up."

"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."

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.

"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.

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.

"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?"

"Yes." She hesitated.  "Is it - my father?"

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.

"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."

Madeleine seemed stunned by the tragedy, and she spoke as if in a
dream.

"I am ready to do what is necessary."

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.

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.

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
Girondin 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 Girondin, 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.

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.

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 bona fides of his organization was suspected.

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.

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.



CHAPTER 14

A MYSTIFYING DISCOVERY


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.

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 Girondin 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 The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, but
though he saw that this clever story might easily have inspired
the crime, he could find from it no help towards its solution.

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.

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.

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 Girondin would be
back at Ferriby, and he would then be able to start work on the
finger-print clue.

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.

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.

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
Girondin transferring illicit cargo to such vessels while at sea?

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 pounds 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.

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 the subjects of interest to Scotland Yard at the
moment.  Notes were 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.

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?

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.

Secondly, English notes were to he 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.

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.

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.

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 Girondin 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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But theories were not enough.  He must get ahead with his
investigation.

Accordingly next morning he began his new inquiry by sending a
telegram.

"To BEAMISH, Landes Pit-Prop Syndicate, Ferriby, Hull.

"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.

                                               "WILLIS,
                                               "Scotland Yard."

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.

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.

"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."

Beamish replied politely and with a show of readiness and candor.

"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."

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.

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.

"Two small whiskies, please," he ordered, having asked his
companion's choice.

The girl placed the two small tumblers of yellow liquid before her
customers and Willis added a little water to each.

"Well, here's yours," he said, and raising his glass to his lips,
drained the contents at a draught.  Captain Beamish did the same.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Girondin having
by that time left, to see what he could learn at the Ferriby depot.

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.

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.

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.

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 We gate behind hint and glancing carefully round, approached
the shed.

The door of the office was also locked, but the bent wire conquered
it too, and in a coup1e of minutes he pushed it open, passed through,
and closed it behind him.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Is it possible that they have a cable?" thought the puzzled man, as
he replaced the loose board and screwed it fast.

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.

He let himself out and, relocking the various doors behind him,
walked to Hassle and from there returned to his hotel in Hull.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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:

"Archer, Archibald Charles, The Elms, Ferriby."

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.

"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."

"And what is he like in appearance?" Willis continued, concealing
the interest this statement had aroused.

"A big man, sir," the sergeant answered.  "Tall, and broad too.
Clean shaven, with heavy features, very determined looking."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Hallo, Archer," he shouted.  "Can I give you a lift?"

"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."

"Run you in in quarter of an hour."

"No hurry.  If I am in by half past one it will do.  I am lunching
with Frazer at the Criterion at that time."

The two-seater stopped, the big man entered, and the vehicle moved
away.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.


CHAPTER 15

INSPECTOR WILLIS LISTENS IN

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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- "

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.

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.

"Got it first shot," thought the inspector delightedly, as he moved
away so as not to attract the attention of any chance onlooker.

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.

He glanced at his *watch.  It was ten minutes past seven.

"I'll do it tonight," he murmured, and quietly leaving the house,
he hurried to Ferriby Station and so to Hull.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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 airs to the broken window.
There he attached the field receiver, affixing it to his ear so as
to be ready for eventualities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?"

There was an immediate answer.  Willis had never heard Benson speak,
but he presumed that the reply must be from him.

"Anything to report?" Archer queried.

"No. Everything going on as usual."

"No strangers poking round and asking questions?"

"And no traces of a visitor while you were away?"

"None."

"Good.  It's probably a false alarm.  Beamish may have been mistaken."

"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."

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.

"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."

"Very good.  It's a pity to lose the money, but I expect you're
right."

"We can't take avoidable risks.  Now about yourself.  I see you
brought no stuff up last night?"

"Couldn't.  I had a rotten bilious attack.  I started, but had to
go back to bed again.  Couldn't stand."

"Better?"

"Yes, all right now, thanks."

"Then you'll bring the usual up tonight?"

"Certainly."

"Very well.  Now, what about ten forty-five for tomorrow?"

"Right."

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.

"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 me
red-handed, and that might have been the end of me!"

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.

But the puzzle was now solved, the mystery at an end.  That night,
so Willis assured himself, the truth would be known.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

"Are you there?" once again came in Archer's voice, followed by the
astounding phrase, "I see you brought up that stuff last night."

"Yes, I brought up two hundred and fifty," was Benson's amazing
reply.

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:

"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."

"Right.  I shall," Benson answered, and the conversation ceased.

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.

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.



CHAPTER 16

THE SECRET OF THE SYNDICATE


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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Confound it," he thought, "when I get into that shed I shall be
dripping water all over the floor."

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.

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.

>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.

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.

This narrowed his search.  The exit from the building could only be
through a trap-door in the floor.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Why," he wondered as he stood staring in, "should it be necessary
to lock up clothes like these?"

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.

The hole was a dummy.  It entered the wood but did not go through
it.  It was not connected to a lock.

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

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The inspector gazed with an expression of almost awe on his face.

"Lord!" he muttered.  "Is it brandy after all?"

He stooped and smelled the wooden tap, and the last doubt was
removed from his mind.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The side of the Girondin, 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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

"I suppose the railway crosses here," Willis thought, as he passed
painfully round the bends.

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.

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 raison d'etre 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 Girondin.  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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Girondin would reach Ferriby on the following
day, and he determined to see the operation carried out.

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.

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.

There were a couple of lights on the Girondin, 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.

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.

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 Girondin's 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He left Hull by an afternoon train, and that night was in London.


CHAPTER 17

"ARCHER PLANTS STUFF"


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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 afraid and
preoccupied manner.

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 confrere, 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.

He found Hunt a shrewd and capable man of the world, as well as a
pleasant and INTERESTING companion.

They had engaged a private sitting-room at their hotel, and after
dinner they retired thither to discuss their plan of campaign.

"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."

Hunt nodded and drew slowly at his pipe.

"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."

Willis nodded, and Hunt resumed.

"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."

"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?"

"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?"

"Perfectly."

"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."

Willis, much interested, bent forward eagerly as the other, after
a pause to relight his pipe, continued:

"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.

"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."

"That's hopeful for us," Willis smiled.

"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."

Again Willis nodded without replying, and Hunt went on:

"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."

"How do you propose to begin?"

"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?"

The inspector admitted it.

"Did you see any lorries?"

"Any number; large blue machines.  I noticed them going and coming
in the Hull direction loaded up with barrels."

Hunt seemed pleased.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

"I suppose you'll compare the certificate blocks with the list I
made?" Willis asked.

"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."

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.

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.

"The Anchor Bar," Hunt said, in satisfied tones.  "We're in luck.
It's one of the largest licensed houses in Hull."

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.

"That's all square anyway," Hunt remarked, as they reentered their
taxi.  "I suppose we may go and do the same thing again."

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.

"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.

"Don't you think you have frightened them into honesty by our
persistence?" Willis queried.

"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."

The inspector looked his question and Hunt continued:

"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."

"I shall not go," Willis decided.  "See you when you get back."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"So far, so good," thought Hunt, with satisfaction.  "If they're
not planting their stuff in those five houses, I'm a Dutchman!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But bow 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.

"You're not a photographer, by any chance?" he asked.

"I'm not A1, but I dabble a bit at it."

"Good.  That will save some trouble."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

By dint of baksheesh they persuaded the photographer to develop
their films there and then, and that same evening they had six
prints.

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.

"You see?" cried Hunt triumphantly.  "The same amount of stuff went
out on each load!  We shall have them now, Willis!"

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.

"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"

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.

"Come," he cried to Willis, who was reading in the lounge, "and see
the final act in the drama."

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.

"I was right," he cried delightedly.  "Look here!  Why I can see it
with the naked eye!"

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.

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.

"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!"

Willis was less enthusiastic.

"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?"

"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."

Hunt paused and looked interrogatively at his friend, then, the latter
not replying, he resumed:

"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."

The inspector nodded as Hunt again looked at him.

"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."

"Good," Willis interjected.

"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."

"Seems very sound so far."

"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 at tended 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?"

"Clear, indeed, except for the one point of how the brandy item is
added to the correct block."

"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."

"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?"

"That's right.  It works out like that."

"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."

Hunt nodded.

"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."

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.

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.



CHAPTER 18

THE BORDEAUX LORRIES


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.

"Ah, monsieur," he said, "you have not received my letter?  No?  I
wrote to your department yesterday."

"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?"

"But certainly, monsieur.  It is easily done.  A thousand regrets,
but I fear my department will not be of much service to you."

"No, sir?" Willis looked his question.

"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 Girondin 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."

"It seemed the likely thing, sir," Willis commented.

"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?"

"Perfectly, sir."

"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."

M.Max paused, and Willis bowed to signify his appreciation of the
point.

"My men visit Raymond Fils.  They search into everything.  They find
the law is not broken.  All is in order.  They are satisfied."

"But, sir, if these people are smuggling brandy into England - "
Willis was beginning when the other interrupted him.

"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."

"Therefore, sir, you mean you cannot help further?"

"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?"

Willis, realizing he could get no more, rose.

"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."

M. Max also had risen.  He politely repeated his regrets, and with
mutual compliments the two men parted.

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 pa1e autumn sunlight, until he reached the Grands
Boulevards.  There entering a caf‚, he sat down, called for a bock,
and settled himself to consider his next step.

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.

He thought of his own department.  The Excise had failed him.  What
about the Surete?

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.

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.

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.

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.

"We had better go to Bordeaux this evening, so as to start fresh
tomorrow," Willis suggested.

"Two o'clock at the d'Orsay station," the other returned.  "We have
just time.  We can settle our plans in the train."

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.

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.

"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."

"And you think he moved in so that he could load up that brandy at
night?"

"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."

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

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.

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.

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.

"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."

"We might go at eleven," Laroche proposed, and so they did.

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.

"Now," said Willis, carefully shading the beam of his electric torch,
"let's see those lorries first of all."

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.

"That's good," Laroche observed.  "Make a thing unnoticeable by
multiplying it!"

Of the five lorries, two were loaded with firewood and three empty.
The men moved round examining them with their torches.

"Hallo," Laroche called suddenly in a low voice, "what have we here,
Willis?"

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.  

"Can you smell them?" he inquired.

Willis knelt down and sniffed, then slowly got up again.

"Good man," he said, with a trace of excitement in his manner.  "It's
brandy right enough."

"Yes," returned the other.  "Security has made our nocturnal friend
careless.  The stuff must have come from this lorry, I fancy."

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.

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.

"One hundred and fifty gallons of brandy per trip!" Willis ejaculated.
"Lord!  It's no wonder they make it pay."

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.

"The pipe which connects with that can't be far away," Laroche
suggested.  "We might have a look round for it."

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.

"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."

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.

"Merriman said they had six lorries," Willis remarked.  "I wonder
where the sixth is."

"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."

"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."

"Doubtless; and he probably came at two in the morning on account
of his daughter."

"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."

They made tiny scratches on the paint at each corner of the big
vehicle, then Willis turned back to the office.

"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 Girondin
loaded from it.  We might have a look round for the entrance."

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.

"Here we are," he called softly to Laroche, who was searching at
the other side of the room.

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.

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.

"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."

Laroche pointed to a chair.

"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."

"Quite," Willis answered rather testily.  "I don't like it either,
but what can we do?"

"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?"

Willis nodded impatiently and the other went on:

"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, before the man here unloads, we could get the
prints of the person who filled up in the distillery."

"Well," Willis asked sharply, "and how would that help us?"

"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."

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.

"We might try it," he admitted, without enthusiasm.  "It couldn't
do much harm anyway."

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.

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.

In a couple of hours he returned.

"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 - the 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."

"And did you get his finger-prints?"

"Have 'em here."

Locking the door of their private room, Laroche took from his pocket
the sketch he had made.

"He held this up quite satisfactorily," he went on, "and there
should be good prints."

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.

"Now the other side."

Willis turned the paper and repeated the operation on the back.
There he got prints of a left fore and second finger.

"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."

Laroche looked interested, and the other went on slowly:

"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?"

"I should think so," Laroche replied cautiously.

"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 always 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?"

Laroche had been listening eagerly, and now he made a sudden
gesture.

"But of course!" he cried delightedly.  "The changing of the
numbers!"

"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?"

"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."

"No doubt, but that was an accident."

"You can't," said the Frenchman sententiously, "make anything
completely watertight."

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.

A moment's examination only was necessary.  The prints were those of
M. Pierre Raymond.

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.

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.

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.


CHAPTER 19

WILLIS SPREADS HIS NET


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.

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.

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.

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.

It was therefore with feelings of pleasurable anticipation that he
received a telephone call from Willis at Scotland Yard.

"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?"

"Do you want her to come to town?"

"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."

Merriman felt excitement and hope rising within him.

"Better go to EASTBOURNE then," he advised.  "Come down with me
tonight by the 5.20 from Victoria."

"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."

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.

"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."

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.

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.

"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."

"I promise," said Merriman instantly.

"And I," echoed Madeleine.

"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.

His two listeners heard him with eager attention, in which interest
in his story was mingled with admiration of his achievement.

"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.  By Jove!  How you can be had!"

Willis turned to him.

"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."

Merriman colored with pleasure.

"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."

"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."

"Mr. Inspector," cried Madeleine reproachfully, "need you ask for
it?"

Willis laughed.

"I don't think so.  But I can't very well come in and command it,
you know."

"Of course you can," Madeleine returned.  "You know very well that
in such a cause Mr. Merriman and I would do anything."

"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?"

"Yes!" said Merriman, much interested.  "Likely enough.  But I
don't see how you could arrange that."

Willis smiled slightly.

"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."

His hearers stared, mystified, and Willis resumed.

"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.

Madeleine, her lips parted, was hanging on his words.

"Go on," she said quickly, "we have settled all that."

"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."

The draft ran as follows:

                                             "SILVERDALE ROAD,
                                                    "EASTBOURNE.

"DEAR CAPTAIN BEAMISH, - 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.

"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.

"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.

                                 "Yours faithfully,
                                          "MADELEINE COBURN."

Madeleine made a grimace as she read this letter.

"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 - "

"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?"

"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 pounds 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 pounds 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."

Madeleine braced herself up.

"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.

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.

The Girondin, 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.

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.

"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."

Willis looked his question.

"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."

Willis nodded.

"It's well managed all through," he commented.  "They deserved to
succeed."

"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."

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.

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?"

They conversed as before for a few minutes.  The Girondin, 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.

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.

'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.

Archer's reply was short but lurid, and Willis, not withstanding
the seriousness of the matter, could not help smiling.

There was a pause, and then Archer asked:

"When did you get that?"

"Now, when we got in; but Benson tells me the letter has been
waiting for me for three days."

"You might read it again."

Beamish did so, and presently Archer went on:

"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?"

"Yes, if you think it wise?"

"It's not wise, but I think we must risk it.  You're not known here.
But come alone; Benson shouldn't attempt it."

"Right.  What time?"

"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."

"Right.  Nine o'clock, then."

The switch of the telephone clicked, and presently Willis saw Archer
reappear in his office.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

"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?"

"It has advantages," Archer answered slowly.  "If you both think
it best, I'm quite agreeable.  Where then should the meetings be
held?"

"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."

"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?"

"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?"

"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."

"Righto," Beamish answered shortly, and the conversation ended.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

The manager, who was a sly, evil-looking person seemingly of Eastern
blood, began to hedge, but Willis cut him short with scant ceremony.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"A partition?" he asked.  "What is behind it?"

"Anozzer room, sair.  A private room, same as dees."

"Show it to me."

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.

"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?"

The manager nodded.

"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?"

The manager wrung his hands.

"Ach!" he cried.  "But meine Zimmern!  Mine rooms, zey veel pe
deestroyed!"

"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."

"It shall be done!  All shall happen as you say!"

"It had better," Willis rejoined, and with a menacing look he strode
out of the restaurant.

"The Gresham Hotel," he called to his driver, as he reentered his
taxi.

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.

"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."

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 ran:

                                             "FERRIBY, YORKS,
                                                     "Saturday.

"DEAR Miss COBURN,-I have just received your letter of 25th inst.,
and I hasten to reply.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

                               "With kind regards,
                                     "Yours sincerely,
                                            "WALTER BEAMISH."

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."

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.



CHAPTER 20

THE DOUBLE CROSS


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As the train ran past the depot at Ferriby, Willis observed that the
Girondin 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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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 could Archer be up to?

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.

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.

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?

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.


          to the North       
                |
                |
                |Selby  Stsaalethorpt        Hull
  _x____________x______x_____x________x_______x______              
 Leeds          |     /   Ferriby   Hassle
                |    x Goole
                |   /
                |  /
                | /
                |/
                x Dorcaster
                |
            from London


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 Girondin 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.

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.

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 Girondin and on the high seas.  They were, as he expressed
it to himself, "doing a bunk."

Therefore of necessity the Girondin 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.

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.

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 Girondin.  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.

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.

"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."

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

Having arranged with the driver to run up to the main road, wait
there until he heard four blasts on the Girondin's 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.

"Who is there?" asked Willis softly.

"Constable Jones, sir," the figure answered.  "Is that Inspector
Willis?  Sergeant Hobbs is here with the boats."

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 Girondin, but not enough to prevent him
overhearing any conversation which might be in progress.

"We have just got here this minute, sir," the sergeant said.  "I
hope we haven't kept you waiting."

"Just arrived myself," Willis returned.  "You have twelve picked
men?"

"Yes, sir."

"Armed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good.  I need not remind you all not to fire except as a last
resort.  What arrangements have you made for boarding?"

"We have a ladder with hooks at the top for catching on the taffrail."

"Your oars muffled?"

"Yes, sir."

"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?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then let us get under way."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

"And you saw him come out?" he was asking.

"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."

"And you knew him?"

"No, but I recognized him as having been around with that Excise
inspector, and I guessed he was on to something."

"Oui, oui.  Yes?" the Frenchman interrogated.

"Well, naturally I told the chief.  He knew who it was."

"Bien!  There is not - how do you say? - flies on Archer, n'est-ce
pas?  And then?"

"The chief guessed who it was from the captain's description."

Fox nodded his head at Beamish.  "You met him, eh, captain?"

"He stood me a drink," the big man answered, "but what he did it
for I don't know."

"But how did he get wise to the telephone?" Bulla rumbled.

"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."

Bulla chuckled fatly.

"As you say," he nodded at Raymond, "there ain't no flies on
Archer, what?"

"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."

At this moment a train passed going towards Hull.

"There's his train," Fox cried.  "He should be here soon."

"How long does it take to get from the station?" Raymond inquired.

"About fifteen minutes," Captain Beamish answered.  "We're time
enough making a move."

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.

"He hasn't come!" he cried excitedly.  "I watched at the station
and he didn't get out!"

Consternation showed on every face, and Beamish swore bitterly.
There was a variety of comments and conjectures.

"There's no other train?"

"Only the express.  It doesn't stop here, but it stops at Hassle
on notice to the guard."

"He may have missed the connection at Selby," Fox suggested.  "In
that case he would motor."

Beamish spoke authoritatively.

"I wish, Benson, you would go and ring up the Central and see if
there has been any message."

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.

"Trussed him up to the davit pole," he breathed in the inspector's
ear.  "He won't give no trouble."

Willis nodded contentedly.  That was one out of the way out of six,
and he had fourteen on his side.

Meanwhile the men in the cabin continued anxiously discussing their
leader's absence, until after a few minutes Beamish swore irritably.

"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."

Willis's hand closed on the sergeant's arm.

"Same thing again, but with three men," he whispered.

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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

Four blasts on the Girondin's 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.

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.

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 0 U for a sum that would have enabled the distiller
to sell the other up, and ruin his home and his future.  

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 foy 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.

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.

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.

On the Girondin 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.

On the Girondin was also found something over 700,000 pounds, mostly
in Brazilian notes, and Benson admitted later that the plan had been
to scuttle the Girondin 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.

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.

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!"





End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Pit Prop Syndicate, by Croft