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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Havoc, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Havoc
+
+Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+Release Date: August, 2000 [eBook #2287]
+[Most recently updated: November 30, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML version by Al Haines.
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Havoc
+
+by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+
+Contents
+
+ Chapter I CROWNED HEADS MEET
+ Chapter II ARTHUR DORWARD’S “SCOOP”
+ Chapter III “OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”
+ Chapter IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+ Chapter V “VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”
+ Chapter VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+ Chapter VII “WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”
+ Chapter VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+ Chapter IX ROBBING THE DEAD
+ Chapter X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+ Chapter XI VON BEHRLING’S FATE
+ Chapter XII BARON DE STREUSS’ PROPOSAL
+ Chapter XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE
+ Chapter XIV ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE
+ Chapter XV LAVERICK’S PARTNER FLEES
+ Chapter XVI THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"
+ Chapter XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+ Chapter XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+ Chapter XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+ Chapter XX LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED
+ Chapter XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’S VISIT
+ Chapter XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+ Chapter XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+ Chapter XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI’S
+ Chapter XXV JIM SHEPHERD’S SCARE
+ Chapter XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+ Chapter XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+ Chapter XXVIII LAVERICK’S NARROW ESCAPE
+ Chapter XXIX LASSEN’S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+ Chapter XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+ Chapter XXXI MISS LENEVEU’S MESSAGE
+ Chapter XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+ Chapter XXXIII LAVERICK’S ARREST
+ Chapter XXXIV MORRISON’S DISCLOSURE
+ Chapter XXXV BELLAMY’S SUCCESS
+ Chapter XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+ Chapter XXXVII THE PLOT TEAT FAILED
+ Chapter XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+ Laverick, with a single bound, was upon his assailant.
+ “Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?”
+ There was no doubt about her beauty
+ Zoe had fallen asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I CROWNED HEADS MEET
+
+
+Bellamy, King’s Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their
+spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. Both
+men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy’s face was
+dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. Failure was a
+new thing to him—a thing which those behind the great journals which he
+represented understood less, even, than he. Bellamy loved his country,
+and fear was gnawing at his heart.
+
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours broke
+into a tumult of welcoming voices. Down their thickly-packed lines the
+volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first, swelling and
+growing to a thunderous roar. Myriads of hats were suddenly torn from
+the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs waved from every
+window. It was a wonderful greeting, this.
+
+“The Czar on his way to the railway station,” Bellamy remarked.
+
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of
+soldiery—guardsmen of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant
+in their white uniforms, their flashing helmets. The small brougham
+with its great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked
+steel. Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat,
+thrust out his under-lip.
+
+“The Anointed of the Lord!” he muttered.
+
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices, muffled
+yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre which seems
+always to live in the cry of the multitude.
+
+“The Emperor,” declared Bellamy. “He goes to the West station.”
+
+The commotion had passed. The crowds in the street below were on the
+move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a murmur of
+voices. The two men turned from their window back into the room.
+Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained, nervous
+fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with a gesture
+of depression.
+
+“So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting,” he said, half to himself,
+half to Dorward. “It is over, and Europe is left to wonder.”
+
+“They were together for scarcely more than an hour,” Dorward murmured.
+
+“Long enough,” Bellamy answered. “That little room in the Palace, my
+friend, may yet become famous.”
+
+“If you and I could buy its secrets,” Dorward remarked, finally shaping
+a cigarette and lighting it, “we should be big bidders, I think. I’d
+give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable even a hundred
+words of their conversation.”
+
+“For the truth,” Bellamy said, “the whole truth, there could be no
+price sufficient. We made our effort in different directions, both of
+us. With infinite pains I planted—I may tell you this now that the
+thing is over—seven spies in the Palace. They have been of as much use
+as rabbits. I don’t believe that a single one of them got any further
+than the kitchens.”
+
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+
+“I guess they weren’t taking any chances up there,” he remarked. “There
+wasn’t a secretary in the room. Carstairs was nearly thrown out, and he
+had a permit to enter the Palace. The great staircase was held with
+soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the corridors.”
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+“We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months older,
+Dorward,” he declared.
+
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly. “You believe that?”
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?” he asked. “When
+Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can’t you
+believe it is across the North Sea that they point? Things have been
+shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe.”
+
+“You English are too nervous to live, nowadays,” Dorward declared
+impatiently. “I’d just like to know what they said about America.”
+
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+
+“Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you,” he said. “He can scarcely
+do more to show his regard for your country. He is giving you a special
+interview—you alone out of about two hundred journalists. Very likely
+he will give you an exact account of everything that transpired. First
+of all, he will assure you that this meeting has been brought about in
+the interests of peace. He will tell you that the welfare of your dear
+country is foremost in the thoughts of his master. He will assure you—”
+
+“Say, you’re jealous, my friend,” Dorward interrupted calmly. “I wonder
+what you’d give me for my ten minutes alone with the Chancellor, eh?”
+
+“If he told me the truth,” Bellamy asserted, “I’d give my life for it.
+For the sort of stuff you’re going to hear, I’d give nothing. Can’t you
+realize that for yourself, Dorward? You know the man—false as Hell but
+with the tongue of a serpent. He will grasp your hand; he will declare
+himself glad to speak through you to the great Anglo-Saxon races—to
+England and to his dear friends the Americans. He is only too pleased
+to have the opportunity of expressing himself candidly and openly.
+Peace is to be the watchword of the future. The white doves have
+hovered over the Palace. The rulers of the earth have met that the
+crash of arms may be stilled and that this terrible unrest which broods
+over Europe shall finally be broken up. They have pledged themselves
+hand in hand to work together for this object,—Russia, broken and
+humiliated, but with an immense army still available, whose only chance
+of holding her place among the nations is another and a successful war;
+Austria, on fire for the seaboard—Austria, to whom war would give the
+desire of her existence; Germany, with Bismarck’s last but secret words
+written in letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts
+of her rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor. Colonies! Expansion!
+Empire! Whose colonies, I wonder? Whose empire? Will he tell you that,
+my friend Dorward?”
+
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+
+“I guess he’ll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it,” he
+answered indifferently. “It’s all part of the game, of course. I am not
+exactly chicken enough to expect the truth. All the same, my message
+will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately after this
+wonderful meeting.”
+
+“He makes use of you,” Bellamy declared, “to throw dust into our eyes
+and yours.”
+
+“Even so,” Dorward admitted, “I don’t care so long as I get the copy.
+It’s good-bye, I suppose?”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow,” he said. “I can do no
+more good here. And you?”
+
+“After I’ve sent my cable I’m off to Belgrade for a week, at any rate,”
+Dorward answered. “I hear the women are forming rifle clubs all through
+Servia.”
+
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+
+“I know one who’ll want a place among the leaders,” he murmured.
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?”
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+“It’s a queer position hers, if you like,” he said. “All Vienna raves
+about her. They throng the Opera House every night to hear her sing,
+and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been known here.
+Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief of the Committee
+for National Defence. The jewels that are sent her anonymously go to
+the same place, all to buy arms to fight these people who worship her.
+I tell you, Dorward,” he added, rising to his feet and walking to the
+window, “the patriotism of these people is something we colder races
+scarcely understand. Perhaps it is because we have never dwelt under
+the shadow of a conqueror. If ever Austria is given a free hand, it
+will be no mere war upon which she enters,—it will be a carnage, an
+extermination!”
+
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+
+“Well,” he said, “I mustn’t keep His Excellency waiting. Good-bye, and
+cheer up, Bellamy! Your old country isn’t going to turn up her heels
+yet.”
+
+Out he went—long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face—a strange figure but yet a power. Bellamy
+remained. For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the time. He stood
+in front of the window, watching the dispersal of the crowds and the
+marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose movements he followed with
+critical interest, for he, too, had been in the service. He had still a
+military bearing,—tall, and with complexion inclined to be dusky, a
+small black moustache, dark eyes, a silent mouth,—a man of many
+reserves. Even his intimates knew little of him. Nevertheless, his was
+the reticence which befitted well his profession.
+
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters. He had just finished
+when there came a sharp tap at the door. Before he could open his lips
+some one had entered. He heard the soft swirl of draperies and turned
+sharply round, then sprang to his feet and held out both his hands.
+There was expression in his face now—as much as he ever suffered to
+appear there.
+
+“Louise!” he exclaimed. “What good fortune!”
+
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a more
+than common intimacy. Then she threw herself into an easy-chair and
+raised her thick veil. Bellamy looked at her for a moment in sorrowful
+silence. There were violet lines underneath her beautiful eyes, her
+cheeks were destitute of any color. There was an abandonment of grief
+about her attitude which moved him. She sat as one broken-spirited, in
+whom the power of resistance was dead.
+
+“It is over, then,” she said softly, “this meeting. The word has been
+spoken.”
+
+He came and stood by her side.
+
+“As yet,” he reminded her, “we do not know what that word may be.”
+
+She shook her head mournfully.
+
+“Who can doubt?” she exclaimed. “For myself, I feel it in the air! I
+can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city! I can hear
+it in the peals of those awful bells! You know nothing? You have heard
+nothing?”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“I did all that was humanly possible,” he said, dropping his voice. “An
+Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity. I filled the
+Palace with spies, but they hadn’t a dog’s chance. There wasn’t even a
+secretary present. The Czar, the two Emperors and the Chancellor,—not
+another soul was in the room.”
+
+“If only Von Behrling had been taken!” she exclaimed. “He was there in
+reserve, I know, as stenographer. I have but to lift my hand and it is
+enough. I would have had the truth from him, whatever it cost me.”
+
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully. It was not for nothing that the
+Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful woman
+in the world. He frowned slightly at her last words, for he loved her.
+
+“Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold,” he said
+sharply.
+
+She moved her head and looked up at him. She was leaning a little
+forward now, her chin resting upon her hands. Something about the lines
+of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal crouching
+for a spring. She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving, and he could
+guess at the passion within. With purpose he spoke to set it loose.
+
+“You sing to-night?” he asked.
+
+“Before God, no!” she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice. “I sing no more in this accursed city!”
+
+“There will be a revolution,” Bellamy remarked. “I see that the whole
+city is placarded with notices. It is to be a gala night at the Opera.
+The royal party is to be present.”
+
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+
+“What do I care—I—I—for their gala night! If I were like Samson, if I
+could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and bury them all in
+its ruins, I would do it!”
+
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+
+“Dear Louise, it is useless, this. You do everything that can be done
+for your country.”
+
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+
+“My friend David,” she said, “you do not understand. None of you
+English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of this
+black fear, to feel a tyrant’s hand come creeping out, to know that
+your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be shed, and
+shed in vain. To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it is worse, this,
+than murder,—a worse crime than his who stains the soul of a poor
+innocent girl! It is a sin against nature herself!”
+
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+
+“Forgive me,” she murmured, “I am overwrought. I have borne up against
+this thing so long. I can do no more good here. I come to tell you that
+I go away till the time comes. I go to your London. They want me to
+sing for them there. I shall do it.”
+
+“You will break your engagement?”
+
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+
+“I am Idiale,” she declared. “I keep no engagement if I do not choose.
+I will sing no more to this people whom I hate. My friend David, I have
+suffered enough. Their applause I loathe—their covetous eyes as they
+watch me move about the stage—oh, I could strike them all dead! They
+come to me, these young Austrian noblemen, as though I were already one
+of a conquered race. I keep their diamonds but I destroy their
+messages. Their jewels go to my chorus girls or to arm my people. But
+no one of them has had a kind word from me save where there has been
+something to be gained. Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises.
+No Austrian shall ever touch my lips—I have sworn it!”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Yes,” he assented, “they call you cold here in the capital! Even in
+the Palace—”
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+“It is finished!” she declared. “I sing no more. I have sent word to
+the Opera House. I came here to be in hiding for a while. They will
+search for me everywhere. To-night or to-morrow I leave for England.”
+
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+
+“I am not sure that you are wise,” he said. “You take it too much for
+granted that the end has come.”
+
+“And do you not yourself believe it?” she demanded. He hesitated.
+
+“As yet there is no proof,” he reminded her.
+
+“Proof!”
+
+She sat upright in her chair. Her hands thrust him from her, her bosom
+heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+
+“Proof!” she cried. “What do you suppose, then, that these wolves have
+plotted for? What else do you suppose could be Austria’s share of the
+feast? Couldn’t you hear our fate in the thunder of their voices when
+that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity? We are
+doomed—betrayed! You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, a
+blood-stained page of history for all time. The world would tell you
+that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings. It is not true.
+My friend David, it is not true. It is a more terrible thing, this
+which is coming. Body and soul we are to perish.”
+
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on
+hers. It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he loved.
+
+“Dear Louise,” he said, “after all, this is profitless. There may yet
+be compromises.”
+
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not pass
+out of her face or tone.
+
+“Compromises!” she repeated. “Do you believe, then, that we are like
+those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror because their
+hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered themselves passively
+to be led into captivity? My country can be conquered in one way, and
+one way only,—not until her sons, ay, and her daughters too, have
+perished, can these people rule. They will come to an empty and a
+stricken country—a country red with blood, desolate, with blackened
+houses and empty cities. The horror of it! Think, my friend David, the
+horror of it!”
+
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+
+“You take too much for granted,” he declared. “England, at any rate, is
+not yet a conquered race. And there is France—Italy, too, if she is
+wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient enemy.”
+
+“It is the might of the world which threatens,” she murmured. “Your
+country may defend herself, but here she is powerless. Already it has
+been proved. Last year you declared yourself our friend—you and even
+Russia. Of what avail was it? Word came from Berlin and you were
+powerless.”
+
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man
+demented. For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but this
+man was surely a stranger! He was hatless, dishevelled, wild. A dull
+streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes were on
+fire.
+
+“Bellamy!” he cried. “Bellamy!”
+
+Words failed him suddenly. He leaned against the table, breathless,
+panting heavily.
+
+“For God’s sake, man,” Bellamy began,—
+
+“Alone!” Dorward interrupted. “I must see you alone! I have news!”
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose. She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+
+“You will come to me, or telephone,” she whispered. “So?”
+
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure of
+his fingers. Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II ARTHUR DORWARD’S “SCOOP”
+
+
+“What’s wrong, old man?” Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a
+siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He
+tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and faced
+his companion. “Bellamy,” he ordered, “lock the door.”
+
+Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his head
+in the Chancellor’s presence—had made some absurd attempt to gain the
+knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+
+“Bellamy,” Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little out
+of breath, “I guess I’ve had the biggest slice of luck that was ever
+dealt out to a human being. If only I can get safe out of this city, I
+tell you I’ve got the greatest scoop that living man ever handled.”
+
+“You don’t mean that—”
+
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+
+“It’s the most amazing thing that ever happened,” he declared, “but
+I’ve got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the
+Chancellor’s own handwriting.”
+
+“Got what?”
+
+“Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,”
+Dorward replied.
+
+Bellamy’s expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+
+“You can’t mean this, Dorward!” he exclaimed. “You may have
+something—just what the Chancellor wants you to print. You’re not
+supposing for an instant that you’ve got the whole truth?”
+
+Dorward’s smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a
+conqueror.
+
+“Here in my pocket,” he declared, striking his chest, “in the
+Chancellor’s own handwriting. I tell you I’ve got the original verbatim
+copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this afternoon
+between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and the Emperor of
+Germany. I’ve got it word for word as the Chancellor took it down. I’ve
+got their decision. I’ve got their several undertakings.”
+
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb. He looked toward the door and
+back into his friend’s face aglow with triumph. Then his power of
+speech returned.
+
+“Do you mean to say that you stole it?”
+
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+
+“Not I! I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to me
+with his own hands, willingly,—pressed it upon me. No, don’t scoff!” he
+went on quickly. “Listen! This is a genuine thing. The Chancellor’s
+mad. He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace. It will be in all
+the evening papers. You will hear the boys shouting it in the streets
+within a few minutes. Don’t interrupt and I’ll tell you the whole
+truth. You can believe me or not, as you like. It makes no odds. I
+arrived punctually and was shown up into the anteroom. Even from there
+I could hear loud voices in the inner chamber and I knew that something
+was up. Presently a little fellow came out to me—a dark-bearded chap
+with gold-rimmed glasses. He was very polite, introduced himself as the
+Chancellor’s physician, regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was
+unwell and could see no one,—the excitement and hard work of the last
+few days had knocked him out. Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly
+as I could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner
+room was thrown open. The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold.
+There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as
+parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled as
+though he had been standing upon his head. He began to talk to the
+physician in German. I didn’t understand him until he began to
+swear,—then it was wonderful! In the end he brushed them all away and,
+taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room. For a long time
+he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I was wondering how on
+earth to bring the conversation round to the things I wanted to know
+about. Then, all of a sudden, he turned to me and seemed to remember
+who I was and what I wanted. ‘Ah!’ he said, ‘you are Dorward, the
+American journalist. I remember you now. Lock the door.’ I obeyed him
+pretty quick, for I had noticed they were mighty uneasy outside, and I
+was afraid they’d be disturbing us every moment. ‘Come and sit down,’
+he ordered. I did so at once. ‘You’re a sensible fellow,’ he declared.
+‘To-day every one is worrying me. They think that I am not well. It is
+foolish. I am quite well. Who would not be well on such a day as this?’
+I told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and he
+nodded and seemed pleased. ‘You have come to hear the truth about the
+meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of Germany?’ he
+asked. ‘That’s so,’ I told him. ‘America’s more than a little
+interested in these things, and I want to know what to tell her.’ Then
+he leaned across the table. ‘My young friend,’ he said, ‘I like you.
+You are straightforward. You speak plainly and you do not worry me. It
+is good. You shall tell your country what it is that we have planned,
+what the things are that are coming. Yours is a great and wise country.
+When they know the truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way
+off and that the things which happen there are really no concern of
+theirs.’ ‘You are right,’ I assured him,—‘dead right. Treat us openly,
+that’s all we ask.’ ‘Shall I not do that, my young friend?’ he
+answered. ‘Now look, I give you this.’ He fumbled through all his
+pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends
+with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two
+tigers facing each other. He looked toward the door cautiously, and
+there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have. ‘Here
+it is,’ he whispered, ‘written with my own hand. This will tell you
+exactly what passed this afternoon. It will tell you our plans. It will
+tell you of the share which my master and the other two are taking.
+Button it up safely,’ he said, ‘and, whatever you do, do not let them
+know outside that you have got it. Between you and me,’ he went on,
+leaning across the table, ‘something seems to have happened to them all
+to-day. There’s my old doctor there. He is worrying all the time, but
+he himself is not well. I can see it whenever he comes near me.’ I
+nodded as though I understood and the Chancellor tapped his forehead
+and grinned. Then I got up as casually as I could, for I was terribly
+afraid that he wouldn’t let me go. We shook hands, and I tell you his
+fingers were like pieces of burning coal. Just as I was moving, some
+one knocked at the door. Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair
+over, threw a paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that
+I couldn’t follow him. I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor
+there. I contrived to look as frightened as possible. ‘His Highness is
+not well enough to talk to me,’ I whispered. ‘You had better look after
+him.’ I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall. Then I closed the door
+and slipped away as quietly as I could—and here I am.”
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+
+“My God, but this is wonderful!” he muttered. “How long is it since you
+left the Palace?”
+
+“About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour,” Dorward answered.
+
+“They’ll find it out at once,” declared the other. “They’ll miss the
+paper. Perhaps he’ll tell them himself that he has given it to you.
+Don’t let us run any risks, Dorward. Tear it open. Let us know the
+truth, at any rate. If you have to part with the document, we can
+remember its contents. Out with it, man, quick! They may be here at any
+moment.”
+
+Dorward drew a few steps back. Then he shook his head.
+
+“I guess not,” he said firmly.
+
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+
+“What do you mean?” he exclaimed. “You’re not going to keep it to
+yourself? You know what it means to me—to England?”
+
+“Your old country can look after herself pretty well,” Dorward
+declared. “Anyhow, she’ll have to take her chance. I am not here as a
+philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I’ll part to nobody
+with the biggest thing that’s ever come into any man’s bands.”
+
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+
+“What are you going to do with it?” he asked quickly.
+
+“I tell you I’m off out of the country to-night,” Dorward declared. “I
+shall head for England. Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will
+be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his hand.
+We’ll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too.”
+
+Bellamy’s manner was perfectly quiet—too quiet to be altogether
+natural. His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+
+“Dorward,” he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the door,
+“you don’t realize what you’re up against. This sort of thing is new to
+you. You haven’t a dog’s chance of leaving Vienna alive with that in
+your pocket. If you trust yourself in the Orient Express to-night,
+you’ll never be allowed to cross the frontier. By this time they know
+that the packet is missing; they know, too, that you are the only man
+who could have it, whether the Chancellor has told them the truth or
+not. Open it at once so that we get some good out of it. Then we’ll go
+round to the Embassy. We can slip out by the back way, perhaps.
+Remember I have spent my life in the service, and I tell you that
+there’s no other place in the city where your life is worth a snap of
+the fingers but at your Embassy or mine. Open the packet, man.”
+
+“I think not,” Dorward answered firmly. “I am an American citizen. I
+have broken no laws and done no one any harm. If there’s any
+slaughtering about, I guess they’ll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward.... Don’t be a fool, man!”
+
+He took a quick step backward,—he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy’s revolver.
+
+“Dorward,” the latter exclaimed, “I can’t help it! Yours is only a
+personal ambition—I stand for my country. Share the knowledge of that
+packet with me or I shall shoot.”
+
+“Then shoot and be d—d to you!” Dorward declared fiercely. “This is my
+show, not yours. You and your country can go to—”
+
+He broke off without finishing his sentence. There was a thunderous
+knocking at the door. The two men looked at one another for a moment,
+speechless. Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced the revolver
+in his pocket.
+
+“You’ve thrown away our chance,” he said bitterly.
+
+The knocking was repeated. When Bellamy with a shrug of the shoulders
+answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered. They saluted
+Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room.
+
+“We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!” one exclaimed.
+“He was here but a moment ago.”
+
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door. He had had too much experience in
+such matters to attempt any prevarication. The three men crossed the
+room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear. He heard a cry of
+disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door. The inner room
+was empty!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III “OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”
+
+
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+
+“There is news!” she exclaimed. “I can see it in your face.”
+
+“Yes,” Bellamy answered, “there is news! That is why I have come. Where
+can we talk?”
+
+She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on to a
+smooth green lawn. She took his arm.
+
+“Come outside with me,” she said. “I am shut up here because I will not
+see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera House. An
+envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away.”
+
+“You mean to keep your word, then?”
+
+“Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It is
+so.”
+
+Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by high
+gray stone walls. They were secure here, at least, from eavesdroppers.
+She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding up the skirts of
+her loose gown with her other hand.
+
+“I have spoken to you,” he said, “of Dorward, the American journalist.”
+
+She nodded.
+
+“Of course,” she assented. “You told me that the Chancellor had
+promised him an interview for to-day.”
+
+“Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.”
+
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+
+“The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The latest
+telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill.”
+
+“It is quite true,” Bellamy declared. “What I am going to tell you is
+surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached the
+Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were trying
+to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard Dorward’s
+voice and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad—on the verge of a
+collapse—and he handed over to Dorward his notes, and a verbatim report
+of all that passed at the Palace this morning.”
+
+She looked at him incredulously.
+
+“My dear David!” she exclaimed.
+
+“It is amazing,” he admitted, “but it is the truth. I know it for a
+fact. The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what he was
+doing.”
+
+“Where is it?” she asked quickly. “You have seen it?”
+
+“Dorward would not give it up,” he said bitterly. “While we argued in
+our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived. Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs. He spoke of trying to
+catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever let
+him leave the city.”
+
+“It is wonderful, this,” she murmured softly. “What are you going to
+do?”
+
+“Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other. I would have
+killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe that
+the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us from
+disaster. To know how far each is pledged, and from which direction the
+first blow is to come, would be our salvation.”
+
+“I cannot understand,” she said, “why he should have refused to share
+his knowledge with you. He is an American—it is almost the same thing
+as being an Englishman. And you are friends,—I am sure that you have
+helped him often.”
+
+“It was a matter of vanity—simply cursed vanity,” Bellamy answered. “It
+would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern times for
+him to have printed that document, word for word, in his paper. He
+fights for his own hand alone.”
+
+“And you?” she whispered.
+
+“He will have to reckon with me,” Bellamy declared. “I know that he is
+going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be at
+his heels.”
+
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+
+“I, too,” she announced. “I come with you, my friend. I do no more good
+here, and they worry my life out all the time. I come to sing in London
+at Covent Garden. I have agreements there which only await my
+signature. We will go together; is it not so?”
+
+“Very well,” he answered, “only remember that my movements must depend
+very largely upon Dorward’s. The train leaves at eight o’clock, station
+time. I have already a coupe reserved.”
+
+“I come with you,” she murmured. “I am very weary of this city.”
+
+They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around the
+gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with here and
+there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst the wealth of
+foliage. The villa had once belonged to a royal favorite, and the
+grounds had been its chief glory. They reached a sheltered seat and sat
+down. A few yards away a tiny waterfall came tumbling over the rocks
+into a deep pool. They were hidden from the windows of the villa by the
+boughs of a drooping chestnut tree. Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon
+the lips.
+
+“Ours is a strange courtship, Louise,” he whispered softly.
+
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his kiss,
+but she drew a little further away from him.
+
+“Ah! my dear friend,” looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+“courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is nothing
+to hope for, nothing beyond.”
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+“Never believe that,” he begged. “These days are dark enough, Heaven
+knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our turn may come.”
+
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed to
+make a different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened though he
+was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses. He kissed her hand
+passionately and she shivered.
+
+“We must not talk of these things,” she said. “We must not think of
+them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must go in. I
+must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night.”
+
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her
+lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve with
+which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, too.
+They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked a red
+rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.
+
+“If we had no dreams,” she said softly, “life would not be possible.
+Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together.”
+
+He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they lapsed
+into sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished.
+
+“You had better leave,” she told him, “by the garden gate. There are
+the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I are not
+seen too much together.”
+
+“Till this evening,” he whispered, as he turned away. “I shall be at
+the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna. If
+he goes, it may be an eventful journey.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+
+
+Dorward, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe
+rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage and
+wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as to the
+sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his apprenticeship in
+his own country, and his name had become a household word owing to his
+brilliant success as war correspondent in the Russo-Japanese War. His
+experience of European countries, however, was limited. After the more
+obvious dangers with which he had grappled and which he had overcome
+during his adventurous career, he was disposed to be a little
+contemptuous of the subtler perils at which his friend Bellamy had
+plainly hinted. He had made his escape from the hotel without any very
+serious difficulty, and since that time, although he had taken no
+particular precautions, he had remained unmolested. From his own point
+of view, therefore, it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no
+longer have any misgiving as to his personal safety. Arrest as a thief
+was the worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have
+evaded.
+
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a
+somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself out
+with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the great
+triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there and look out
+upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were now fast
+descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured himself.
+Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he started almost
+like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he recognized his visitor
+was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered and dropped into a seat by his
+side.
+
+“Wasting your time, aren’t you?” the latter remarked, pointing to the
+growing heap of cigarettes.
+
+“Well, I guess not,” Dorward answered. “I can smoke this lot before we
+reach London.”
+
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+
+“I don’t think that you will,” he said.
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“You are such a sanguine person,” Bellamy sighed. “Personally, I do not
+think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching London at
+all.”
+
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+
+“And why not?” he asked.
+
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the
+gesture irritating.
+
+“You’ve got espionage on the brain, my dear friend,” he declared dryly.
+“I suppose it’s the result of your profession. I may not know so much
+about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think that an American
+citizen traveling with his passport on a train like this is moderately
+safe, especially when he’s not above a scrap by way of taking care of
+himself.”
+
+“You’re a plucky fellow,” remarked Bellamy.
+
+“I don’t see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I shouldn’t
+have been surprised if they’d tried to fake up some sort of charge
+against me, but anyhow they didn’t. Guess they’d find it a pretty tall
+order trying to interfere with an American citizen.”
+
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+
+“I suppose you’re not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?” he said. “You
+really believe what you say?”
+
+“Why in thunder shouldn’t I?” Dorward asked.
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+“My dear Dorward,” he said, “it is amazing to me that a man of your
+experience should talk and behave like a baby. You’ve taken some notice
+of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?”
+
+“I’ve seen a few of them,” Dorward answered carelessly. “What about
+them?”
+
+“Nothing much,” Bellamy declared, “except that there are, to my certain
+knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of Austria in the
+next coupe but one, and at least four or five of their subordinates
+somewhere on board the train.”
+
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his friend
+keenly.
+
+“I guess you’re trying to scare me, Bellamy,” he remarked.
+
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an utterly
+altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost solemn.
+
+“Dorward,” he said, “upon my honor, I assure you that what I have told
+you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the seriousness of
+your position. When you left the Palace with that paper in your pocket,
+you were, to all intents and purposes, a doomed man. Your passport and
+your American citizenship count for absolutely nothing. I have come in
+to warn you that if you have any last messages to leave, you had better
+give them to me now.”
+
+“This is a pretty good bluff you’re putting up!” Dorward exclaimed
+contemptuously. “The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you want
+me to break the seal of this document and let you read it.”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“It is too late for that, Dorward,” he said. “If the seal were broken,
+they’d very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn’t help the work I
+have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my forehead on the
+railway track.”
+
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+
+“What are you here for, anyway, then?” he asked.
+
+“Well, frankly, not to argue with you,” Bellamy answered. “As a matter
+of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, old man. You
+can’t say that I didn’t give you good advice. I am bound to play for my
+own hand, though, in this matter, and if I get any benefit at all out
+of my journey, it will be after some regrettable accident has happened
+to you.”
+
+“Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!” Dorward exclaimed.
+“I’ve had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, but if
+these fellows really are on board, they’ll think twice before they
+meddle with me.”
+
+“On the contrary,” Bellamy assured him, “they will not take the trouble
+to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to what they are
+going to do. However, that’s finished. I have nothing more to say.”
+
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+
+“Look here, Bellamy,” he said, turning abruptly round, “supposing I
+change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let you
+read it over with me?”
+
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+
+“You must not think of it!” he exclaimed. “You would simply write my
+death-warrant. Don’t allude to that matter again. I have risked enough
+in coming in here to sit with you.”
+
+“Then, for Heaven’s sake, don’t stop any longer!” Dorward said
+irritably. “You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk. In an
+hour’s time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We’ll breakfast
+together in the morning, if you like.”
+
+Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies and
+sodas which Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler to his lips
+and set it down again.
+
+“Forgive me,” he said, “I do not think that I am thirsty.”
+
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his eyes.
+Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him alone. As he
+passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the corridor.
+
+“You have seen Von Behrling?” he whispered. She nodded.
+
+“He is in that coupe, number 7, alone,” she said. “I invited him to
+come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions who
+watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later.”
+
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy
+bending over her.
+
+“Louise,” he whispered, “it is Von Behrling who will take possession of
+the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be safer to
+go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling again. Do
+all you can to persuade him to come to London,—all you can, Louise,
+remember.”
+
+“So!” she whispered. “I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in the
+corridor. It is hot here.”
+
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train was
+rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. For
+some time he sat in his own compartment, listening. The voices whose
+muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but once he
+fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry. In his
+heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have disappeared.
+The man within him was hard to subdue. He longed to make his way to
+Dorward’s side, to interfere in this terribly unequal struggle, yet he
+made no movement. Dorward was a man and a friend, but what was a life
+more or less? It was to a greater cause that he was pledged. Towards
+three o’clock he lay down on his bed and slept....
+
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The
+man’s hands were trembling.
+
+“Where are we?” Bellamy asked sleepily.
+
+“Near Munich, Monsieur,” the man answered. “Monsieur noticed, perhaps,
+that we stopped for some time in the night?”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“I sleep soundly,” he said. “I heard nothing.”
+
+“There has been an accident,” the man declared. “An American gentleman
+who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and became very
+drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line.”
+
+Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the less it
+was an awful thing, this.
+
+“You are sure that he is dead?” he asked.
+
+The man was very sure indeed.
+
+“There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir,” he said. “He
+examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous.”
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. The
+next move was for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V “VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”
+
+
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he came
+to the coupé which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. Assured
+that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of the door and
+entered. Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown, drinking her
+coffee. He held up his finger and she greeted him only with a nod.
+
+“Forgive me, Louise,” he whispered, “I dared not knock, and I was
+obliged to see you at once.”
+
+She smiled.
+
+“It is of no consequence,” she said. “One is always prepared here. The
+porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs—they all enter. Is anything
+wrong?”
+
+“It has happened,” he answered.
+
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+
+“Poor fellow!” she murmured.
+
+“He simply sat still and asked for it,” Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone. “He would not be warned. I could have
+saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason.”
+
+“He was what you call pig-headed,” she remarked.
+
+“He has paid the penalty,” Bellamy continued. “Now listen to me,
+Louise. I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling’s, and I feel
+sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London, all three
+of them.”
+
+“Who is there on the train?” she demanded.
+
+“Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and
+Adolf Kahn,” Bellamy answered. “Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling
+separately. Von Behrling has the packet. The others form a sort of
+cordon around him.”
+
+“But why,” she asked, “does he go on to London? Why not return to
+Vienna?”
+
+“For one thing,” Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, “they are afraid
+of me. Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward will be
+talked about. They do not want to seem in any way implicated. To return
+from any one of these stations down the line would create suspicion.”
+
+She nodded.
+
+“Well?”
+
+“I am going to leave the train at the next stop,” he continued. “I find
+that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin. From there I
+shall come on to London as quickly as I can. You know the address of my
+rooms?”
+
+She nodded.
+
+“15, Fitzroy Street.”
+
+“When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I can
+see you. While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling almost
+inaccessible. Directly I have gone it will be different. Play with him
+carefully. He should not be difficult. To tell you the truth, I am
+rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a mission like this. He
+was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short while ago, and I know that
+he was hurt at not being allowed to attend the conference. The others
+will watch him closely, but they cannot overhear everything that passes
+between you two. Von Behrling is a poor man. You will know how to make
+him wish he were rich.”
+
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up. She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+“It is a slender chance, David,” she remarked. “Von Behrling is a
+little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with me,
+but I do not think that he would sell his country. Then, too, see how
+he will be watched. I do not suppose that they will leave us alone for
+a moment.”
+
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural
+force.
+
+“Louise,” he declared earnestly, “you don’t quite realize Von
+Behrling’s special weakness and your extraordinary strength. You know
+that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know what that
+means. I have heard men talk about you till one would think that they
+were children. You have something of that art or guile—call it what you
+will—which passes from you through a man’s blood to his brain, and
+carries him indeed to Heaven—but carries him there mad. Louise, don’t
+be angry with me for what I say. Remember that I know my sex. I know
+you, too, and I trust you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane,
+honorable man into what you will, without suffering even his lips to
+touch your fingers. Von Behrling has that packet in his possession.
+When I come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand
+pounds in Bank of England notes. With that Von Behrling might fancy
+himself on his way to America—with you.”
+
+She closed her eyes for a moment. Perhaps she wished to keep hidden
+from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain. He
+wished to make use of her—of her, the woman whom he loved. Then she
+remembered that it was for her country and his, and the anger passed.
+
+“But I am afraid,” she said softly, “that the moment they reach London
+this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy.”
+
+“Before then,” Bellamy declared, “Von Behrling must not know whether he
+is in heaven or upon earth. It will not be opened in London. He can
+make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which he robbed
+Dorward. Oh! it is a difficult game, I know, but it is worth playing.
+Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators. It is your
+country’s very existence that is threatened. It is for her sake as well
+as for England.”
+
+“I shall do my best,” she murmured, looking into his face. “Oh, you may
+be sure that I shall do my best!”
+
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away. The electric
+lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light
+dim. Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to leave
+at Munich. Then he rang for the porter.
+
+“I am getting out at the next stop,” he announced.
+
+“Very good, Monsieur,” the man answered.
+
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+
+“You are a Frenchman?”
+
+“It is so, Monsieur!”
+
+“I may be wrong,” Bellamy continued slowly, “but I believe that if I
+asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians you
+would tell me the truth.”
+
+The man’s gesture was inimitable. Englishmen to him were obviously the
+salt of the earth. Germans and Austrians—why, they existed as the
+cattle in the fields—nothing more. Bellamy gave him a sovereign.
+
+“There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna,” he said. “They are
+in numbers ten and eleven.”
+
+“But yes, Monsieur!” the man assented. “As yet I think they are fast
+asleep. Not one of them has rung for his coffee.”
+
+“Where are they booked for?”
+
+“For London, Monsieur.”
+
+“You do not happen,” Bellamy continued, “to have heard them say
+anything about leaving the train before then?”
+
+“On the contrary, sir,” the porter answered, “two of the gentlemen have
+been inquiring about the boat across to Dover. They were very anxious
+to travel by a turbine.”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Thank you very much. You will be so discreet as to forget that I have
+asked you any questions concerning them. As for me, if one would know,
+I am on my way to Berlin.”
+
+The bell rang. The man looked outside and put his head once more in
+Bellamy’s coupe.
+
+“It is one of the gentleman who has rung,” he declared. “If anything is
+said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once to Monsieur.”
+
+“You will do well,” Bellamy answered.
+
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+
+“Two of the gentlemen, sir,” he announced, “are undressed and in their
+pyjamas. They have ordered their breakfast to be served after we leave
+Munich.”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Further, sir,” the man continued, coming a little closer, “one of them
+asked me whether the English gentleman—meaning you—was going through to
+London or not. I told them that you were getting out at the next
+station and that I thought you were going to Berlin.”
+
+“Quite right,” Bellamy said. “If they ask any more questions, let me
+know.”
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were
+traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective toilette.
+At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked down the
+corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with his
+companions in one of the compartments.
+
+“Ah, it is indeed you, then!” she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+
+He rose to his feet and came out. Tall, with a fair moustache and blue
+eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to be proud
+of the fact.
+
+“You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?” he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+
+“Excellently,” replied Louise. “Will you not take me in to luncheon?
+The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone. It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one’s maids.”
+
+“I am honored,” he declared. “Will you permit me for one moment?”
+
+He turned and spoke to his companions. Louise saw at once that they
+were protesting vigorously. She saw, too, that Von Behrling only became
+more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry. She moved a few steps
+on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the window. He joined
+her almost immediately.
+
+“Come,” he said, “they will be serving luncheon in five minutes. We
+will go and take a good place.”
+
+“Your friends, I am afraid,” she remarked, “did not like your leaving
+them. They are not very gallant.”
+
+“To me it is indifferent,” he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache. “Streuss there is an old fool. He has always some fancy in
+his brain.”
+
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+
+“You are your own master, I suppose,” she said. “The Baron is used to
+command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets. There are many people
+who find him too autocratic.”
+
+“He means well,” Von Behrling asserted. “It is his manner only which is
+against him.”
+
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across the
+white cloth.
+
+“If this is not Sachers,” she said, “it is at least more pleasant than
+lunching alone.”
+
+“I can assure you, Mademoiselle,” he declared, with a vigorous twirl of
+his moustache, “that I find it so.”
+
+“Always gallant,” she murmured. “Tell me, is it true of you—the news
+which I heard just before I left Vienna? Have you really resigned your
+post with the Chancellor?”
+
+“You heard that?” he asked slowly.
+
+She hesitated for a moment.
+
+“I heard something of the sort,” she admitted. “To be quite candid with
+you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a change on
+his own account.”
+
+“So that is what they say, is it? What do they know about it—these
+gossipers?”
+
+“You were not allowed at the conference yesterday,” she remarked.
+
+“No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing.”
+
+“Ah! well,” she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape, “a
+year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me wild. I
+should not have been content until I had learned somehow or other what
+had transpired. Lately, I am afraid, my interest in my country seems to
+have grown a trifle cold. Perhaps because I have lived in Vienna I have
+learned to look at things from your point of view. Then, too, the world
+is a selfish place, and our own little careers are, after all, the most
+important part of it.”
+
+Von Behrling eyed her curiously.
+
+“It seems strange to hear you talk like this,” he remarked.
+
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+
+“Oh! I still love my country, in a way,” she answered, “and I still
+hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with me, I
+must admit. If we had two lives, I would give one to my country and
+keep one for myself. Since we have only one, I am afraid, after all,
+that I am human, and I want to taste some of its pleasures.”
+
+“Some of its pleasures,” Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily. “Ah,
+that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!”
+
+“Not so easy as it may appear,” she answered. “One needs many things to
+get the best out of life. One needs wealth and one needs love, and one
+needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy.”
+
+“It is true,” Von Behrling admitted,—“quite true.”
+
+“If one is not careful,” she continued, “one lets the years slip by.
+They can never come again. If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance.”
+
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom. He was twenty-five years old,
+and his income barely paid for his uniforms. Of late, this fact had
+materially interfered with his enjoyments.
+
+“It is strange,” he said, “that you should talk like this. You have the
+world at your feet, Mademoiselle. You have only to throw the
+handkerchief.”
+
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile. The bluest eyes in the world grew
+softer as they looked into his. Von Behrling felt his cheeks burn.
+
+“My friend, it is not so easy,” she murmured. “Tell me,” she continued,
+“why it is that you have so little self-confidence. Is it because you
+are poor?”
+
+“I am a beggar,”—bitterly.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+“Well,” she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought,
+“if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you
+have compensations.”
+
+“But I have none!” he declared. “You should know that—you,
+Mademoiselle. Life for me means one thing and one thing only!”
+
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth. Von
+Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+
+“We talk too intimately,” she whispered, as the people began to file in
+to take their places. “After luncheon we will take our coffee in my
+coupe. Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters. I have a
+headache. Will you order me some champagne? It is a terrible thing, I
+know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels, what can one
+do? Here come your bodyguard. They look at me as though I had stolen
+you away. Remember we take our coffee together afterwards. I am bored
+with so much traveling, and I look to you to amuse me.”
+
+Von Behrling’s journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts. The
+kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself to have
+transported him into a seventh heaven. On the other hand, he had
+trouble with his friends. Streuss drew him on one side at Ostend, and
+talked to him plainly.
+
+“Von Behrling,” he said, “I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and myself.
+Wine and women and pleasure are good things. We two, we love them,
+perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for them, and it is
+not now. Our mission is too serious.”
+
+“Well, well!” Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, “what is all this?
+What do I do wrong? What have you to say against me? If I talk with
+Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for me to
+do. Would you have us three—you and Kahn and myself—travel arm in arm
+and speak never a word to our fellow passengers? Would you have us
+proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret mission, carrying a
+secret document, to obtain which we have already committed a crime?
+These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss. It is better that we behave
+like ordinary mortals. You talk foolishly, Streuss!”
+
+“It is you,” the older man declared, “who play the fool, and we will
+not have it! Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot. She is the
+friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman. She and he were together last
+night.”
+
+“Bellamy is not even on the train,” Von Behrling protested. “He went
+north to Berlin. That itself is the proof that they know nothing. If he
+had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that he would have
+stayed with us?”
+
+“Bellamy is very clever,” Streuss answered. “There are too many of us
+to deal with,—he knew that. Mademoiselle Idiale is clever, too.
+Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through false
+women.
+
+“What is it that you want?” Von Behrling demanded.
+
+“That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle.”
+
+Von Behrling drew himself up. After all, it was he who was noble;
+Streuss was little more than a policeman.
+
+“I refuse!” he exclaimed. “Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am in
+charge of this expedition. It was I who planned it. It was I”—he
+dropped his voice and touched his chest—“who struck the first blow for
+its success. I think that we need talk no more,” he went on. “I welcome
+your companionship. It makes for strength that we travel together. But
+for the rest, the enterprise has been mine, the success so far has been
+mine, and the termination of it shall be mine. Watch me, if you like.
+Stay with me and see that I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not
+able to take care of myself, but do not ask me to behave like an
+idiot.”
+
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly. The siren was already blowing from
+the steamer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+
+
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, wrapped
+in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left the harbor,
+and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling found her there,
+but not before they were nearly half-way across. She beckoned him to
+her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the darkness.
+
+“You are not looking after me, my friend,” she declared. “By myself I
+had to find this place.”
+
+Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic.
+
+“It is those idiots who are with me,” he said. “All the time they
+worry.”
+
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+
+“I know what it is,” she said. “You have secrets which you are taking
+to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. Tell me,
+is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy.”
+
+Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her.
+
+“Sit down on the deck,” she continued, “and lean against the rail. You
+are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come underneath my
+rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Is it without reason?” he asked. “Would not any one be afraid of
+you—if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets? I
+wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger.”
+
+She laughed at him softly.
+
+“Ah, no!” she said. “Men are not like that, nowadays. They talk and
+they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman’s sake.”
+
+“You believe that?” he asked, in a low tone.
+
+“I do, indeed. One reads love-stories—no, I do not mean romances, but
+memoirs—memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts—memoirs, even,
+written by Englishmen. Men were different a generation ago. Honor was
+dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet there were
+many, very many then who were willing to give all these things for the
+love of a woman.
+
+“And do you think there are none now?” he whispered hoarsely.
+
+“My friend,” she answered, looking down at him, “I think that there are
+very few.”
+
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized his
+state of excitement.
+
+“Mademoiselle Louise,” he said, “my love for you has made me a
+laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna. I—the poverty-stricken, who have
+nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you—have dared to show
+others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart above all the
+women on earth.”
+
+“It is very nice of you,” she murmured. “Why do you tell me this now?”
+
+“Why, indeed?” he answered. “What have I to hope for?”
+
+She looked along the deck. Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends
+burned red through the gloom. She knew very well that those cigar ends
+belonged to Streuss and his friend. She laughed softly and once more
+she bent her head.
+
+“How they watch you, those men!” she said. “Listen, my friend Rudolph.
+Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really a spy,
+supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else you might
+claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!”
+
+“How do you know that I am carrying a secret?” he asked hoarsely.
+
+She laughed.
+
+“My friend,” she said, “with your two absurd companions shadowing you
+all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt it? The
+Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret Service
+Department, is he not? To me he seems the most obvious policeman I ever
+saw dressed as a gentleman.”
+
+“You don’t mean it!” he muttered. “You can’t mean what you said just
+now!”
+
+She was silent for a few moments. Some one passing struck a match, and
+she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by her
+side—strained now and curiously intense.
+
+“Supposing I did!”
+
+“You must be mad!” he declared. “You must not talk to me like this,
+Mademoiselle. I have no secret. It is your humor, I know, but it is
+dangerous.”
+
+“There is no danger,” she murmured, “for we are alone. I say again,
+Rudolph, supposing this were true?”
+
+His hand passed across his forehead. She fancied that he made a motion
+as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+
+“Stay here,” she whispered. “No, I do not wish to drive you away. Now
+you are here you shall listen to me.”
+
+“But you are not in earnest!” he faltered. “Don’t tell me that you are
+in earnest. It is treason. I am Rudolph Von Behrling, Secretary to the
+Chancellor.”
+
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+
+“Rudolph,” she said, “you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are
+indeed the Chancellor’s secretary. What do you gain from it? A
+pittance! Many hours work a day and a pittance. What have you to look
+forward to? A little official life, a stupid official position.
+Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world. Do I not represent other
+things?”
+
+“God knows you do!” he muttered.
+
+“I, too, am weary of singing. I want a long rest—a long rest and a
+better name than my own. Don’t shrink away from me. It isn’t so
+wonderful, after all. Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few hours
+ago. He was Dorward’s friend. He knew well what Dorward carried. It was
+not his affair, he told me, and interposition from him was hopeless,
+but he knew that you and I were friends.”
+
+“You must stop!” Von Behrling declared. “You must stop! I must not
+listen to this!”
+
+“He offered me twenty thousand pounds,” she went on, “for the packet in
+your pocket. Think of that, my friend. It would be a start in life,
+would it not? I am an extravagant woman. Even if I would, I dared not
+think of a poor man. But twenty thousand pounds is sufficient. When I
+reach London, I am going to a flat which has been waiting for me for
+weeks—15, Dover Street. If you bring that packet to me instead of
+taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there will be twenty thousand pounds
+and—”
+
+Her fingers suddenly held his. She could almost hear his heart beating.
+Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the tumult which
+was passing within the man, reflected in his face. She whispered a
+warning under her breath. The two cigar ends had moved nearer. The
+forms of the two men were now distinct. One was leaning over the side
+of the ship by Von Behrling’s side. The other stood a few feet away,
+gazing at the lights of Dover. Von Behrling staggered to his feet. He
+said something in an angry undertone to Streuss. Louise rose and shook
+out her furs.
+
+“My friend,” she said, turning to Von Behrling, “if your friends can
+spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids? You will find them
+both in my cabin, number three. I wish to walk for a few moments before
+we arrive.”
+
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream. Mademoiselle Idiale
+followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling’s companions.
+
+The details of the great singer’s journey had been most carefully
+planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram announcing
+her journey to London. There was an engaged carriage at Dover, into
+which she was duly escorted by a representative of the Opera Syndicate,
+who had been sent down from London to receive her. Von Behrling seemed
+to be missing. She had seen nothing of him since he had descended to
+summon her maids. But just as the train was starting, she heard the
+sound of angry voices, and a moment later his white face was pressed
+through the open window of the carriage.
+
+“Louise,” he muttered, “I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I fear that
+they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel with you
+they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. Listen for your
+telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must think—I must think!”
+
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII “WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”
+
+
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two o’clock
+on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of correspondence a
+penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he knew well. He tore
+open the envelope.
+
+DAVID DEAR,—I have just arrived and I am sending you these few lines at
+once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for certain, but
+there is a chance. You had better get the money ready and come to me
+here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and those who watch him all
+the time, I should be quite sure, but they are suspicious. What may
+happen I cannot tell. I do my best and I have hated it. Get the money
+ready and come to me.
+
+
+LOUISE.
+
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then he
+rang for his servant. “A bath and some clean clothes quickly,” he
+ordered. “While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see if Sir
+James is there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I must see him
+within half an hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab.”
+
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained
+servant. In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy had
+left his rooms. Before four o’clock he had arrived at the address which
+Louise had given him. A commissionaire telephoned his name to the first
+floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced French man-servant, in
+sombre black livery, descended and bowed to Bellamy.
+
+“Monsieur will be so good as to come this way,” he directed.
+
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first floor.
+He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with roses.
+
+“Mademoiselle will be here immediately,” the man announced. “She is
+engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to
+receive Monsieur.”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Pray let Mademoiselle understand,” he said, “that I am entirely at her
+service. My time is of no consequence.”
+
+The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from an
+inner chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of her
+journey seemed already to have passed away. Her eyes were bright, and a
+faint color glowed in her cheeks.
+
+“David,” she exclaimed, “thank Heaven that you are here!”
+
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked to
+the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood there
+listening for a moment.
+
+“I suppose I am foolish,” she said, coming back to him, “and yet I
+cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don’t trust any of
+the servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?”
+
+“Yes,” he answered, “I had your note—and I am here.”
+
+The restraint of his manner was obvious. He was standing a little away
+from her. She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon his
+shoulders, her face was upturned to his. Even then he made no motion to
+embrace her.
+
+“David,” she whispered softly, “what I am doing—what I have done—was at
+your suggestion. I do it for you, I do it for my country, I do it
+against every natural feeling I possess. I hate and loathe the lies I
+tell. Are you remembering that? Is it in your heart at this moment?”
+
+He stooped and kissed her.
+
+“Forgive me,” he said, “it is I who am to blame, but I am only human.
+We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets.”
+
+“As I live,” she murmured, “the kiss you gave me last is still upon my
+lips. What I have promised goes for nothing. What he has promised is
+this—the papers to-night.”
+
+“Unopened?”
+
+“Unopened,” she repeated, softly.
+
+“But how is it to be done?” Bellamy asked. “He must have arrived in
+London when you did last night. How is it they are not already at the
+Embassy?”
+
+“The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes,” she explained. “He cannot be
+back until late to-night. No one else has a key to the treaty safe, and
+Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one save the
+Ambassador himself.”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“What about Streuss?”
+
+“Streuss and the others are all furious,” Louise said. “Yet, after all,
+Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side. His orders were to
+see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the safe by the
+Ambassador himself.”
+
+“He returns to-night!” Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+
+She nodded.
+
+“Before he comes,” she declared, “I think that the document will be in
+your hands.”
+
+“How is it to be done?”
+
+“The report is written,” she explained, “on five pages of foolscap.
+They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor’s
+crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest. He
+has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and signed it
+with his seal. It is this which he will hand over to the Ambassador if
+he should return unexpectedly. The real one he has concealed.”
+
+“Is he here?” Bellamy inquired.
+
+“Thank Heavens, no!” she answered. “My dear David, what are you
+thinking of? He is not here and he dare not come here. You are to go to
+your rooms,” she added, glancing at the clock, “and between five and
+six o’clock this evening you will be rung up on the telephone. A
+rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night. You must take the
+money there and receive the packet. Von Behrling will be disguised and
+prepared for flight.”
+
+Bellamy’s eyes glowed.
+
+“You believe this?” he exclaimed.
+
+“I believe it,” she replied. “He is going to do it. After he has seen
+you, he will make his way to Plymouth. I have promised—don’t look at
+me, David—I have promised to join him there.”
+
+Bellamy was grave.
+
+“There will be trouble,” he said. “He will come back. He will want to
+shoot you. He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is passionate.”
+
+“Am I a coward?” she asked, with a scornful laugh. “Have I ever shown
+fear of my life? No, David! It is not that of which I am afraid. It is
+the memory of the man’s touch, it is the look which was in your face
+when you came into the room. These are the things I fear—not death.”
+
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+
+“Forgive me,” he begged. “At such times a man is a weak thing—a weak
+and selfish thing. I am ashamed of myself. I should have known better
+than to have doubted you for a moment. I know you so well, Louise. I
+know what you are.”
+
+She smiled.
+
+“Dear,” she said, “you have made me happy. And now you must go away.
+Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude. Over here I am
+Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden. See my roses.
+There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in the place
+now. The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and two of the
+directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new manager of mine
+in the dining-room. Between five and six o’clock this afternoon you
+will get the message. It is somewhere, I think, in the city that you
+will have to go. There will be no trouble about the money? Nothing but
+notes or gold will be of any use.”
+
+“I have it in my pocket,” he answered. “I have it in notes, but he need
+never fear that they will be traced. The numbers of notes given for
+Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one’s memory.”
+
+She drew a little sigh.
+
+“It is a great sum,” she said. “After all, he should be grateful to me.
+If only he would be sensible and get away to the United States or to
+South America! He could live there like a prince, poor fellow. He would
+be far happier.”
+
+“I only hope that he will go,” Bellamy agreed. “There is one thing to
+be remembered. If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four hours in
+this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you harm. The
+men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at trifles. Besides
+Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of spies at their bidding
+here. If they find out that he has tricked them, they will hunt him
+down, and before long.”
+
+Louise shivered.
+
+“Oh, I hope,” she exclaimed, “that he gets away! He is a traitor, of
+course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all, I think
+it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it. That sounds
+very conceited, I suppose,” she added, with a faint smile. “Ah! well,
+you see, for five years so many have been trying to turn my head. No
+wonder if I begin to believe some of their stories. David, I must go. I
+must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting any longer.”
+
+“To-morrow,” he said, “to-morrow early I shall come. I am afraid I
+shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise.”
+
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+
+“That is my signal,” she declared smiling. “Dr. Henschell was almost
+beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor,” she called out.
+“David, good fortune!” she added, giving him her hands. “Now go, dear.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+
+
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but
+somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in
+appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never
+been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face to
+face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, although
+an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, powerful
+countenance, retained even in despair something of that dogged
+composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served him well
+along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who sat on the
+other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips notwithstanding his
+altered name, sat like a broken thing, with tears in his terrified
+eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale face. Words had flown from
+his lips in a continual stream. He floundered in his misery, sobbed
+about it like a child. The hand of misfortune had stripped him naked,
+and one man, at least, saw him as he really was.
+
+“I can’t stand it, Laverick,—I couldn’t face them all. It’s too
+cruel—too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week, forty
+thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!”
+
+He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said
+nothing.
+
+“If we could only have held on a little longer! ‘Unions’ must turn!
+They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! Have
+you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through it. We
+should get our own money back—I am sure of it. There’s Rendell,
+Laverick. He’d do anything for you. You’re always shooting or playing
+cricket with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He’d never miss the
+money.”
+
+“You and I see things differently, Morrison,” Laverick answered.
+“Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend.”
+
+“But at a time like this,” Morrison pleaded passionately. “Every one
+does it sometimes. He’d be glad to help you. I know he would. Have you
+ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be hammered?”
+
+“I have,” Laverick admitted wearily. “God knows it seems as terrible a
+thing to me as it can to you! But if we go down, we must go down with
+clean hands. I’ve no faith in your infernal market, and not one penny
+will I borrow from a friend.”
+
+The Jew’s face was almost piteous. He stretched himself across the
+table. There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+
+“Laverick,” he said, “old man, you’re wrong. I know you think I’ve been
+led away. I’ve taken you out of our depth, but the only trouble has
+been that we haven’t had enough capital, and no backing. Those who
+stand up will win. They will make money.”
+
+“Unfortunately,” Laverick remarked, “we cannot stand up. Please
+understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way. I
+will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend. I have asked the bank
+and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors. To help us
+would simply be a business proposition, so far as they are concerned.
+As you know, they have refused. If you see any hope in that direction,
+why don’t you try some of your own friends? For every one man I know in
+the House, you have seemed to be bosom friends with at least twenty.”
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+“Those I know are not that sort of friend,” he answered. “They will
+drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but
+they do not lend money. If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking? Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us the
+money. I would even kiss his feet. I cannot bear it, Laverick! I
+cannot! I cannot!”
+
+Laverick said nothing. Words were useless things, wasted upon such a
+creature. He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no pains to
+conceal. This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended to him on
+all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young men in his
+own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a money-maker if
+ever there was one! Laverick thought of him as he appeared at the
+office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed, with a flower in
+his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny, hat and coat,
+gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the real thing. What
+a collapse!
+
+“You’re going to stay and see it through?” he whined across the table.
+
+“Certainly,” Laverick answered.
+
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+
+“I can’t! I can’t!” he moaned. “I couldn’t bear seeing all the fellows,
+hearing them whisper things—oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!... Laverick, we’ve a
+few hundreds left. Give me something and let me out of it. You’re a
+stronger sort of man than I am. You can face it,—I can’t! Give me
+enough to get abroad with, and if ever I do any good I’ll remember it,
+I will indeed.”
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment. His companion watched his face
+eagerly. After all, why not let him go? He was no help, no comfort. The
+very sight of him was contemptible.
+
+“I have paid no money into the bank for several days,” Laverick said
+slowly. “When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious that
+they guessed how things were.”
+
+“Quite right, quite right!” the young man interrupted feverishly. “They
+would have stuck to it against the overdraft. How much have we got in
+the safe?”
+
+“This afternoon,” Laverick continued, “I changed all our cheques. You
+can count the proceeds for yourself. There are, I think, eleven hundred
+pounds. You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take them with
+you—to any place you like.”
+
+The young man was already at the safe. The notes were between them, on
+the table. He counted quickly with the fingers of a born manipulator of
+money. When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty pounds, Laverick’s
+hand fell upon his.
+
+“No more,” he ordered sternly.
+
+“But, my dear fellow,” Morrison protested, “half of eleven hundred is
+five hundred and fifty. Why should we not go halves? That is only fair,
+Laverick. It is little enough. We ought to have had a great deal more.”
+
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder of
+the notes.
+
+“I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,” he
+said, “for various reasons. For one, I can bear this thing better
+alone. As for the rest of the money, it remains there for the
+accountant who liquidates our affairs. I do not propose to touch a
+penny of it.”
+
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh.
+Such ways were not his ways. They were not, indeed, within the limit of
+his understanding. But of his partner he had learned one thing, at
+least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth. He shambled
+toward the door. On the whole, he was lucky to have got the two hundred
+and fifty pounds.
+
+“So long, Laverick,” he said from the door. “I’m—I’m sorry.”
+
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his hand.
+Laverick nodded, not unkindly. After all, this young man was as he had
+been made.
+
+“I wish you good luck, Morrison,” he said. “Try South Africa.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX ROBBING THE DEAD
+
+
+The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, the
+tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars and
+cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. Outside, the
+streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer passed along the
+flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and there a few lights
+glimmered at the windows of some of the larger blocks of offices. The
+bustle of the day was finished. There is no place in London so
+strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares of the city proper when the
+hour approaches midnight.
+
+Laverick, who since his partner’s departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little snap
+and leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got rid of
+Morrison, it had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose financial
+astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from those piles of
+figures any other answer save the one inevitable one, the knowledge of
+which had been like a black nightmare stalking by his side for the last
+thirty-six hours. One by one during the evening his clerks had left
+him, and it was a proof not only of his wonderful self-control but also
+of the confidence which he invariably inspired, that not a single one
+of them had the slightest idea how things were. Not a soul knew that
+the firm of Laverick & Morrison was already practically derelict, that
+they had on the morrow twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither
+credit nor balance at their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds
+in the safe.
+
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last,
+turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into the
+silent street. Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. This might
+well be the last night on which he would care to show himself in his
+accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could mix with his
+fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of consciousness which
+follows upon disaster. Already there was little enough left of it. It
+was too late to change and go to his club. The places of amusement were
+already closed. To-morrow night, both club and theatres would lie
+outside his world. He walked slowly, yet he had scarcely taken, in
+fact, a dozen steps when, with a purely mechanical impulse, he paused
+by a stone-flagged entry to light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost
+a tunnel for a few yards, leading to an open space, on one side of
+which was an old churchyard—strange survival in such a part—and on the
+other the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker,
+an actuary. It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance up
+the entry before he blew out the match. Then he gave a quick start and
+became for a moment paralyzed. Within a few feet of him something was
+lying on the ground—a dark mass, black and soft—the body of a man,
+perhaps. Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed at him through the
+semi-darkness.
+
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy. It might be a tramp or a
+drunkard, perhaps,—a fight, or a man taken ill. Then something sinister
+about the light of those burning eyes set his heart beating faster. He
+struck another match with firm fingers, and bent forward. What he saw
+upon the ground made him feel a little sick. What he saw racing away
+down the passage prompted him to swift pursuit. Down the arched court
+into the open space he ran, himself an athlete, but mocked by the
+swiftness of the shadowlike form which he pursued. At the end was
+another street—empty. He looked up and down, seeking in vain for any
+signs of life. There was nothing to tell him which way to turn.
+Opposite was a very labyrinth of courts and turnings. There was not
+even the sound of a footfall to guide him. Slowly he retraced his
+steps, lit another match, and leaned over the prostrate figure. Then he
+knew that it was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means. These
+were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself. Without
+any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed. A
+hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt
+through the heart of the murdered man. There had been other blows,
+notably about the head. There was not much blood, but the position of
+the knife alone told its ugly story. Laverick, though his nerves were
+of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked. He rose to his feet
+and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping. The street was no
+longer empty.
+
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in the
+middle of the road. The light from the lamp-post escaped his face.
+Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height, dressed in
+dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his overcoat. To all
+appearance, he was watching the entry. Laverick took a step towards
+him—the man as deliberately took a step further away. Laverick held up
+his hand.
+
+“Hullo!” he called out, and beckoned.
+
+The person addressed took no notice. Laverick advanced another two or
+three steps—the man retreated a similar distance. Laverick changed his
+tactics and made a sudden spring forward. The man hesitated no
+longer—he turned and ran as though for his life. In a few minutes he
+was round the corner of the street and out of sight. Laverick returned
+slowly to the entry.
+
+A distant clock struck midnight. A couple of clerks came along the
+pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters.
+Laverick hesitated. He was never afterwards able to account for the
+impulse which prevented his calling out to them. Instead he lurked in
+the shadows and watched them go by. When he was sure that they had
+disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered man.
+Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a nameless and
+terrible fascination for him. His first feelings of horror were mingled
+now with an insatiable curiosity. What manner of man was he? He was
+tall and strongly built; fair—of almost florid complexion. His clothes
+were very shabby and apparently ready-made. His moustache was upturned,
+and his hair was trimmed closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen.
+Laverick stooped lower and lower until he found himself almost on his
+knees. There was something projecting from the man’s pocket as though
+it had been half snatched out—a large portfolio of brown leather,
+almost the size of a satchel. Laverick drew it out, holding it in one
+hand whilst with firm fingers he struck another match. Then, for the
+first time, a little cry broke from his lips. Both sides of the
+pocket-book were filled with bank-notes. As his match flickered out, he
+caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner—500
+pounds!—great rolls of them! Laverick rose gasping to his feet. It was
+a new Arabian Nights, this!—a dream!—a continuation of the nightmare
+which had threatened him all day! Or was it, perhaps, the madness
+coming—the madness which he had begun only an hour or so ago to fear!
+
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down. The
+mysterious stranger had vanished. There was not a soul in sight. He
+clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the pavement
+with his heels. There was no doubt about it—everything around him was
+real. Most real of all was the fact that within a few feet of him lay a
+murdered man, and that in his hands was that brown leather pocket-book
+with its miraculous contents. For the last time Laverick retraced his
+steps and bent over that huddled-up shape. One by one he went through
+the other pockets. There was a packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty
+card-case of chased silver, and obviously of foreign workmanship; a
+cigarette holder stained with much use, but of the finest amber, with
+rich gold mountings. There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means
+of identification of any sort. Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified
+with the thoughts that went tearing through his brain. The pocket-book
+began to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon
+his forehead. Yet he never hesitated. He walked like a man in a dream,
+but his footsteps were steady and short. Deliberately, and without any
+sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices. If a policeman had
+come in sight up or down the street, he had decided to call him and to
+acquaint him with what had happened. It was the one chance he held
+against himself,—the gambler’s method of decision, perhaps,
+unconsciously arrived at. As it turned out, there was still not a soul
+in sight. Laverick opened the outer door with his latchkey, let himself
+in and closed it. Then he groped his way through the clerk’s office
+into his own room, switched on the electric light and once more sat
+down before his desk.
+
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with a
+nervousness wholly unfamiliar. Then he opened the pocket-book, drew out
+the roll of bank-notes and counted them. It was curious that he felt no
+surprise at their value. Bank-notes for five hundred pounds are not
+exactly common, and yet he proceeded with his task without the
+slightest instinct of surprise. Then he leaned back in his chair.
+Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes! There they lay on the
+table before him. A man had died for their sake,—another must go
+through all the days with the price of blood upon his head—a murderer—a
+haunted creature for the rest of his life. And there on the table were
+the spoils. Laverick tried to think the matter out dispassionately. He
+was a man of average moral fibre—that is to say, he was honest in his
+dealings with other men because his father and his grandfather before
+him had been honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was
+shameful. Here, however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual
+problem. These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man. Save
+for his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his
+murderer. The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm. Such
+risk as there was he took himself. That it was a risk he knew and fully
+realized. Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his partner had
+poured out his wail of fear and misery. Yet of the two men it was
+probable that Laverick himself had felt their position the more keenly.
+He was a man of some social standing, with a large circle of friends; a
+sportsman, and with many interests outside the daily routine of his
+city life. To him failure meant more than the loss of money; it would
+rob him of everything in life worth having. The days to come had been
+emptied of all promise. He had held himself stubbornly because he was a
+man, because he had strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell
+upon the indignities and humiliation to come. And here before him was
+possible salvation. There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to
+be run in making use even for an hour of this money. Yet from the first
+he had known that he meant to do it.
+
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book into
+one of the drawers, and locked it up. Then he lit a cigarette, finally
+shut up the office and walked down the street. As he passed the entry
+he turned his head slowly. Apparently no one had been there, nothing
+had been disturbed. Straining his eyes through the darkness, he could
+even see that dark shape still lying huddled up on the ground. Then he
+walked on. He had burned his boats now and was prepared for all
+emergencies. At the corner he met a policeman, to whom he wished a
+cheery good-night. He told himself that the thing which he had done was
+for the best. He owed it to himself. He owed it to those who had
+trusted him. After all, it was the chief part of his life—his city
+career. It was here that his friends lived. It was here that his
+ambitions flourished. Disgrace here was eternal disgrace. His father
+and his grandfather before him had been men honored and respected in
+this same circle. Disgrace to him, such disgrace as that with which he
+had stood face to face a few hours ago, would have been, in a certain
+sense, a reflection upon their memories. The names upon the brass
+plates to right and to left of him were the names of men he knew, men
+with whom he desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made
+life worth living or the reverse. It was worth a great risk—this effort
+of his to keep his place. His one mistake—this association with
+Morrison—had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck. He was rid
+of the fellow now. For the future there should be no more partners. He
+had his life to live. It was not reasonable that he should allow
+himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a creature. He found
+an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria Street, and hailed it.
+
+“Whitehall Court,” he told the driver.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+
+
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life it
+was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this was
+disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his knees
+shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which he was
+standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been tricked.
+Von Behrling, after all,—Von Behrling, whom he had looked upon merely
+as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell his country for the
+sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+
+The man who sat at the head of the table—the only other occupant of the
+room—was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat. He had just
+been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy’s message had
+summoned him. Before him on the table was an envelope, hastily torn
+open, and several sheets of blank paper. It was upon these that
+Bellamy’s eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled horror and
+amazement. The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them away with a
+little gesture of contempt.
+
+“Bellamy,” he said gravely, “it is not like you to make so serious an
+error.
+
+“I hope not, sir,” Bellamy answered. “I—yes, I have been deceived.”
+
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+
+“What is to be done?” he asked.
+
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together. He caught up the
+envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper to
+the lamp and laid them down. Then with clenched fists he walked to the
+other side of the room and returned. He was himself again.
+
+“Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry. Only
+an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the city, and
+gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope.”
+
+“You paid him the money,” the Minister remarked slowly, “without
+opening the envelope.”
+
+Bellamy admitted it.
+
+“In such transactions as these,” he declared, “great risks are almost
+inevitable. I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd risk. To
+tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience in these
+things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the money. Von
+Behrling was there in disguise. The men with whom he came to this
+country are furious with him. To all appearance, he seemed to have
+broken with them absolutely. Even now—
+
+“Well?”
+
+“Even now,” Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall of
+the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in his
+face, “even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake. An envelope
+such as this had been arranged for him to show the others or leave at
+the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency. He had it with him in his
+pocket-book. He even told me so. God in Heaven, he gave me the wrong
+one!”
+
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+
+“In that case,” he said, “perhaps he would not go to the Embassy
+to-night, especially if he was in disguise. You may still be able to
+find him and repair the error.
+
+“I will try,” answered Bellamy. “Thank Heaven!” he added, with a sudden
+gleam of satisfaction, “my watchers are still dogging his footsteps. I
+can find out before morning where he went when he left our rendezvous.
+There is another way, too. Mademoiselle—this man Von Behrling believed
+that she was leaving the country with him. She was to have had a
+message within the next few hours.”
+
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+
+“Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often. The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above
+supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to
+have paid for this.”
+
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger. Bellamy’s
+teeth were clenched.
+
+“The money shall be returned, sir.
+
+“Do not misunderstand me,” Sir James went on, speaking a little more
+kindly. “The money, after all, in comparison with what it was destined
+to purchase, is nothing. We might even count it a fair risk if it was
+lost.”
+
+“It shall not be lost,” Bellamy promised. “If Von Behrling has played
+the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country. In that case, I
+will have the money from him without a doubt. If, on the other hand, he
+was honest to us and a traitor to his country, as I firmly believe, it
+may not yet be too late.”
+
+“Let us hope not,” Sir James declared. “Bellamy,” he continued, a note
+of agitation trembling in his tone, “I need not tell you, I am sure,
+how important this matter is. You work like a mole in the dark, yet you
+have brains,—you understand. Let me tell you how things are with us. A
+certain amount of confidence is due to you, if to any one. I may tell
+you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a very serious tone prevailed.
+We do not understand in the least the attitude of several of the
+European Powers. It can be understood only under certain assumptions. A
+note of ours sent through the Ambassador to Vienna has remained
+unanswered for two days. The German Ambassador has left unexpectedly
+for Berlin on urgent business. We have just heard, too, that a secret
+mission from Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris. Side by
+side with all this,” Sir James continued, “the Czar is trying to evade
+his promised visit here. The note we have received speaks of his
+health. Well, we know all about that. We know, I may tell you, that his
+health has never been better than at the present moment.”
+
+“It all means one thing and one thing only,” Bellamy affirmed. “In
+Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile. Even the
+man in the street seems to know what is coming.”
+
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat. His hands were tightly
+clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes. Those who
+were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during the last
+few weeks.
+
+“The cruel part is,” he said softly, “that it should have come in my
+administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the Opposition
+benches for the one thing which would have made us safe to-day.”
+
+“An army,” murmured Bellamy.
+
+“The days are coming,” Sir James continued, “when those who prated of
+militarism and the security of our island walls will see with their own
+eyes the ruin they have brought upon us. Secretly we are mobilizing all
+that we have to mobilize,” he added, with a little sigh. “At the very
+best, however, our position is pitiful. Even if we are prepared to
+defend, I am afraid that we shall see things on the Continent in which
+we shall be driven to interfere, or else suffer the greatest blow which
+our prestige has ever known. If we could only tell what was coming!” he
+wound up, looking once more at those empty sheets of paper. “It is this
+darkness which is so alarming!”
+
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+
+“You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?” he asked.
+
+“Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news.”
+
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street. It was half-past one, but he had
+no fear of not being admitted. Louise’s French maid answered the bell.
+
+“Madame has not retired?” Bellamy inquired.
+
+“But no, sir,” the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile. “It is
+only a few minutes ago that she has returned.”
+
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room. She was gorgeous in blue
+satin and pearls. Her other maid was taking off her jewels. She
+dismissed both the women abruptly.
+
+“I absolutely couldn’t avoid a supper-party,” she said, holding out her
+hands. “You expected that, of course. You were not at the Opera House?”
+
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle. It was
+securely closed. He came back slowly to her side. Her eyes were
+questioning him fiercely.
+
+“Well?” she exclaimed. “Well?”
+
+“Have you heard from Von Behrling?”
+
+“No,” she answered. “He knew that I must sing to-night. I have been
+expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home. You have seen
+him?”
+
+“I have seen him,” Bellamy admitted. “Either he has deceived us both,
+or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened. Listen. I
+met him where he appointed. He was there, disguised, almost
+unrecognizable. He was nervous and desperate; he had the air of a man
+who has cut himself adrift from the world. I gave him the money,—twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,—and he gave me the
+papers, or what we thought were the papers. He told me that he was
+keeping a false duplicate upon him for a little time, in case he was
+seized, but that he was going to Liverpool Street station to wait, and
+would telephone you from the hotel there later on. You have not heard
+yet, then?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“There has been no message, but go on.”
+
+“He gave me the wrong document—the wrong envelope,” continued Bellamy.
+“When I took it to—to Downing Street, it was full of blank paper.”
+
+The color slowly left her cheeks. She looked at him with horror in her
+face.
+
+“Do you think that he meant to do it?” she exclaimed.
+
+“We cannot tell,” Bellamy answered. “My own impression is that he did
+not. We must find out at once what has become of him. He might even, if
+he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has, believing it to
+be the duplicate. He is sure to telephone you. The moment you hear you
+must let me know.”
+
+“You had better stay here,” she declared. “There are plenty of rooms.
+You will be on the spot then.”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go. That
+fellow Streuss has spies everywhere. That is one reason why I believe
+that Von Behrling was serious.
+
+“Oh, he was serious!” Louise repeated.
+
+“You are sure?” Bellamy asked. “You have never had even any doubt about
+him?”
+
+“Never,” she answered firmly. “David, I had not meant to tell you this.
+You know that I saw him for a moment this morning. He was in deadly
+earnest. He gave me a ring—a trifle—but it had belonged to his mother.
+He would not have done this if he had been playing us false.”
+
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+
+“You are right, Louise!” he exclaimed. “I shall go back to my rooms at
+once. Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there may be
+a report for me. If anything comes here, you will telephone at once?”
+
+“Of course,” she assented.
+
+“You do not think it possible,” he asked slowly, “that he would attempt
+to see you here?”
+
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+
+“I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that.”
+
+“Very well, then,” he decided, “we will wait. Dear,” he added, in an
+altered tone, “how splendid you look!”
+
+Her face suddenly softened.
+
+“Ah, David!” she murmured, “to hear you speak naturally even for a
+moment—it makes everything seem so different!”
+
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of
+satisfaction.
+
+“Louise,” he said, “some day the time may come when we shall be able to
+give up this life of anxiety and terrors. But it cannot be yet—not for
+your country’s sake or mine.”
+
+She kissed him fondly.
+
+“So long as there is hope!” she whispered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI VON BEHRLING’S FATE
+
+
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when the
+more confidential of her maids—Annette, the Frenchwoman—woke her with a
+light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily.
+
+“What is it, Annette?” she asked. “Surely it is not mid-day yet? Why do
+you disturb me?”
+
+“It is barely nine o’clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur
+Bellamy—Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever he
+came. He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient.”
+
+“Did he send any message?”
+
+“Only that his business was of the most urgent,” the maid replied.
+
+Louise sighed,—she was really very sleepy. Then, as the thoughts began
+to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember. Some part of the
+excitement of a few hours ago returned.
+
+“My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown,” she ordered. “Tell Monsieur
+Bellamy that I hurry. I will be with him in twenty minutes.”
+
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory. She came at
+last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she
+herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+
+“David!” she cried,—“my dear David—!”
+
+Then she broke off.
+
+“What is it?” she asked, in a different tone.
+
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+
+“Tragedy!” he answered hoarsely. “Von Behrling was true, after all,—at
+least, it seems so.”
+
+“What has happened?” she demanded.
+
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+
+“He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous.”
+
+A little exclamation broke from Louise’s lips. She sat down suddenly.
+The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her bath was
+rapidly fading away.
+
+“David,” she murmured, “is this true?”
+
+“It is indeed,” Bellamy assured her. “Not only that, but there is no
+mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder. It must have
+been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got away with
+the pocket-book and the money.”
+
+“What can we do?” she asked.
+
+“There is nothing to be done,” Bellamy declared calmly. “We are
+defeated. The thing is quite apparent. Von Behrling never succeeded,
+after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who were watching
+him. They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited about while I met
+him. Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow passage. It was there
+that he was found murdered.”
+
+“But, David, I don’t understand! Why did they wait until after he had
+seen you? How did they know that he had not parted with the paper in
+the restaurant? To all intents and purposes he ought to have done so.”
+
+“I cannot understand that myself,” Bellamy admitted. “In fact, it is
+inexplicable.”
+
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report. Then, “You are
+sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling? He is quite
+unidentified, you see.”
+
+“There is no doubt about it,” Bellamy declared. “I have been to the
+Mortuary. It is certainly he. All our work has been in vain—just as I
+thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of it.”
+
+She looked at him compassionately.
+
+“It is hard lines, dear,” she admitted. “You are tired, too. You look
+as though you had been up all night.”
+
+“Yes, I am tired,” he answered, sinking into a chair. “I am worse than
+tired. This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I am afraid
+that it is the end of everything. I have lost twenty thousand pounds of
+Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance which might have saved
+England. They will never trust me again.”
+
+“You did your best,” she said, coming over and sitting on the arm of
+his chair. “You did your best, David.”
+
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his—smooth and
+cold—exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+
+“Ah, Louise!” he murmured, “life is getting a little too strenuous.
+Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others. What do you think?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do? Could we be
+happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were coming to
+pass? Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were being butchered
+out of existence?— And you—you are not the sort of man to be content
+with an ignoble peace. No, it isn’t possible. Our work may not be over
+yet—”
+
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many apologies.
+
+“Mademoiselle,” she explained, “a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur
+also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is of
+the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once. I have
+done all that I can, but he will not go away. He knows that Monsieur
+Bellamy is here, too,” she added, turning to him, “and he says his
+business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle.”
+
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl’s fingers. He read out
+the name in blank amazement.
+
+“Baron de Streuss!”
+
+There was a moment’s silence. Louise and he exchanged wondering
+glances.
+
+“What can this mean?” she asked hoarsely.
+
+“Heaven knows!” he answered. “Let us see him together. After all—after
+all—”
+
+“You can show the gentleman in, Annette,” her mistress ordered.
+
+“If he has the papers,” Bellamy continued slowly, “why does he come to
+us? It is not like these men to be vindictive. Diplomacy to them is
+nothing—a game of chess. I do not understand.”
+
+The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed low to
+Louise—he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+
+“I need not introduce myself,” he said. “With Mr. Bellamy I have the
+honor to be well acquainted. Madame is known to all the world.”
+
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+
+“We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,” she
+said. “At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I owe this
+somewhat unexpected pleasure?”
+
+“Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be. I know that it
+is an impossible hour. I know, too, that to have forced my presence
+upon you in this manner may seem discourteous. Yet the urgency of the
+matter, I am convinced, justifies me.”
+
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow of
+thanks.
+
+“Mademoiselle,” he said, “and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste
+words. We have played a game of chess together. You, Mademoiselle, and
+Mr. Bellamy on the one side—I and my friends upon the other. The honor
+of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought. The victory
+remains with you.”
+
+Bellamy never moved a muscle. Louise, on the contrary, could not help a
+slight start.
+
+“Under the circumstances,” the Baron continued smoothly, “the struggle
+was uneven. I do myself the justice to remember that from the first I
+realized that we played a losing game. Mademoiselle,” he added, “from
+the days of Cleopatra—ay, and throughout those shadowy days which lie
+beyond—the diplomats of the world have been powerless when matched
+against your sex. Rudolph Von Behrling was an honest fellow enough
+until he looked into your eyes. Mademoiselle, you have gifts which
+might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a stronger man.”
+
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of her
+lips. Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly. She did not
+understand.
+
+“You flatter me, Baron,” she murmured.
+
+“No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth. This plain talking is
+pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it. That
+time, I think, is now. Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice, but
+because he was the Chancellor’s nephew, was associated with me in a
+certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you,
+Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here. We followed a man who, by some
+strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap, the
+contents of which were alike priceless to my country and priceless to
+yours. The subsequent history of those papers should have been
+automatic. The first step was fulfilled readily enough. The man
+disappeared—the papers were ours. Von Behrling was the man who secured
+them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them. If my advice had been
+followed, I admit frankly that we should have ignored all possible
+comment and returned with them at once to Vienna. The others thought
+differently. They ruled that we should come on to London and deposit
+the packet with our Ambassador here. In a weak moment I consented. It
+was your opportunity, Mademoiselle, an opportunity of which you have
+splendidly availed yourself.”
+
+This time Louise held herself with composure. Bellamy’s brain was in a
+whirl but he remained silent.
+
+“I come to you both,” the Baron continued, “with my hands open. I
+come—I make no secret of it—I come to make terms. But first of all I
+must know whether I am in time. There is one question which I must ask.
+I address it, sir, to you,” he added, turning to Bellamy. “Have you yet
+placed in the hands of your Government the papers which you obtained
+from Von Behrling?”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief. Though he had maintained his
+savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played with his
+tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling.
+
+“Well, then, I am in time. Will you see my hand?”
+
+“Mademoiselle and I,” answered Bellamy, “are at least ready to listen
+to anything you may have to say.”
+
+“You know quite well,” the Baron continued, “what it is that I have
+come to say, yet I want you to remember this. I do not come to bribe
+you in any ordinary manner. The things which are to come will happen;
+they must happen, if not this year, next,—if not next year, within half
+a decade of years. History is an absolute science. The future as well
+as the past can be read by those who know the signs. The thing which
+has been resolved upon is certain. The knowledge of the contents of
+those papers by your Government might delay the final catastrophe for a
+short while; it could do no more. In the long run, it would be better
+for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every way, that the end come soon.
+Therefore, I ask you to perform no traitorous deed. I ask you to do
+that which is simply reasonable for all of us, which is, indeed, for
+the advantage of all of us. restore those papers to me instead of
+handing them to your Government, and I will pay you for them the sum of
+one hundred thousand pounds!”
+
+“One hundred thousand pounds,” Bellamy repeated.
+
+“One hundred thousand pounds!” murmured Louise.
+
+There was a brief, intense pause. Louise waited, warned by the
+expression in Bellamy’s face. Silence, she felt, was safest, and it was
+Bellamy who spoke.
+
+“Baron,” said he, “your visit and your proposal are both a little
+amazing. Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment.”
+
+“Most certainly,” the Baron agreed. “I go away and leave you—out of the
+room, if you will.”
+
+“It is not necessary,” Bellamy replied. “Louise!” The Baron withdrew to
+the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest corner of the
+room.
+
+“What can it mean?” he whispered. “What do you suppose has happened?”
+
+“I cannot imagine. My brain is in a whirl.”
+
+“If they have not got the pocket-book,” Bellamy muttered, “it must have
+gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary. If so, there is a chance.
+Louise, say nothing; leave this to me.”
+
+“As you will,” she assented. “I have no wish to interfere. I only hope
+that he does not ask me any questions.”
+
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron turned
+to meet them.
+
+“You must forgive Mademoiselle,” said Bellamy, “if she is a little
+upset this morning. She knows, of course, as I know and you know, that
+Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried his life
+in his hands. Yet his death has been a shock—has been a shock, I may
+say, to both of us. From your point of view,” Bellamy went on, “it was
+doubtless deserved, but—”
+
+“What, in God’s name, is this that you say?” the Baron interrupted. “I
+do not understand at all! You speak of Von Behrling’s death! What do
+you mean?”
+
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+
+“Baron,” he said, “between us who know so much there is surely no need
+for you to play a part. Von Behrling knew that you were watching him.
+Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me. He knew that he was
+running terrible risks. He was not unprepared and he has paid. It is
+not for us—”
+
+“Now, in God’s name, tell me the truth!” Baron de Streuss interrupted
+once more. “What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling’s death?”
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth. He leaned forward with
+his hands resting upon the table.
+
+“Do you mean to say that you do not know?”
+
+“Upon my soul, no!” replied the Baron.
+
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+
+“Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII BARON DE STREUSS’ PROPOSAL
+
+
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now was
+waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and read the
+paragraph word by word.
+
+TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+
+
+Early this morning the body of a man was discovered in a narrow
+passageway leading from Crooked Friars to Royal Street, under
+circumstances which leave little doubt but that the man’s death was
+owing to foul play. The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had
+received several severe blows about the head. He was shabbily dressed
+but was well supplied with money, and he was wearing a gold watch and
+chain when he was found.
+
+
+LATER
+
+
+There appears to be no further doubt but that the man found in the
+entry leading from Crooked Friars had been the victim of a particularly
+murderous assault. Neither his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by
+means of which he could be identified. The body has been removed to the
+nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held.
+
+
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise
+was apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion.
+While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts
+were forming in his mind.
+
+“Von Behrling dead!” he muttered. “But who—who could have done this?”
+
+“Until this moment,” Bellamy answered dryly, “it was not a matter
+concerning which we had any doubt. The only wonder to us was that it
+should have been done too late.”
+
+“You mean,” Streuss said slowly, “that he was murdered after he had
+completed his bargain with you?”
+
+“Naturally.”
+
+“I suppose,” the Baron continued, “there is no question but that it was
+done afterwards? You smile,” he exclaimed, “but what am I to think?
+Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed. How about yours?”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“We do not fight that way,” he replied. “I had bought Von Behrling. He
+was of no further interest to me. I did not care whether he lived or
+died.”
+
+“There is something very strange about this,” the Baron said. “If
+neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?”
+
+“That I can’t tell you. Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from the
+police. It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain long
+undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in bank-notes.”
+
+“Supplied by His Majesty’s Government, I presume?” Streuss remarked.
+
+“Precisely,” Bellamy assented, “and paid to him by me.”
+
+“At any rate,” Streuss said grimly, “we have now no more secrets from
+one another. I will ask you one last question. Where is that packet at
+the present moment?”
+
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+
+“It is a question,” he declared, “which you could scarcely expect me to
+answer.”
+
+“I will put it another way,” Streuss continued. “Supposing you decide
+to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can be placed
+in my hands?”
+
+“If we decide to accept,” Bellamy answered, “there is no reason why
+there should be any delay at all.”
+
+Streuss was silent for several moments. His hands were thrust deep down
+into the pockets of his overcoat. With eyes fixed upon the tablecloth,
+he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised his head and
+looked steadily at Bellamy.
+
+“You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you? You are sure that
+you have that identical packet?”
+
+“I am absolutely certain that I have,” Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+
+“Then accept my price and have done with this matter,” Streuss begged.
+“I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake to bring you
+the money, or honor it wherever you say, within twenty-four hours.”
+
+“I cannot decide so quickly,” said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+“Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure,” he
+added, “whether I might not find a higher bidder.”
+
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+
+“There is little fear of that,” he said. “The papers are of no use
+except to us and to England. To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the
+eventful result would be the same. It is for that reason that I am
+here, for that reason that I have made you this offer.”
+
+“Mademoiselle and I must discuss it,” Bellamy declared. “It is not a
+matter to be decided upon off-hand. Remember that it is not only the
+packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my honor.”
+
+“One hundred thousand pounds,” Streuss said slowly. “From your own side
+you get nothing—nothing but your beggarly salary and an occasional
+reprimand. One hundred thousand pounds is not immense wealth, but it is
+something.”
+
+“Your offer is a generous one,” admitted Bellamy, “there is no doubt
+about that. On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration. It is a big thing for us, remember. I have worked very
+hard for the contents of that packet.”
+
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity. After all, was
+this Englishman playing with him? So he asked: “You are quite sure that
+you have it?”
+
+“There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use. You
+must be content with my word. I have the packet. I paid Von Behrling
+for it and he gave it to me with his own hands.”
+
+“I must accept your word,” Streuss declared. “I give you three days for
+reflection. Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer once more
+to this,”—touching the newspaper which still lay upon the table.
+“Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked man. Your
+spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels. Yet in the end
+some third person seems to have intervened. Are you quite sure that you
+know nothing of this?”
+
+“Upon my honor,” Bellamy replied, “I have not the slightest information
+concerning Von Behrling’s death beyond what you can read there. It was
+as great a surprise to me as to you.”
+
+“It is incomprehensible,” Streuss murmured.
+
+“One can only conclude,” Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, “that someone
+must have seen him with those notes. There were people moving about in
+the little restaurant where we met. The rustle of bank-notes has cost
+more than one man his life.
+
+“For the present,” Streuss said, “we must believe that it was so.
+Listen to me, both of you. You will be wiser if you do not delay. You
+are young people, and the world is before you. With money one can do
+everything. Without it, life is but a slavery. The world is full of
+beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means to choose.
+Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this transaction, if
+you should decide to accept my offer.”
+
+“We shall remember all those things,” Bellamy assured him.
+
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+
+“With your permission, then, Mademoiselle,” he concluded, turning to
+Louise, “I go. I must try and understand for myself the meaning of this
+thing which has happened to Von Behrling.”
+
+“Do not forget,” Bellamy said, “that if you discover anything, we are
+equally interested.”...
+
+They heard him go out. Bellamy purposely held the door open until he
+saw the lift descend. Then he closed it firmly and came back into the
+room. Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full of anxious
+questioning.
+
+“What does it mean?” Louise cried. “What can it mean?”
+
+“Heaven alone knows!” Bellamy answered. “There is not a gleam of
+daylight. My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling. If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his people
+are in the same position. Who, then, in the name of all that is
+miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?”
+
+“In London, too,” Louise murmured. “It is not Vienna, this, or
+Belgrade.”
+
+“You are right,” Bellamy agreed. “London is one of the most law-abiding
+cities in Europe. Besides, the quarter where the murder occurred is
+entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes. It is simply a region of
+great banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+
+“Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?” Louise asked,—“some one else who has been watching Von
+Behrling?”
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+“How can that be? Besides, if any one else were really on his track,
+they must have believed that he had parted with it to me. I shall go
+back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of Scotland
+Yard. If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning.”
+
+“And I,” she said, with an approving nod, “shall go back to bed again.
+These days are too strenuous for me. Won’t you stay and take your
+coffee with me?”
+
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+
+“Dear,” he said, “I would stay, but you understand, don’t you, what a
+maze this is into which we have wandered. Von Behrling has been
+murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty thousand
+pounds and the packet which should have been mine. I must trace them if
+I can, Louise. It is a poor chance, but I must do my best. I myself am
+of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered for the money, and for
+the money only. If so, that packet may be in the hands of people who
+have no idea what use to make of it. They may even destroy it. If
+Streuss returns and you are forced to see him, be careful. Remember, we
+have the document—we are hesitating. So long as he believes that it is
+in our possession, he will not look elsewhere.”
+
+“I will be careful,” Louise promised, with her arms around his neck.
+“And, dear, take care. When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling, I
+tremble, also, for you. It seems to me that your danger is no less than
+his.”
+
+“I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,” with
+a smile.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is
+pledged to recover. Be careful that they do not lead you into a trap.
+They are not above anything, these men. I heard once of a Bulgarian in
+Vienna who was tortured—tortured almost to death—before he spoke. Then
+they thrust him into a lunatic asylum. Remember, dear, they have no
+consciences and no pity.”
+
+“We are in London,” he reminded her.
+
+“So was Von Behrling,” she answered quickly,—“not only in London but in
+a safe part of London. Yet he is dead.”
+
+“It was not their doing,” he declared. “In their own country, they have
+the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their backs,
+and no fear of the law in their hearts. Here they must needs go
+cautiously. I don’t think you need be afraid,” he added, smiling, as he
+opened the door. “I think I can promise you that if you will do me the
+honor we will sup together to-night.”
+
+“You must fetch me from the Opera House,” Louise insisted. “It is a
+bargain. I have suffered enough neglect at your hands. One thing,
+David,—where do you go first from here?”
+
+“To find the man,” Bellamy answered gravely, “who was watching Von
+Behrling when he left me. If any man in England knows anything of the
+murder, it must be he. He should be at my rooms by now.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE
+
+
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor—his friends called him an incorrigible
+one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of rooms in Whitehall
+Court, looking out upon the river. His habits were almost monotonous in
+their regularity, and the morning following his late night in the city
+was no exception to the general rule. At eight o’clock, the valet
+attached to the suite knocked at his door and informed him that his
+bath was ready. He awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and
+remembered the events of the preceding evening.
+
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of
+memory. He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and by
+no means of an adventurous turn of mind. He sought naturally for the
+most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which no effort of
+his will could dismiss from his memory. It was a dream, of course. But
+the dream did not fade. Slowly it spread itself out so that he could no
+longer doubt. He knew very well as he sat there on the edge of his bed
+that the thing was truth. He, Stephen Laverick, a man hitherto of
+upright character, with a reputation of which unconsciously he was
+proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked into the burning eyes of his
+murderer, had stolen away with twenty thousand pounds of someone else’s
+money. Morally, at any rate,—probably legally as well,—he was a thief.
+A glimpse inside his safe on the part of an astute detective might very
+easily bring him under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of
+altogether deeper dye.
+
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher. In the
+cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath, this
+deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible.
+Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action. The
+thing was done; he must make the best of it. Behaving in every way like
+a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search
+hysterically for their account of last night’s tragedy, but took his
+bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down to
+his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper. The item for which he
+searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as he had
+expected. It appeared under one of the leading headlines, but it
+consisted of only a few words. He read them with interest but without
+emotion. Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange quotations and made
+notes of a few prices in which he was interested.
+
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed
+his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal
+Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices. A little
+crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from Crooked
+Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked curiously at the
+spot where the body of the murdered man had lain. It seemed hard to him
+to reconstruct last night’s scene in his mind now that the narrow
+street was filled with hurrying men and a stream of vehicles blocked
+every inch of the roadway. In his early morning mood the thing was
+impossible. In a moment or two he paid his driver and dismissed him.
+
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when he
+opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+“Good-morning!” made his way into the private office. He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which was
+brought in to him by his head-clerk. Afterwards, as soon as he was
+alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner drawer
+into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and gloves.
+
+“I am going around to the bank,” he told his clerk as he passed out. “I
+shall be back in half-an-hour—perhaps less.”
+
+“Very good, sir,” the man answered. “Will Mr. Morrison be here this
+morning?”
+
+Laverick hesitated.
+
+“No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day.”
+
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an
+interview with the manager was immediately granted. The latter received
+him kindly but with a certain restraint. There are not many secrets in
+the city, and Morrison’s big plunge on a particular mining share,
+notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely commented upon.
+
+“What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?” the banker asked.
+
+“I am not sure,” answered Laverick. “To tell you the truth, I am in a
+somewhat singular position.”
+
+The banker nodded. He had not a doubt but that he understood exactly
+what that position was.
+
+“You have perhaps heard,” Laverick continued slowly, “that my late
+partner, Mr. Morrison,—”
+
+“Late partner?” the manager interrupted.
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+“We had a few words last night,” he explained “and Mr. Morrison left
+the office with an understanding between us that he should not return.
+You will receive a formal intimation of that during the course of the
+next day or so. We will revert to the matter presently, if you wish. My
+immediate business with you is to discuss the fact that I have to
+provide something like twenty thousand pounds to-day if I decide to
+take up the purchases of stock which Morrison has made.”
+
+“You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail to
+do so?” the manager remarked gravely.
+
+“Naturally,” Laverick answered. “I am quite aware of the fact that
+Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for his
+transactions. He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great deal more
+deeply than our capital warranted. I may add that I had not the
+slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings.”
+
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+
+“Twenty thousand pounds,” he declared, “is a great deal of money, Mr.
+Laverick.”
+
+“It is a great deal of money,” Laverick admitted. “I am here to ask you
+to lend it to me.”
+
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+
+“My dear Mr. Laverick!” he exclaimed reproachfully.
+
+“Upon unimpeachable security,” Laverick continued. The bank manager was
+conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to escape him,
+and bit his lip with annoyance. It was entirely contrary to his tenets
+to display at any time during office hours any sort of emotion.
+
+“Unimpeachable security,” he repeated. “Of course, if you have that to
+offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you.”
+
+“My security is of the best,” Laverick declared grimly. “I have
+bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds.”
+
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action. He
+whistled softly under his breath. A very respectable client he had
+always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly never
+suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence of
+means. Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the table.
+
+“Mr. Fenwick,” he said, “I believe I am right in assuming that when one
+comes to one’s bankers, one enters, as it were, into a confessional. I
+feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will be repeated outside
+this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your own mind except with
+reference to this particular transaction between you and me. I have the
+right, have I not, to take that for granted?”
+
+“Most certainly,” the banker agreed.
+
+“From a strictly ethical point of view,” Laverick went on, “this money
+is not mine. I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it without
+any conditions. I have power to make what use I wish of it, and I
+choose to-day to use it on my own behalf. Whether I am justified or not
+is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns this excellent banking
+establishment over which you preside so ably. I do not pay these
+bank-notes in to my account and ask you to credit me with twenty
+thousand pounds. I ask you to allow me to deposit them here for seven
+days as security against an overdraft. You can then advance me enough
+money to meet my engagements of to-day.”
+
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one. They
+were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+
+“This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick,” he said.
+
+“I have no doubt that it must seem so to you,” Laverick admitted. “At
+the same time, there the money is. You can run no risk. If I am
+exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I who will
+have to pay. Will you do as I ask?”
+
+The banker hesitated. The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one, but
+on the face of it there could be no possible risk. At the same time,
+there was something about it which he could not understand.
+
+“Your wish, Mr. Laverick,” he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully,
+“seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation.”
+
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+
+“In a sense, that is so,” he assented.
+
+“On the whole,” the banker declared, “I should prefer to credit them to
+your account in the usual way.”
+
+“I am sorry,” Laverick answered, “but I have a sentimental feeling
+about it. I prefer to keep the notes intact. If you cannot follow out
+my suggestion, I must remove my account at once. This isn’t a threat,
+Mr. Fenwick,—you will understand that, I am sure. It is simply a matter
+of business, and owing to Morrison’s speculations I have no time for
+arguments. I am quite satisfied to remain in your hands, but my feeling
+in the matter is exactly as I have stated, and I cannot change. If you
+are to retain my account, my engagements for to-day must be met
+precisely in the way I have pointed out.”
+
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments. When he
+returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who is giving
+in to an unreasonable client.
+
+“It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick,” he announced. “The notes are
+placed upon deposit. Your engagements to-day up to twenty thousand
+pounds shall be duly honored.”
+
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about
+indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office. He had
+rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living, somehow,
+in a life which doesn’t belong to him. He was doing the impossible. He
+knew very well that his name was in every one’s mouth. People were
+looking at him sympathetically, wondering how he could have been such a
+fool as to become the victim of an irresponsible speculator. No one
+ever imagined that he would be able to keep his engagements. And he had
+done it. The price might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay. At
+any moment the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the
+whole world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds. So
+far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the shape of
+direct apprehensions. Already, however, the shadow was beginning to
+fall. Even as he entered his office, the sight of a stranger offering
+office files for sale made him start. He half expected to feel a hand
+upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in his ear. He set his teeth
+tight. This was his risk and he must take it.
+
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme for
+the redirection of its policy. With the absence of Morrison, too, there
+were other changes to be made,—changes in the nature of the business
+they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed. It was not until
+nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the simultaneous arrival of
+several clients, and the breathless entry of his own head-clerk rushing
+in from the house, told him what was going on.
+
+“‘Unions’ have taken their turn at last!” the clerk announced, in an
+excited tone. “They sagged a little this morning, but since eleven they
+have been going steadily up. Just now there seems to be a boom.
+Listen.”
+
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded. He was
+prepared to be surprised at nothing.
+
+“They were bound to go within a day or two,” he remarked. “Morrison
+wasn’t an absolute idiot.”
+
+The luncheon hour passed. The excitement in the city grew. By three
+o’clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of Laverick’s
+engagements. Just before closing-time, it was even doubtful whether he
+might not have borrowed every penny without security at all. He took it
+all quite calmly and as a matter of course. He left the office a little
+earlier than usual, and every man whom he met stopped to slap him on
+the back and chaff him. He escaped as soon as he could, bought the
+evening papers, found a taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread
+them open. It was a remarkable proof of the man’s self-restraint that
+at no time during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early
+editions. He turned them over now with firm fingers. There was
+absolutely no fresh news. No one had come forward with any suggestion
+as to the identity of the murdered man. All day long the body had lain
+in the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but
+presumably unrecognized. Laverick could scarcely believe the words he
+read. The thing seemed ludicrously impossible. The twenty thousand
+pounds must have come from some one. Why did they keep silence? What
+was the mystery about it? Could it be that they were not in a position
+to disclose the fact? Curiously enough, this unnatural absence of news
+inspired him with something which was almost fear. He had taken his
+risks boldly enough. Now that Fate was playing him this unexpectedly
+good turn, he was conscious of a growing nervousness. Who could he have
+been, this man? Whence could he have derived this great sum? One person
+at least must know that he had been robbed—the man who murdered him
+must know it. A cold shiver passed through Laverick’s veins at the
+thought. Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his
+blood, a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his
+spoil.
+
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going to
+his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a little
+early for dinner and go to a theatre. He found there, however, a small
+boy waiting for him with a note in his hand. It was addressed in pencil
+only, and his name was printed upon it.
+
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly concealed.
+There was something ominous to him in those printed characters. Its
+contents, however, were short enough.
+
+   DEAR LAVERICK,
+   I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, for
+   your own sake and mine. A. M.
+
+Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it was with
+relief. The note was from Morrison.
+
+“There is no address here,” he remarked.
+
+“The gent said as I was to take you back with me,” the boy answered.
+
+“Is it far?” Laverick asked.
+
+“Close to Red Lion Square,” the boy declared. “Not more nor five
+minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take one. He
+is in a great hurry to see you.”
+
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment.
+
+“Very well,” he said, “we’ll start at once.”
+
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called them
+a taxicab.
+
+“What address?” he asked.
+
+“Number 7, Theobald Square,” the boy said. Laverick nodded and repeated
+the address to the driver.
+
+“What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!” he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE
+
+
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory
+neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner’s somewhat
+extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.
+The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young
+lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips to
+frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
+
+“Will you please come this way?” she said timidly.
+
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, and
+with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain undeniable
+traces of some cultured presence. The girl who had followed him stood
+with her back to the door, a little out of breath. Laverick
+contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height, with small
+pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair was parted in the
+middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking into account her
+obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a child. When she spoke,
+however, he knew that for some reason she was afraid. Her voice was
+soft and low, but it was the voice of a woman.
+
+“It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?” she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+
+“My name is Stephen Laverick,” he admitted. “I understood that I should
+find Mr. Arthur Morrison here.”
+
+“Yes,” the girl answered, “he sent for you. The note was from him. He
+is here.”
+
+She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with her
+back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt himself
+unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her terrified face
+and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrison speak of having any
+relations. His presence in such a locality, indeed, was hard to
+understand unless he had met with an accident. Morrison was one of
+those young men who would have chosen Hell with a “W” rather than
+Heaven E. C.
+
+“I am afraid,” Laverick said, “that for some reason or other you are
+afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless,” he added
+smiling. “Won’t you sit down and tell me what is the matter? Is Mr.
+Morrison in any trouble?”
+
+“Yes,” she answered, “he is. As for me, I am terrified.”
+
+She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who inspired
+trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the protective
+instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
+
+“Come and tell me all about it,” he suggested. “I expected to hear that
+he had gone abroad.”
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” she said, looking up at him tremulously. “I was hoping
+that you could have told me what it was that had come to him.”
+
+“Well, that rather depends,” Laverick answered. “We certainly had a
+terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most
+unfortunate—”
+
+“Yes, yes!” the girl interrupted. “Please go on. There have been
+business troubles, then.”
+
+“Rather,” Laverick continued. “Last night they reached such a pitch
+that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he should leave
+the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quite understood that he
+was going abroad.”
+
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+
+“There was something, then,” she said, half to herself. “There was
+something. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him, perhaps, Mr.
+Laverick?”
+
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his hands
+behind him—a commanding figure in the tiny room full of feminine
+trifles. He looked a great deal more at his ease than he really was.
+
+“Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered,” he admitted. “You see,
+to be frank with you, the department of our business that was going
+wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control. He had
+entered into certain speculations which I considered unjustifiable.
+To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn for the better.”
+
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would be
+triumphant. Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. For many
+reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
+
+“Now tell me,” he continued, “what is the matter with Morrison, and why
+has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why is he
+here instead of in his own rooms?”
+
+“I will explain,” she began softly.
+
+“You will please explain sitting down,” he said firmly. “And don’t look
+so terrified,” he added, with a little laugh. “I can assure you that I
+am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. You make me feel
+quite uncomfortable.”
+
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had never
+seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features. The strained
+rigidity passed away. An altogether softer light gleamed in her
+wonderful eyes. She was certainly by far the prettiest child he had
+ever seen. As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
+
+“Thank you,” she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+“first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother.”
+
+“Your brother!” Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.
+Besides, this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothing in
+her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that
+nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which belongs
+sometimes to the highest type of Jews. It was not a quality, Laverick
+thought, which he should have associated with Morrison’s sister.
+
+“My brother, in a way,” she resumed. “Arthur’s father was a widower and
+my mother was a widow when they were married. You are surprised?”
+
+“There is no reason why I should be,” he answered, curiously relieved
+at her last statement. “Your brother and I have been connected in
+business for some years. We have seen very little of one another
+outside.”
+
+“I dare say,” she continued, still timidly, “that Arthur’s friends
+would not be your friends, and that he wouldn’t care for the same sort
+of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and as we
+aren’t really related at all, I cannot expect that he would come to see
+me very often. Last night, though, quite late—long after I had gone to
+bed—he rang the bell here. I was frightened, for just now I am all
+alone, and my servant only comes in the morning. So I looked out of the
+window and I saw him on the pavement, huddled up against the door. I
+hurried down and let him in. Mr. Laverick,” she went on, with an
+appealing glance at him, “I have never seen any one look like it. He
+was terrified to death. Something seemed to have happened which had
+taken away from him even the power of speech. He pushed past me into
+this room, threw himself into that chair,” she added, pointing across
+the room, “and he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he
+were a woman in a fit of hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he was
+as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready to
+start out of his head.”
+
+“You must indeed have been frightened,” Laverick said softly.
+
+“Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night. He
+would tell me nothing—he has scarcely spoken a sensible word. Early
+this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him lie down. He
+has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist, but he has not
+slept. Every now and then he tries to get up, but in a minute or two he
+throws himself down on the bed again and hides his face. If any one
+rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he hears a footfall in the street,
+even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, I have never been so
+frightened in my life. I didn’t know whom to send for or what to do.
+When he wrote that note to you I was so relieved. You can’t imagine how
+glad I am to think you have come!”
+
+Laverick’s eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that the scene of
+last night had risen up again before her eyes. She was shrinking back,
+and the terror was upon her once more. He moved over to her side, and
+with an impulse which, when he thought of it afterwards, amazed him,
+laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
+
+“Don’t worry yourself thinking about it,” he said. “I will talk to your
+brother. We did have words, I’ll admit, last night, but there wasn’t
+the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this way. Things
+in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have improved a great
+deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I’ll try and pump some courage into
+him.”
+
+“You are so kind,” she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, “so very kind.
+Will you come, then?”
+
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and into a
+tiny bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but it seemed to
+him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very ordinary
+appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity pervaded this
+little apartment as the one below.
+
+“It is my room,” she said shyly. “There is no other properly furnished,
+and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed.”
+
+“Perhaps he is asleep now,” Laverick whispered.
+
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang into
+a sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock. It was
+Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the office,
+his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished. His black hair,
+usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all disordered. Out of his
+staring eyes flashed an expression which one sees seldom in life,—an
+expression of real and mortal terror.
+
+“Who is it?” he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable. “Who
+is that? What do you want?”
+
+“It is I—Laverick,” Laverick answered. “What on earth is the matter
+with you, man?”
+
+Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed to leave
+his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object. Laverick quietly
+opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl’s shoulder.
+
+“Will you leave us alone?” he asked. “I will come and talk to you
+afterwards, if I may.”
+
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed the door
+and came up to the bedside.
+
+“What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?” he said.
+“Are you ill, or what is it?”
+
+Morrison opened his lips—opened them twice—without any sort of sound
+issuing.
+
+“This is absurd!” Laverick exclaimed protestingly. “I have been feeling
+worried myself, but there’s nothing so terrifying in losing one’s
+money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogether better in
+the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us out of our depth,
+but we are going to pull through, after all. ‘Unions’ have been going
+up all day.”
+
+Laverick’s presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made no reference,
+however, to Laverick’s words.
+
+“You got my note?” he asked hoarsely.
+
+“Naturally I got it,” Laverick answered impatiently, “and I came at
+once. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what you are
+doing here, frightening your sister out of her life.”
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+“I came here,” he muttered, “because I dared not go to my own rooms. I
+was afraid!”
+
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+
+“Man alive,” he exclaimed, “what was there to be afraid of?”
+
+“You don’t know!” Morrison faltered. “You don’t know!”
+
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the
+financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had
+reduced his late partner to this hopeless state. He looked at him
+narrowly.
+
+“Where did you go last night,” he asked, “when you left me?”
+
+“Nowhere,” Morrison gasped. “I came here.”
+
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat down.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “it’s no use sending for me unless you mean to
+tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into any trouble
+apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection with them
+which I don’t know?”
+
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other, he
+remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick. There
+was something in Morrison’s state which was in itself terrifying.
+
+“You had better tell me all about it,” Laverick persisted, “whatever it
+is. I will help you if I can.”
+
+Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side. He
+thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips. They were dry,
+almost cracking.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “I’ve got a breakdown—that’s what’s the matter
+with me. My nerves were never good. I’m afraid of going mad. The
+anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me. I want to get
+out of the country quickly, and I don’t know how to manage it. I can’t
+think. Directly I try to think my head goes round.”
+
+“There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away,” Laverick
+answered. “It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had gone
+under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you chose
+to go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,—and I told you just now that
+business was better,—is not a crime. Pull yourself together, for
+Heaven’s sake, man! You should be ashamed to come here and frighten
+that poor little girl downstairs almost to death.”
+
+Morrison gripped his partner’s arm.
+
+“You must do as I ask,” he declared hoarsely. “It doesn’t matter about
+prices being better. I want to get away. You must help me.”
+
+Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary young man of
+his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a coward. But
+this was no ordinary fear—not even the ordinary fear of a coward.
+Laverick’s face became graver. There was something else, then!
+
+“I will get you out of the country if I can,” said he. “There is no
+difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something from me.
+You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South Africa or New
+York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn’t you better tell me
+exactly what happened last night?”
+
+Once more Morrison’s lips parted without the ability to frame words.
+Then a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his head fell
+back. The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips, and he
+sank back among the pillows. Laverick strode across the room to the
+door.
+
+“Are you anywhere about?” he called out.
+
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+
+“There is nothing to be alarmed at,” he said, “but your brother has
+fainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think that
+you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him. I know
+exactly what to do.”
+
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was standing,
+and ran downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed some of the spirit,
+and moved over to the side of the fainting man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV LAVERICK’s PARTNER FLEES
+
+
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes to
+find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He felt his
+patient’s pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed Laverick down into
+the sitting room.
+
+“An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion,” he pronounced. “The patient
+appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be all right
+with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I will call again
+to-morrow.”
+
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took his
+departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had followed
+them downstairs.
+
+“There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see,” he remarked.
+
+“It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure—I am quite sure
+that he has something upon his mind. Did he tell you nothing?”
+
+“Nothing at all,” Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness. “To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are right
+and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night. He was just
+about to tell me something when he fainted.”
+
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning. The girl listened with pitiful
+face.
+
+“What am I to do?” she asked. “I cannot leave him like this, and if I
+am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined.”
+
+“The theatre?” Laverick repeated.
+
+She nodded.
+
+“I am on the stage,” she said,—“only a chorus girl at the Universal,
+worse luck. Still, they don’t allow us to stay away, and I can’t afford
+to lose my place.”
+
+“Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?”
+Laverick asked bluntly.
+
+“Of course,” she answered. “I do not like to be a burden on any one,
+and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at all. He
+has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately.”
+
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had been
+Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a year, but
+he checked himself. It was not his business to interfere.
+
+“I think,” he said, “that your brother ought to have provided for you.
+He could have done so with very little effort.”
+
+“But what am I to do now?” she asked him. “If I am absent, I shall lose
+my place.”
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+“If you went round there and told them,” he suggested, “would that make
+any difference? I could stay until you came back.”
+
+“Do you mind?” she asked eagerly. “It would be so kind of you.”
+
+“Not at all,” he answered. “Perhaps you would be good enough to bring a
+taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms. Take one from here,
+if you can find it. There are always some at the corner.”
+
+“I’d love to,” she answered. “I must run upstairs and get my hat and
+coat.”
+
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother. Her
+feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure. Not a
+board creaked. She seemed to float down to him in a most becoming
+little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose deficiencies she
+seemed wholly unaware. Her lips were parted once more in a smile.
+
+“He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly,” she announced. “It
+is nice of you to stay.”
+
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+
+“Do you know,” he said, “you ought not to go about alone?”
+
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+
+“Have you any idea how old I am?”
+
+“I took you for fourteen when I came inside,” he answered. “Afterwards
+I thought you might be sixteen. Later on, it seemed to me possible that
+you were eighteen. I am absolutely certain that you are not more than
+nineteen.”
+
+“That shows how little you know about it. I am twenty, and I am quite
+used to going about alone. Will you sit upstairs or here? I am so sorry
+that I have nothing to offer you.”
+
+“Thanks, I need nothing. I think I will sit upstairs in case he wakes.”
+
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly.
+Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight, moving
+without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible swiftness. When
+she had turned the corner, he went slowly upstairs and into the room
+where Morrison still lay asleep. He drew a chair to the bedside and
+leaning forward opened out the evening paper. The events of the last
+hour or so had completely blotted out from his mind, for the time
+being, his own expedition into the world of tragical happenings. He
+glanced at the sleeping man, then opened his paper. There was very
+little fresh news except that this time the fact was mentioned that
+upon the body of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was
+at first supposed. It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery,
+after all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in
+a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals. There was
+a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the “Black Hand,”
+concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the murder of a
+well-known detective a few weeks ago. But apart from this there was
+nothing fresh.
+
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair. The strain
+of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon his
+robust constitution. The atmosphere of the room, too, was close. He
+leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary. Perhaps he dozed. At
+any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization of where he
+was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a sudden start.
+
+Morrison’s eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his lips
+were parted. His manner was quieter, but there were black lines deep
+engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone something of that
+haunting fear.
+
+“Laverick!” he repeated hoarsely.
+
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+
+“Hullo,” he said, “are you feeling more like yourself?”
+
+Morrison nodded.
+
+“Yes,” he admitted, “I am feeling—better. How did you come here? I
+can’t remember anything.”
+
+“You sent for me,” Laverick answered. “I arrived to find you pretty
+well in a state of collapse. Your sister has gone round to the theatre
+to ask them to excuse her this evening.”
+
+“I remember now that I sent for you,” Morrison continued. “Tell me, has
+any one been around at the office asking after me?”
+
+“No one particular,” Laverick answered,—“no one at all that I can think
+of. There were one or two inquiries through the telephone, but they
+were all ordinary business matters.”
+
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh of
+relief.
+
+“I have made a fool of myself, Laverick,” he said hoarsely.
+
+“You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving way,”
+Laverick declared, “besides frightening your sister half to death.”
+
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+“We talked—some time ago,” he went on, “about my getting away. You
+promised that you would help me. You said that I could get off to
+Africa or America to-morrow.”
+
+“Not the slightest difficulty about that,” Laverick answered. “There
+are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind—don’t take this unkindly but the truth is best—I will not have you
+back again. There may have to be a more definite readjustment of our
+affairs now, but the old business is finished with.”
+
+“I don’t want to come back,” Morrison murmured. “I have had enough of
+the city for the rest of my life. I’d rather get away somewhere and
+make a fresh start. You’ll help me, Laverick, won’t you?”
+
+“Yes, I will help you,” Laverick promised.
+
+“You were always a good sort,” Morrison continued, “much too good for
+me. It was a rotten partnership for you. We could never have pulled
+together.”
+
+“Let that go,” Laverick interrupted. “If you really mean getting away,
+that simplifies matters, of course. Have you made any plans at all?
+Where do you want to go?”
+
+“To New York,” answered Morrison; “New York would suit me best. There
+is money to be made there if one has something to make a start with.”
+
+“There will be some more money to come to you,” Laverick answered,
+“probably a great deal more. I shall place our affairs in the hands of
+an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday. You
+shall have every penny that is due to you. You have quite enough,
+however, to get there with. I will see to your ticket to-night, if
+possible. When you’ve arrived you can cable me your address, or you can
+decide where you will stay before you leave, and I will send you a
+further remittance.”
+
+“You’re a good sort, Laverick,” Morrison mumbled.
+
+“You’d better give me the key of your rooms,” Laverick continued, “and
+I will go back and put together some of your things. I suppose you will
+not want much to go away with. The rest can be sent on afterwards. And
+what about your letters?”
+
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the bed.
+He clutched at Laverick’s shoulder frantically.
+
+“Don’t go near my rooms, Laverick!” he begged. “Promise me that you
+won’t! I don’t want any letters! I don’t want any of my things!”
+
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+
+“You mean you want to go away without—”
+
+“I mean just what I have said,” Morrison continued hysterically. “If
+you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they will find
+out where I am. I should be there now but for that.”
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment. The matter was becoming serious.
+
+“Very well,” he said, “I will do as you say. I will not go near your
+rooms. I will get you a few things somewhere to start with.”
+
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+
+“Thank you, Laverick,” he said; “thank you. I wish—I wish—”
+
+His voice seemed to die away. Laverick glanced towards him, wondering
+at the unfinished sentence. Once again the man’s face seemed to be
+convulsed with horror. He flung himself face downward upon the bed and
+tore at the sheets with both his hands.
+
+“Don’t be a fool,” Laverick said sternly. “If you’ve anything on your
+mind apart from business, tell me about it and I’ll do what I can to
+help you.”
+
+Morrison made no reply. He was sobbing now like a child. Laverick rose
+to his feet and went to the window. What was to be done with such a
+creature! When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once more into
+a sitting posture. His appearance was absolutely spectral.
+
+“Laverick,” he said feebly, “there is something else, but I cannot tell
+you—I cannot tell any one.”
+
+“Just as you please, of course,” Laverick answered. “I am simply
+anxious to help you.”
+
+“You can do that as it is!” Morrison exclaimed feverishly. “You must
+promise me something—promise that if any one asks for me to-morrow
+before I get away, you will not tell them where I am. Say you suppose
+that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into the country for a few
+days. Say that you are expecting me back. Don’t let any one know that I
+have gone abroad, until I am safely away. And then don’t tell a soul
+where I have gone.”
+
+“Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?” Laverick asked
+sternly.
+
+“I haven’t—I swear that I haven’t,” Morrison declared. “It’s something
+quite outside business—quite outside business altogether.”
+
+“Very well,” answered Laverick, “I will promise what you have asked,
+then. Listen—here is your sister back again,” he added, as he heard the
+taxicab stop outside. “Pull yourself together and don’t frighten her so
+much. I am going down to meet her. I shall tell her that you are
+better. Try and buck up when she comes in to see you.”
+
+“I’ll do my best,” Morrison said humbly. “If you knew! If you only
+knew!”
+
+He began to sob again. Laverick left the room and, descending the
+stairs, met the girl in the hall. Her white face questioned him before
+her lips had time to frame the speech.
+
+“Your brother is very much better,” Laverick said. “I am sure that you
+need not be anxious about him.”
+
+“I am so glad,” she murmured. “They let me off but I had to pay a fine.
+I had no idea before that I was so important. Shall I go to him now?”
+
+“One moment,” Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room. “Miss Morrison,” he went on,—
+
+“Miss Leneveu is my name,” she interrupted.
+
+“I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his mind
+apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting into some
+sort of trouble. I don’t think there is any object in bothering him
+about it, but the great thing is to get him away.”
+
+“You will help?” she begged.
+
+“I will help, certainly,” Laverick answered. “I have promised to. You
+must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o’clock to-morrow
+morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special to catch the
+German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight to eight-thirty.”
+
+“But his clothes!” she cried. “How can he be ready by then?”
+
+“Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or to
+send him any of his belongings,” Laverick continued quietly.
+
+“But how strange!” the girl exclaimed. “Do you mean to say, then, that
+he is going without anything?”
+
+“I am afraid,” Laverick said kindly, “that we must take it for granted
+that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable business or
+other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts an entire
+secret. He has been asking me whether any one has been to the office to
+inquire for him. Under the circumstances, I think the best thing we can
+do is to humor him. I shall buy him before to-morrow morning a cheap
+dressing-case and a ready-made suit of clothes, and a few things for
+the voyage. Then I shall send a cab for you both at seven o’clock and
+meet you at the station.
+
+“You are very kind,” she murmured. “What should I have done without
+you? Oh, I cannot think!”
+
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire to
+take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the tears
+which shone in her deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself that she
+was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion, that she
+could only construe such an action as a liberty, an impertinence,
+offered under circumstances for which there could be no possible
+excuse.
+
+He moved away towards the door.
+
+“Naturally,” he said, “I am glad to be of use to your brother. You
+see,” he explained, a little awkwardly, “after all, we have been
+partners in business.”
+
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+
+“Naturally, too,” he continued, “it has been a great pleasure for me to
+do anything to relieve your anxiety.”
+
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which
+shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which was
+almost invitation. Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. Something
+had come into his life—something absurd, uncounted upon,
+incomprehensible. The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified. In a
+moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had told
+himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her, unresisting, up
+into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, he was never able
+to remember those few moments clearly, only it seemed to him that she
+had accepted his caress almost without hesitation, with the effortless
+serenity of a child receiving a natural consolation in a time of
+trouble. But Laverick was conscious of other feelings as he leaned hard
+back in the corner of his taxicab and was driven swiftly away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI THE WAITER AT THE “BLACK POST”
+
+
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter’s shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases as
+he could on Morrison’s behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, he
+returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last three
+hours. It was nearly nine o’clock when he stepped out of the lift and
+opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the latchkey which
+hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes mechanically, and
+he had nearly finished when the telephone bell upon his table rang.
+
+“Who’s that?” he asked, taking up the receiver.
+
+“Hall-porter, sir,” was the answer. “Person here wishes to see you
+particularly.”
+
+“A person!” Laverick repeated. “Man or woman?”
+
+“Man, sir.
+
+“Better send him up,” Laverick ordered.
+
+“He’s a seedy-looking lot, sir,” the porter explained “I told him that
+I scarcely thought you’d see him.”
+
+“Never mind,” Laverick answered. “I can soon get rid of the fellow if
+he’s cadging.”
+
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own
+affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the
+announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his mind
+with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers shook as he
+drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the passageway to answer
+the bell which rang a few seconds later. A man stood outside, dressed
+in shabby black clothes, whose face somehow was familiar to him,
+although he could not, for the moment, place it.
+
+“Do you want to see me?” Laverick asked.
+
+“If you please, Mr. Laverick,” the man replied, “if you could spare me
+just a moment.”
+
+“You had better come inside, then,” Laverick said, closing the door and
+preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there was nothing
+threatening about the appearance of this visitor—nor anything official.
+
+“I have taken the liberty of coming, sir,” the man announced, “to ask
+you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison.”
+
+Laverick’s face showed no sign of his relief. What he felt he succeeded
+in keeping to himself.
+
+“You mean Morrison—my partner, I suppose?” he answered.
+
+“If you please, sir,” the man admitted. “I wanted a word or two with
+him most particular. I found out his address from the caretaker of your
+office, but he don’t seem to have been home to his rooms at all last
+night, and they know nothing about him there.”
+
+“Your face seems familiar to me,” Laverick remarked. “Where do you come
+from?”
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+“I am the waiter, sir, at the ‘Black Post,’—little bar and restaurant,
+you know,” he added, “just behind your offices, sir, at the end of
+Crooked Friars’ Alley. You’ve been in once or twice, Mr. Laverick, I
+think. Mr. Morrison’s a regular customer. He comes in for a drink most
+mornings.”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“I knew I’d seen your face somewhere,” he said. “What do you want with
+Mr. Morrison?”
+
+The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+
+“It’s a matter I shouldn’t like to mention to any one except Mr.
+Morrison himself, sir,” he declared finally. “If you could put me in
+the way of seeing him, I’d be glad. I may say that it would be to his
+advantage, too.”
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+
+“As it happens, that’s a little difficult,” he explained. “Mr. Morrison
+and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I undertook certain
+responsibilities which he should have shared, and he arranged to leave
+the firm and the country at once. We parted—well, not exactly the best
+of friends. I am afraid I cannot give you any information.”
+
+“You haven’t seen him since then, sir?” the man asked.
+
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly. His visitor was not in the
+least convinced.
+
+“I am afraid I haven’t made myself quite plain, sir,” he said. “It’s to
+do him a bit o’ good that I’m here. I’m not wishing him any harm at
+all. On the contrary, it’s a great deal more to his advantage to see me
+than it will be mine to find him.”
+
+“I think,” Laverick suggested, “that you had better be frank with me.
+Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the country, I
+could easily deal with you on his behalf.”
+
+The man looked doubtful.
+
+“You see, sir,” he replied awkwardly, “it’s a matter I wouldn’t like to
+breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself. It’s—it’s a
+bit serious.”
+
+The man’s face gave weight to his words. Curiously enough, the gleam of
+terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded him of a
+similar look which he had seen in Morrison’s eyes barely an hour ago.
+To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took a cigarette from a
+box and lit it. A conviction was forming itself in his mind. There was
+something definite behind these hysterical paroxysms of his late
+partner, something of which this man had an inkling.
+
+“Look here,” he said, throwing himself into an easychair, “I think you
+had better be frank with me. I must know more than I know at present
+before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be found. We
+didn’t part very good friends, but I’m his friend enough—for the sake
+of others,” he added, after a moment’s hesitation, “to do all that I
+could to help him out of any difficulty he may have stumbled into. So
+you see that so far as anything you may have to say to him is
+concerned, I think you might as well say it to me.”
+
+“You couldn’t see your way, then, sir,” the man continued doggedly, “to
+tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?”
+
+“No, I couldn’t,” Laverick decided. “Even if I knew exactly where he
+was—and I’m not admitting that—I couldn’t put you in touch with him
+unless I knew what your business was.”
+
+The man’s eyes gleamed. He was a typical waiter—pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking—but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and they
+were expressive.
+
+“I think, sir,” he said, “you’ve some idea yourself, then, that Mr.
+Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble.”
+
+“We won’t discuss that,” Laverick answered. “You must either go
+away—it’s past nine o’clock and I haven’t had my dinner yet—or you must
+treat me as you would Mr. Morrison.”
+
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+
+“Very well, sir,” he said, “there’s no great reason why I should put
+myself out about this at all. The only thing is—”
+
+He hesitated.
+
+“Well, go on,” Laverick said encouragingly.
+
+“I think,” the man continued, “that Mr. Morrison—knowing, as I well do,
+sir, the sort of gent he is—would be more likely to talk common sense
+with me about this matter than you, sir.”
+
+“I’ll imagine I’m Morrison, for the moment,” Laverick said smiling,
+“especially as I’m acting for him.”
+
+The man looked around the room. The door behind had been left ajar. He
+stepped backward and closed it.
+
+“You’ll pardon the liberty, sir,” he said, “but this is a serious
+matter I’m going to speak about. I’ll just tell you a little thing and
+you can form your own conclusions. Last night we was open late at the
+‘Black Post.’ We keep open, sir, as you know, when you gentlemen at the
+Stock Exchange are busy. About nine o’clock there was a strange
+customer came in. He had two drinks and he sat as though he were
+waiting. In about ’arf-an-hour another gent came in, and they went into
+a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort of business.
+Anyways, there was papers passed between them. I was fairly busy about
+then, as there were one or two more customers in the place, but I
+noticed these two talking together, and I noticed the dark gentleman
+leave. The others went out a few minutes afterwards, and the gent who
+had come first was alone in the place. He sat in the corner and he had
+a pocket-book on the table before him. I had a sort of casual glance at
+it when I brought him a drink, and it seemed to me that it was full of
+bank-notes. He sat there just like a man extra deep in thought. Just
+after eleven, in came Mr. Morrison. I could see he was rare and put
+out, for he was white, and shaking all over. ‘Give me a drink, Jim,’ he
+said,—‘a big brandy and soda, big as you make ’em.’”
+
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself. Laverick was
+suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his pulses.
+
+“Go on,” he said. “That was after he left me. Go on.”
+
+“He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was,” the waiter
+continued, “but they didn’t say nowt to each other. All of a sudden I
+see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap as
+though he’d seen something that had given him a turn. I leaned over the
+counter and had a look, too. There he sat—this tall, fair chap who had
+been in the place so long—with his big pocket-book on the table in
+front of him, and even from where I was I could see that there was a
+great pile of bank-notes sticking out from it. All of a sudden he looks
+up and sees Mr. Morrison a-watching him and me from behind the counter.
+Back he whisks the pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill,
+gives me two mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks
+out.”
+
+“You know who he was?” Laverick inquired.
+
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered—paused and
+looked nervously around the room. His voice shook.
+
+“He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the ‘Black
+Post’ last night, sir,” he said.
+
+“How do you know?” Laverick asked.
+
+“I got an hour off to-day,” the waiter continued, “and went down to the
+Mortuary. There was no doubt about it. There he was—same chap, same
+clothes. I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon I’ll have to at
+the inquest.”
+
+Laverick’s cigarette burned away between his fingers. It seemed to him
+that he was no longer in the room. He was listening to Big Ben striking
+the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom with its
+spotless sheets and lace curtains. The man on the bed was looking at
+him. Laverick remembered the look and shivered.
+
+“What has this to do with Morrison?” he demanded.
+
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half
+terrified way.
+
+“Mr. Morrison, sir,” he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper,
+“he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds. A sort of queer
+look he’d got in his face too, and he went out without paying me. I’ve
+read the papers pretty careful, sir,” the man went on, “but I ain’t
+seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being found on the man
+as was murdered.”
+
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away. He walked to the
+window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor. His eyes
+followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the Thames
+Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other side of
+the river. He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor. Was this,
+then, the secret of Morrison’s terror? He wondered no longer at his
+collapse. The terror was upon him, too. He felt his forehead, and his
+hand, when he drew it away, was wet. It was not Morrison alone but he
+himself who might be implicated in this man’s knowledge. The thoughts
+flitted through his brain like parts of a nightmare. He saw Morrison
+arrested, he saw the whole story of the missing pocket-book in the
+papers, he imagined his bank manager reading it and thinking of that
+parcel of mysterious bank-notes deposited in his keeping on the morning
+after the tragedy... Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of
+weakness, poignant though it had been, passed. This was no new thing
+with which he was confronted. All the time he had known that the
+probabilities were in favor of such a discovery. He set his teeth and
+turned to face his visitor.
+
+“This is a very serious thing which you have told me,” he said. “Have
+you spoken about it to any one else?”
+
+“Not a soul, sir,” the man answered. “I thought it best to have a word
+or two first with Mr. Morrison.”
+
+“You were thinking of attending the inquest,” Laverick said
+thoughtfully. “The police would thank you for your evidence, and there,
+I suppose, the matter would end.”
+
+“You’ve hit it precisely, sir,” the man admitted. “There the matter
+would end.”
+
+“On the other hand,” Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, “supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were not
+sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being a little
+tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison called in for
+a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you dismissed the
+whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take its own
+course,—”
+
+Laverick paused. His visitor scratched the side of his chin and nodded.
+
+“You’ve put this matter plainly, sir,” he said, “in what I call an
+understandable, straightforward way. I’m a poor man—I’ve been a poor
+man all my life—and I’ve never seed a chance before of getting away
+from it. I see one now.”
+
+“You want to do the best you can for yourself?”
+
+“So ’elp me God, sir, I do!” the man agreed.
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“You have done a remarkably wise thing,” he said, “in coming to me and
+in telling me about this affair. The idea of connecting Mr. Morrison
+with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on the other
+hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his name mentioned
+in connection with it. You have behaved discreetly, and you have done
+Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out. You will do him a
+further service by adopting the second course I suggested with regard
+to the inquest. What do you consider that service is worth?”
+
+“It depends, sir,” the man answered quietly, “at what price Mr.
+Morrison values his life!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+
+
+The man’s manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase,
+frowning.
+
+“His life!”
+
+“Yes, sir!”
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Come,” he declared, “you must not go too far with this thing. I have
+admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, that Mr.
+Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in connection with
+this affair. But because he left your bar a few minutes after the
+murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that therefore he is
+necessarily implicated in his death. I cannot conceive anything more
+unlikely.”
+
+The man smiled—a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth less
+than anything in the world.
+
+“There are a few other things, sir,” he remarked,—“one in especial.”
+
+“Well?” Laverick inquired. “Let’s have it. You had better tell me
+everything that is in your mind.”
+
+“The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife.”
+
+“I remember reading that,” Laverick admitted.
+
+“Well?”
+
+“The knife was mine,” his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper. “It lay on the edge of the counter, close to where
+Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he’d gone I missed it.”
+
+Laverick was silent. What was there to be said?
+
+“Horn-handled knives,” he muttered, “are not rare not uncommon things.”
+
+“One don’t possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years without
+being able to swear to it,” the other remarked dryly.
+
+“Is there anything more?”
+
+“There don’t need to be,” was the quiet reply. “You know that, sir. So
+do I. There don’t need to be any more evidence than mine to send Mr.
+Morrison to the gallows.”
+
+“We will waive that point,” Laverick declared. “The jury sometimes are
+very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone. However, as I
+have said, let us waive that point. Your position is clear enough. You
+go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get nothing. You are
+a poor man, you have worked hard all your life. The chance has come in
+your way to do yourself a little good. Now take my advice. Don’t spoil
+it all by asking for anything ridiculous. It won’t do for you to come
+into a fortune a few days after this affair, especially if it ever
+comes out that the murdered man was in your place. I am here to act for
+Mr. Morrison. What is it that you want?”
+
+“You are talking like a gent, sir,” the man said,—“like a sensible
+gent, too. I’d have to keep it quiet, of course, that I’d come into a
+bit of money,—just at present, at any rate. I could easy find an excuse
+for changing my job—perhaps get away from London altogether. I’ve got a
+few pounds saved and I’ve always wanted to open a banking account. A
+gent like you, perhaps, could put me in the way of doing it.”
+
+“How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to commence
+with?” Laverick asked.
+
+“I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir.”
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+“By the way, what is your name?” he inquired at last.
+
+“James Shepherd, sir,” the man answered,—“generally called Jim, sir.”
+
+“Well, you see, Shepherd,” Laverick continued, “the difficulty is, in
+your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where the thing
+will end. A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but in four amounts,
+with three months interval between each, it could be arranged. This
+would be better for you, in any case. Two hundred and fifty pounds is
+not an unheard-of sum for you to have saved or got together. After that
+your investments would be my lookout, and they would produce, as I have
+said, another seven hundred and fifty pounds. But what security have
+I—has Mr. Morrison, let us say—that you will be content with this sum?”
+
+“He hasn’t any, sir,” the man admitted at once. “He couldn’t have any.
+I’m a modest-living man, and I’ve no desire to go shouting around that
+I’m independent all of a sudden. That wouldn’t do nohow. A thousand
+pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a week if I invested it,
+or two pounds a week for an annuity, my health being none too good.
+I’ve no wife or children, sir. I was thinking of an annuity. With two
+pounds a week I’d have no cause to trouble any one again.”
+
+Laverick considered.
+
+“It shall be done,” he said. “To-morrow I shall buy shares for you to
+the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds. They will be deposited in a
+bank. Some day you can look in and see me, and I will take you round
+there. You are my client who has speculated under my instructions
+successfully, and you will sign your name and become a customer. After
+that, you will speculate again. When your thousand pounds has been
+made, I will show you how to buy an annuity. Keep your mouth shut, and
+last night will be the luckiest night of your life. Do you drink?”
+
+“A drop or two, sir,” the man admitted. “If I didn’t, I guess I’d go
+off my chump.”
+
+“Do you talk when you’re drunk?” Laverick asked.
+
+“Never, sir,” the man declared. “I’ve a way of getting a drop too much
+when I’m by myself. Then I tumbles off to sleep and that’s the end of
+it. I’ve no fancy for company at such times.”
+
+“It’s a good thing,” Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into his
+pocket. “Here’s a five-pound note on account. I daresay you can manage
+to keep sober to-night, at any rate. That’s all, isn’t it?”
+
+“That’s all, sir,” the man answered, “unless I might make so bold as to
+ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?”
+
+“Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before he
+came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd,” Laverick affirmed.
+“Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement.”
+
+The man nodded.
+
+“I see, sir,” he said, taking up his hat. “Good night, sir!”
+
+“Good night!” Laverick answered. “You can find your way down?”
+
+“Quite well, sir, and thank you,” declared Mr. Shepherd, closing the
+door softly behind him.
+
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry. He
+was faced now with a new tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+
+
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. The
+girl’s eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious of a
+sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station some time
+before the train was due to leave, and, although a physical wreck, he
+seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all the appearance of a
+broken-spirited man. He looked about him on the platform, and even from
+the carriage, in the furtive way of a criminal expecting apprehension
+at any moment. The whistle of the train had been a relief as great to
+him as to Laverick.
+
+“We’ll write you to New York, care of Barclays,” Laverick called out.
+“Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself together and make a fresh start.”
+
+Morrison’s only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, stirred
+almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all this man had
+offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately. His thoughts
+were engrossed upon himself and his own danger. He would not even have
+kissed her if she had not drawn his face down to hers and whispered a
+reassuring little message. Laverick turned away. For some reason or
+other he felt himself shuddering. Conversation during those last few
+moments had been increasingly difficult. The train was off at last,
+however, and they were alone.
+
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of
+relief. They turned silently toward the exit.
+
+“Are you going back home?” Laverick asked.
+
+“Yes,” she answered listlessly. “There is nothing else to do.”
+
+“Isn’t it rather sad for you there by yourself?”
+
+She nodded.
+
+“It is the first time,” she said. “Another girl and her mother have
+lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. They are
+paying a little toward the house or I should have to go into rooms. As
+it is, I think that it would be more comfortable.”
+
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+
+“You seem such a child,” he said, “to be left all alone in the world
+like this.”
+
+“But I am not a child actually, you see,” she answered, with an effort
+at lightness. “Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur’s going. His father
+was always very good to me, and made him promise that he would do what
+he could. I didn’t see much of him, but one felt always that there was
+somebody. It’s different now. It makes one feel very lonely.”
+
+“I, too,” Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, “am rather a
+lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and then.”
+
+She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, but
+her eyes—those wonderful eyes—spoke volumes.
+
+“If you really mean it,” she said, “I should be so glad.”
+
+“Supposing we start to-day,” he suggested, smiling. “I cannot ask you
+to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have dinner
+together quite early. Then I would take you to the theatre and meet you
+afterwards, if you liked.”
+
+“If I liked!” she whispered. “Oh, how good you are.”
+
+“I am not at all sure about that. Now I’ll put you in this taxi and
+send you home.”
+
+She laughed.
+
+“You mustn’t do anything so extravagant. I can get a ’bus just outside.
+I never have taxicabs.”
+
+“Just this morning,” he insisted, “and I think he won’t trouble you for
+his fare. You must let me, please. Remember that there’s a large
+account open still between your half-brother and me, so you needn’t
+mind these trifles. Till this evening, then. Shall I fetch you or will
+you come to me?”
+
+“Let me fetch you, if I may,” she said. “It isn’t nice for you to come
+down to where I live. It’s such a horrid part.”
+
+“Just as you like,” he answered. “I’d be very glad to fetch you if you
+prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came. Shall we say
+seven o’clock? I’ve written the address down on this card so that you
+can make no mistake.”
+
+She laughed gayly.
+
+“You know, all the time,” she said, “I feel that you are treating me as
+though I were a baby. I’ll be there punctually, and I don’t think I
+need tie the card around my neck.”
+
+The cab glided off. Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face with
+a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she leaned out for
+a moment to say good-bye. Then he went back to his rooms, breakfasted,
+and made his way to his office.
+
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder in
+Crooked Friars’ Alley. Evidently what information the police had
+obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the moment
+when he entered the office, had little or no time to think of the
+tragedy under whose shadow he had come. The long-predicted boom had
+arrived at last. Without lunch, he and all his clerks worked until
+after six o’clock. Even then Laverick found it hard to leave. During
+the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask for Morrison. To all
+of them he had given the same reply,—Morrison had gone abroad on
+private business for the firm. Very few were deceived by Laverick’s dry
+statement. He was quite aware that he was looked upon either as one of
+the luckiest men on earth, or as a financier of consummate skill. The
+failure of Laverick & Morrison had been looked upon as a certainty. How
+they had tided over that twenty-four hours had been known to no one—to
+no one but Laverick himself and the manager of his bank.
+
+Just before four o’clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+
+“Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment,” his head-clerk announced.
+
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+
+“Yes,” he said, “I am Laverick. Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick! Absolutely
+impossible to spare any time to-day. What is it? The account is all
+right, isn’t it?”
+
+“Quite right, Mr. Laverick,” was the answer. “At the same time, if you
+could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you concerning the
+deposit you made yesterday.”
+
+“I will come in to-morrow,” Laverick promised. “This afternoon it is
+quite out of the question. I have a crowd of people waiting to see me,
+and several important engagements for which I am late already.”
+
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+
+“I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?” he pressed.
+
+“To-morrow,” Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+
+For a time this last message troubled him. As soon as the day’s work
+was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed it
+entirely from his thoughts. It was curious how, notwithstanding this
+new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding that
+sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice, he set
+his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a pleasure
+which he had not felt for many months. The whirl of the day faded
+easily from his mind. He lived no more in an atmosphere of wild
+excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety. How empty his life
+must have unconsciously grown that he could find so much pleasure in
+being kind to a pretty child! It was hard to think of her
+otherwise—impossible. A strange heritage, this, to have been left him
+by such a person as Arthur Morrison. How in the world, he wondered, did
+he happen to have such a connection.
+
+She was a little shy when she arrived. Laverick had left special orders
+downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room immediately.
+She was very quietly dressed except for her hat, which was large and
+wavy. He found it becoming, but he knew enough to understand that her
+clothes were very simple and very inexpensive, and he was conscious of
+being curiously glad of the fact.
+
+“I am afraid,” she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire,
+“that we must go somewhere very quiet. You see, I have only one evening
+gown and I couldn’t wear that. There wouldn’t be time to change
+afterwards. Besides, one’s clothes do get so knocked about in the
+dressing-rooms.”
+
+“There are heaps of places we can go to,” he assured her pleasantly.
+“Of course you can’t dress for the evening when you have to go on to
+work, but you must remember that there are a good many other smart
+young ladies in the same position. I had to change because I have taken
+a stall to see your performance. Tell me, how are you feeling now?”
+
+“Rather lonely,” she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace. “That
+is to say I have been feeling lonely,” she added softly. “I don’t now,
+of course.
+
+“You are a queer little person,” he said kindly, as they went down in
+the lift. “Haven’t you any friends?”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+“What sort of friends could I have?” she asked. “The girls in the
+chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many
+people whom I don’t, and they are always out to supper, or something of
+the sort.”
+
+“And you?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me,” she said. “I
+liked it very much, but they didn’t ask me again.”
+
+“I wonder why?” he remarked.
+
+“Oh, I don’t know!” she went on drearily. “You see, I think the men who
+take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to be allowed to
+make love to them. At any rate, they behaved like that. Such a horrid
+man tried to say nice things to me and I didn’t like it a bit. So they
+left me alone afterwards. The girl I lived with and her mother are
+quite nice, and they have a few friends we go to see sometimes on
+Sunday or holidays. It’s dull, though, very dull, especially now
+they’re away.”
+
+“What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?” he asked.
+
+“What could one do?” she answered. “My mother’s money died with her—she
+had only an annuity—and my stepfather, who had promised to look after
+me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly. Arthur was in a
+stockbroker’s office and he couldn’t save anything. My only friend was
+my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was director of
+the orchestra at the Universal. All he could do for me was to get me a
+place in the chorus. I have been there ever since. They keep on
+promising me a little part but I never get it. It’s always like that in
+theatres. You have to be a favorite of the manager’s, for some reason
+or other, or you never get your chance unless you are unusually lucky.”
+
+“I don’t know much about theatres,” he admitted. “I am afraid I am
+rather a stupid person. When I can get away from work I go into the
+country and play cricket or golf, or anything that’s going. When I am
+up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few friends, or
+playing bridge at the club. I never have been a theatre-goer.
+
+“I wonder,” she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round table
+in the restaurant which he had chosen,—“I wonder why every now and then
+you look so serious.”
+
+“I didn’t know that I did,” he answered. “We’ve had thundering hard
+times lately in business, though. I suppose that makes a man look
+thoughtful.”
+
+“Poor Mr. Laverick,” she murmured softly. “Are things any better now?”
+
+“Much better.”
+
+“Then you have nothing really to bother you?” she persisted.
+
+“I suppose we all have something,” he replied, suddenly grave. “Why do
+you ask that?”
+
+She leaned across the table. In the shaded light, her oval face with
+its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though it might
+have belonged to some old miniature. She was delightful, like
+Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain—delightful when the
+lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the corner of her
+lips. Just now, however, she became very much in earnest.
+
+“I will tell you why I ask that question,” she said. “I cannot help
+worrying still about Arthur. You know you admitted last night that he
+had done something. You saw how terribly frightened he was this
+morning, and how he kept on looking around as though he were afraid
+that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid. Oh! I don’t want to
+worry you,” she went on, “but I feel so terrified sometimes. I feel
+that he must have done something—bad. It was not an ordinary business
+trouble which took the life out of him so completely.”
+
+“It was not,” Laverick admitted at once. “He has done something, I
+believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange, and I
+think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it.”
+
+“Did you tell him so this morning?” she asked eagerly.
+
+“I did not,” he answered. “I told him nothing. For many reasons it was
+better to keep him ignorant. He and I might not have seen things the
+same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the best. If I were
+you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn’t worry any more. Soon you will
+hear from your brother that he is safe in New York, and I think I can
+promise you that the trouble will never come to anything serious.”
+
+“Why have you been so kind to him?” she asked timidly. “From what he
+said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed, you
+and he are so different.”
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+
+“To be honest,” he said, “I think that I should not have taken so much
+trouble for his sake alone. You see,” he continued, smiling, “you are
+rather a delightful young person, and you were very anxious, weren’t
+you?”
+
+Her hand came across the table—an impulsive little gesture, which he
+nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful. He took it into
+his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips but for the waiters
+who were hovering around.
+
+“You are so kind,” she said, “and I am so fortunate. I think that I
+wanted a friend.”
+
+“You poor child,” he answered, “I should think you did. You are not
+drinking your wine.”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“Do you mind?” she asked. “A very little gets into my head because I
+take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes the least bit
+of a mistake. Besides, I do not think that I like to drink wine. If one
+does not take it at all, there is an excuse for never having anything
+when the girls ask you.”
+
+He nodded sympathetically.
+
+“I believe you are quite right,” he said; “in a general way, at any
+rate. Well, I will drink by myself to your brother’s safe arrival in
+New York. Are you ready?”
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+“I must be there in a quarter of an hour,” she told him.
+
+“I will drive you to the theatre,” he said, “and then go round and
+fetch my ticket.”
+
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he took
+an evening paper from the stall. A brief paragraph at once attracted
+his attention.
+
+_Murder in the City_.—We understand that very important information has
+come into the hands of the police. An arrest is expected to-night or
+to-morrow at the latest.
+
+
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was the
+usual sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found
+out—nothing, he told himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+
+
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning,
+Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went round
+to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling keenly the
+responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say and how much to
+leave unsaid was a question which called for a full measure of
+diplomacy.
+
+“You understand, Mr. Laverick,” he began, “that I wished to see you
+with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday.”
+
+Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+
+“Well?” he asked.
+
+“The arrangement, of course, was most unusual,” the manager continued.
+“I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an
+urgent one.”
+
+“I do not quite follow you,” Laverick remarked, frowning. “What is it
+you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?”
+
+“Not in the least,” the manager answered hastily.
+
+“You know the position of our market, of course,” Laverick went on.
+“Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to go on
+making the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things are entirely
+different. I am twenty thousand pounds better off, and if necessary I
+could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of my overdraft within
+half-an-hour. That I do not do so is simply a matter of policy and
+prices.”
+
+“I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick,” the bank manager
+declared. “The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual and
+a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge to you,
+asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes has been
+passed through our account during the last few days.”
+
+“You have actually had this inquiry?” Laverick asked calmly.
+
+“We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, in a
+sense, amazing.”
+
+“May I ask what your reply was?”
+
+“My reply was,” Mr. Fenwick said slowly, “that no such notes had passed
+through our account. We asked them, however, without giving any
+reasons, to repeat their question in a few days’ time. Our reply was
+perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, we are simply
+holding a certain packet for you in our security chamber. We know it to
+contain bank-notes, and there is very little doubt but that it contains
+the notes which have been the subject of this inquiry. I want to ask
+you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to open that packet, let me credit
+the notes to your account in the usual way, and leave me free to reply
+as I ought to have done in the first instance to this inquiry.”
+
+“The course which you suggest,” replied the other, “is one which I
+absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature of
+the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. All
+that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and must
+remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must be
+treated entirely as a confidential one. If you decline to do this, I
+must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course, take the
+packet away with me. To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick,” he wound up,
+“I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never intended to do so.
+I simply deposited them as security until the turn in price of ‘Unions’
+came.
+
+“It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick,” the bank manager remarked. “I
+should consider that you had already made use of them.”
+
+“Every one to his own conscience,” Laverick answered calmly.
+
+“You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick.”
+
+“I cannot admit that at all,” Laverick replied. “There is only one
+inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?”
+
+“If it had,” Mr. Fenwick answered, “no considerations of etiquette
+would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to have
+revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, the
+inquiry comes from an even more important source,—a source which cannot
+be ignored.”
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+“After all, the matter is a very simple one,” he declared. “By four
+o’clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits. You will
+then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold on my
+behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you.”
+
+“If you do not mind,” the banker answered, “I should be glad if you
+would take it with you. It means, I think, a matter of six or seven
+thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary thing we
+will pass that.”
+
+“As you will,” Laverick assented carelessly. “The charge of those
+documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself. I have no doubt
+that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place elsewhere.”
+
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank
+with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket. Arrived
+at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe and
+proceeded with the usual business of the day. Even with an added staff
+of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar. Laverick threw himself
+into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to escape from these
+unpleasant memories. He succeeded perfectly. It was two hours before he
+was able to sit down even for a moment. His head-clerk, almost as
+exhausted, followed him into his room.
+
+“I forgot to tell you, sir,” he announced, “that there s a man
+outside—Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe—said he had a small
+investment to make which you promised to look after personally. He
+would insist on seeing you—said he was a waiter at a restaurant which
+you visited sometimes.”
+
+“That’s all right,” Laverick declared. “You can show him in. We’ll
+probably give him American rails.”
+
+“Can’t we attend to it in the office for you, sir?” the clerk asked. “I
+suppose it’s only a matter of a few hundreds.”
+
+“Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I’d look after it
+myself. Send him in, Scropes.”
+
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced. Laverick,
+who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned cigarette,
+looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+
+“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he remarked. “We’re having a bit of a
+rush.”
+
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick’s side.
+
+“I guess that, sir,” he said, “from the number of people we’ve had in
+the ‘Black Post’ to-day, and the way they’ve all been shouting and
+talking. They don’t seem to eat much these days, but there’s some of
+them can shift the drink.”
+
+“I’ve got some sound stocks looked out for you,” Laverick remarked,
+“two hundred and fifty pounds’ worth. If you’ll just approve that list
+as a matter of form,” he added, pushing a piece of paper across, “you
+can come in to-morrow and have the certificates. I shall tell them to
+debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if any one asks
+you anything, you can say that you paid me for them.”
+
+“I’m sure I’m much obliged, sir,” the man said. “To tell you the
+truth,” he went on, “I’ve had a bit of a scare to-day.”
+
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+
+“What do you mean?” he demanded.
+
+“May I sit down, sir? I’m a bit worn out. I’ve been on the go since
+half-past ten.”
+
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair. Shepherd brought it up to the
+side of the table and leaned forward.
+
+“There’s been two men in to-day,” he said, “asking questions. They
+wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and
+could I describe them. Was there any one I recognized, and so on.”
+
+“What did you say?”
+
+“I declared I couldn’t remember any one. To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o’clock. I wouldn’t say for certain—it looked as though I might have
+had a reason.”
+
+“And were they satisfied?”
+
+“I don’t think they were,” Shepherd admitted. “Not altogether, that is
+to say.”
+
+“Did they mention any names?” asked Laverick—“Morrison’s, for instance?
+Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?”
+
+“They didn’t mention no names at all, sir,” the man answered, “but they
+did begin to ask questions about my regular clients. Fortunate like,
+the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not paying any too
+much attention to them. It was all I could do to keep on getting orders
+attended to.”
+
+“What sort of men were they?” Laverick asked. “Do you think that they
+came from the police?”
+
+“I shouldn’t have said so,” Shepherd replied, “but one can’t tell, and
+these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so sometimes
+on purpose to deceive. I should have said that these two were
+foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered. I heard a
+word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they’d a shrewd idea as
+to that meeting in the ‘Black Post’ between the man who was murdered
+and the little dark fellow.”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“Jim Shepherd,” he declared, “you appear to me to be a very sagacious
+person.”
+
+“I’m sure I’m much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though,” he added, “I
+don’t half like these chaps coming round making inquiries. My nerves
+ain’t quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps.”
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+“After all, there was no one else in the bar that night,” he
+remarked,—“no one who could contradict you?”
+
+“Not a soul,” Jim Shepherd agreed.
+
+“Then don’t you bother,” Laverick continued. “You see, you’ve been
+wise. You haven’t given yourself away altogether. You’ve simply said
+that you don’t recollect any one coming in. Why should you recollect?
+At the end of a day’s work you are not likely to notice every stray
+customer. Stick to it, and, if you take my advice, don’t go throwing
+any money about, and don’t give your notice in for another week or so.
+Pave the way for it a bit. Ask the governor for a rise—say you’re not
+making a living out of it.”
+
+“I’m on,” Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head. “I’m on to it, sir.
+I don’t want to get into no trouble, I’m sure.”
+
+“You can’t,” Laverick answered dryly, “unless you chuck yourself in.
+You’re not obliged to remember anything. No one can ever prove that you
+remembered anything. Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if these
+fellows turn up again.”
+
+“I’m pretty certain they will, sir,” the man declared. “They sat about
+waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I hopped
+out the back way. They’ll be there again to-night, sure enough.”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“Well, you must let me know,” he said, “what happens.”
+
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his
+voice.
+
+“It’s an awful thing to think of, sir,” he whispered, blinking rapidly.
+“I wouldn’t be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great pocketful of
+notes. But my! there was a sight of money there, sir! He’ll be a rich
+man for all his days if nothing comes out.”
+
+“We won’t talk any more about it,” Laverick insisted. “It isn’t a
+pleasant thing to think about or talk about. We won’t know anything,
+Shepherd. We shall be better off.”
+
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced.
+Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before eight
+and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way. When at
+last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the sofa and lit a
+cigar. Once more the evening papers had no particular news. This time,
+however, one of them had a leading article upon the English police
+system. The fact that an undetected murder should take place in a
+wealthy neighborhood, away from the slums, a murder which must have
+been premeditated, was in itself alarming. Until the inquest had been
+held, it was better to make little comment upon the facts of the case
+so far as they were known. At the same time, the circumstance could not
+fail to incite a considerable amount of alarm among those who had
+offices in the vicinity of the tragedy. It was rumored that some
+mysterious inquiries were being circulated around London banks. It was
+possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the
+crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined. The whole interest of
+the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man’s identity. As
+soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might be
+expected.
+
+Laverick threw the paper away. He tried to rest upon the sofa, but
+tried in vain. He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+
+“To-night,” he muttered to himself,—“no, I will not go to-night! It is
+not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think that I was—”
+
+He stopped short.
+
+“I’ll change and go to the club,” he decided.
+
+He rose to his feet. Just then there was a ring at his bell. He opened
+the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+
+“Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick,” the boy announced, opening his
+wallet.
+
+Laverick held out his hand. The boy gave him a large square envelope,
+and upon the back of it was “Universal Theatre.” Laverick tried to
+assure himself that he was not so ridiculously pleased. He stepped back
+into the room, tore open the envelope, and read the few lines traced in
+rather faint but delicate handwriting.
+
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don’t let me be a nuisance, but do
+come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell you.
+
+
+ZOE.
+
+
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot that
+he was tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to himself all
+the time. At eleven o’clock, he was at the stage-door of the Universal
+Theatre, waiting in a taxicab.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
+
+
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the stage-door
+of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a waiting hansom or
+taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood back in the shadows as
+much as possible, smiling now and then to himself at this, to him,
+somewhat novel way of spending the evening. Zoe was among the last to
+appear. She came up to him with a delightful little gesture of
+pleasure, and took his arm as a matter of course as he led her across
+to the waiting cab.
+
+“This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young,” he declared.
+“Luigi’s for supper, I suppose?”
+
+“Supper!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Delightful! Two nights
+following, too! I did love last night.”
+
+“We had better engage a table at Luigi’s permanently,” he remarked.
+
+“If only you meant it!” she sighed.
+
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. Afterwards,
+when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat Bohemian
+restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the moment for
+ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a question.
+
+“Tell me what you meant in your note,” he begged. “You said that you
+had some information for me.
+
+“I’m afraid it wasn’t anything very much,” she admitted. “I found out
+to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about me, and
+whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur Morrison, the
+stockbroker.”
+
+“Do you know who it was?” he asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell me
+about him, but he’s such a surly old fellow, and he’s so used to that
+sort of thing, that he pretended he didn’t remember anything.”
+
+“It seems odd,” he remarked thoughtfully, “that any one should have
+found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say,” he added,
+“it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small sum of
+money.”
+
+“Very likely,” she answered. “But I was going to tell you. He came
+again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. I
+have brought it for you to see.”
+
+The note—it was really little more than a message—was written on the
+back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently borrowed from
+the box-office. It read as follows:
+
+DEAR MISS LENEVEU,
+
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I am
+venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could you
+spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of this
+evening? If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps allow me to
+give you some supper.
+
+
+Sincerely, PHILIP E. MILES.
+
+
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the
+programme.
+
+“I should say,” he declared, “that this was simply some young man who
+was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was or had
+been a friend of Morrison’s.”
+
+“In that case,” answered Zoe, “he is very soon forgotten.”
+
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious of a
+ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+
+“If you hear anything more about him,” he said, “you might let me know.
+You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so summarily.”
+
+“Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one,” laughing softly.
+
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation of
+her speech.
+
+“Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick,” she begged.
+
+“For instance?”
+
+“First of all, then, how old are you?”
+
+He made a grimace.
+
+“Thirty-eight—thirty-nine my next birthday. Doesn’t that seem
+grandfatherly to you?”
+
+“You must not be absurd!” she exclaimed. “It is not even middle-aged.
+Now tell me—how do you spend your time generally? Do you really mean
+that you go and play cards at your club most evenings?”
+
+“I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal.”
+
+“You have no sisters?”
+
+“I have no relatives at all in London,” he explained.
+
+“It is to be a real cross-examination,” she warned him.
+
+“I am quite content,” he answered. “Go ahead, but remember, though,
+that I am a very dull person.”
+
+“You look so young for your years,” she declared. “I wonder, have you
+ever been in love?”
+
+He laughed heartily.
+
+“About a dozen times, I suppose. Why? Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?”
+
+“I don’t know,” she admitted, hesitatingly. “You don’t seem to me as
+though you cared to make friends very easily. I just felt I wanted to
+ask you. Have you ever been engaged?”
+
+“Never,” he assured her.
+
+“And when was the last time,” she asked, “that you felt you cared a
+little for any one?”
+
+“It dates from the day before yesterday,” he declared, filling her
+glass.
+
+She laughed at him.
+
+“Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!” she said. “You
+are quite right to make fun of me.”
+
+“On the contrary,” he insisted. “I am very much in earnest.”
+
+“Very well, then,” she answered, “if you are in earnest you shall be in
+love with me. You shall take me about, give me supper every night, send
+me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre—oh, and there are heaps of
+things you ought to do if you really mean it!” she wound up.
+
+“If those things mean being fond of you,” he answered, “I’ll prove it
+with pleasure. Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the
+stage-door.”
+
+“It all sounds very terrible,” she sighed. “It’s a horrid little life.”
+
+“Yet I suppose you enjoy it?” he remarked tentatively.
+
+“I hate it, but I must do something. I could not live on charity. If I
+knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but there is no
+other way. I tried once to give music lessons. I had a few pupils, but
+they never paid—they never do pay.
+
+“I wish I could think of something,” Laverick said thoughtfully. “Of
+course, it is occupation you want. So far as regards the monetary part
+of it, I still owe your brother a great deal—”
+
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+
+“No, no!” she declared. “I have never complained about Arthur.
+Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not wish
+to take any of his money—or of anybody else’s,” she added. “I want
+always to earn my own living.”
+
+“For such a child,” he remarked, smiling, “you are wonderfully
+independent.”
+
+“Why not?” she answered softly. “It is years since I had any one to do
+very much for me. Necessity teaches us a good many things. Oh, I was
+helpless enough when it began!” she added, with a little sigh. “I got
+over it. We all do. Tell me—who is that woman, and why does she stare
+so at you?”
+
+Laverick looked across the room. Louise and Bellamy were sitting at the
+opposite table. The former was strikingly handsome and very wonderfully
+dressed. Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open in front,
+displayed her marvelous figure. She wore long pearl earrings, and a hat
+with white feathers which drooped over her fair hair. Laverick
+recognized her at once.
+
+“It is Mademoiselle Idiale,” he said, “the most wonderful soprano in
+the world.”
+
+“Why does she look so at you?” Zoe asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“I do not know her,” he said. “I know who she is, of course,—every one
+does. She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her
+country. She left Vienna at a moment’s notice, only a few days ago, and
+they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again before
+the enemies of her country. She had been engaged a long time to appear
+at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really come. She
+breaks her engagements just when she chooses. In fact, she is a very
+wonderful person altogether.”
+
+“I never saw such pearls in my life,” Zoe whispered. “And how lovely
+she is! I do not understand, though, why she is so interested in you.”
+
+“She mistakes me for some one, perhaps.”
+
+It certainly seemed probable. Even at that moment she touched her
+escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at Laverick. It
+was obvious that he was the subject of her conversation.
+
+“I know the man,” Laverick said. “He was at Harrow with me, and I have
+played cricket with him since. But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale. One does not forget that sort of person.”
+
+“Her figure is magnificent,” Zoe murmured wistfully. “Do you like tall
+women very much, Mr. Laverick?”
+
+“I adore them,” he answered, smiling, “but I prefer small ones.”
+
+“We are very foolish people, you and I,” she laughed. “We came together
+so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense.”
+
+“You are making me young again,” he declared.
+
+“Oh, you are quite young enough!” she assured him. “To tell you the
+truth, I am jealous. Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the time.
+Look at her now. Is she not beautiful?”
+
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her—and she was by far the most interesting person in the room—thought
+her a little sad. Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to be
+entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over his
+head and out of the room. Wherever her thoughts were, one could be very
+sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under discussion.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“She is like that when she sings,” Laverick remarked. “She has none of
+the vivacity of the Frenchwomen. Yet there was never anything so
+graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage.”
+
+“If I were a man,” Zoe sighed, “that is the sort of woman I would die
+for.”
+
+“If you were a man,” he replied, “you would probably find some one whom
+you preferred to live for. Do you know, you are rather a morbid sort of
+person, Miss Zoe?”
+
+“Ah, I like that!” she declared. “I will not be called Miss Leneveu any
+more by you. You must call me Miss Zoe, please,—Zoe, if you like.”
+
+“Zoe, by all means. Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting.”
+
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+
+“Ah!” she cried softly, “you, too, are coming under the spell, then. I
+was reading about her only the other day. They say that so many men
+fall in love with her—so many men to whom she gives no encouragement at
+all.”
+
+Laverick looked into his companion’s face.
+
+“Come,” he said, “my heart is not so easily won. I can assure you that
+I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star. Don’t
+you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week, and
+wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire income?
+Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!”
+
+“After all, though,” murmured Zoe, “she is a woman. See, your friend is
+coming to speak to you.”
+
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room. He nodded to Laverick and bowed
+to his companion.
+
+“Forgive my intruding, Laverick,” he said. “You do remember me, I hope?
+Bellamy, you know.”
+
+“I remember you quite well. We used to play together at Lord’s, even
+after we left school.”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“That is so,” he answered. “I see by the papers that you have kept up
+your cricket. Mine, alas! has had to go. I have been too much of a
+rolling stone lately. Do you know that I have come to ask you a favor?”
+
+“Go ahead,” Laverick interposed.
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you,” Bellamy explained. “You
+know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims she is. If
+you won’t come across and be introduced like a good fellow, she
+probably won’t speak a word all through supper-time, go off in a huff,
+and my evening will be spoiled.”
+
+Laverick laughed heartily. A little smile played at the corner of Zoe’s
+lips—nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+
+“Under those circumstances,” remarked Laverick, “perhaps I had better
+go. You will understand,” he added, with a glance at Zoe, “that I
+cannot stay for more than a second.”
+
+“Naturally,” Bellamy answered. “If Mademoiselle really has anything to
+say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment.”
+
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+
+“I am sure I have seen you at the Universal,” he declared. “You’re in
+the front row, aren’t you? I have seen you in that clever little
+step-dance and song in the second act.”
+
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+
+“Does it seem clever to you?” she asked wistfully. “You see, we are all
+so tired of it.”
+
+“I think it is ripping,” Bellamy declared. “I shall have the pleasure
+again directly,” he added, with a bow.
+
+The two men crossed the room.
+
+“What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?” Laverick
+demanded. “Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling
+against hard times?”
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“She isn’t the sort to care who or what you are,” he answered. “And as
+for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted to.
+Her interest in you is rather a curious one. No time to explain it now.
+She’ll tell you.”
+
+Louise smiled as he paused before her. She was certainly exquisitely
+beautiful. Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her voice,
+were all perfection. She gave him the tips of her fingers as Bellamy
+pronounced his name.
+
+“It is so kind of you,” she said, “to come and speak to me. And indeed
+you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would like to say
+one word with you.”
+
+Laverick bowed.
+
+“I am thankful, Mademoiselle,” he replied, “for anything which procures
+me such a pleasure.”
+
+She smiled.
+
+“Ah! you, too, are gallant,” she said. “But indeed, then, I fear you
+will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested. I read
+all your newspapers. I read of that terrible murder in Crooked Friars’
+Alley only a few days ago,—is not that how you call the place?”
+
+Laverick was suddenly grave. What was this that was coming?
+
+“One of the reports,” she continued, “says that the man was a
+foreigner. The maker’s name upon his clothes was Austrian. I, too, come
+from that part of Europe—if not from Austria, from a country very
+near—and I am always interested in my country-people. A few moments ago
+I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, ‘Where is this Crooked Friars’ Alley?’
+Just then he bowed to you, and he answered me, ‘It is in the city. It
+is within a yard or two of the offices of the gentleman to whom I just
+have said good-evening.’ So I looked across at you and I thought that
+it was strange.”
+
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+
+“It was a terrible affair,” he admitted, “and, as Mr. Bellamy has told
+you, it occurred within a few steps of my office. So far, too, the
+police seem completely at a loss.”
+
+“Ah!” she went on, shaking her head, “your police, I am afraid they are
+not very clever. It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so. Tell me,
+Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your offices
+are?”
+
+“Not at all,” Laverick replied. “On the contrary, in the daytime it
+might be called the heart of the city—of the money-making part of the
+city, at any rate. Only this thing, you see, seems to have taken place
+very late at night.”
+
+“When all the offices were closed,” she remarked.
+
+“Most of them,” Laverick answered. “Mine, as it happened, was open late
+that night. I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of the time
+when the murder must have been committed.”
+
+“But that is terrible!” she declared, shaking her head. “Tell me, Mr.
+Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show me this
+place,—yes?”
+
+“If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but there
+is nothing there. It is just a passage.”
+
+“You give me your address,” she insisted, “and I think that I will
+come. You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me. Well, sometimes I
+have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will give me
+your advice. So! You have a card!”
+
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it. She thanked
+him and once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+
+“So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick.”
+
+He bowed and recrossed the room. Bellamy was standing talking to Zoe.
+
+“Well,” he asked, as Laverick returned, “are you, too, going to throw
+yourself beneath the car?”
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“I do not think so,” he answered. “Our acquaintance promises to be a
+business one. Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though me.”
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+“Then you have kept your heart,” he remarked. “Ah, well, you have every
+reason!”
+
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place.
+Laverick looked after him a little compassionately.
+
+“Poor fellow,” he said.
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“He has some sort of a Government appointment,” Laverick answered.
+“They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale.”
+
+“Why not?” Zoe exclaimed. “He is nice. She must care for some one. Why
+do you pity him?”
+
+“They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone,” Laverick
+continued, “and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. She
+is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to spare from
+herself are given to her country.”
+
+Zoe shuddered.
+
+“Ah!” she murmured, “I do not like to think of heartless women. Perhaps
+she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, very sad.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?”
+
+“I imagine,” said he, “that it was a whim. It must have been a whim.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’S VISIT
+
+
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think about.
+He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, within a few
+yards of his office, and with the same little company of friends. Just
+as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he knew slightly came across
+the room to him.
+
+“Tell me, Laverick,” he asked, “what’s become of your partner?”
+
+“He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall be
+announcing a change in the firm shortly.”
+
+“Queer thing,” the broker remarked. “I was in Liverpool yesterday, and
+I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I should
+never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful about his
+appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking individual. I
+called out to him and he vanished like a streak.”
+
+“It could scarcely have been Morrison,” Laverick said. “He sailed
+several days ago for New York.”
+
+“That settles it,” the man declared, passing on. “All the same, it was
+the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw.”
+
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out a
+marconigram to the _Lusitania_,
+
+Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply.
+
+
+He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to his
+office.
+
+“Any one to see me?” he inquired.
+
+“Mr. Shepherd is here waiting,” his clerk told him,—“queer looking
+fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash for some
+railway stock.”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“I’ll see him,” he said. “Anything else?”
+
+“A lady rang up—name sounded like a French one, but we could none of us
+catch what it was—to say that she was coming down to see you.”
+
+“If it is Mademoiselle Idiale,” Laverick directed, “I must see her
+directly she arrives. How are you, Shepherd?” he added, nodding to the
+waiter as he passed towards his room. “Come in, will you? You’ve got
+your certificates all right?”
+
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not
+wholly agreed. He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his
+little green eyes seemed even more restless. His attire—a long rough
+overcoat over the livery of his profession—scarcely enhanced the
+dignity of his appearance.
+
+“Well, what is it?” Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+
+“Our bar is being watched,” the man declared. “I don’t think it’s
+anything to do with the police. Seems to be a sort of foreign gang.
+They’re all round the place, morning, noon, and night. They’ve pumped
+everybody.”
+
+“There isn’t very much,” Laverick remarked slowly, “for them to find
+out except from you.”
+
+“They’ve found out something, anyway,” Shepherd continued. “My junior
+waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room, told them he
+was sure there were customers in the place between ten and twelve on
+Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking. They’re
+beginning to look at me a bit doubtful.”
+
+“I shouldn’t worry,” Laverick advised. “The inquest’s on now and you
+haven’t been called. I don’t fancy you’re running any sort of risk. Any
+one may say they believe there were people in the bar between those
+hours, but there isn’t any one who can contradict you outright.
+Besides, you haven’t sworn to anything. You’ve simply said, as might be
+very possible, that you don’t remember any one.”
+
+“It makes me a bit nervous, though,” Shepherd remarked apologetically.
+“They’re a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you. Their eyes seem
+to follow you all over the place.”
+
+“I shall come in for a drink presently myself,” Laverick declared. “I
+should like to see them. I might get an idea as to their nationality,
+at any rate.”
+
+“Very good, sir. I’m sure I’m doing just as you suggested. I’ve said
+nothing about leaving, but I’m beginning to grumble a bit at the work,
+so as to pave the way. It’s a hard job, and no mistake. I had
+thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed, too, with
+only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to serve the drinks
+unless they go to the counter for them. It’s more than one man’s work,
+Mr. Laverick.”
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+“So much the better,” he declared. “All the more excuse for your
+leaving.
+
+“You’ll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?” the man asked, taking up
+his hat.
+
+“I shall look in for a few moments, for certain,” Laverick answered.
+“If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows.”
+
+Jim Shepherd departed. There was a shouting of newspaper boys in the
+street outside. Laverick sent out for a paper. The account of the
+inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called except the
+men who had found the dead body. The nature of the wounds was explained
+to the jury, also the impossibility of their having been
+self-inflicted. In the absence of any police evidence or any
+identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death was
+naturally limited. The jury contented themselves by bringing in a
+verdict of “Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.”
+Laverick laid down the paper. The completion of the inquest was at
+least the first definite step toward safety. The question now before
+him was what to do with that twenty thousand pounds. He sat at his
+desk, looking into vacancy. After all, had he paid too great a price?
+The millstone was gone from around his neck, something new and
+incomprehensible had crept into his life. Yet for a background there
+was always this secret knowledge.
+
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections.
+Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor. She was wonderfully
+dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,—a white serge gown
+with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to have been moulded on
+to her slim, faultless figure. She brought with her a musical rustle, a
+slight suggestion of subtle perfumes—a perfume so thin and ethereal
+that it was unrecognizable except in its faint suggestion of hothouse
+flowers. She held out her hand to Laverick, who placed for her at once
+an easy-chair.
+
+“This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle.”
+
+She inclined her head graciously.
+
+“You are very kind,” said she. “I know that here in the city you are
+very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long. Will you
+buy me some stocks,—some good safe stocks, which will bring me in at
+least four per cent?”
+
+“I can promise to do that,” Laverick answered. “Have you any choice?”
+
+“No, I have no choice,” Louise told him. “I bring with me a
+cheque,—see, I give it to you,—it is for six thousand pounds. I would
+like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I may
+watch them in the paper. I like to see whether they go up or down, but
+I do not wish to risk their going down too much. It is something like
+gambling but it is no trouble.”
+
+“Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle,” Laverick
+assured her, “and I think I can promise you that for a week or two, at
+any rate, your stocks will go up. With regard to selling—”
+
+“I leave everything to you,” she interrupted, “only let me know what
+you propose.”
+
+“We will do our best,” Laverick promised.
+
+“It is good,” she said. “Money is a wonderful thing. Without it one can
+do little. You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you were going to
+show me this passage?”
+
+“Certainly not. Come with me now, if you will. It is only a yard or two
+away.”
+
+He took her out into the street. Every clerk in the office forgot his
+manners and craned his neck. Outside, Mademoiselle let fall her veil
+and passed unrecognized. Laverick showed her the entry.
+
+“It was just there,” he explained, “about half a dozen yards up on the
+left, that the body was found.”
+
+She looked at the place steadily. Then she looked along the passage.
+
+“Where does it lead to—that?” she asked.
+
+“Come and I will show you. On the left”—as they passed along the
+flagged pavement—“is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard. On the right
+here there are just offices. The street in front of us is Henschell
+Street. All of those buildings are stockbrokers’ offices.”
+
+“And directly opposite,” she asked,—“that is a café, is it not,—a
+restaurant, as you would call it?”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“That is so,” he agreed. “One goes in there sometimes for a drink.”
+
+“And a meeting place, perhaps?” she inquired. “It would probably be a
+meeting place. One might leave there and walk down this passage
+naturally enough.”
+
+Laverick inclined his head.
+
+“As a matter of fact,” he declared, “I think that the evidence went to
+prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night. You
+see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o’clock, and
+the whole neighborhood becomes deserted.”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+
+“Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence. In the
+hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long before
+now. The guilty person would be in the hands of the law. As it is, I
+suppose that he will go free.”
+
+“Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate,” answered
+Laverick. “They haven’t had much time so far.”
+
+“No,” she admitted, “they have not had much time. I wonder—” She
+hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence. “Come,” she
+exclaimed, with a little shiver, “let us go back to your office! This
+place is not cheerful. All the time I think of that poor man. It does
+make me frightened.”
+
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which was
+waiting before his door.
+
+“A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by to-night’s
+post,” he promised her. “We shall do our best in your interests.”
+
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+
+“You are very kind, Mr. Laverick. I would like to see you again very
+soon. You have heard me sing in _Samson and Delilah?_”
+
+“Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly.”
+
+“To-night,” she declared, “you must come to the Opera House. I leave a
+box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you are there, and
+it is possible that I may see you. It is against the rules, but for me
+there are no rules.”
+
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+
+“You are doing something else?” she protested. “You were, perhaps,
+thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were sitting
+last night?”
+
+“I had half promised—”
+
+“No, no!” she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter. “She is not for
+you—that child. She is too young. She knows nothing. Better to leave
+her alone. She is not for a man of the world like you. Soon she would
+cease to amuse you. You would be dull and she would still care. Oh,
+there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick—so much tragedy
+for the woman! It is she always who suffers. You will take my advice.
+You will leave that little girl alone.”
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+“I am afraid,” said he, “that I cannot promise that so quickly. You
+see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me. Perhaps,” he added, after a second’s
+pause, “I care for her too much.”
+
+“It is not for you,” she answered scornfully, “to care too much. An
+Englishman, he cares never enough. A woman to him is something
+amusing,—his companion for a little of his spare time, something to be
+pleased about, to show off to his friends,—to share, even, the passion
+of the moment. But an Englishman he does not care too much. He never
+cares enough. He does not know what it is to care enough.”
+
+“Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there may
+not. We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at least we
+are faithful.”
+
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+
+“Oh, how I do hate that word!” she exclaimed. “Who is there, indeed,
+who wishes that you would be faithful? How much we poor women do suffer
+from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would be cared for
+very, very much, with all the strength and all the passion you can
+conceive, but let it not last for too long. It gets weary. It gets
+stale. It is as you say,—the Englishman he cares very little, perhaps,
+but he cares always; and the woman, if she be an artiste and a woman,
+she tires. But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick! I must not keep you here
+on the pavement talking of these frivolous matters. You come to-night?”
+
+“You are very kind,” Laverick said. “If I may come until eleven
+o’clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure.”
+
+“As you will,” she declared. “We shall see. I expect you, then. You ask
+for your box.”
+
+“If you wish it, certainly.”
+
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+
+“You will tell him, please,” she directed, “to drive to Bond Street.”
+
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his clerk
+instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle Idiale. He had
+scarcely reached his own room when he was told that Mr. James Shepherd
+wished to speak to him for a moment upon the telephone. He took up the
+receiver.
+
+“Who is it?” he asked.
+
+“It is Shepherd,” was the answer. “Is that Mr. Laverick?”
+
+“Yes!”
+
+“You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago,” Shepherd
+continued. “You had with you a lady—a young, tall lady with a veil.”
+
+“That’s right,” Laverick admitted. “What about her?”
+
+“One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in the
+window,” Shepherd went on hoarsely. “He saw her with you and I heard
+him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He dropped his
+glass and his paper. He watched you every second of the time you were
+there until you had disappeared. Then he, too, put on his hat and went
+out.”
+
+“Anything else?”
+
+“Nothing else,” was the reply. “I thought you might like to know this,
+sir. The man recognized the lady right enough.”
+
+“It seems queer,” Laverick admitted. “Thank you for ringing me up,
+Shepherd. Good morning!”
+
+Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now in
+his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other, was
+interested in this crime. Her wish to see the place, her introduction
+to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all part of a
+scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it. As friend or
+foe, she was very certainly about to take her place amongst the few
+people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+
+
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green
+Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. She
+took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards
+Buckingham Palace—a strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+
+“My dear David,” she said, “the man perplexes me. To look at him, to
+hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just those
+clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half splendid, of
+your athletic Englishman. One would imagine him doing a foolishly
+honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a criminal at all.”
+
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path. His forehead wore a perplexed
+frown.
+
+“He didn’t give himself away, then?”
+
+“Not in the least.”
+
+“He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?”
+
+“Without an instant’s hesitation.”
+
+“As a matter of curiosity,” asked Bellamy, “did he try to make love to
+you?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“I even gave him an opening,” she said. “Of flirtation he has no more
+idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets.”
+
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+
+“I can’t believe,” he said, “that there is the least doubt but that he
+has the money and the portfolio. I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed only a
+week ago. They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly insolvent.
+No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis.”
+
+“The man who was watching for you?” she inquired.
+
+“He makes no mistakes,” Bellamy assured her. “He saw Laverick enter
+that passage and come out. Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way. The
+thing could not have been accidental.”
+
+“Why do you not go to him openly?” she suggested. “He is, after all, an
+Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be very much in
+your power. Tell him of the value of that document. Tell him that you
+must have it.”
+
+“It could be done,” Bellamy admitted. “I think that one of us must talk
+plainly to him. Listen, Louise,—are you seeing him again?”
+
+“I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night.”
+
+“See what you can do,” he begged. “I would rather keep away from him
+myself, if I can. Have you heard anything of Streuss?”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+“Nothing directly,” she replied, “but my rooms have been searched—even
+my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man’s spies are simply
+wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And, David!—”
+
+“Yes, dear?”
+
+“He has got hold of Lassen,” she continued. “I am perfectly certain of
+it.”
+
+“Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better,” Bellamy declared.
+
+“It is so difficult,” she murmured, in a perplexed tone. “The man has
+all my affairs in his hands. Up till now, although he is uncomely, and
+a brute in many ways, he has served me well.”
+
+“If he is Streuss’s creature he must go,” Bellamy insisted.
+
+She nodded.
+
+“Let us sit down for a few minutes,” she said. “I am tired.”
+
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side. In full view of them
+was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying. She looked thoughtfully at
+it and across to Westminster.
+
+“Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?” she asked.
+
+“Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps,” he answered gloomily, no more.
+
+“To-day,” she declared, “I seem to have lost confidence. I seem to feel
+the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk, to see the
+terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who throng your
+streets. They are a stolid, unbelieving people—these. The blow, when it
+comes, will be the harder.”
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+“You are right,” he said. “When one comes to think of it, it is
+amazing. How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how completely
+their teachings have been ignored! The invasion bogey has been so long
+among us that it has become nothing but a jest. Even I, in a way, am
+one of the unbelievers.”
+
+“You are not serious, David!” she exclaimed.
+
+“I am,” he affirmed. “I think that if we could read that document we
+should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion of
+England. I think you would find that the blow would be struck
+simultaneously at our Colonies. We should either have to submit or send
+a considerable fleet away from home waters. Then, I presume, the
+question of invasion would come again. All the time, of course, the
+gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be
+scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings. Austria would gather
+in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere.”
+
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+
+“It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history,” she
+said, “this decadence of your country. Once England held the scales of
+justice for the world. Now she is no longer strong enough, and there is
+none to take her place. David, even if you know what that document
+contains, even then will it help very much?”
+
+“Very much indeed. Don’t you see that there is one hope left to us—one
+hope—and that is Russia? The Czar must be made to withdraw from that
+compact. We want to know his share in it. When we know that, there will
+be a secret mission sent to Russia. Germany and Austria are strong, but
+they are not all the world. With Russia behind and France and England
+westward, the struggle is at least an equal one. They have to face both
+directions, they have to face two great armies working from the east
+and from the west.”
+
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments. Bellamy
+was thinking deeply.
+
+“You say, Louise,” he asked, looking up quickly, “that your rooms have
+been searched. When was this?”
+
+“Only last night,” she replied.
+
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+“At any rate,” he said, “Streuss has no idea that the document is not
+in our possession. He knows nothing about Laverick. How are we going to
+deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?”
+
+“You have a plan?” she asked.
+
+“There is only one thing to be done,” Bellamy declared. “I shall say
+that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government. It will be a bluff, pure and simple. He may believe it or
+he may not.”
+
+“You will break your compact then,” she reminded him.
+
+“I shall call myself justified,” he continued. “He has attempted to rob
+us of the document. You are sure of what you say—that your rooms and
+dressing-room have been searched?”
+
+“Absolutely certain,” she declared.
+
+“That will be sufficient,” Bellamy decided. “If Streuss comes to me, I
+shall meet him frankly. I shall tell him that he has tried to play the
+burglar and that it must be war. I shall tell him that the compact is
+in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and his spies had
+better clear out.”
+
+She looked at him questioningly.
+
+“Of course, you understand,” he added, “there is one thing we can do,
+and one thing only. We must send a mission to Russia and another to
+France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea we must
+declare war. It is the only thing left to us—a bold front. Without that
+packet we have no casus belli. With it, we can strike, and strike hard.
+I still believe that if we declare war within seven days, we shall save
+ourselves.”
+
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across the
+dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world beyond.
+They were together in Streuss’s sitting-room on the seventh floor of
+one of the great Strand hotels.
+
+“Our enterprise is a failure!” Kahn exclaimed gloomily. “We cannot
+doubt it any longer. I think, Streuss, that the best course you and I
+could adopt would be to realize it and to get back. We do no good here.
+We only run needless risks.”
+
+The face of the other man was dark with anger. His tone, when he spoke,
+shook with passion.
+
+“You don’t know what you say, Kahn!” he cried hoarsely. “I tell you
+that we must succeed. If that document reaches the hands of any one in
+authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen upon
+our country since you or I were born. You don’t understand, Kahn! You
+keep your eyes closed!”
+
+“What men can do we have done,” the other answered. “Von Behrling
+played us false. He has died a traitor’s death, but it is very certain
+that he parted with his document before he received that twenty
+thousand pounds.”
+
+“Once and for all, I do not believe it!” Streuss declared. “At mid-day,
+I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were unknown to
+the Ministers of the King here. Now if Von Behrling had parted with
+that document last Monday night, don’t you suppose that everything
+would be known by now? He did not part with it. Bellamy and
+Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it. That document
+remains in the possession of Von Behrling’s murderer, and it is for us
+to find him.”
+
+Kahn sighed.
+
+“It is outside our sphere—that. What can we do against the police of
+this country working in their own land?”
+
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing. The veins in
+his temples were like whipcord.
+
+“Adolf,” he muttered, “you talk like a fool! Can’t you see what it
+means? If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose
+will happen?”
+
+“They will know our plans, of course,” Kahn answered. “They will have
+time to make preparation.”
+
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+
+“Worse than that!” he exclaimed. “They are not all fools, these English
+statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches. Can’t you
+see what the result would be if that document reaches Downing Street?
+War at a moment’s notice, war six months too soon! Don’t you know that
+every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working night and day? Don’t you
+know that every nerve is being strained, that the muscles of the
+country are hammering the rivets into our new battleships? There is but
+one chance for this country, and if her statesmen read that document
+they will know what it is. It is open to them to destroy the German
+navy utterly, to render themselves secure against attack.”
+
+“They would never have the courage,” Kahn declared. “They might make a
+show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to take the
+initiative—no! I do not believe it.”
+
+“There is one man who has wit enough to do it,” Streuss said. “He may
+not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it. Kahn, wake up, man! You and
+I together have never known what failure means. I tell you that that
+document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must find it. This
+morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called at the offices of a
+stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked Friars’ Alley. She was
+there a long time. The stockbroker himself came out with her into the
+street, took her to see the entry, stood with her there and returned.
+What was her interest in him, Kahn? His name is Laverick. Four days ago
+he was on the brink of ruin. To the amazement of every one, he met all
+his engagements. Why did Mademoiselle go to the city to see him? He was
+at his office late that Tuesday night. He had a partner who has
+disappeared.”
+
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+
+“You have found all this out!” he exclaimed.
+
+“And more,” Streuss declared. “For twenty-four hours, this man Laverick
+has not moved without my spies at his heels.”
+
+“Why not approach him boldly?” Kahn suggested. “If he has the document,
+let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly.”
+
+Streuss shook his head.
+
+“You don’t know the man. He is an Englishman, and if he had any idea
+what that document contained, our chances of buying it would be small
+indeed. This is what I think will happen. Mademoiselle will try to
+obtain it, and try in vain. Then Bellamy will tell him the truth, and
+he will part with it willingly. In the meantime, I believe that it is
+in his possession.
+
+“The evidence is slender enough,” objected Kahn.
+
+“What if it is!” Streuss exclaimed. “If it is only a hundred to one
+chance, we have to take it. I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf, and I
+know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed.”
+
+The telephone bell rang. Streuss took off the receiver and held it to
+his ear. The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid the
+instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in his face.
+
+“At any rate,” he announced, “this man Laverick did not part with the
+document to-day. Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been sitting in
+the Park for an hour. When they separated, she drove home and dropped
+him at his club. Up till now, then, they have not the document. We
+shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves business this evening;
+if he goes straight home, either the document has never been in his
+possession, or else it is in the safe in his office; if he goes to
+Mademoiselle Idiale’s—”
+
+“Well?” Kahn asked eagerly.
+
+“If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale’s,” Streuss repeated slowly, “there
+is still a chance for us!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+
+
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden
+that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the reasons
+which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become her guest.
+It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this adventure. He
+was perfectly convinced that personally he had no interest for her. In
+some way or other he had become connected in her mind with the murder
+which had taken place within a few yards of his office, and in some
+other equally mysterious manner that murder had become a subject of
+interest to her. Either that, or this was one of the whims of a spoiled
+and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of courtesy
+from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary visitor. The
+opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her wonderful voice
+thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no person more lovely
+than the woman he had come to see had ever moved upon any stage. It
+appeared impossible that movement so graceful and passionate should
+remain so absolutely effortless. There seemed to be some strange power
+inside the woman. Surely her will guided her feet! The necessity for
+physical effort never once appeared. Notwithstanding the slight
+prejudice which he had felt against her, it was impossible to keep his
+admiration altogether in check. The fascination of her wonderful
+presence, and then her glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the
+audience. He clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and
+he leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she
+reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips,
+accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the packed
+house.
+
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock at
+his box door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of somewhat
+remarkable personality. He was barely five feet in height, and an
+extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the appearance
+of a hunchback. He had black, beady eyes, a black moustache fiercely
+turned up, and sallow skin. His white gloves had curious stitchings on
+the back not common in England, and his silk hat, exceedingly glossy,
+had wider brims than are usually associated with Bond Street.
+
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and
+commenced to speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an Englishman,
+he at any rate spoke the language with confidence.
+
+“My dear sir,” he began, “I owe you many apologies. It was Mademoiselle
+Idiale’s wish that I should make your acquaintance. My name is Lassen.
+I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle’s business manager.
+
+“I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen,” said Laverick. “Will you sit
+down?”
+
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed
+back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took the
+seat opposite Laverick. His first question was inevitable.
+
+“What do you think of the opera, sir?”
+
+“It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself,” Laverick answered. “It is
+above criticism.”
+
+“She is,” Mr. Lassen said firmly, “the loveliest woman in Europe and
+her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, this. I
+myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to England most of
+those whose names are known during the last ten years; but there has
+never been another Louise Idiale,—never will be.”
+
+“I can believe it,” Laverick admitted.
+
+“She has wonderful qualities, too,” continued Mr. Lassen. “Your
+acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest.”
+
+“That is so,” Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+
+“Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you,” the latter proceeded. “She
+desired that I should pay my respects during the performance.”
+
+“It is very kind of you,” Laverick answered. “As a matter of fact, it
+is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist upon my
+coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may know, of paying
+me a visit in the city this morning.”
+
+“So she did tell me,” Mr. Lassen declared. “Mademoiselle is a great
+woman of business. Most of her investments she controls herself. She
+has whims, however, and it never does to contradict her. She has also,
+curiously enough, a preference for the men of affairs.”
+
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss
+Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger
+should be her manager. He nodded and took up his programme. As he did
+so, the curtain rang up upon the next act. Laverick turned deliberately
+towards the stage. The little man had paid his respects, as he put it.
+Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation with him. Yet,
+though his head was turned, he knew very well that his companion’s eyes
+were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable sense that he was an
+object of more than ordinary interest to this visitor, that he had come
+for some specific object which as yet he had not declared.
+
+“You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle,” the latter remarked,
+some time afterwards.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her.”
+
+“But, my dear sir, she expects to see you,” Mr. Lassen protested. “You
+are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you.”
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me,” Laverick said. “I have an
+engagement immediately after the performance is over.”
+
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, and
+made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When he
+returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to Laverick with
+an air of triumph.
+
+“It is as I said!” he exclaimed. “Mademoiselle expects you.”
+
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+
+I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come round or
+escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant of Luigi,
+where, as always, I shall sup. Do not fail.
+
+
+LOUISE IDIALE.
+
+
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate
+remark. Later on he turned to his companion.
+
+“Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale,” he said, “that I will do myself
+the honor of coming to her at Luigi’s restaurant. I have an engagement
+after the performance which I must keep.”
+
+“You will certainly come?” Lassen asked anxiously.
+
+“Without a doubt,” Laverick promised.
+
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+
+“I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she seemed
+particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has her whims,
+and those who have most to do with her, like myself, find it well to
+keep them gratified. If I do not see you again, sir, permit me to wish
+you good evening.”
+
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and
+Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the least
+conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this woman’s
+interest in him. Her invitation, he knew very well, was one which half
+London would have coveted. Yet it meant nothing personal, he was sure
+of that. It simply meant that for some mysterious reason, the same
+reason which had prompted her to visit him in the city he was of
+interest to her.
+
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove to the
+stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the first and
+paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street eagerly. When
+she recognized him, her smile was heavenly.
+
+“Oh, how nice of you!” she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab. “You don’t know how different it feels to hope that there is
+some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. To-night
+I was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I could not help
+believing that you would be here.”
+
+“I was hoping,” he said, “that we might have another supper together.
+Unfortunately, I have an engagement.”
+
+“An engagement?” she repeated, her face falling.
+
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+
+“It is rather an odd thing,” he declared. “You remember that woman at
+Luigi’s last night—Mademoiselle Idiale?”
+
+“Of course.”
+
+“She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to invest
+for her. She made me take her out and show her where the murder was
+committed, and asked a great many questions about it. Then she insisted
+that I should go and hear her sing this evening, and I find that I was
+expected to take her on to supper afterwards. I excused myself for a
+little while, but I have promised to go to Luigi’s, where she will be.”
+
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+
+“Where are we going now, then?” she asked.
+
+“Wherever you like. I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere.”
+
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+
+“The last two nights you have spoiled me,” she said. “I have so many
+evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home.”
+
+“I am sorry. If I could think of anything or anywhere—”
+
+“No, you must take me home, please,” said she. “It was selfish of me.
+Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person. Do you think that
+she will want you every night?”
+
+“Of course not,” he laughed. “Come, I will make an engagement with you.
+We will have supper together to-morrow evening.”
+
+She brightened up at once.
+
+“I wonder,” she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, “have you
+heard anything from Arthur? He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown.”
+
+Laverick shook his head. He said nothing about the marconigram he had
+sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that there was
+no such person on board. It seemed scarcely worth while to worry her.
+
+“I have heard nothing,” he replied. “Of course, he must be half-way to
+America by now.”
+
+“There have been no more inquiries about him?” she asked.
+
+“No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors. The
+latter I am paying as they come. But there is one thing you ought to do
+with me. I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock up his papers and
+letters. He never even went back, you know, after that night.”
+
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+
+“When would you like to do this?”
+
+“I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until
+Monday afternoon. Would you go with me then?”
+
+“Of course... My time is my own. We have no matinee, and I have nothing
+to do except in the evening.”
+
+They had reached her home. It looked very dark and very uninviting. She
+shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was carrying.
+
+“Come in with me, please, while I light the gas,” she begged. “It looks
+so dreary, doesn’t it?”
+
+“You ought to have some one with you,” he declared, “especially in a
+part like this.”
+
+“Oh, I am not really afraid,” she answered. “I am only lonely.”
+
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit the
+gas jet. In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting for
+her, and some bread.
+
+“Thank you so much,” she said. “Now I am going to make up the fire and
+read for a short time. I hope that you will enjoy your supper—well,
+moderately,” she added, with a little laugh.
+
+“I can promise you,” he answered, “that I shall enjoy it no more than
+last night’s or to-morrow night’s.”
+
+She sighed.
+
+“Poor little me!” she exclaimed. “It is not fair to have to compete
+with Mademoiselle Idiale. Good night!”
+
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+
+“Would you like me,” he asked hesitatingly, “supposing I get away
+early—would you like me to come in and say good night to you later on?”
+
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+
+“Oh, do!” she begged. “Do!”
+
+He turned away with a smile.
+
+“Very well,” he said. “Don’t shut up just yet and I will try.”
+
+“I shall stay here until three o’clock,” she declared,—“until four,
+even. You must come. Remember, you must come. See.”
+
+She held out to him her key.
+
+“I can knock at the door,” he protested. “You would hear me.”
+
+“But I might fall asleep,” she answered. “I am afraid. If you have the
+key, I am sure that you will come.”
+
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+
+“Very well,” he said, “if it is only for five minutes, I will come.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI’S
+
+
+Laverick walked into Luigi’s Restaurant at about a quarter to twelve,
+and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties on their
+way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far in excess of
+the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before the head maitre
+d’hotel came hurrying up.
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir,” he announced at once.
+“Will you be so good as to come this way?”
+
+Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last night,
+but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, only for
+two.
+
+“You have treated me,” she said, as she held out her fingers, “to a new
+sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of an hour—I!
+Such a thing has never happened to me before.”
+
+“You do me too much honor,” Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+
+“Then, too,” she continued, “I sup alone with you. That is what I
+seldom do with any man. Not that I care for the appearance,” she added,
+with a contemptuous wave of the hand. “Nothing troubles me less. It is
+simply that one man alone wearies me. Almost always he will make love,
+and that I do not like. You, Mr. Laverick, I am not afraid of. I do not
+think that you will make love to me.”
+
+“Any intentions I may have had,” Laverick remarked, with a sigh, “I
+forthwith banish. You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle.”
+
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+
+“Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick,” she said. “I do not think that you
+are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous.”
+
+“To tell you the truth,” Laverick admitted, “I find it hard to make
+love to any one. I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one’s self is
+difficult—sometimes it is even embarrassing. For supper?”
+
+“It is ordered,” she declared. “You are my guest.”
+
+“Impossible!” Laverick asserted firmly. “I have been your guest at the
+Opera. You at least owe me the honor of being mine for supper.”
+
+She frowned a little. She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+
+“I sup with you, then, another night,” she insisted. “No,” she
+continued, “If you are going to look like that, I take it back. I sup
+with you to-night. This is an ill omen for our future acquaintance. I
+have given in to you already—I, who give in to no man. Give me some
+champagne, please.”
+
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the
+sommelier darted forward and served them.
+
+“I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,” she
+said, raising her glass, “and, if you would like a double toast, I
+drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is
+consuming you.”
+
+“The curiosity?”
+
+“Yes! You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last night
+to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your office in the
+city to-day with the excuse of investing money with you, why I invited
+you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you to supper here and am
+supping with you alone. Now confess the truth; you are full of
+curiosity, is it not so?”
+
+“Frankly, I am.”
+
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+
+“I knew it quite well. You are not conceited. You do not believe, as so
+many men would, that I have fallen in love with you. You think that
+there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the time, ‘What is
+it?’ in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether you have any idea.”
+
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. She looked at him with a
+suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only
+needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something
+almost irresistible.
+
+“I can assure you,” Laverick said firmly, “that I have no idea.”
+
+“Do you remember almost my first question to you?” she asked.
+
+“It was about the murder. You seemed interested in the fact that my
+office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred.”
+
+“Quite right,” she admitted. “I see that your memory is very good.
+There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you.”
+
+Laverick drank his wine slowly. The woman knew! Impossible! Her eyes
+were watching his face, but he held himself bravely. What could she
+know? How could she guess?
+
+“Frankly,” he said, “I do not understand. Your interest in me arises
+from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that murder. Well,
+to begin with, what concern have you in that?”
+
+“The murdered man,” she declared thoughtfully, “was an acquaintance of
+mine.”
+
+“An acquaintance of yours!” Laverick exclaimed. “Why, he has not been
+identified. No one knows who he was.”
+
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” she murmured, “the newspapers do not tell you
+everything. I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of mine.
+Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna with him.”
+
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+
+“You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?”
+
+“Perhaps I could,” she answered. “I can tell you one thing, at any
+rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you. At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him. This is a
+fact which has not been spoken of in the Press.”
+
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his. He sat quite
+still. His face exhibited nothing more than the blank amazement which
+he certainly felt.
+
+“This is marvelous,” he said. “Have you told the police?”
+
+“I have not,” she answered. “I wish, if I can, to avoid telling the
+police.”
+
+“But the money? To whom did it belong?”
+
+“Not to the murdered man.”
+
+“To any one whom you know of?” he inquired.
+
+“I wonder,” she said, after a moment of hesitation, “whether I am
+telling you too much.”
+
+“You are telling me a good deal,” he admitted frankly.
+
+“I wonder how far,” she asked, “you will be inclined to reciprocate?”
+
+“I reciprocate!” he exclaimed. “But what can I do? What do I know of
+these things?”
+
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful
+gold purse set with emeralds. Carefully opening it, she drew from the
+interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great uncut
+emerald set into its centre. This, too, she opened, and drew out
+several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top. These
+she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth. Then she
+bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+
+“You may read that,” she said. “It is part of a report which I have had
+in my possession since Wednesday morning.”
+
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular
+characters, very distinct and plain:
+
+Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down the street
+but did not glance toward the passage. The next person to appear was a
+gentleman who left some offices on the same side as the passage, and
+walked down evidently on his homeward way. He glanced up the passage
+and saw the body lying there. He disappeared for a moment and struck a
+match. A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and
+down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office from which
+he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, and closed the door
+behind him. He was there for about ten minutes. When he reappeared, he
+walked quickly down the street and for obvious reasons I was unable to
+follow him. The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was
+Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+
+
+“That interests you, Mr. Laverick?” she asked softly.
+
+He handed it back to her.
+
+“It interests me very much,” he answered. “Who was this unseen person
+who wrote from the clouds?”
+
+“I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick,” she declared. “What
+have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?”
+
+Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to the
+music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that
+beautiful face a few feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her
+forehead wrinkled. There was nothing of the accuser in her countenance;
+a gentle irony was its most poignant expression.
+
+“Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+“It might seem so,” she answered. “Sometimes I think that all the time
+we live two lives,—the life of which the world sees the outside, and
+the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows anything at all.
+Look, for instance, at all these people—these chorus girls and young
+men about town—the older ones, too—all hungry for pleasure, all
+drinking at the cup of life as though they had indeed but to-day and
+to-morrow in which to live and enjoy. Have they no shadows, too, no
+secrets? They seem so harmless, yet if the great white truth shone
+down, might one not find a murderer there, a dying man who knew his
+terrible secret, yonder a Croesus on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong
+man playing with dishonor? But those are the things of the other world
+which we do not see. The men look at us to-night and they envy you
+because you are with me. The women envy me more because I have emeralds
+upon my neck and shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a
+fame throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very
+few minutes. But they do not know. There are the shadows across my
+path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours. What do you
+say, Mr. Laverick?”
+
+He looked at her, curiously moved. Now at last he began to believe that
+it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a marvelous
+woman. She had a fame which would have contented nine hundred and
+ninety-nine women out of a thousand. She had beauty, and, more
+wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are irresistible. She
+had but to lift a finger and there were few who would not kneel to do
+her bidding. And yet, behind it all there were other things in her
+life. Had she sought them, or had they come to her?
+
+“You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick,” she said, “who
+realize the danger of words. You believe in silence. Well, silence is
+often good. You do not choose to admit anything.”
+
+“What is there for me to admit? Do you want to know whether I am the
+man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage, who
+reappeared again—”
+
+“With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds,” she murmured
+across the flowers.
+
+“At least tell me this?” he demanded. “Was the money yours?”
+
+“I am not like you,” she replied. “I have talked a great deal and I
+have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you.”
+
+“But where are we?” he asked. “Are you seriously accusing me of having
+robbed this murdered man?”
+
+“Be thankful,” she declared, “that I am not accusing you of having
+murdered him.”
+
+“But seriously,” he insisted, “am I on my defence—have I to account for
+my movements that night as against the written word of your mysterious
+informant? Is it you who are charging me with being a thief? Is it to
+you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself or to plead
+guilty?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“No,” she answered. “I have said almost my last word to you upon this
+subject. All that I have to ask of you is this. If that pocket-book is
+in your possession, empty it first of its contents, then go over it
+carefully with your fingers and see if there is not a secret pocket. If
+you discover that, I think that you will find in it a sealed document.
+If you find that document, you must bring it to me.”
+
+The lights went down. The voice of the waiter murmured something in his
+ears.
+
+“It is after hours,” Mademoiselle Idiale said, “but Luigi does not wish
+to disturb us. Still, perhaps we had better go.”
+
+They passed down the room. To Laverick it was all—like a dream—the
+laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the lowered
+lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to have enfolded
+the place. In the hall her maid came up. A small motor-brougham, with
+two servants on the box, was standing at the doorway. Mademoiselle
+turned suddenly and gave him her hand.
+
+“Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick,” she said, “has been quite a
+success. We shall before long, I hope, meet again.”
+
+He handed her into the carriage. Her maid walked with them. The footman
+stood erect by his side. There were no further words to be spoken. A
+little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood bareheaded upon the
+pavement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV JIM SHEPHERD’S SCARE
+
+
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when he
+stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen asleep in a
+small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the window. Her supper
+of bread and milk was half finished, her hat lay upon the table. A book
+was upon her lap as though she had started to read only to find it slip
+through her fingers. He stood with his elbow upon the mantelpiece,
+looking down at her. Her eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful
+than ever now that her eyes were closed. Her complexion, pale though
+she was, seemed more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the
+whiteness of ill-health. The bodice of her dress was open a few inches
+at the neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin.
+Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her feet
+and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his first thought
+of her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty statuette, uncouthly clad,
+who had strayed from a world of her own upon rough days and found
+herself ill-equipped indeed for the struggle. His heart grew hot with
+anger against Morrison as he stood and watched her. Supposing she had
+been different! It would have been his fault, leaving her alone to
+battle her way through the most difficult of all lives. Brute!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her eyes.
+At first she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up.
+
+“I have been asleep!” she exclaimed.
+
+“A most unnecessary statement,” he answered, smiling. “I have been
+standing looking at you for five minutes at least.”
+
+“How fortunate that I gave you the key!” she declared. “I don’t suppose
+I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in the light and
+let me look at you.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle Idiale.”
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?”
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+“They tell strange stories about her,” she said; “but oh, she is so
+beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she even
+looked my way.”
+
+“Then I am glad,” he answered, “that I am less impressionable.”
+
+“And you are not in love with her?” she asked eagerly.
+
+“Why should I be?” he laughed. “She is like a wonderful picture, a
+marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless. But
+one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life which
+stirs life.”
+
+“Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?” Zoe asked.
+
+“If there is,” he answered, “I do not think that I am the man to stir
+it.”
+
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+
+“You see,” she said, “you are my first admirer, and I haven’t the least
+desire to let you go.”
+
+“Incredible!” he declared.
+
+“But it is true,” she answered earnestly. “You would not have me talk
+to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men to whom I
+have been introduced by the other girls have been very few, and they
+have not been very nice, and they have not cared for me and I have not
+cared for them. I think,” she said, disconsolately, “I am too small.
+Every one to-day seems to like big women. Cora Sinclair, who is just
+behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every night, and simply chooses
+with whom she should go out to supper.”
+
+Laverick looked grave.
+
+“You are not envying her?” he asked.
+
+“Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes.”
+
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+
+“Miss Zoe,” he said, “I have come because you told me to, just to
+prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. But
+do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any longer.”
+
+She sighed once more.
+
+“You are right,” she admitted, “but it is so lonely. I have never been
+here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in the house
+before the other night. If I had known that they were going away, I
+should never have dared to come here.”
+
+“It is too bad,” he declared. “Couldn’t you get one of the other girls
+to stay with you?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“There are one or two whom I would like to have,” she said, “but they
+are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I am afraid
+about. They seem to like to sit up so late and—”
+
+“You are quite right,” he interrupted hastily,—“quite right. You are
+better alone. But you ought to have a servant.”
+
+She laughed.
+
+“On two pounds fifteen a week?” she asked. “You must remember that I
+could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay.”
+
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+
+“Miss Zoe,” he said, “I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I
+have money which should go to your brother. Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little? I cannot bear to think of you
+here all alone.”
+
+“It is very kind of you,” she answered doubtfully; “but please, no.
+Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that sort
+of help from you. If you have any money of Arthur’s, keep it for a time
+and I think when you write him—I do not want to seem grasping—but I
+think if he has any to spare you might suggest that he does give me
+just a little. I have never had anything from him at all. Perhaps he
+does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+
+“I will do that, of course,” Laverick answered, “but I wish you would
+let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to you. I will
+take the responsibility for it. It will come from him and not from me.”
+
+She remained unconvinced.
+
+“I would rather wait,” she said. “If you really want to give me
+something, I will let you—out of my brother’s money, of course, I
+mean,” she added. “I haven’t anything saved at all, or I wouldn’t have
+that. But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and hat. You
+can tell Arthur directly you write to him. I don’t mind that, for
+sometimes I do feel ashamed—I did the other night to have you sit with
+me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very differently from all
+of them.”
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+“I don’t think men notice those things. To me you seemed just as you
+should seem. I only know that I was glad enough to be there with you.”
+
+“Were you?”—rather wistfully.
+
+“Of course I was. Now I am going, but before I go, don’t forget Monday
+afternoon. We’ll have lunch and then go to your brother’s rooms.”
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+“Is it really so late?” she asked.
+
+“It is. Don’t you notice how quiet it is outside?”
+
+They stood hand in hand for a moment. A strange silence seemed to have
+fallen upon the streets. Laverick was suddenly conscious of something
+which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had smiled upon him—a
+quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering excitement which almost
+took his breath away. His eyes were fixed upon hers, and he seemed to
+see the reflection of that same wave of feeling in her own expressive
+face. Her lips trembled, her eyes were deeper and softer than ever.
+They seemed to be asking him a question, asking and asking till every
+fibre of his body was concentrated in the desperate effort with, which
+he kept her at arm’s length.
+
+“Is it so very late?” she whispered, coming just a little closer, so
+that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+
+“Much too late for me to stay here, child,” he said, and his voice even
+to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+
+“Run along to bed. To-morrow night—to-morrow night, then, I will fetch
+you. Good-bye!”
+
+He let himself out. He did not even look behind to the spot where he
+had left her. He closed the front door and walked with swift, almost
+savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square, and into New
+Oxford Street. Here he seemed to breathe more freely. He called a
+hansom and drove to his rooms.
+
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was no
+one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him. When he entered
+his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise. Mr.
+James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands upon his
+knees—Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even than usual, his
+eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of unconcealed and
+unaffected terror.
+
+“Hullo!” Laverick exclaimed. “What the dickens—what do you want here,
+Shepherd?”
+
+“Upon my word, sir, I’m not sure that I know,” the man replied, “but
+I’m scared. I’ve brought you back the certificates of them shares. I
+want you to keep them for me. I’m terrified lest they come and search
+my room. I am, I tell you fair. I’m terrified to order a pint of beer
+for myself. They’re watching me all the time.”
+
+“Who are?” Laverick demanded.
+
+“Lord knows who;” Shepherd answered, “but there’s two of them at it. I
+told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we’d done
+and finished with it. Not a bit of it! There was another one there this
+afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of the passage and
+asking me no end of questions. He wasn’t no journalist, I’ll swear to
+that. I asked him about his paper. ‘Half-a-dozen,’ he declared.
+‘They’re all glad to have what I send them.’ Journalist! Lord knows who
+the other chap was and what he was asking questions for, but this one
+was a ’tec, straight. Joe Forman, he was in to-day looking after my
+place, for I’d given a month’s notice, and he says to me, ‘You see that
+big chap?’—meaning him as had been asking me the questions—and I says
+‘Yes!’ and he says, ‘That’s a ’tee. I’ve seed him in a police court,
+giving evidence.’ I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked
+me down.”
+
+“Come, come!” said Laverick. “There’s no need for you to be feeling
+like this about it. All that you’ve done is not to have remembered
+those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night. There’s
+nothing criminal in that.”
+
+“There’s something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds’
+worth of shares in one’s pocket—something suspicious, anyway,” Shepherd
+declared, plumping them down on the table. “I ain’t giving you these
+back, mind, but you must keep ’em for me. I wish I’d never given
+notice. I think I’ll ask the boss to keep me on.”
+
+“Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?”
+Laverick inquired.
+
+“Ain’t I told you?” Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up. “Why, he’s been to
+my place down in ’Ammersmith, asking questions about me. My landlady
+swears he didn’t go into my room, but who can tell whether he did or
+not? Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere. Then I went out for a bit
+of an airing after the one o’clock rush was over to-day, and I’m danged
+if he wasn’t at my ’eels. I seed him coming round by Liverpool Street
+just as I went in a bar to get a drop of something.”
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+“If there is anything in this story, Shepherd,” he said, “if you are
+really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come here!
+All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner.”
+
+“I couldn’t help it, sir,” the man declared. “I couldn’t, indeed. I was
+so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one. And then there
+were these shares. There was nowhere I could keep ’em safe.”
+
+“Look here,” Laverick went on, “you’re alarming yourself about nothing.
+In any case, there is only one thing for you to do. Pull yourself
+together and put a bold face upon it. I’ll keep these certificates for
+you, and when you want some money you can come to me for it. Go back to
+your place, and if your master is willing to keep you on perhaps it
+would be a good thing to stay there for another month or so. But don’t
+let any one see that you’re frightened. Remember, there’s nothing that
+you can get into trouble for. No one’s obliged to answer such questions
+as you’ve been asked, except in a court and under oath. Stick to your
+story, and if you take my advice,” Laverick added, glancing at his
+visitor’s shaking fingers, “you will keep away from the drink.”
+
+“It’s little enough I’ve had, sir,” Shepherd assured him. “A drop now
+and then just to keep up one’s spirits—nothing that amounts to
+anything.”
+
+“Make it as little as possible,” Laverick said. “Remember, I’m back of
+you, I’ll see that you get into no trouble. And don’t come here again.
+Come to my office, if you like—there’s nothing in that—but don’t come
+here, you understand?”
+
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+
+“I understand, sir. I’m sorry to have troubled you, but the sight of
+that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers.”
+
+“Come into the office as often as you like, in reason,” Laverick said,
+showing him out, “but not here again. Keep your eyes open, and let me
+know if you think you’ve been followed here.”
+
+“There’s no more news in the papers, sir? Nothing turned up?”
+
+“Nothing,” replied Laverick. “If the police have found out anything at
+all, they will keep it until after the inquest.”
+
+“And you’ve heard nothing, sir,” Shepherd asked, speaking in a hoarse
+whisper, “of Mr. Morrison?”
+
+“Nothing,” Laverick answered. “Mr. Morrison is abroad.”
+
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+
+“Of course!” he muttered. “A good job, too, for him!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+
+
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and one
+errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found a woman
+busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. They stared
+at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was absolutely
+unprecedented.
+
+“You can leave the office just as it is, if you please,” he told them.
+“I have a few things to attend to at once.”
+
+He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being the
+one period during the day when he could rely upon not being disturbed.
+Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure against any
+possible intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked it, and drew from
+its secret drawer the worn brown-leather pocket-book.
+
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. Then
+he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little leap. It
+was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one side there was
+distinctly a rustling as of paper. He opened the case quite flat and
+passed his fingers carefully over the lining. Very soon he found the
+opening—it was simply a matter of drawing down the stiff silk lining
+from underneath the overlapping edge. Thrusting in his fingers, he drew
+out a long foreign envelope, securely sealed. Scarcely stopping to
+glance at it, he rearranged the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and
+locked it up again. Then he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk,
+with the document which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+
+There was not much to be made of it. There was no address, but the
+black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms,
+and a motto which to him was indecipherable. He held it up to the
+light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained no
+idea as to its contents. He leaned back in his chair for a moment, and
+looked at it. So this was the document which would probably reveal the
+secret of the murder in Crooked Friars’ Alley! This was the document
+which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so much more importance than
+the fortune represented by that packet of bank-notes! What did it all
+mean? Was this man, who had either expiated a crime or been the victim
+of a terrible vengeance,—was he a politician, a dealer in trade
+secrets, a member of a secret society, an informer? Or was he one of
+the underground criminals of the world, one of those who crawl beneath
+the surface of known things—a creature of the dark places? Perhaps
+during those few minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the
+great city awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely
+than ever before exactly how he stood. Without doubt he was walking on
+the brink of a precipice. Four days ago there had been nothing for him
+but ruin. The means of salvation had suddenly presented themselves in
+this startling and dramatic manner, and without hesitation he had
+embraced them. What did it all amount to? How far was he guilty, and of
+what? Was he a thief? The law would probably call him so. The law might
+have even more to say. It would say that by keeping his mouth closed as
+to his adventure on that night he had ranged himself on the side of the
+criminals,—he was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal
+knowledge of this terrible crime. Events had followed upon one another
+so rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time
+for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood. The
+long-expected boom in “Unions,” the coming of Zoe, the strange advances
+made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible connection
+with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her apparent
+knowledge of his share in it,—these things were sufficient, indeed, to
+give him food for thought. Laverick was not by nature a pessimist.
+Other things being equal, he would have made, without doubt, a
+magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high order. It
+never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger. He rather
+welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other thoughts. Yet
+in those few minutes, while he waited for the business of the day to
+commence, he looked his exact position in the face and he realized more
+thoroughly how grave it really was. How was he to find a way out—to set
+himself right with the law? What could he do with those notes? They
+were there untouched. He had only made use of them in an indirect way.
+They were there intact, as he had picked them up upon that fateful
+night. Was there any possible chance by means of which he might
+discover the owner and restore them in such a way that his name might
+never be mentioned? His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay
+before him. Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy. Should
+he risk everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as
+much and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale? It was a strange
+dilemma for a man to find himself in.
+
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced. A pile of
+letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began to
+ring. He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of his coat
+and buttoned it up. There, for the present, it must remain. He owed it
+to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make the most of this
+great tide of business. With set face he closed the doors upon the
+unreal world, and took hold of the levers which were to guide his
+passage through the one in which he was an actual figure.
+
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him
+that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+
+“It is the lady who was here the other day,” his head clerk reminded
+him. “We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her. They must be
+showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit. Perhaps she wants to
+realize.”
+
+“In any case, you had better show her in,” said Laverick.
+
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and
+heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat
+severely furnished office. Her skirts swept his carpet with a musical
+swirl. She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume of violets,—a
+perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a famous chemist in
+the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person upon earth. Who else
+was there, indeed, who could have walked those few yards as she walked?
+
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+
+“You have come to ask about your shares?” he asked politely. “So far,
+we have nothing but good news for you.”
+
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk, and
+she waved her hand.
+
+“Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments
+are a nuisance, I suppose,” she said. “But indeed I will not keep you
+long. A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you. I am beginning to
+find city affairs so interesting.”
+
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so high
+that he could see her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, supporting
+her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right hand. She looked
+at him thoughtfully.
+
+“You have examined the pocket-book?” she asked.
+
+“I have.”
+
+“And the document was there?”
+
+“The document was there,” he admitted. “Perhaps you can tell me how it
+would be addressed?”
+
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was
+assumed. She was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+
+“I imagine that there would be no address,” she said.
+
+“You are right. That document is in my pocket.”
+
+“What are you going to do with it?” she asked.
+
+“What do you advise me to do with it?”
+
+“Give it to me.”
+
+“Have you any claim?”
+
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+
+“At least I have more claim to it,” she whispered, “than you to that
+twenty thousand pounds.”
+
+“I do not claim them,” he replied. “They are in my safe at this moment,
+untouched. They are there ready to be returned to their proper owner.”
+
+“Why do you not find him?”—with a note of incredulity in her tone.
+
+“How am I to do that?” Laverick demanded.
+
+“We waste words,” she continued coldly. “I think that if I leave you
+with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand me that
+document.”
+
+“I am inclined to do so,” Laverick admitted. “The very fact that you
+knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to it.
+But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?”
+
+“I think,” she said, “that it would be better if you asked me none.”
+
+“But listen,” he begged. “You are the only person with whom I have come
+into touch who seems to know anything about this affair. I should
+rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it. Why can we
+not exchange confidence for confidence? I want neither the twenty
+thousand pounds nor the document. I want, to be frank with you, nothing
+but to escape from the position I am now in of being half a thief and
+half a criminal. Show me some claim to that document and you shall have
+it. Tell me to whom that money belongs, and it shall be restored.”
+
+“You are incomprehensible,” she declared. “Are you, by any chance,
+playing a part with me? Do you think that it is worth while?”
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale,” Laverick protested earnestly, “nothing in the
+world is further from my thoughts. There is very little of the
+conspirator about me. I am a plain man of business who stumbled in upon
+this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary use of his
+discovery. You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid. I want to get
+out. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such a thing were
+possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents anonymously to
+Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again.”
+
+She listened to him with unchanged face. Yet for some moments after he
+had finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+
+“You may be speaking the truth,” she said. “If so, I have been
+deceived. You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were.
+What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true.”
+
+“It is the truth,” Laverick repeated calmly.
+
+“Listen,” she said, after a brief pause. “You were at school, were you
+not, with Mr. David Bellamy? You know well who he is?”
+
+“Perfectly well,” Laverick admitted.
+
+“You would consider him a person to be trusted?”
+
+“Absolutely.”
+
+“Very well, then,” she declared. “You shall come to my fiat at five
+o’clock this afternoon and bring that document. If it is possible,
+David Bellamy shall be there himself. We will try then and prove to you
+that you do no harm in parting with that document to us.”
+
+“I will come,” Laverick promised, “at five o’clock; but you must tell
+me where.”
+
+“You will put it down, please,” she said. “There must not be any
+mistake. You must come, and you must come to-day. I am staying at
+number 15, Dover Street. I will leave orders that you are shown in at
+once.”
+
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her. On the way she
+hesitated.
+
+“Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick,” she begged. “There are
+others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry with
+you. You represent to them things beside which life and death are
+trivial happenings.”
+
+Laverick laughed shortly. He was a matter-of-fact man, and there seemed
+something a little absurd in such a warning.
+
+“I do not think,” he declared, “that you need have any fear. London is,
+as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably safe
+one to live in.”
+
+“Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick,” she repeated earnestly, “be on your guard
+to-day, for all our sakes.”
+
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+
+“Your investments,” he remarked, “you will be content, perhaps, to
+leave as they are. It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to know
+that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a thousand
+pounds.”
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+“It was an excuse—that investment,” she declared. “Yet money is always
+good. Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will. I will trust
+your judgment. Buy or sell as you please. You will let nothing prevent
+your coming this afternoon?”
+
+“Nothing,” he promised her.
+
+From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham
+she held out her hand in farewell.
+
+“You think me foolish, I know, that I persist,” she said, “but I do beg
+that you will remember what I say. Do not be alone to-day more than you
+can help. Suspect every one who comes near to you. There may be a trap
+before your feet at any moment. Be wary always and do not forget—at
+five o’clock I expect you.”
+
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+
+“It is a promise, Mademoiselle,” he assured her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+
+
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale’s departure a note marked
+“Urgent” was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. It was
+dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two of the
+partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus:
+
+MY DEAR LAVERICK,—I want a chat with you, if you can spare five minutes
+at lunch time. Come to Lyons’ a little earlier than usual, if you don’t
+mind,—say at a quarter to one.
+
+
+J. HENSHAW.
+
+
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He had
+even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention of
+starting out, when a thought struck him. He took it up and read it
+though again. Then he turned to the telephone.
+
+“Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen. I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly.”
+
+Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands
+ready to go out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the receiver.
+
+“Hullo! Is that Henshaw?”
+
+“I’m Henshaw,” was the answer. “That’s Laverick, isn’t it? How are you,
+old fellow?”
+
+“I’m all right,” Laverick replied. “What is it that you want to see me
+about?”
+
+“Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?”
+
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat
+down in his chair.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “Didn’t you send me a note a few minutes ago,
+asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons’?”
+
+Henshaw’s laugh was sufficient response.
+
+“Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,—you know
+that,” was the answer, “but some one’s been putting up a practical joke
+on you.”
+
+“You did not send me a note round this morning, then?” Laverick
+insisted.
+
+“I’ll swear I didn’t,” came the reply. “Do you seriously mean that
+you’ve had one purporting to come from me?”
+
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+
+“Well, the signature’s such a scrawl,” he said, “that no one could tell
+what the name really was. I guessed at you but I seem to have guessed
+wrong. Good-bye!”
+
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning.
+Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken. This was a deliberate
+effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices
+at a quarter to one.
+
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked, Laverick
+felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of his
+premises. At the same time his curiosity was excited. Here, perhaps,
+was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable mystery.
+
+There were thee clerks in the outer office. He put on his hat and
+despatched two of them on errands in different directions. The last he
+was obliged to take into his confidence.
+
+“Halsey,” he said, “I am going out to lunch. At least, I wish it to be
+thought that I am going out to lunch. As a matter of fact, I shall
+return in about ten minutes by the back way. I do not wish you,
+however, to know this. I want you to have it in your mind that I have
+gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past two. If there
+are visitors for me—inquirers of any sort—act exactly as you would have
+done if you really believed that I was not in the building.”
+
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified. Laverick took him even further
+into his confidence.
+
+“To tell you the truth, Halsey,” he said, “I have just received a bogus
+letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him. Some one was
+evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour or so. I want
+to find out for myself what this means, if possible. You understand?”
+
+“I think so, sir,” the man replied doubtfully. “I am not to be aware
+that you have returned, then?”
+
+“Certainly not,” Laverick answered. “Please be quite clear about that.
+If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in, but do not
+send for the police unless I tell you to. I wish to look into this
+affair for myself.”
+
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer’s clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+
+“Would it not be better, sir,” he suggested, “for me to communicate
+with the police in the first case? If this should really turn out to be
+an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the matter to
+them.”
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+“For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to tell
+you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter personally.
+Please do exactly as I say.”
+
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of the
+restaurant which he chiefly frequented. He reached it in a moment or
+two, but left it at once by another entrance. Within ten minutes he was
+back at his office.
+
+“Has any one been, Halsey?”
+
+“No one, sir,” the clerk answered.
+
+“You will be so good,” Laverick continued, “as to forget that I have
+returned.”
+
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the small
+closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands. He had scarcely
+been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside hall. The door
+of his office was opened.
+
+“Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour,” he heard
+Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+
+“He had, perhaps, forgotten,” was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar
+voice. “At any rate, I am not in a great hurry. The matter is of some
+importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick.”
+
+The visitor was shown in. Laverick investigated his appearance through
+a crack in the door. He was a man of medium height, well-dressed,
+clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles. He made himself
+comfortable in Laverick’s easy-chair, and accepted the paper which
+Halsey offered him.
+
+“I shall be quite glad of a rest,” he remarked genially. “I have been
+running about all the morning.”
+
+“Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir,” Halsey said. “I
+daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or twenty
+minutes.”
+
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door. The man in the chair waited for
+a moment. Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously around
+the room. Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to his feet
+and walked swiftly to Laverick’s writing-table. With fingers which
+seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he swung
+open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers. His eyes were
+everywhere. Every document seemed to be scanned and as rapidly
+discarded. At last he found something which interested him. He held it
+up and paused in his search. Laverick heard a little breath come though
+his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the paper as one which he
+had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon which he had written down
+the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had given him. The man with the
+gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper where he had found it. Evidently
+he had done with the writing-table. He moved swiftly over to the safe
+and stood there listening for a few seconds. Then from his pocket he
+drew a bunch of keys. To Laverick’s surprise, at the stranger’s first
+effort the great door of the safe swung open. He saw the man lean
+forward, saw his hand reappear almost directly with the pocket-book
+clenched in his fingers. Then he stood once more quite still,
+listening. Satisfied that no one was disturbed, he closed the door of
+the safe softly and moved once more to the writing-table. With
+marvelous swiftness the notes were laid upon the table, the pocket-book
+was turned upside down, the secret place disclosed—the secret place
+which was empty. It seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he
+could hear the little oath of disappointment which broke from the thin
+red lips. The man replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his
+hand, hesitated. Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough,
+stepped lightly out from his hiding-place and stood between his
+unbidden visitor and the door.
+
+“You had better put down that pocket-book,” he ordered quietly.
+
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without the
+slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where he lay,
+for a moment, motionless. Then he slowly picked himself up. His
+spectacles were broken—he blinked as he stood there.
+
+“Sorry to be so rough,” Laverick said. “Perhaps if you will kindly
+realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so good
+as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your intrusion.”
+
+The man obeyed. He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment, as
+though in pain.
+
+“I imagine,” he said—and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had a
+slight foreign accent—“I imagine that the motive for my paying you this
+visit is fairly clear to you. People who have compromising possessions
+may always expect visits of this sort. You see, one runs so little
+risk.”
+
+“So little risk!” Laverick repeated.
+
+“Exactly,” the other answered. “Confess that you are not in the least
+inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give me in
+charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted from your
+safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes.”
+
+“It wouldn’t do at all,” Laverick admitted.
+
+“You are a man of common sense,” declared the other. “It would not do.
+Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There was a
+sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it? What have you done
+with it?”
+
+“Can you tell me,” Laverick asked, “why I should answer questions from
+a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious attempt at
+burglary?”
+
+The man’s hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
+into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+
+“Because if you don’t, you die,” was the quick reply. “Whether you’ve
+read that document or not, I want it. If you’ve read it, you know the
+sort of men you’ve got to deal with. If you haven’t, take my word for
+it that we waste no time. The document! Will you give it me?”
+
+“Do I understand that you are threatening me?” Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+
+“You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
+seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces,” his visitor answered. “If
+you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last movement
+you’ll ever make on earth.”
+
+“London isn’t really the place for this sort of thing,” Laverick said.
+“If you discharge that revolver, you haven’t a dog’s chance of getting
+clear of the building. My clerks would rush out after you into the
+street. You’d find yourself surrounded by a crowd of business men. You
+couldn’t make your way through anywhere. You’d be held up before you’d
+gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver. We can perhaps settle this
+little matter without it.”
+
+“The document!” the man ordered. “You’ve got it! You must have it! You
+took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book was the
+document. We must have it. We intend to have it.”
+
+“And who, may I ask, are we?” Laverick inquired.
+
+“If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?”
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“I have no document.”
+
+The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was
+very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+
+“Give it to me!” he repeated. “You ought to know that you are not
+dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about you.
+Produce it, and I’ve done with you. Deny me, and you have not time to
+say your prayers!”
+
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
+His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it. He held it
+in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at his
+visitor. He followed behind with one desperate spring. Once, twice, the
+revolver barked out. Laverick felt the skin of his temple burn and a
+flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days. Then his hand
+was upon the other man’s throat and the revolver lay upon the carpet.
+
+“We’ll see about that. By the Lord, I’ve a good mind to wring the life
+out of you. That bullet of yours might have been in my temple.”
+
+“It was meant to be there,” the man gasped. “Hand over the document,
+you pig-headed fool! It’ll cost you your life—if not to-day,
+to-morrow.”
+
+“I’ll be hanged if you get it, anyway!” Laverick answered fiercely.
+“You assassin! Scoundrel! To come here and make a cold-blooded effort
+at murder! You shall see what you think of the inside of an English
+prison.”
+
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+
+“And what about the pocket-book?” he asked.
+
+Laverick was silent. His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Come,” he said, “I have made my effort and failed. You have twenty
+thousand pounds. That’s a fair price, but I’ll add another twenty
+thousand for that document unopened.”
+
+“It is possible that we might deal,” Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away. “Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he was
+murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in his
+possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you.”
+
+“You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,” his
+visitor declared, “or you’re too subtle for me. You do not expect me to
+believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? You do not
+expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that sealed
+envelope? Bah! It is a child’s game, that, and we play as men with
+men.”
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“Your offer,” he asked, “what is it exactly?”
+
+“Twenty thousand pounds,” the man answered. “The document is worth no
+more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, but
+you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty thousand
+pounds, Mr. Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You find it
+interesting?”
+
+“I find it interesting,” Laverick answered dryly, “but I am not a
+seller.”
+
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was full
+of wonder.
+
+“Consider for a moment,” he said. “While that document remains in your
+possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a thread.
+Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. Heaven knows
+how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner you are out of them
+the better. What do you say now to my offer?”
+
+“It is refused,” Laverick declared. “I regret to add,” he continued,
+“that I have already spared you all the time I have at my disposal.
+Forgive me.”
+
+He pressed a button with his finger. His visitor rose up in anger.
+
+“You are not such a fool!” he exclaimed. “You are not going to send me
+away without it? Why, I tell you that there won’t be a safe corner in
+the world for you!”
+
+Halsey opened the door. Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+
+“Show this gentleman out, Halsey,” he ordered.
+
+Halsey started. The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been
+muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of
+gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke. The man rose
+slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+
+“It must be as you will, of course. I wonder if you would be so good as
+to let your clerk direct me to an oculist? I am, unfortunately, a
+helpless man in this condition.”
+
+“There is one a few yards off,” Laverick answered. “Put on your hat,
+Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses.”
+
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+
+“It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight,” he muttered.
+“Do you accept my offer? Will you give me the document?”
+
+“I do not and I will not,” Laverick replied. “I shall not part with
+anything until I know more than I know at present.”
+
+The man stood motionless for a moment. His fingers seemed to be
+twitching. Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but if
+ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey’s reappearance checked
+them.
+
+“I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick,” he said quietly. “We shall,
+perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date.”
+
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room. Laverick went
+to the window and threw it wide open. The smoke floated out, the smell
+of gunpowder was gradually dispersed. Then he walked back to his seat.
+Once more he locked up the notes. The document was safe in his pocket.
+There was a slight mark by the side of his temple, and his ear, he
+discovered, was bleeding. He rang the bell and Halsey entered.
+
+“Has our friend gone, Halsey?”
+
+“I left him in the optician’s, sir,” the clerk answered. “He was buying
+some spectacles.”
+
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those gold-rimmed
+glasses were scattered.
+
+“You had better send for a locksmith at once,” he said. “The gentleman
+who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe. We’ll have a
+combination put on.”
+
+“Very good, sir,” Halsey answered.
+
+“And, Halsey,” his master continued, “be careful about one thing, for
+your own sake as well as mine. If that man presents himself again,
+don’t let him come into my room unannounced. If you can help it, don’t
+let him come in at all. I have an idea that he might be dangerous.”
+
+The clerk’s face was a study.
+
+“If he presents himself here, sir,” he announced stiffly, “I shall take
+the liberty of sending for the police.”
+
+Laverick made no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII LAVERICK’S NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
+meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab to
+be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book securely
+in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and directed the man
+to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters of the Safe Deposit
+Company he engaged a compartment, and down in the strong-room locked up
+the pocket-book. There was only now the document left. Stepping once
+more into the street, he found that his taxicab had vanished. He looked
+up and down in vain. The man had not been paid and there seemed to be
+no reason for his departure. A policeman who was standing by touched
+his hat and addressed him.
+
+“Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?” he asked.
+
+“I was,” Laverick answered. “I hadn’t paid him and I told him to wait.”
+
+“I thought there was something queer about it,” the policeman remarked.
+“Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up in a hansom.
+They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, who shook his
+head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said something else to
+him—can’t say as I heard what it was, but it was probably offering him
+double fare. Anyway, they both got in and off went your taxi, sir.”
+
+“Thank you,” Laverick said thoughtfully. “It sounds a little
+perplexing.”
+
+He hesitated for a moment.
+
+“Constable,” he continued, “I have just made a very valuable deposit in
+there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still in my
+pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt whatever but
+that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is to leave me in
+the street here alone under circumstances which will render a quick
+attack upon me likely to be successful.”
+
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. He
+was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical joke.
+Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and was not he
+an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! Yet his
+companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous order.
+Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a wholesome color,
+his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to defend himself at any
+time. The constable smiled in a non-committal manner.
+
+“If you’ll excuse my saying so, sir,” he remarked, “I don’t think this
+is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault.”
+
+“I agree with you,” Laverick answered, “but, on the other hand, you
+must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped from
+my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight from
+here to the place where I shall probably leave the other document I am
+carrying with me. Why I have taken you into my confidence is to ask you
+this. Can you walk with me to the corner of the street, or until we
+meet a taxicab? It sounds cowardly, but, as a matter of fact, I am not
+afraid. I simply want to make sure of delivering this document to the
+person to whom it belongs.”
+
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+
+“My beat, sir,” he said, “only goes about twenty-five yards further on.
+I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire it. At the
+same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. How do I know that
+it is not your scheme to get me away from this neighborhood for some
+purpose of your own?”
+
+“You don’t believe anything of the sort,” Laverick declared, with a
+smile.
+
+“I do not, sir,” the policeman admitted. “Keep by my side, and I think
+that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn.”
+
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of the
+policeman he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the passers-by
+closely—the police-man with mild interest, Laverick with almost
+feverish anxiety. It was a gray afternoon, pleasant but close. There
+seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the feeling of nervousness
+which had suddenly come over Laverick. He felt himself in danger—he had
+no idea how, or in what way—but the conviction was there. He took every
+step fully alert, absolutely on his guard.
+
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the bystanders
+caused them to look away into the middle of the road. Laverick only
+cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct of curiosity,
+thinking once more only of himself and his own position. With the
+constable, however, it was naturally different. He saw something which
+called at once for his intervention, and he immediately forgot the
+somewhat singular task upon which he was engaged. A man had fallen in
+the middle of the street, either knocked down by the shaft of a passing
+vehicle or in some sort of fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses,
+an omnibus was making desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.
+The constable sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and
+realizing that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.
+He was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
+been meant for the back of his head. He was confronted by a man dressed
+exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat, a man with
+long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as would have
+passed anywhere without attracting a moment’s suspicion. Yet, in the
+space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one pocket, with the
+skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking life-preserver, and from
+the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked with chloroform. Laverick, quick
+and resourceful, feeling his left arm sink helpless, struck at the man
+with his right and sent him staggering against the wall. The
+handkerchief, with its load of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.
+The man was obviously worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost
+unobserved, for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the
+roadway. With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to
+close, and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at him again but met only
+the air. The man’s fingers now were upon his pocket, but this time
+Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that with a fierce
+cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he could recover, Laverick
+had struck him again. He reeled into the crowd that was fast gathering
+around them, attracted by what seemed to be a fight between two men of
+unexceptionable appearance. But there was to be no more fight. Through
+the people, swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
+find some hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but the man
+had gone. His left hand crept to his chest. The victory was with him;
+the document was still there.
+
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring the
+storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing helmet
+of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd, Laverick hailed
+it and stepped quickly inside.
+
+“Back out of this and drive to Dover Street,” he directed. The man
+obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. The other
+commotion had died away,—the man in the road had got up and walked off.
+A policeman came hurrying along but he was just too late. Very soon
+they were on their way down Holborn. Once more Laverick had escaped.
+
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
+High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked for
+Mademoiselle Idiale. He was shown into one of the most delightful
+little rooms he had ever even dreamed of. The walls were hung with that
+peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle so often affected in
+her clothes. Laverick, who was something of a connoisseur, saw nowhere
+any object which was not, of its sort, priceless,—French furniture of
+the best and choicest period, a statuette which made him, for a moment,
+almost forget the scene from which he had just arrived. The air in the
+room seemed as though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,—it
+was fresh and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank down into one
+of the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
+that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and there
+entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. Lassen.
+Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully. Lassen’s small,
+queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge ingratiating smile.
+
+“I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick,” he said,—“very glad indeed.”
+
+“I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale,” Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment he had
+seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should conceal his
+feelings.
+
+“I am here to explain,” Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself opposite
+to Laverick. “Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately prevented from
+seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, and her only chance of
+appearing tonight is to remain perfectly undisturbed. Women of her
+position, as you may understand, have to be exceptionally careful. It
+would be a very serious matter indeed if she were unable to sing
+to-night.”
+
+“I am exceedingly sorry to hear it,” Laverick answered. “In that case,
+I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered.”
+
+“By all means, my dear sir!” Mr. Lassen exclaimed. “Many times, let us
+hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a document which
+you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is most anxious that you
+should hand it to me—most anxious. She will tender you her thanks
+personally, tomorrow or the next day, if she is well enough to
+receive.”
+
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+
+“Under no circumstances,” he declared, “should I think of delivering
+the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale. To
+tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with it
+even to her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. But it
+may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would induce me
+to part with it to any one else.”
+
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen’s
+face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show its
+teeth. Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, he thought,
+casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique of the other
+man. He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a small bronze
+ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by his side. If Mr.
+Lassen’s fat and ugly hand should steal toward his pocket, Laverick was
+prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
+
+“I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick,” Lassen said
+slowly. “I hope very much that you will see your way clear to change
+your mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to the document
+as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest wish that you should
+hand it over to me. Further, I may inform you that the document itself
+is a most incriminating one. Its possession upon your person, or upon
+the person of any one who was not upon his guard, might be a very
+serious matter indeed.”
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“As a matter of fact,” he declared, “I certainly have no idea of
+carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it to
+no one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale as soon as
+she is recovered. I am not disposed—I mean no offence, sir—but I may
+say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as much with you.”
+
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. Lassen
+followed his example and confronted him.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” he said, “in your own interests you must not talk like
+that,—in your own interests, I say.”
+
+“At any rate,” Laverick remarked, “my interests are better looked after
+by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, Mr. Lassen,
+that you are a stranger to me.”
+
+“No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!” the little man exclaimed.
+
+“Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at least
+of the existence of this document,” Laverick answered. “She has
+established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. You
+announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale’s deputy, but you bring me no
+proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to treat with you.
+You must allow me to wish you good afternoon.”
+
+Lassen shook his head.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” he declared, “you are too impetuous. You force me to
+remind you that your own position as holder of that document is not a
+very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching to-day
+for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was found murdered
+in Crooked Friars’ Alley. If they could find the man who was in
+possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession of twenty thousand
+pounds taken from the dead man’s body and with it had saved his
+business and his credit, how then, do you think? I say nothing of the
+document.”
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to make
+terms with this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust him. He
+did not even trust him so far as to believe him the accredited envoy of
+Mademoiselle.
+
+“My unfortunate position,” Laverick said, “has nothing whatever to do
+with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot say. I
+neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I am not to be
+intimidated. This document will remain in my possession until some one
+can show me a very good reason for parting with it.”
+
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
+his clenched fist.
+
+“A reason why you should part with it!” he exclaimed fiercely. “Man, it
+stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you will be
+arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in the
+murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall see to
+myself!”
+
+“In which case,” Laverick remarked, “the document will fall into the
+hands of the English police.”
+
+The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
+upon his listener. Mr. Lassen’s face was black with unuttered curses.
+He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick bodily.
+
+“What do you know about its contents?” he hissed. “Why do you suppose
+it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands of the
+English police?”
+
+“I can see no reason whatever,” Laverick answered, “why I should take
+you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do not
+know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready to wait
+upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But in case it
+should interest you to be made aware of the fact,” he added, with a
+little bow, “I am not going round with this terrible document in my
+possession.”
+
+He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he saw
+the movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single bound,
+was upon his would-be assailant. The hand which had already closed upon
+the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though in a vice. With a
+scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon the floor. Laverick
+picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket and, taking the man’s
+collar with both hands, he shook him till the eyes seemed starting from
+his head and his shrieks of fear were changed into moans. Then he flung
+him into a corner of the room.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“You cowardly brute!” he exclaimed. “You come of the breed of men who
+shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, you’ll be
+lucky if you live to whimper about it.”
+
+He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any servants
+in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From Dover Street
+he drove straight to Zoe’s house. Keeping the cab waiting, he knocked
+at the door. She opened it herself at once, and her eyes glowed with
+pleasure.
+
+“How delightful!” she cried. “Please come in. Have you come to take me
+to the theatre?”
+
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+
+“Zoe,” he said, “I am going to ask you a favor.”
+
+“Me a favor?” she repeated. “I think you know how happy it will make me
+if there is anything—anything at all in the world that I could do.”
+
+“A week ago,” Laverick continued, “I was an honest but not very
+successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
+never came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled in
+upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever became
+entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself. The net
+result, for the moment, is this. Every one is trying to steal from me a
+certain document which I have in my pocket. I want to hide it for the
+night. I cannot go to the police, it is too late to go back to Chancery
+Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling that my flat is absolutely at
+the mercy of my enemies. May I hide my document in your room? I do not
+believe for a moment that any one would think of searching here.”
+
+“Of course you may,” she answered. “But listen. Can you see out into
+the street without moving very much?”
+
+He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the window,
+and Zoe had been facing it.
+
+“Yes, I can see into the street,” he assented.
+
+“Tell me—you see that taxi on the other side of the way?” she asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+“It wasn’t there when I drove up,” he remarked.
+
+“I was at the window, looking out, when you came,” she said. “It
+followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It seemed
+to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you all the
+time.”
+
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+
+“Who lives in the house opposite?” he asked.
+
+“I am afraid,” she answered, “that there are no very nice people who
+live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of that house
+are not nice people at all.”
+
+“I understand,” he said. “Thank you, Zoe. You are right. Whatever I do
+with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell you the
+truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid my last
+call this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come back with
+me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the theatre.”
+
+She clapped her hands.
+
+“I shall love it,” she declared. “But what shall you do with the
+document?”
+
+“I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel,” he said, “and give it to the
+cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best thing I can
+think of. Can you suggest anything?”
+
+She considered for a moment.
+
+“Do you know what is inside?” she asked.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+“I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, so
+far as I am concerned.”
+
+“Why not open it and read it?” she suggested; “then you will know
+exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear it
+up.”
+
+“I must think that over,” he said. “One second before we go out.”
+
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It was a
+perfect little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in his pocket,
+keeping his finger upon the trigger.
+
+“Now, Zoe, if you are ready,” he said, “come along.”
+
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
+ordered:
+
+“To the Milan Hotel.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX LASSEN’S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+
+
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his clothes
+thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly from a sixty
+horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number 15, Dover
+Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted almost
+immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+
+“Mademoiselle is in?” Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+The man’s expression was one of sombre regret.
+
+“Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy took him
+by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+
+“Thank you,” he said, “I’ve heard that before.”
+
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise’s
+sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and listened
+at the key-hole. There was some movement inside but no one spoke.
+
+“Louise,” he cried softly, “let me in. It is I—David.”
+
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds. Almost it seemed as
+though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth. Then
+Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention. There were voices in
+the small reception room,—the voice of Henri, the butler, and another.
+Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and walked swiftly down
+the passage. He entered the reception room and looked around him in
+amazement. It was still in disorder. Lassen sat in an easy-chair with a
+tumbler of brandy by his side. Henri was tying a bandage around his
+head, his collar was torn, there were marks of blood about his shirt.
+Bellamy’s eyes sparkled. He closed the door behind him.
+
+“Come,” he exclaimed, “after all, I fancy that my arrival is somewhat
+opportune!”
+
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+
+“Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur,” he said. “He has had a fit
+and fallen down.”
+
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+
+“I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that,” he
+declared. “What do you say, Mr. Lassen?”
+
+The man glared at him viciously.
+
+“I do not know what you are talking about,” he said. “I do not wish to
+speak to you. I am ill. You had better go and persuade Mademoiselle to
+return. She is at Dover, waiting.”
+
+“You are a liar!” Bellamy answered. “She is in her room now, locked
+up—guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures. I have been half-way to
+Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen. You found our
+friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy.”
+
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+
+“From your somewhat dishevelled appearance,” Bellamy continued, “I
+think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle’s visitor. He declined to accept you as
+her proxy, I imagine. Still, one must make sure.”
+
+He advanced quickly. Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+
+“What do you mean?” he asked gruffly. “Keep him away from me, Henri.
+Ring the bell for your other man. This fellow will do me a mischief.”
+
+“Not I,” Bellamy answered scornfully. “Stay where you are, Henri. To
+your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting. Take off his coat.”
+
+“But, Monsieur!” Henri protested.
+
+“I’m d—d if he shall!” the man in the chair snarled.
+
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “I do not for one moment believe that Laverick
+handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain. On the
+other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is the
+result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing him
+to do so. Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks. The coat first,
+please, Henri. It is necessary that I search it thoroughly.”
+
+There was a brief hesitation. Bellamy’s hand went reluctantly into his
+pocket.
+
+“I hate to seem melodramatic,” he declared, “and I never carry
+firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have learned
+how to use pretty effectively. Come, you know, it isn’t a fair fight.
+You’ve had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn’t the muscle of a
+chicken.”
+
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be removed.
+Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter for a moment in
+his hands as he glanced at the address.
+
+“The writing of our friend Streuss,” he remarked, with a smile. “No,
+you need not fear, Lassen! I am not going to read it. There is plenty
+of proof of your treachery without this.”
+
+Lassen’s face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads. Bellamy handed
+back the coat.
+
+“That’s all right,” he said. “Nothing there, I am glad to see—or in the
+waistcoat,” he added, passing his hands over it. “I’ll trouble you to
+stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen.”
+
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over. When he had
+finished, he held in his hand a key.
+
+“The key of Mademoiselle’s chamber, I have no doubt,” he announced, “I
+will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been up to.”
+
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and
+deliberately cut the telephone wire. With the instrument under his arm,
+he left the room. Lassen blundered to his feet as though to intercept
+him, but Bellamy’s eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and the
+life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head. Lassen
+staggered away.
+
+“I’m a long-suffering man,” Bellamy said, “and if you don’t remember
+now that you’re the beaten dog, I may lose my temper.”
+
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise’s bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little. With a
+smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the gag
+from her mouth. Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was lying upon
+the bed, as though asleep. Bellamy saw with an impulse of relief that
+she was breathing regularly.
+
+“This is Lassen’s work, of course!” he exclaimed. “What have they done
+to her?”
+
+The maid spoke thickly. She was very pale, and unsteady upon her feet.
+
+“It was something they put in her wine,” she faltered. “I heard Mr.
+Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours. I
+think—I think that she is waking now.”
+
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement. Bellamy sat
+by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+
+“It is only a skirmish, dear,” he whispered, “and it is a drawn battle,
+although you got the worst of it.”
+
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+
+“Mr. Laverick has been here?” she asked.
+
+“He has. Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game. I came
+here to find you like this and Annette tied up. Henri is in with him.
+What has become of your other servants I don’t know.”
+
+“Henri asked for a holiday for them,” she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks. “I begin to understand. But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?”
+
+“I can only guess,” Bellamy answered, “but it seems that Lassen must
+have received him as though with your authority.”
+
+“And what then?” she asked quickly.
+
+“I am almost certain,” Bellamy declared, “that Laverick refused to have
+anything to do with him. I received a wire from Dover to say that you
+were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the Lord Warden
+Hotel. I borrowed Montresor’s racing-car, but I sent telegrams, and I
+was pretty soon on my way back. When I arrived here, I found Lassen in
+your little room with a broken head. Evidently Laverick and he had a
+scrimmage and he got the worst of it. I have searched him to his bones
+and he has no paper. Laverick brought it here, without a doubt, and has
+taken it away again.”
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+“Go and let Lassen out,” she said. “Tell him he must never come here
+again. I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night—that is, if I can get there. I do not know whether I shall feel
+fit to sing.”
+
+“I shall take the liberty, also,” remarked Bellamy, “of kicking Henri
+out.”
+
+Louise sighed.
+
+“He was such a good servant. I think it must have cost our friend
+Streuss a good deal to buy Henri. You will come back to me when you
+have finished with them?”
+
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners. Lassen was surly
+but only eager to depart; Henri was resigned but tearful. Almost as they
+went the other servants began to return from their various missions.
+Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down again and drinking some
+tea. She motioned Bellamy to come over to her side.
+
+“Tell me,” she asked, “what are you going to do now?”
+
+“I am going to do what I ought to have done before,” Bellamy answered.
+“Laverick’s connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but after
+all he is a sportsman and an Englishman. I am going to tell him what
+that envelope contains—tell him the truth.”
+
+“You are right!” she exclaimed. “Whatever he may have done, if you tell
+him the truth he will give you that document. I am sure of it. Do you
+know where to find him?”
+
+“I shall go to his rooms,” Bellamy declared. “I must be quick, too, for
+Lassen is free—they will know that he has failed.”
+
+“Come back to me, David,” she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+
+
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking
+around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did not
+wholly understand.
+
+“Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe,” he said
+anxiously. “Tell me what it is. You don’t like this place, perhaps?”
+
+“Of course I do.”
+
+“It is your dinner, then, or me?” he persisted. “Come, out with it.
+Haven’t we promised to tell each other the truth always?”
+
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a
+moment to his, were almost reproachful.
+
+“You know very well that it is not anything to do with you,” she
+whispered. “You are too kind to me all the time. Only,” she went on, a
+little hesitatingly, “don’t you realize—can’t you see how differently
+most of the girls here are dressed? I don’t mind so much for myself—but
+you—you have so many friends. You keep on seeing people whom you know.
+I am afraid they will think that I ought not to be here.”
+
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction. For
+the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her clothes.
+Everything about her was so neat—pathetically neat, as it seemed to him
+in one illuminating moment of realization. The white linen collar,
+notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly clean. The black bow
+was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts. Her gloves had been
+stitched a good many times. Her gown, although it was tidy, was
+old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days. He suddenly
+recognized the effort—the almost despairing effort—which her toilette
+had cost her.
+
+“I don’t think that men notice these things,” he said simply. “To me
+you look just as you should look—and I wouldn’t change places with any
+other man in the room for a great deal.”
+
+Her eyes were soft—perilously soft—as she looked at him with uplifted
+eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her lips. A
+wave of tenderness crept into his heart. What a brave little child she
+was!
+
+“You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches,” she murmured.
+
+“Anyhow,” he went on, speaking with decision, “so long as you feel like
+that, you are going to have a new gown—or two—and a new hat, and you
+are going to have them at once. They are going to be bought with your
+brother’s money, mind. Shall I come shopping with you?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in,” she said. “It would
+be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much money. You
+really mean it all?”
+
+“Absolutely,” he answered. “I insist upon it.”
+
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes. After all, she was very much
+of a child. The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted herself
+to think of it, was enthralling.
+
+“I might get a coat and skirt,” she remarked thoughtfully, “and a
+simple white dress. A black hat would do for both of them, then.”
+
+“Don’t you study your brother too much,” Laverick declared. “His stock
+is going up all the time.”
+
+“Tell me your favorite color,” she begged confidentially.
+
+“I can’t conceive your looking nicer than you do in black,” he replied.
+
+She made a wry face.
+
+“I suppose it must be black,” she murmured doubtfully. “It is much more
+economical than anything—”
+
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude stare,
+had greeted her with a patronizing nod. Laverick frowned.
+
+“Who is that fellow?” he asked.
+
+“Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager,” Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+
+“Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?”
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+
+She caught at his arm in terror. The man was sitting at the next table.
+
+“Don’t, please!” she implored. “He might hear you. He is just behind
+there.”
+
+Laverick half turned in his chair. She guessed what he was about to
+say, and went on rapidly.
+
+“He has been so foolish,” she whispered. “He has asked me so often to
+go out with him. And he could get me sent away, if he wanted, any time.
+He almost threatened it, the last time I refused. Now that he has seen
+me with you, he will be worse than ever.”
+
+Laverick’s face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes.
+The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+
+“There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go
+with him,” Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone. “I can’t think why
+he bothers me.”
+
+“I can,” Laverick muttered. “Let’s forget about the brute.”
+
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the bill a
+few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the theatre
+with her. Her little hand, when she gave it to him at parting, was
+quite cold.
+
+“I’m as nervous as I can be,” she confessed. “Mr. Heepman will be
+watching all the night for something to find fault with me about.”
+
+“Don’t you let him bully you,” Laverick begged.
+
+“I won’t,” she promised. “Good-bye! Thanks so much for my dinner.”
+
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an
+attempt. Laverick walked on to his club. There was no one in the
+dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty. He played one
+game of billiards, but he played badly. He was upset. His nerves were
+wrong he told himself, and little wonder. There seemed to be no chance
+of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and walked aimlessly
+towards Covent Garden. Outside the Opera House he hesitated and finally
+entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of which he scarcely
+recognized. While he was inquiring about a stall, a small printed
+notice was thrust into his hand. He read it with a slight start.
+
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle Idiale
+will not be able to appear this evening. The part of Delilah will be
+taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal Opera House,
+St. Petersburg.
+
+
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street.
+A strange man-servant answered him.
+
+“I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale,” Laverick said.
+
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards.
+Laverick, however, retained his.
+
+“I should be glad if you would take mine in to her,” he said. “I think
+it is just likely that she may see me for a moment.”
+
+The servant’s attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility. He
+would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over the
+threshold.
+
+“Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir,” the man declared.
+“She shall have your card as soon as possible.”
+
+“I should like her to have it now,” Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+
+“It would be only waste of time, sir,” he declared. “Mademoiselle is
+confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute.”
+
+“You are not the man who was here earlier in the day,” Laverick
+remarked. “I wonder,” he continued, with a sudden inspiration, “whether
+you are not Mr. Bellamy’s servant?”
+
+“That is so, sir. Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one has
+access to Mademoiselle Idiale.”
+
+“Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card,” Laverick
+declared convincingly. “You can put that note in your pocket. I am
+perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and that your
+master would wish her to do so.”
+
+“I will take the risk, sir,” the man decided, “but the orders I have
+received were stringent.”
+
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments. When he came back he
+was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously a
+maid.
+
+“Monsieur Laverick,” she said, “Mademoiselle Idiale will receive you.
+If you will come this way?”
+
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick followed
+her. The man returned to his place in the hall.
+
+“Madame will be here in a moment,” the maid said. “She will be glad to
+see you, but she has been very badly frightened.”
+
+Laverick bowed sympathetically. The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+
+“It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a great
+deal of trouble here,” she said. “Madame never trusted him and now we
+have discovered that he is a spy.”
+
+The woman seemed to fade away. The door of the inner room was opened
+and Louise came out. She was still exceedingly pale, and there were
+dark rims under her eyes. She came across the room with outstretched
+hands. There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure.
+
+“You have seen Mr. Bellamy?” she asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day. I came to call upon you
+this afternoon.”
+
+She wrung her hands.
+
+“You understand, of course!” she exclaimed. “I did not trust Lassen,
+but I never imagined anything like this. He is an Austrian. Only a few
+hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily paid spies.
+Streuss got hold of him. But there, I forgot—you do not understand
+this. It is enough that he laid a plot to get that document from you.
+Where is it, Mr. Laverick? You have brought it now?”
+
+“Why, no,” Laverick answered, “I have not.”
+
+Her eyes were round with terror. She held out her hands as though to
+keep away some tormenting thought.
+
+“Where is it?” she cried. “You have not parted with it?
+
+“I have not,” Laverick replied gravely. “It is in the safe deposit of a
+hotel to which I have moved.”
+
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+
+“You are not well,” Laverick said. “Let me help you to a chair.”
+
+She sat down wearily.
+
+“Why have you moved to a hotel?” she asked.
+
+“To tell you the truth,” Laverick answered, “I seem to have wandered
+into a sort of modern Arabian Nights. Three times to-day attempts have
+been made to get that document from me by force. I have been followed
+whereever I went. I felt that it was not safe in my chambers, so I
+moved to a hotel and deposited it in their strong-room. I have come to
+the conclusion that the best thing I can do is to open it to-morrow
+morning, and decide for myself as to its destination.”
+
+Louise sat quite still for several moments. Then she opened her eyes.
+
+“What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick,” she declared.
+“I perceive now that we have made a mistake. We should have told you
+the whole truth from the first. This afternoon when Mr. Bellamy left
+me, it was to come to you and tell you everything.”
+
+Laverick listened gravely.
+
+“Really,” he said, “it seems to me the wisest course. I haven’t the
+least desire to keep the document. I cannot think why Bellamy did not
+treat me with confidence from the first—”
+
+He stopped short. Suddenly he understood. Something in Louise’s face
+gave him the hint.
+
+“Of course!” he murmured to himself.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” Louise said quietly, “in this matter I am no man’s
+judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only. There may be some explanation.
+If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think best. Mr. Bellamy
+and I are allies in this matter. It is not our business to interfere
+with the course of justice. You will run no risk in parting with that
+paper.
+
+“Where can I see Bellamy?” Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up his
+hat.
+
+“He would go straight to your rooms,” she answered. “Did you leave word
+there where you had gone?”
+
+“Purposely I did not,” Laverick replied. “I had better try and find
+him, perhaps.”
+
+“It is not necessary,” she announced. “No wonder that you feel yourself
+to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick. There are two
+sets of spies who follow you everywhere—two sets that I know of. There
+may be another.”
+
+“You think that Bellamy will find me?” he asked.
+
+“I am sure of it.”
+
+“Then I’ll go back to the hotel and wait.”
+
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” she said, looking at him earnestly, “somehow or other I
+cannot help believing that you are an honest man.”
+
+Laverick sighed. He opened his lips but closed them again.
+
+“You are very kind, Mademoiselle,” he declared simply.
+
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel, noticed
+a man leaning over the cashier’s desk talking confidentially to the
+clerk in charge. The latter recognized Laverick with obvious relief,
+and at once directed his questioner’s attention to him. Kahn turned
+swiftly around and without a moment’s hesitation came smiling towards
+Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him. He was correctly
+garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being a man of
+breeding. He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed, but, as
+though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to address him.
+The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a little exclamation
+of surprise and sprang over the counter. He approached Laverick
+hastily.
+
+“Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?” he asked.
+
+“I never saw him before in my life,” Laverick answered. “Why?”
+
+“Is this your handwriting, sir?” the man inquired, touching with his
+forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been carrying.
+
+Laverick read quickly,—
+
+To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,—Deliver to bearer document deposited
+with you.
+
+
+STEPHEN LAVERICK.
+
+
+“It is not,” he declared promptly. “It is an impudent forgery. Good
+God! You don’t mean to say that you parted with my property to—”
+
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+
+“I haven’t parted with anything, sir,” he said. “I was just wondering
+what to do when you came in. I’d no reason to believe that the
+signature was a forgery, but I didn’t like the look of it, somehow.
+We’d better be after him. Come along, sir.”
+
+They hurried outside. The man was nowhere in sight. The cashier
+summoned the head porter.
+
+“A gentleman has just come out,” he exclaimed,—“tall and fair, very
+carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass! Which way did he go?”
+
+“He’s just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir,” the porter answered.
+“I noticed him particularly. He spoke to the chauffeur in Austrian.”
+
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+
+“Can’t we stop him?” he asked rapidly.
+
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+
+“Not the ghost of a chance, sir. He shot round the corner there as
+though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the
+island. I heard the police calling to him. I hope there’s nothing
+wrong, Mr. Dean?”
+
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+
+“Nothing much,” Laverick answered. “We should have liked to have asked
+him a question—that is all.”
+
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+
+“How are you, Laverick?” he said quietly. “Nothing the matter, I hope?”
+
+“Nothing worth mentioning,” Laverick replied.
+
+The cashier returned to his duties. The two men were alone. Bellamy,
+most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under his arm, and
+his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed very far removed
+from the work of intrigue into which Laverick felt himself to have
+blundered. He looked down for a moment at the tips of his patent shoes
+and up again at the sky, as though anxious about the weather.
+
+“What about a drink, Laverick?” he asked nonchalantly.
+
+“Delighted!” Laverick assented.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI MISS LENEVEU’S MESSAGE
+
+
+The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned to
+his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to have
+passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied
+indifference of his companion’s manner had its significance, and he
+endeavored to imitate it.
+
+“Shall we go through into the bar?” he asked. “There’s very seldom any
+one there at this time.”
+
+“Anywhere you say,” Bellamy answered. “It’s years since we had a drink
+together.”
+
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two chairs
+into the further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+
+“Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim,” he ordered. “Now, Laverick, listen
+to me,” he added, as the waiter turned away. “We are alone for the
+moment but it won’t be for long. You know very well that it wasn’t to
+renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I’ve asked you to come in here
+with me.”
+
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+
+“Please go on,” he said. “I am as anxious as you can be to grasp this
+affair properly.”
+
+“When we left school,” Bellamy remarked, “you were destined for the
+Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear what became
+of me afterwards?”
+
+“I always understood,” Laverick answered, “that you went into one of
+the Government offices.”
+
+“Quite right,” Bellamy assented. “I did. At this moment I have the
+honor to serve His Majesty.”
+
+“Two thousand a year and two hours work a day,” Laverick laughed. “I
+know the sort of thing.”
+
+“You evidently don’t,” Bellamy answered. “I often work twenty hours a
+day, I don’t get half two thousand a year, and most of the time I carry
+my life in my hands. When I am working—and I am working now—I am never
+sure of the morrow.”
+
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+
+“You’re not joking, Bellamy?” he asked.
+
+“Not by any manner of means. I have the honor to be a humble member of
+His Majesty’s Secret Service.”
+
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+
+“I really didn’t know,” he said, “that such a service had any actual
+existence except in novels.”
+
+“I am a proof to the contrary,” Bellamy declared grimly. “Abroad, I run
+always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one. At home, I
+am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service. Here come
+our drinks.”
+
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+
+“Here’s luck!” he exclaimed. “Now go on, Bellamy,” he continued. “The
+waiter can’t overhear.”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“Tim is one of the few persons in the place,” he said, “whom one can
+trust. As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once. Now listen to me attentively, Laverick. I am going to speak to
+you as one man to another.”
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+“I am ready,” he said.
+
+“Last Monday,” Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a soft
+but very distinct undertone, “a man was murdered late at night in the
+heart of the city—within one hundred yards of the Stock Exchange. The
+papers called it a mysterious murder. No one knows who the man was, or
+who committed the crime, or why. You and I, Laverick, both know a
+little more than the rest of the world.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“The murder,” Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes, “was
+accomplished only a stone’s throw from your office.”
+
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+
+“Horrible affair it was,” he remarked.
+
+Bellamy glanced toward the door,—a man had looked in and departed.
+
+“Enough of this fencing, Laverick,” he said. “A theft was committed
+from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public knows
+nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty thousand
+pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man, I want you to
+understand that that is not my affair. As to what has become of that
+twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest curiosity. I want the
+document.”
+
+“What claim have you to it?” Laverick asked quickly.
+
+“I might retort, but I will not,” Bellamy replied. “Time is too short.
+I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what that document
+consists of. The man’s name was Von Behrling, and he was a trusted
+agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document of which he was
+robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference which recently took
+place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany, the Emperor of Austria,
+and the Czar of Russia. It contains the details of a plot against this
+country and the undertakings entered into by those several Powers. I
+want that document, Laverick. Have I established my claim?”
+
+“You have,” Laverick answered. “Why on earth Didn’t you come to me
+before? Don’t you believe that I should have listened to you as readily
+as to Mademoiselle Idiale?”
+
+“I wish that I had come,” Bellamy admitted, “and yet, here is the
+truth, Laverick, because the truth is best. Twenty-two years lie
+between us and the time when we knew anything of one another. To me,
+therefore, you are a stranger. I had my spies following Von Behrling
+that night. I know that you took the pocket-book from his dead body. If
+you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done by an accomplice of
+yours. How was I to trust you? We are speaking naked words, my friend.
+We are dealing with naked truths. To me you were a murderer and a
+thief. A word from me and you would have realized the value of that
+document. I tell you frankly that Austria would give you almost any sum
+for it to-day.”
+
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden weakness.
+He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away—wet. He struggled
+desperately for self-control.
+
+“Bellamy,” he said, “here’s truth for truth. I am not on my trial
+before you. Believe me, man, for God’s sake!”
+
+“I’ll try,” Bellamy promised. “Go on.”
+
+“That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me on
+the morrow. I left it meaning to go straight home. I lit a cigarette
+near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was throwing it
+away, I saw the murdered man. I think for a time I was paralyzed. The
+pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket. Why I looked inside
+it I don’t know. I had some sort of wild idea that I must find out who
+he was. Mind you, though, I should have given the alarm at once, but
+there wasn’t a soul in the street. There was a man lurking in the entry
+and I chased him, unsuccessfully. When I came back, the body was still
+there and the street empty. I looked inside that pocket-book, which
+would have been in the possession of his murderer but for my unexpected
+appearance. I saw the notes there. Once more I went out into the
+street. I gave no alarm,—I am not attempting to explain why. I was like
+a man made suddenly mad. I went back to my office and shut myself in.”
+
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward and
+refilled them.
+
+“Bellamy,” Laverick continued, “your career and mine lie far apart, and
+yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every man’s
+life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition. My
+grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored and
+well thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too, was
+there. Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become known and
+respected. Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken life and a
+broken honor. I sat in my office and I knew that the use of those notes
+for a few days might save me from disgrace, might keep the name, which
+my father and grandfather had guarded so jealously, free from shame. I
+would have paid any price for the use of them. I would have paid with
+my life, if that had been possible. Think of the risk I ran—the danger
+I am now in. I deposited those notes on the morrow as security at my
+bank, and I met all my engagements. The crisis is over! Those notes are
+in a safe deposit vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that I
+could find the owner!”
+
+“And the document?” Bellamy asked. “The document?”
+
+“It is in the hotel safe,” Laverick answered.
+
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler and lit
+a cigarette.
+
+“Laverick,” he declared, “I believe you.”
+
+“Thank God!” Laverick muttered.
+
+“I am no crime investigator,” Bellamy went on thoughtfully. “As to who
+killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest idea. That
+twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service money, paid by me
+to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was murdered, in a small
+restaurant there, for what I supposed to be the document. He deceived
+me by making up a false packet. The real one he kept. He deserved to
+die, and I am glad he is dead.”
+
+Laverick’s face was suddenly hopeful.
+
+“Then you can take these notes!” he exclaimed.
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“In a few days,” he said, “I shall take you with me to a friend of
+mine—a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly as you’ve
+told it to me, and restore the money.”
+
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+
+“Don’t think I’m mad,” he apologized, “but I am not a person like you,
+Bellamy,—used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings. I’m a
+steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has been like a
+hateful nightmare to me. I can’t believe that I’m going to get rid of
+it.”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“It’s a great adventure,” he declared, “to come to any one like you. To
+tell you the truth, I can’t imagine how you had the pluck—don’t
+misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck—to run such a risk. Why, at
+the moment you used those notes,” Bellamy continued, “the odds must
+have been about twenty to one against your not being found out.”
+
+“One doesn’t stop to count the odds,” Laverick said grimly. “I saw a
+chance of salvation and I went for it. And now about this letter.”
+
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+
+“On the King’s service!” he whispered softly.
+
+They walked once more to the cashier’s desk. A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+
+“I should like the packet I deposited here this evening,” he said. “I
+am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly.”
+
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock. “I am afraid,
+sir,” he answered, “that we cannot get at it before the morning.”
+
+“Why not?” Laverick demanded, frowning.
+
+“Mr. Dean has just gone home,” the man declared, “and he is the only
+one who knows the combination on the ‘L’ safe. You see, sir,” he
+continued, “we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did not
+expect that anything would be required from it to-night.”
+
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+
+“After all,” he said, “perhaps to-morrow morning would be better.
+There’s no need to get shirty with these fellows. As a matter of fact,
+I don’t think that I should have dared to receive it without making
+some special preparations. I can get some plain clothes men here upon
+whom I can rely, at nine o’clock.”
+
+They strolled back into the hall.
+
+“Tell me,” Laverick asked, “do you know who the man was who forged my
+name to the order a few hours ago?”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy. I have been watching him for days.
+If they’d given him the paper I had four men at the door, but it would
+have been touch and go. He is a very prince of conspirators, that
+fellow. To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home.”
+
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note
+to Laverick.
+
+“A messenger has just left this for you, sir,” he explained.
+
+Laverick tore open the envelope. The contents consisted of a few words
+only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which was
+strange to him.
+
+“Ring up 1232 Gerrard.”
+
+
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked once
+more at the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion.
+
+“What do you make of that, Bellamy?” he asked.
+
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+
+“What could any one make of it?” he remarked, laconically. “Do you know
+the handwriting?”
+
+“Never saw it before, to my knowledge,” Laverick answered. “What should
+you do about it?”
+
+“I think,” Bellamy suggested, “that I should ring up number 1232
+Gerrard.”
+
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+
+“1232 Gerrard,” he said.
+
+The connection was made almost at once.
+
+“Who are you?” Laverick asked.
+
+“I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneveu,” was the reply. “Are you Mr.
+Laverick?”
+
+“I am,” Laverick answered. “Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she speak to me
+herself?”
+
+“She is not here,” the voice continued. “She was fetched away in a
+hurry from the theatre—we understood by her brother. She left two and
+sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain that she
+had been summoned to her brother’s rooms, 25, Jermyn Street, and would
+you kindly go on there.”
+
+“Who are you?” Laverick demanded.
+
+There was no reply. Laverick remained speechless, listening intently.
+He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear. Was it his fancy,
+or was that really Zoe’s protesting voice which he heard in the
+background? It was a woman or a child who was speaking—he was almost
+sure that it was Zoe.
+
+“Who are you?” he asked fiercely. “Miss Leneveu is there with you. Why
+does she not speak for herself?”
+
+“Miss Leneveu is not here,” was the answer. “I have done what she
+desired. You can please yourself whether you go or not. The address is
+25, Jermyn Street. Ring off.”
+
+The connection was gone. Laverick laid down the receiver and stepped
+out of the booth.
+
+“I must be off at once,” he said to Bellamy. “You’ll be round in the
+morning?”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“After all,” he remarked, “I have changed my plans. I shall not leave
+the hotel. I am going to telephone round to my man to bring me some
+clothes. By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this message which
+you have just received had anything to do with the little affair in
+which we are interested?”
+
+“Not directly,” Laverick answered, after a moment’s hesitation. “The
+message was from a young lady. I have to go and meet her.”
+
+“A young lady whom you can trust?” Bellamy inquired quietly.
+
+“Implicitly,” Laverick assured him.
+
+“She spoke herself?”
+
+“No, she sent a message. Excuse me, Bellamy, won’t you, but I must
+really go.”
+
+“By all means,” Bellamy answered.
+
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab was
+summoned. Laverick stepped quickly in.
+
+“25, Jermyn Street,” he ordered.
+
+Bellamy watched him drive off. Then he sighed.
+
+“I think, my friend Laverick,” he said softly, “that you will need some
+one to look after you to-night.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+
+
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison’s
+room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen—flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. There
+was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan Hotel as
+Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind him. There was
+Streuss—stern, and desperate with anxiety. There was Morrison himself,
+in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow, with the furtive gleam
+of terrified guilt shining in his sunken eyes, and the slouched
+shoulders and broken mien of the habitual criminal. There was Zoe,
+around whom they were all standing, with anger burning in her cheeks
+and gleaming out of her passion-filled eyes. She, too, like the others,
+watched the door. So they waited.
+
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing aside
+the curtains looked down into the street.
+
+“Will he come—this Englishman?” he muttered. “Has he courage?”
+
+“More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!” Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly. “More courage than my poor brother,
+who stands there like a coward!”
+
+“Shut up, Zoe!” Morrison exclaimed harshly. “There is nothing for you
+to be furious about or frightened. No one wants to ill-treat you. These
+gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us. It is Laverick they want.”
+
+“And you,” she cried, “are content to stand by and let him walk into a
+trap—you let them even use my name to bring him here! Arthur, be a man!
+Have nothing more to do with them. Help me to get away from this place.
+Call out. Do something instead of standing there and wasting the
+precious minutes.”
+
+He came towards her—ugly and threatening.
+
+“I’ll do something in a minute,” he declared savagely,—“something you
+won’t like, either. Keep your mouth shut, I tell you. It’s me or him,
+and, by Heavens, he deserves what he’ll get!”
+
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+
+“Young lady,” he said quietly, “let me beg you not to distress yourself
+so. I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen. If it does,
+I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary absence. You
+shall not be disturbed in any way.”
+
+“And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady,” Lassen growled.
+“If any one’s in danger, it’s he. He’ll be lucky if he saves his own
+skin.”
+
+The young man glowered at her.
+
+“You hear that, you little fool!” he muttered. “Keep still, can’t you?”
+
+Her face was full of defiance. He came nearer to her and changed his
+tone.
+
+“Zoe,” he whispered hoarsely, “don’t you understand? If they can’t get
+what they want from Laverick, they’ll visit it upon me. They’re
+desperate, I tell you. They mean mischief all the time.”
+
+“Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you
+when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!” she cried
+indignantly.
+
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+
+“When it comes to a matter of life or death, it’s every man for
+himself. Besides, if I’d known as much about Laverick as I know now,
+I’m not sure that I should have been so ready to go—not empty-handed,
+by any manner of means.”
+
+“What have you done that you should be so much in the power of these
+people?” she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him searchingly.
+
+The terror whitened his face once more. The perspiration stood out in
+beads upon his forehead.
+
+“Don’t dare to ask me questions!” he exclaimed nervously. “I should
+like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him? Listen here, my fine young lady. If I’ve been mug
+enough to do the dirty work, he hasn’t made any bones about taking
+advantage of it. He’s a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you.”
+
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across the
+room to them all.
+
+“He is here,” he announced.
+
+“Alone?” Lassen asked thickly.
+
+“Alone,” Streuss echoed.
+
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room. Zoe made no attempt to
+cry out. Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though
+listening. Her attitude seemed harmless enough. No one took any more
+notice of her. They all watched the entrance to the apartment. Zoe
+remembered the two flights of stairs. She was absorbed in a breathless
+calculation. Now—now he should be coming quite close. Her whole being
+was concentrated upon one effort of listening. At last she raised her
+head. The room resounded with her cries.
+
+“Don’t come in! Don’t come in here!” she shrieked. “Mr. Laverick, do
+you hear? Go away! Don’t come in here alone!”
+
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth
+brutally. Her little effort was naturally a failure—defeating, in fact,
+its own object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply hastened his
+coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock, and stepped
+quickly across the threshold. He saw a man dressed in shabby workman’s
+clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a rough grasp, and with
+a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling across the room. Then
+something in the man’s cry, a momentary glimpse of his white face,
+revealed his identity.
+
+“Morrison!” he cried. “Good God, it’s Morrison!”
+
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face
+turned upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his
+surroundings. There was the tall, fair young man—Adolf Kahn—whom he had
+seen at the Milan a few hours ago—the man who had unsuccessfully forged
+his name. There was Lassen, the man who, under pretence of being her
+manager, had been a spy upon Louise. There was Streuss, with blanched
+face and hard features, standing with his back to the door. There was
+Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out her hands timidly towards
+him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+
+“I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick,” she cried softly. “I
+tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message.”
+
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+
+“I know it, dear,” he murmured.
+
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard.
+Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough written
+in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him his left
+shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor. He was angry at
+having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
+
+“Well, gentlemen,” he exclaimed, “you seem to have taken unusual pains
+to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for you?”
+
+It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with the
+consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice had many
+agreeable qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” he answered, “let us first apologize if we used a
+little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit. We are
+men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either wilfully
+or accidentally strayed. An understanding between us has become a
+necessity.”
+
+“Go on,” Laverick interrupted. “Tell me exactly who you are and what
+you want.”
+
+“As to who we are,” Streuss answered, “does that really matter? I
+repeat that we are men who are in earnest—let that be enough. As to
+what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every claim,
+and which has come into your possession—I flatter you somewhat, Mr.
+Laverick, if I say by chance.”
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Let that go,” he said. “I know all about the document you refer to,
+and the notes. They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession. Prove your claim to both
+and you shall have them.”
+
+Streuss smiled.
+
+“You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence,” he
+asked suavely, “is equal to yours?”
+
+“Certainly,” Laverick answered, “but then I never had any idea of
+keeping either the document or the money. That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title
+is better still.”
+
+Streuss frowned.
+
+“Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick,” he begged. “We are men of peace—when
+peace is possible. The money of which you spoke you can consider as
+treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention to possess
+ourselves of the document. It is for that reason that we are here in
+London. I, personally, am committed to the extent of my life and my
+honor to its recovery.”
+
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive. Laverick looked
+around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“You know very well that I do not carry it about with me,” he said.
+“The gentleman on my left,” he added, pointing to Kahn, “can tell you
+where it is kept.”
+
+“Quite so,” Streuss admitted. “We are not doing you the injustice to
+suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself anywhere
+with that document upon your person. It is in the safe at the Milan
+Hotel. I may add that probably, if it had not occurred to you to change
+your quarters, it would have been in our possession before now. We are
+hoping to persuade you to return to the hotel with one of our friends
+here, and procure it.”
+
+“As it happens,” Laverick remarked, “that is impossible. The man who
+set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty, and
+will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning.”
+
+“But he is to be found,” Streuss answered easily. “His present
+whereabouts and his address are known to us. He lives with his family
+at Harvard Court, Hampstead. We shall assist you in making it worth his
+while to return to the hotel or to give you the combination word for
+the safe.”
+
+“You are rather great on detail!” Laverick exclaimed.
+
+“It is our business. The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in our
+hands.”
+
+“You are ready to accept my word, then?” Laverick asked.
+
+“We have a certain hold upon you,” Streuss continued slowly. “Your
+partner Mr. Morrison’s position in connection with the murder in
+Crooked Friars’ Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one. Your own I will not allude to. I will simply suggest
+that for both your sakes publicity—any measure of publicity, in fact,
+as regards this little affair—would not be desirable.”
+
+Laverick hesitated. He understood all that was implied. Morrison’s eyes
+were fixed upon him—the eyes of a craven coward. He felt the intensity
+of the moment. Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+
+“You are not to give it up!” she cried, with trembling lips. “They
+cannot hurt you, and it is not true—about Arthur.”
+
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick
+knocked him down. Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was
+changed. Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from
+different sides. Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a
+revolver.
+
+“Mr. Laverick,” he said, “we are not here to be trifled with. Keep your
+sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you’ll swing!”
+
+Laverick looked at the revolver—fascinated, for an instant, by its
+unexpected appearance. The face of the man who held it had changed.
+There was lightning playing about the room.
+
+“It’s the dock for you both!” Streuss exclaimed fiercely,—“for you,
+Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any longer! One
+of you’s a murderer and the other receives the booty. Who are you to
+have scruples—criminals, both of you? Your place is in the dock, and
+you shall be there within twenty-four hours if there are any more
+evasions. Now, Laverick, will you fetch that document? It is your last
+chance.”
+
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened—a
+voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite inquiry.
+Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little company. The
+curtain separating this from the inner room had been drawn a few feet
+back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black overcoat and white
+muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head, his left hand, carefully
+gloved, resting still upon the curtain which he had drawn aside.
+
+“I hope I am not disturbing you at all?” he murmured softly.
+
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain. The
+gleaming barrel of Streuss’s revolver changed its destination. Bellamy
+glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+
+“I really ought not to have intruded,” he continued amiably. “I
+happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with him
+before I left for the Continent.”
+
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan! His revolver had
+disappeared. The smile upon his lips was both gracious and
+unembarrassed.
+
+“One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy
+anywhere—anyhow,” he declared. “If apologies are needed at all,” he
+continued, “it is to our friend and host—Mr. Morrison here. Permit
+me—Mr. Arthur Morrison—the Honorable David Bellamy! These are Mr.
+Morrison’s rooms.”
+
+Morrison could do no more than stare. Bellamy, on the contrary, with a
+little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat from his
+head. Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between Bellamy and the
+heavy curtains. Adolf Kahn moved as though unconsciously in front of
+the door of the room in which they were.
+
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+
+“I am afraid,” he said, “that I must not stay for more than a moment. I
+have a car full of friends below—we are on our way, in fact, to the
+Covent Garden Ball—and one or two of them, I fear,” he added
+indulgently, “have already reached that stage of exhilaration which
+such an entertainment in England seems to demand. They will certainly
+come and rout me out if I am here much longer. There!” he exclaimed,
+“you hear that?”
+
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss,
+with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were two
+motor-cars waiting there—large cars with Limousine bodies, and
+apparently full of men. After all, it was to be expected. Bellamy was
+no fool!
+
+“Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick,” Streuss remarked with a
+gesture of farewell, “let us say good night. The little matter of
+business which we were discussing can be concluded with your partner.”
+
+Laverick turned toward Zoe. Their eyes met and he read their message of
+terror.
+
+“You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu,” he said. “You
+must let me offer you my escort.”
+
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison
+moved near to them.
+
+“If you leave me here, Laverick,” he muttered beneath his breath,—“if
+you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do? They will
+hand me over to the police—they have sworn it!”
+
+“Why did you come back?” Laverick asked quickly.
+
+“They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer,” Morrison declared. “I
+tell you they have eyes everywhere. You cannot move without their
+knowledge. I had to come. Now that I am here they have told me plainly
+the price of my freedom. It is that document. Laverick, it is my life!
+You must give in—you must, indeed! Remember you’re in it, too.”
+
+“Am I?” Laverick asked quietly.
+
+“You fool, of course you are!” Morrison whispered hoarsely. “Didn’t you
+come into the entry and take the pocket-book? Heaven knows what
+possessed you to do it! Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use the
+money! But you did it, and you are a criminal—a criminal as I am. Don’t
+be a fool, Laverick. Make terms with these people. They want the
+document—the document—nothing but the document! They will let us keep
+the money.”
+
+“And you?” Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe. “What do you say
+about all this?”
+
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+
+“I trust you,” she said. “I trust you to do what is right.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII LAVERICK’S ARREST
+
+
+“At last, David!”
+
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which
+Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the
+third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door—a short,
+somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped black
+hair, and upturned black moustache.
+
+“You remember Prince Rosmaran?” she said to Bellamy. “He left Servia
+only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a special
+mission to the King.”
+
+Bellamy shook hands.
+
+“I think,” he remarked, “I had the honor of meeting you once before,
+Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago. It was
+just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
+party.”
+
+The Prince bowed sadly.
+
+“My leadership, I fear,” he declared, “has brought little good to my
+unhappy country.”
+
+“It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,” Bellamy
+reminded him sympathetically. “At the same time, we must not despair.
+Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she has not dared to
+strike.”
+
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+
+“As yet, no!” he answered. “But how long—how long, I wonder—before the
+blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming ourselves, but I
+tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being secretly
+concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working night and day.
+Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight of Belgrade. We have
+hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know that our fate was sealed
+when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last week.”
+
+“Nothing is certain,” Bellamy declared restlessly. “England has been
+ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a negligible
+Power.”
+
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+
+“David,” she whispered, “the compact!”
+
+He answered her unspoken question.
+
+“It is arranged,” he said,—“finished. To-morrow morning at nine o’clock
+I receive it.”
+
+“You are sure?” she begged. “Why need there be any delay?”
+
+“It is locked up in a powerful safe,” he explained, “and the clerk who
+has the combination will not be on duty again till nine. Laverick is
+there simply waiting for the hour. You were right, Louise, as usual. I
+should have trusted him from the first.”
+
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
+interest.
+
+“There is a rumor,” he said, “that some secret information concerning
+the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country.”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince.”
+
+“We three have no secrets from one another,” the Prince declared. “Our
+interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you suggest,
+Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the Chancellor, in the
+first few moments of his illness, gave valuable information to some one
+who is likely to have communicated it to the Government here. To be
+forewarned is to be forearmed. That, I know, is one of your own
+mottoes. So I am here to know if there is anything to be learned.”
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?”
+
+“I reached Charing Cross at midnight,” the Prince answered. “Our train
+was an hour late. I am presenting my credentials early this morning,
+and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon.”
+
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+
+“It is true!” he said. “Between us three there is indeed no need for
+secrecy. The information you speak of will be in our hands within a few
+hours. I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister will share in
+it.”
+
+“You know of what it consists?” the Prince inquired curiously.
+
+“I think so,” Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock. “For my own
+part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another and
+a profounder source of interest in that document. If, indeed, it is
+what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli.”
+
+“You mean that you would provoke war?” Prince Rosmaran asked.
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“I,” said he,—“I am not even a politician. But, you know, the
+lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is only
+one course open for this country,—to work upon Russia so that she
+withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with Austria and
+Germany, to accept Germany’s cooperation with Austria in the
+despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare war at
+once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free from danger.”
+
+The Prince nodded.
+
+“It is good,” he admitted, “to hear man’s talk once more. Wherever one
+moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and Austria. Let
+them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed rule Europe.”
+
+Three o’clock struck. The Prince rose.
+
+“I go,” he announced.
+
+“And I,” Bellamy declared. “Come to my rooms at ten o’clock tomorrow
+morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news.”
+
+Bellamy lingered behind. For a moment he held Louise in his arms and
+gazed sorrowfully into her weary face.
+
+“Is it worth while, I wonder?” he asked bitterly.
+
+“Worth while,” she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him, “to
+feel the mother love? Who can help it who would not be ignoble?”
+
+“But yours, dear,” he murmured, “is all grief. Even now I am afraid.”
+
+“We can do no more than toil to the end,” she said. “David, you are
+sure this time?”
+
+“I am sure,” he replied. “I am going back now to the hotel where
+Laverick is staying. We are going to sit together and smoke until the
+morning. Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel. I was with
+them all only an hour ago,—Streuss, that blackguard Lassen, and Adolf
+Kahn, the police spy. They are beaten men and they know it. They had
+Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a dramatic entrance and the
+game was up.”
+
+“Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,” she
+begged.
+
+“I will,” he promised.
+
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand. The streets were almost
+brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight. The air seemed curiously keen.
+Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement was so clear and
+distinct that he fancied he was being followed and glanced sharply
+around. He reached the Milan Hotel, however, without adventure, and
+looked towards the little open space in the hall where he had expected
+to find Laverick. There was no one there! He stood still for a moment,
+troubled with a sudden sense of apprehension. The place was deserted
+except for a couple of sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of
+cleaners busy with their machines down in the restaurant, moving about
+like mysterious figures in the dim light.
+
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+
+“Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was with
+about an hour ago?” he asked,—“a tall, fair gentleman—Mr. Laverick his
+name was?”
+
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+
+“Why, yes, sir!” he answered with a somewhat mysterious air. “Mr.
+Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago. Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and inquired
+for him. They talked for a little time, and finally Mr. Laverick went
+away with them.”
+
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+
+“Went away with them?” he repeated. “I don’t understand that, Reynolds.
+He was to have waited here till I returned.”
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+“It didn’t strike me, sir,” he said, “that Mr. Laverick was very
+wishful to go. It seemed as though he hadn’t much choice about the
+matter.”
+
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+
+“Tell me what is in your mind?” he asked.
+
+“Mr. Bellamy, sir,” the hall-porter replied, “I knew one of those
+gentlemen by sight. He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the one
+who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes.”
+
+“Good God!” Bellamy exclaimed. “You think, then,—”
+
+“I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir,” the man answered. “Mr.
+Laverick was arrested on some charge.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV MORRISON’S DISCLOSURE
+
+
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot
+humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. She
+was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day long she
+had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat in her tiny
+room with the memory of that horrible night before her. She had tried
+in vain to sleep,—she had made no effort whatever to eat. She knew now
+why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew the cause of that paroxysm
+of fear in which he had sought her out. The horror of the whole thing
+had crept into her blood like poison. Life was once more a dreary,
+profitless struggle. All the wonderful dreams, which had made existence
+seem almost like a fairy-tale for this last week, had faded away. She
+was once more a mournful little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube. Boys were shouting
+everywhere the contents of the evening papers. Nearly every one seemed
+to be carrying one of the pink sheets. She herself passed on with
+unseeing eyes. News was nothing to her. Governments might rise and
+fall, war might come and go,—she had still life to support, a
+friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen shillings a week.
+The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but one boy unfurled almost
+before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+
+SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER.
+
+
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers
+trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked it
+up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in her
+hand. There it was on the front page—staring her in the face:
+
+Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of Laverick &
+Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was arrested at the Milan
+Hotel on the charge of being concerned in the murder of a person
+unknown, in Crooked Friars’ Alley, on Monday last. The accused, who
+made no reply to the charge, was removed to Bow Street Police-Station.
+Particulars of his examination before the magistrates will be found on
+page 4.
+
+
+There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up from
+the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of thunder
+from an unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping for breath.
+If she could find somewhere to sit down! If she could only rest for a
+moment! Then a sudden wave of strength came to her, the blood flowed
+once more in her veins—blood that was hot with anger, that stained her
+cheeks with a spot of red. It was the man she loved, this, being made
+to suffer falsely. It was the fulfilment of their threat—a deliberate
+plot against him. The murderer of Crooked Friars’ Alley—she knew who
+that was!—she knew! Perhaps she might help!
+
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that walk,
+but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of the
+theatre with the paper spread out before her. She read that Stephen
+Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate of Bow
+Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having been
+concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had pleaded
+“Not Guilty!” Her eyes glittered as she read that the first witness
+called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the accused. She read
+his deposition—that he had left Laverick at their offices at eleven
+o’clock on the night in question, that they were at that time
+absolutely without means, and had no prospect of meeting their
+engagements on the morrow. She read the evidence of Mr. Fenwick, bank
+manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had, on the following morning,
+deposited with him the sum of twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England
+notes, by means of which the engagements of the firm were duly met,
+that those notes had since been redeemed, and that he had no idea of
+their present whereabouts. She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn,
+an Austrian visiting this country upon private business, who deposed
+that he was in the vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person,
+whom he identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after
+disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter the
+offices from which he had issued. He explained his presence there by
+the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the Goldfields’
+Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by. Further formal
+evidence was given, and a remand asked for. The accused’s solicitor was
+on the point of addressing the court when Mr. Rawson was unfortunately
+taken ill. After waiting for some time, the case was adjourned until
+the next day, and the accused man was removed in custody.
+
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet. She made her way to where
+the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new scenery.
+
+“Mr. Heepman,” she exclaimed, “I cannot stay to rehearsal! I have to go
+out.”
+
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+
+“Rehearsal postponed,” he declared solemnly. “Shall you be back for the
+evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?”
+
+His clumsy irony missed its mark. Her thoughts were too intensely
+focussed upon one thing.
+
+“I am sorry,” she replied, turning away. “I will come back as soon as I
+can.”
+
+He called out after her and she paused.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “you were absent from the performance the other
+evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even waiting for
+permission. It can’t be done, young lady. You must do your playing
+around some other time. If you’re not here when you’re called, you
+needn’t trouble to turn up again. Do you understand?”
+
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed to
+be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+
+“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” she promised, with a little break in
+her voice,—“as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman.”
+
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among the
+hurrying throng of pedestrians. Several people turned round to look at
+her. Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost unnaturally
+large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for tragedy. She herself
+saw no one. She would have taken a cab, but a glimpse at the contents
+of her purse dissuaded her. She walked steadily on to Jermyn Street,
+walked up the stairs to the third floor, and knocked at her brother’s
+door. No one answered her at first. She turned the handle and entered
+to find the room empty. There were sounds, however, in the further
+apartment, and she called out to him.
+
+“Arthur,” she cried, “are you there?”
+
+“Who is it?” he demanded.
+
+“It is I—Zoe!” she exclaimed.
+
+“What do you want?”
+
+“I want to speak to you, Arthur. I must speak to you. Please come as
+quickly as you can.”
+
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared. He was wearing
+the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier in the day,
+but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked by reason of this
+resumption of his old attire. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes scarcely
+for an instant seemed to lose that feverish gleam of terror with which
+he had returned from Liverpool. He knew very well what she had come
+about, and he began nervously to try and bully her.
+
+“I wish you wouldn’t come to these rooms, Zoe,” he said. “I’ve told you
+before they’re bachelors’ apartments, and they don’t like women about
+the place. What is it? What do you want?”
+
+“I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part,” she answered, looking him in the face. “I’ve come now to ask you
+what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick? What were you
+doing in the court this morning, lying? What is the meaning of it,
+Arthur?”
+
+“If you’ve come to talk rubbish like that,” he declared roughly, “you’d
+better be off.”
+
+“No, it is not rubbish!” she went on fearlessly. “I think I can
+understand what it is that has happened. They have terrified you and
+bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing—even this.
+Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I have tried to feel
+towards you as though you were indeed a relation. But nothing of that
+counts. I want you to realize that I know the truth, and that I will
+not see an innocent man convicted while the guilty go free.”
+
+He moved a step towards her. They were on opposite sides of the small
+round table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+
+“What do you mean?” he demanded hoarsely.
+
+“Isn’t it plain enough?” she exclaimed. “You came to my rooms a week or
+so ago, a terrified, broken-down man. If ever there was guilt in a
+man’s face, it was in yours. You sent for Laverick. He pitied you and
+helped you away. At Liverpool they would not let you embark—these men.
+They have brought you back here. You are their tool. But you know very
+well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen Laverick who killed the man in
+Crooked Friars’ Alley! You know very well that it was not Stephen
+Laverick!”
+
+“Why the devil should I know anything about it?” he asked fiercely.
+
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice. Her little white hand,
+with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+
+“Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime,” she
+cried, “and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall go to
+court myself and tell the truth.”
+
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with
+nervously twitching lips and fingers. But there was murder in his eyes.
+
+“What do you know about this?” he muttered.
+
+“Never mind,” she answered. “I know and I guess quite enough to
+convince me—and I think anybody else—that you are the guilty man. I
+would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but I will
+not do so at Stephen Laverick’s expense.”
+
+“What is Laverick to you?” he growled.
+
+“He is nothing to me,” she replied, “but the best of friends. Even were
+he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent man
+suffer?”
+
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+
+“You are talking nonsense, Zoe,” he said,—“nonsense! Even if there has
+been some little mistake, what could I do now? I have given my
+evidence. So far as I am concerned, the case is finished. I shall not
+be called again until the trial.”
+
+“Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and take
+back your evidence,” she declared boldly, “for if you do not, I shall
+be there and I shall tell the truth.”
+
+“Zoe,” he gasped, “don’t try me too high. This thing has upset me. I’m
+ill. Can’t you see it, Zoe? Look at me. I haven’t slept for weeks.
+Night and day I’ve had the fear—the fear always with me. You don’t know
+what it is—you can’t imagine. It’s like a terrible ghost, keeping pace
+with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger upon you whenever you
+would rest, mocking at you when you try to drown thought even for a
+moment. Don’t you try me too far, Zoe. I’m not responsible. Laverick
+isn’t the man you think him to be. He isn’t the man I believed. He did
+have that money—he did, indeed.”
+
+“That,” she said, “is to be explained. But he is not a murderer.”
+
+“Listen to me, Zoe,” Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+“Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a
+week—somewhere to the seaside. We will talk about this and think it
+over. I want to get away from London. We will go to Brighton, if you
+like. I must do something for you, Zoe. I’m afraid I’ve neglected you a
+good deal. Perhaps I could get you a better part at one of the
+theatres. I must make you an allowance. You ought to be wearing better
+clothes.”
+
+She drew a little away.
+
+“I want nothing from you, Arthur,” she said, “except this—that you
+speak the truth.”
+
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+
+“But, good God, Zoe!” he exclaimed, “do you know what it is that you
+are asking me? Do you want me to go into court and say—‘That isn’t the
+man... It is I who am the murderer’? Do you want me to feel their hands
+upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and have all the people
+staring at me curiously because they know that before very long I am to
+stand upon the scaffold and have that rope around my neck and—”
+
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a fit
+of impotent terror. But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+
+“Arthur,” she said, “crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the
+world can alter its punishment. If it is frightful for you to think of
+this, what must it be for him? And you are guilty and he is not.”
+
+“I was mad!” Morrison went on, now almost beside himself. “Zoe, I was
+mad! I called there to have a drink. We were broke,—the firm was broke.
+I’d a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt the next day.
+And there, within a few yards of me, was that man, with such a roll of
+notes as I had never seen in my life. Five hundred pounds, every one of
+them, and a wad as thick as my fists. Zoe, they fascinated me. I had
+two drinks quickly and I followed him out. Somehow or other, I found
+that I’d caught up a knife that was on the counter. I never meant to
+hurt him seriously, but I wanted some of those notes! I was leaving the
+next day for Africa and I hadn’t enough money to make a fair start. I
+wanted it—my God, how I wanted money!”
+
+“It couldn’t have been worth—that!” she cried, looking at him
+wonderingly.
+
+“I was mad,” he continued. “I saw the notes and they went to my head.
+Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for love. I don’t
+drink much, and I’m not over fond of women, but, my God, money is like
+the blood of my body to me! I saw it, and I wanted it and I wanted it,
+and I went mad! Zoe, you won’t give me away? Say you won’t!”
+
+“But what am I to do?” she protested. “He must not suffer.”
+
+“He’ll get off,” Morrison assured her thickly. “I tell you he’ll get
+off. He’s only to part with the document, which never belonged to him,
+and the charge will be withdrawn. They know who the murdered man was.
+They know where the money came from which he was carrying. I tell you
+he can save himself. You wouldn’t dream of sending me to the gallows,
+Zoe!”
+
+“Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people,”
+she declared. “I am sure of that.”
+
+“It’s his own lookout,” Morrison muttered. “He has the chance, anyway.”
+
+She turned toward the door.
+
+“I must go away,” she said. “I must go away and think. It is all too
+horrible.”
+
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+
+“Listen,” he said, “I can’t let you go like this. You must tell me that
+you are not going to give me up. Do you hear?”
+
+“I can make no promises, Arthur,” she answered sadly, “only this—I
+shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead.”
+
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what it
+was that he was holding. Then he struck her down and without a backward
+glance fled out of the place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV BELLAMY’S SUCCESS
+
+
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the
+commissionaire, and the chief maitre d’hotel from the Café, who
+happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the
+place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an unexpected
+surprise. A large closed motor-car drove up to the front entrance and
+several men descended, among whom was Laverick himself. He nodded to
+the hall-porter, whose salute was purely mechanical, and making his way
+without hesitation to the interior of the hotel, presented his receipt
+at the cashier’s desk and asked for his packet. The clerk looked up at
+him in amazement. He did not, for the moment, notice that the two men
+standing immediately behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen.
+He had only a few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick’s
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow,
+upon the charge of murder. His knowledge of English law was by no means
+perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick’s appearance outside
+the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening.
+
+“Your packet, sir!” he repeated, in amazement. “Why, this is Mr.
+Laverick himself, is it not?”
+
+“Certainly,” was the quiet reply. “I am Stephen Laverick.”
+
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as
+though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background for a
+moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity. Of Laverick’s
+identity, however, there was no manner of doubt. Besides, the presence
+of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat reassured them. The
+cashier himself came forward.
+
+“We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick,” he said dryly, “to get
+rid of your packet. Your instructions were that we should disregard all
+orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and I may say that
+they have been strictly adhered to. We have, however, had two
+applications in your name this morning.”
+
+“They were both forgeries,” Laverick declared.
+
+The cashier hesitated. Then he leaned across the broad mahogany counter
+towards Laverick. One of the men who appeared to form part of the
+escort detached himself from them and approached a few steps nearer.
+
+“This gentleman is your friend, sir?” the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+
+“He is my solicitor,” Laverick answered, “and is entirely in my
+confidence. If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr. Bellamy
+also to hear.”
+
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place by
+Laverick’s side. The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+
+“Beside these two forged orders, sir,” he said, turning again to
+Laverick, “we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a small
+black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in our document
+safe. My assistant had accepted it and was actually locking it up when
+he noticed a faint sound inside which he could not understand. The bag
+was opened and found to contain an infernal machine which would have
+exploded in a quarter of an hour.”
+
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+
+“We should have thought of that!” he exclaimed softly. “That’s Kahn’s
+work!”
+
+“I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble,” Laverick remarked
+quietly. “I gather, however, from what you say, that my packet is still
+in your possession?”
+
+“It is, sir,” the man assented. “We have two detectives from Scotland
+Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had almost decided to
+place it in their charge for greater security.”
+
+“It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you,” Laverick
+declared.
+
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office. At their
+invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few yards behind
+came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and the superintendent.
+The safe was opened and the packet placed in Laverick’s hands. He
+passed it on at once to Bellamy, and immediately afterwards the doorway
+behind was thronged with men, apparently ordinary loiterers around the
+hotel. They made a slow and exceedingly cautious exit. Once outside,
+Bellamy turned to Laverick with outstretched hand.
+
+“Au revoir and good luck, old chap!” he said heartily. “I think you’ll
+find things go your way all right to-morrow morning.”
+
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade—two of his
+friends on either side, two in front, and two behind. It had almost the
+appearance of a procession. The whole party stepped into a closed
+motor-car. Three or four men were lounging on the pavement and there
+was some excited whispering, but no one actually interfered. As soon as
+they had left the courtyard, Laverick and his solicitor, with his own
+guard, re-entered the motor-car in which they had arrived, and drove
+back to Bow Street. Very few words were exchanged during the short
+journey. His solicitor, however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and
+Laverick’s bearing was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.
+
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat remarkable
+little gathering took place. The two men chiefly responsible for the
+destinies of the nation—the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State
+for Foreign Affairs—sat side by side before a small table. Facing them
+was Bellamy, and spread out in front were those few pages of foolscap,
+released from their envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since
+the hand of the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The
+Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit of his
+colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the presence of
+big events.
+
+“Bellamy,” the Prime Minister said slowly, “you are willing to stake, I
+presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this document?”
+
+“My honor and my life, if you will,” Bellamy answered earnestly. “That
+is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the handwriting is
+the handwriting of the Chancellor himself.”
+
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The latter,
+whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words, looked up.
+
+“All I can say is this,” he remarked impressively, “that never in my
+time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance. One
+moment, if you please.”
+
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from an
+adjoining room.
+
+“Anthony,” he said, “telephone to the Great Western Railway Company at
+Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that a
+special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour. Tell
+the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up, but that
+the destination of the special is not to be divulged.”
+
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+
+“The more I consider this matter,” the Foreign Minister went on, “the
+more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem. We know now
+why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail his visit—why he
+came, as it were, under protest, and seeks everywhere for an
+opportunity to leave before the appointed time. His health is all
+right. He has had a hint from Vienna that there has been a leakage. His
+special mission only reached Paris this morning. The President is in
+the country and their audience is not fixed until to-morrow. Rawson
+will go over with a copy of these papers and a dispatch from His
+Majesty by the nine o’clock train. It is not often that we have had the
+chance of such a ‘coup’ as this.”
+
+He drew his chief a few steps away. They whispered together for several
+moments. When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang the bell again
+for his secretary.
+
+“Anthony,” he said, “Sir James and I will be leaving in a few minutes
+for Windsor. Go round yourself to General Hamilton, telephone to
+Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the Admiralty Board for
+Sir John Harrison. Tell them all to be here at ten o’clock tonight. If
+I am not back, they must wait. If either of them have royal commands,
+you need only repeat the word ‘Finisterre.’ They will understand.”
+
+The young man once more withdrew. The Prime Minister turned back to the
+papers.
+
+“It will be worth a great deal,” he remarked, with a grim smile, “to
+see His Majesty’s face when he reads this.”
+
+“It would be worth a great deal more,” his fellow statesman answered
+dryly, “to be with his August cousin at the interview which will
+follow. A month ago, the thought that war might come under our
+administration was a continual terror to me. To-day things are entirely
+different. To-day it really seems that if war does come, it may be the
+most glorious happening for England of this century. You saw the last
+report from Kiel?”
+
+Sir James nodded.
+
+“There isn’t a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean,” his colleague continued earnestly. “They
+are cooped up—safe enough, they think—under the shelter of their
+fortifications. Hamilton has another idea. Between you and me, Sir
+James, so have I. I tell you,” he went on, in a deeper and more
+passionate tone, “it’s like the passing of a terrible nightmare—this.
+We have had ten years of panic, of nervous fears of a German invasion,
+and no one knows more than you and I, Sir James, how much cause we have
+had for those fears. It will seem strange if, after all, history has to
+write that chapter differently.”
+
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone
+interview with the superintendent at Paddington. The two great men
+rose. The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+
+“Bellamy,” he declared, “you’ve done us one more important service.
+There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you’ve earned
+a rest for a day or two, at any rate. There is nothing more we can do?”
+
+“Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James,” Bellamy
+answered. “Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the man to
+whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick.”
+
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+
+“It’s a difficult situation, Bellamy,” he said. “You are asking a great
+deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the slightest manner
+with the course of justice. You are absolutely convinced, I suppose,
+that this man Laverick had nothing to do with the murder?”
+
+“Absolutely and entirely, sir,” Bellamy replied.
+
+“The murdered man has never been identified by the police,” Sir James
+remarked. “Who was he?”
+
+“His name was Rudolph Von Behrling,” Bellamy announced, “and he was
+actually the Chancellor’s nephew, also his private secretary. I have
+told you the history, sir, of those papers. It was Von Behrling who,
+without a doubt, murdered the American journalist and secured them. It
+was he who insisted upon coming to London instead of returning with
+them to Vienna, which would have been the most obvious course for him
+to have adopted. He was a pauper, and desperately in love with a
+certain lady who has helped me throughout this matter. He agreed to
+part with the papers for twenty thousand pounds, and the lady
+incidentally promised to elope with him the same night. I met him by
+appointment at that little restaurant in the city, paid him the twenty
+thousand pounds, and received the false packet which you remember I
+brought to you, sir. As a matter of fact, Von Behrling, either by
+accident or design, and no man now will ever know which, left me with
+those papers which I was supposed to have bought in his possession, and
+also the money. Within five minutes he was murdered. Doubtless we shall
+know sometime by whom, but it was not by Stephen Laverick. Laverick’s
+share in the whole thing was nothing but this—that he found the
+pocket-book, and that he made use of the notes in his business for
+twenty-four hours to save himself from ruin. That was unjustifiable, of
+course. He has made atonement. The notes at this minute are in a safe
+deposit vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they
+came. I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron
+de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter.”
+
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully. He stooped down and scrawled a few lines
+on half a sheet of note-paper.
+
+“You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once,” he said, “and tell him
+the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the nature of
+the papers. The thing must be arranged, of course.”
+
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that the
+Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were going
+down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even they
+remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were really
+transpiring. They knew nothing of the interview between the Czar and
+his August host—an interview which in itself was a chapter in the
+history of these times. They knew nothing of the reason of their royal
+visitor’s decision to prolong his visit instead of shortening it, or of
+his autograph letter to the President of the French Republic, which
+reached Paris even before the special mission from St. Petersburg had
+presented themselves. The one thing which they did know, and that alone
+was significant enough, was that the Czar’s Foreign Minister was cabled
+for that night to come to his master by special train from St.
+Petersburg. At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a
+report from Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned. The
+Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under
+pretence of a command from his royal master. The happiest man in London
+was Prince Rosmaran.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+
+
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the dock
+at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, “in company with his
+friends left the court.” The proceedings altogether took scarcely more
+than half-an-hour. Laverick’s solicitor first put Shepherd in the box,
+who gave his account of Morrison’s visit to the restaurant, spoke of
+his hurried exit, and identified the knife which he had seen him snatch
+up. Cross-examined as to why he had kept silent, he explained that Mr.
+Morrison had been a good customer and he saw no reason why he should
+give unsolicited evidence which would cost a man his life. Directly,
+however, another man had been accused, the matter appeared to him to be
+altogether different. He had come forward the moment he had heard of
+Laverick’s arrest, to offer his evidence.
+
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick’s
+solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran
+though the court. Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the
+witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the
+upper part of her head. She admitted that she was the half-sister of
+Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship. She
+described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder, and
+his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed to her on
+the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the murder in
+question.
+
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David Bellamy.
+He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, and that the
+twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently possessed, had
+come from him for investment in Laverick’s business. The circumstances,
+he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until negotiations had been
+concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt uncertain how to make use of
+the money. But he assured the court that there was no person who had
+any claim to the sum of money in question save himself, and that he was
+perfectly aware of the use to which Laverick had put it.
+
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant was
+issued for the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found Bellamy waiting
+for him, and was hurried into his motor.
+
+“Well, you see,” the latter exclaimed, “we kept our word! That dear
+plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any case I think
+that there would not have been much trouble about the matter. The
+magistrate had received a communication direct from the Home Secretary
+concerning your case.”
+
+“I am very grateful indeed,” Laverick declared. “I tell you I think I
+am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss Leneveu. The usher
+told me she left the court before we came out.”
+
+“I asked her to go straight back to her rooms,” Bellamy said. “You must
+excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in a state
+of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having Morrison watched,
+and my man reported to me that he had left his rooms in a state of
+great excitement, and that a young lady was there who appeared to be
+seriously injured.”
+
+“D—d scamp!” Laverick muttered.
+
+“I did everything I could,” Bellamy continued. “I fetched her at once
+and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some one to
+look after her. The wound wasn’t serious, but the fellow must have been
+a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such a child. I wonder
+whether he’ll get away.”
+
+“I should doubt it,” Laverick remarked. “He hasn’t the nerve. He’ll
+probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He’s a broken-spirited cur,
+after all.”
+
+“You’ll have some lunch?” Bellamy asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go on and see Miss Leneveu.”
+
+“Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will.”
+
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe’s little house for
+nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and locked, and a
+neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had gone out in a cab with
+the nurse, some time ago, and had not returned. Laverick sent Bellamy’s
+car back and waited. Presently a four-wheel cab came round the corner
+and stopped in front of her house. Laverick opened the door and helped
+Zoe out. She was as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was
+looking anxious.
+
+“You are safe, then?” she murmured, holding out her hands.
+
+“Quite,” he answered. “You dear little girl!”
+
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor.
+Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago had
+come to see Arthur Morrison.
+
+“She has had a bad scalp wound,” he declared, “and her nervous system
+is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She seems to have just
+escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay with her for another day,
+at any rate.”
+
+“You are sure that it isn’t serious?” Laverick asked eagerly.
+
+“Not in the least,” the doctor answered dryly. “I see worse wounds
+every day of my life. I’ll come again to-morrow, if you like, but it
+really isn’t necessary with the nurse on the spot.”
+
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which
+Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more encouraging
+words. Laverick stayed and talked for a short time with the nurse.
+
+“She has gone off to sleep now, sir,” the latter announced. “There
+isn’t anything to worry about. She seems as though she had been having
+a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house but half a
+packet of tea—and these.”
+
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+
+“I found these in a drawer when I came,” she said. “I had to look
+round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house.”
+
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his eyes.
+
+“Poor little woman!” he murmured. “I think she’d sooner have starved
+than ask for help.”
+
+The nurse smiled.
+
+“I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady,” she
+remarked. “An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new hat
+with a receipted bill for thirty shillings,” she added, pointing to the
+sofa.
+
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+
+“Please keep these,” he begged, “and see that she has everything she
+wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the
+slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest of
+her life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to come in
+until she is able to be moved?”
+
+“I’ll look after her,” the nurse promised.
+
+Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were
+becoming more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club almost
+from habit. Presently the excitement which all London seemed to be
+sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the background.
+The air was full of rumors. The Prime Minister and the Foreign
+Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes. Nothing was
+definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence that
+for once in her history England was preparing to justify her existence
+as a great Power.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII THE PLOT THAT FAILED
+
+
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion House,
+where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord Mayor,
+witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely inexplicable to
+the general public. It was known that affairs in Central Europe were in
+a dangerously precarious state, and it was felt that the Czar’s visit
+here, and the urgent summons which had brought from St. Petersburg his
+Foreign Minister, were indications that the long wished-for entente
+between Russia and this country was now actually at hand. There was in
+the Press a curious reticence with regard to the development of the
+political situation. One felt everywhere that it was the calm before
+the storm—that at any moment the great black headlines might tell of
+some startling stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or
+defied. The circumstances themselves of the Czar’s visit had been a
+little peculiar. On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of
+health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be cut
+down to two days. No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however, than a
+change was announced. The Czar had so far recovered as to be able even
+to extend the period at first fixed for his visit. Simultaneously with
+this, the German and Austrian Press were full of bitter and barely
+veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable. The Czar had thrown in
+his lot at first with Austria and Germany. That he was going
+deliberately to break away from that arrangement there seemed now
+scarcely any manner of doubt.
+
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go by.
+Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but he, too,
+had been with them earlier in the morning. Afterwards they turned their
+backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had thinned made their
+way to one of the west-end restaurants.
+
+“It seems too good to be true,” declared Louise. Bellamy nodded.
+
+“Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true. The humor of the whole
+thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who pressed the
+Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of exciting suspicion.
+That, of course, was when there seemed to be no question of the news of
+the Vienna compact leaking out. They would never have dared to expose a
+man to such a trial as the Czar must have faced when the resume of the
+Vienna proceedings, in the Chancellor’s own handwriting, was read to
+him at Windsor.”
+
+“You saw the telegram from Paris?” Louise interposed. “The special
+mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled.”
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+“It all goes to prove what I say,” he went on. “Any morning you may
+expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an ultimatum.”
+
+“I wonder,” she remarked, “what became of Streuss.”
+
+“He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt,” Bellamy answered.
+“There’s always plenty of work for spies.”
+
+“Don’t use that word,” she begged.
+
+He made a little grimace.
+
+“You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?” he asked. “Well, that counts for nothing now. I hope I may still
+serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different way.”
+
+“What do you mean?” she demanded.
+
+“I heard from my uncle’s solicitors this morning,” Bellamy continued,
+“that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months. When he
+dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords. It is his
+wish that I should not leave England again now, so I suppose there is
+nothing left for me but to give it up. I have done my share of
+traveling and work, after all,” he concluded, thoughtfully.
+
+“Your share, indeed,” she murmured. “Remember that but for that
+document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have gone
+down, and England would have had to take a place among the second-class
+Powers. There may be war now, it is true, but it will be a glorious
+war.”
+
+“Louise, very soon we shall know. Until then I will say nothing. But I
+do not want you altogether to forget that there has been something in
+my life dearer to me even than my career for these last few years.”
+
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft. She looked across towards him
+wistfully.
+
+“Dear,” she whispered, “things will be altered with you now. I am not
+fit to be the wife of an English peer—I am not noble.”
+
+He laughed.
+
+“I am afraid,” he assured her, “that I am democrat enough to think you
+one of the noblest women on earth. Why should I not? Your life itself
+has been a study in devotion. The modern virtues seem almost to ignore
+patriotism, yet the love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But
+don’t you think, Louise, that we have done our work—that it is time to
+think of ourselves?”
+
+She gave him her hand.
+
+“Let us see,” she said. “Let us wait for a little time and see what
+comes.”
+
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely
+spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places. Louise was
+encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose trend,
+and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after a few
+minutes’ absence, dressed in Servian national dress. For a short time
+the costume was not recognized. Then the music—the national hymn of
+Servia, and the recollection of her parentage, brought the thing home
+to the audience. They did not even wait for her to finish. In the
+middle of her song the applause broke like a crash of thunder. From the
+packed gallery to the stalls they cheered her wildly, madly. A dozen
+times she came before the curtain. It seemed impossible that they would
+ever let her go. Directly she turned to leave the stage, the uproar
+broke out again. The manager at last insisted upon it that she should
+speak a few words. She stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence
+as complete as the previous applause had been unanimous. Her voice
+reached easily to every place in the House.
+
+“I thank you all very much,” she said. “I am very happy indeed to be in
+London, because it is the capital city of the most generous country in
+the world—the country that is always ready to protect and help her
+weaker neighbors. I am a Servian, and I love my country, and
+therefore,” she added, with a little break in her voice,—“therefore I
+love you all.”
+
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the
+streets of London had not been so impassable for years. Crowds made
+their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War Office,
+where men were working late. Everything seemed to denote that the
+spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning made immense
+capital of the incident, and for the following twenty-four hours
+suspense throughout the country was almost at fever height. It was
+known that the Cabinet Council had been sitting for six hours. It was
+known, too, that without the least commotion, with scarcely any
+movements of ships that could be called directly threatening, the
+greatest naval force which the world had ever known was assembling off
+Dover. The stock markets were wildly excited. Laverick, back again in
+his office, found that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned
+scarcely any comment. More startling events were shaping themselves.
+His own remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost
+undiscussed.
+
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding the
+rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in Theobald
+Square. Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but eager to declare
+that the pain had gone and that she was no longer suffering.
+
+“It is too absurd,” she declared, smiling, “my having this nurse here.
+Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me. I should have
+gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use.”
+
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which
+contained her somewhat curt dismissal. He laughed as he tore it into
+pieces.
+
+“Are you so sorry, Zoe? Is the stage so wonderful a place that you
+could not bear to think of leaving it?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“It is not that,” she whispered. “You know that it is not that.”
+
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+
+“There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear,” he said.
+“You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days. A
+bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying
+sort of person.”
+
+She shrank away a little.
+
+“You don’t mean it,” she murmured.
+
+“You know very well that I mean it,” he answered, kissing her. “I think
+you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were doomed to
+become my wife.”
+
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes. For the moment she had
+forgotten everything. She was absolutely and completely happy.
+
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards, as
+they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+
+“Zoe,” he declared, “the best thing that could has happened. You will
+not be foolish, dear, about it, I know. Remember the alternative—and
+read that.”
+
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur
+Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square. The police had apparently
+tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment. The
+details of his last few hours were indescribable. Zoe shuddered, and
+her eyes filled with tears. She smiled bravely in his face, however.
+
+“It is terrible,” she whispered simply, “but, after all, he was no
+relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury. When I
+think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry.”
+
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded up
+the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct of her
+sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard, merciless
+creature when the being whom she loves is threatened.
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+“Let us go out into the streets,” he said, “and hear what all this
+excitement is about.”
+
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and
+white. An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna. Certain
+treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria’s action in
+the East were insisted upon by Great Britain. It was demanded that
+Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops upon the Servian
+frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate over that country,
+whose independence Great Britain felt called upon, from that time
+forward, to guarantee. It was further announced that England, France,
+and Russia were acting in this matter in complete concert, and that the
+neutrality of Italy was assured. Further, it was known that the great
+English fleet had left for the North Sea with sealed orders.
+
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy’s rooms.
+Bellamy greeted him heartily. He was on the point of going out, and the
+two men drove off together in the latter’s car.
+
+“See, my dear friend,” Bellamy exclaimed, “what great things come from
+small means! The document which you preserved for us, and for which we
+had to fight so hard, has done all this.”
+
+“It is marvelous!” Laverick murmured.
+
+“It is very simple,” Bellamy declared. “That meeting in Vienna was
+meant to force our hands. It is all a question of the balance of
+strength. Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,—even with
+Russia neutral,—could have defied Europe. Germany could have spread out
+her army westwards while Austria seized upon her prey. It was a
+splendid plot, and it was going very well until the Czar himself was
+suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers with a revelation of
+the whole affair. At Windsor the thing seemed different to him. The
+French Government behaved splendidly, and the Czar behaved like a man.
+Germany and Austria are left _planté la_. If they fight, well, it will
+be no one-sided affair. They have no fleet, or rather they will have
+none in a fortnight’s time. They have no means of landing an army here.
+Austria, perhaps, can hold Russia, but with a French army in better
+shape than it has been for years, and the English landing as many men
+as they care to do, with ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany,
+the entire scheme proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink,
+Laverick. To-day great things have happened to me.”
+
+“And to me,” Laverick interposed.
+
+“You can guess my news, perhaps,” Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs. “Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to be my
+wife.”
+
+Laverick held out his hand.
+
+“I congratulate you heartily!” he exclaimed. “I have been an engaged
+man myself for something like half-an-hour.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+“One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever may
+be responsible for the government of this country,” Bellamy remarked to
+his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. “For the first time in
+many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers of equal
+standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller countries, but
+the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have made our late
+Premier go lightheaded.”
+
+“And yet it succeeded,” Louise reminded him.
+
+“Absolutely,” he affirmed. “To-day’s news makes peace a certainty. If
+your country knew everything, Louise, they’d give us a royal welcome
+next month.”
+
+“You really mean that we are to go there, then?” she asked.
+
+“It isn’t exactly one of my privileges,” he declared, “to fix upon the
+spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven’t been in
+Belgrade for years, and I know you’d like to see your people.”
+
+“It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of,” she murmured. “Do
+you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?”
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+“Remember,” he said, “that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a silver
+greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious reputation in
+foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of Denchester, a harmless
+English peer traveling on his honeymoon. By the way, I hope you like
+the title.”
+
+“I shall love it when I get used to it,” she declared. “To be an
+English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to go on
+singing at Covent Garden.”
+
+“To-morrow will be your last night,” he reminded her. “I have asked
+Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with me.
+Afterwards we must all have supper together.”
+
+“How nice of you!” she exclaimed.
+
+“I don’t know about that,” Bellamy said, smiling. “I really like
+Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he was
+thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He interests me,
+too, in another way. He is a man who, face to face with a moral
+problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!”
+
+“You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?” she asked.
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+“He was practically dishonest,” he pointed out. “He had no right to use
+that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station. If he had done so—that is to say, if he had waited
+there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that pocket-book,
+to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one that there would
+have been another tragedy that night. At any rate, the document would
+never have come to us.”
+
+She smiled.
+
+“My moral judgment is warped,” she asserted, “from the fact that
+Laverick’s decision brought us the document.”
+
+He nodded.
+
+“Perhaps so,” he agreed, “and yet, there was the man face to face with
+ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any harm, and
+saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of calculation,
+and in this case that he was justified.”
+
+“I wonder what he really thinks about it himself,” she remarked.
+
+“Perhaps I’ll ask him.”
+
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, he
+forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he had
+loved so long. She moved about the stage that night as though her feet
+indeed fell upon the air. She appeared to be singing always with
+restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a quality which even
+in her simpler notes left the great audience thrilled. Already there
+was a rumor that it was her last appearance. Her marriage to Bellamy
+had been that day announced in the _Morning Post_. When, in the last
+act, she sang alone on the stage the famous love song, it seemed to
+them all that although her voice trembled more than once, it was a new
+thing to which they listened. Zoe found herself clasping Laverick’s
+hand in tremulous excitement. Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back
+in the box, his clean-cut face thrown into powerful relief by the
+shadows beyond. Yet, as he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously
+soft. The song grew and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story
+of an exquisite and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice.
+The last note came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was
+prolonged for an extraordinary period. When it died away, its passing
+seemed something almost unrealizable. It quivered away into a silence
+which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause
+swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and faced
+Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from his seemed
+answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her good-bye. She was
+singing a new love-song, singing her way into the life of the man whom
+she loved, singing her way into love itself. Once more the great house,
+packed to the ceiling, was worked up to a state of frenzied excitement.
+Bellamy was recognized, and the significance of her song sent a wave of
+sentiment through the house whose only possible form of expression took
+to itself shape in the frantic greetings which called her to the front
+again and again. But the three in the box were silent. Bellamy stood
+back in the shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become
+immersed in themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and
+pointed outside.
+
+“At Luigi’s in half-an-hour,” said he softly. “You will excuse me for a
+few minutes? I am going to Louise.”
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***
+
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+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Havoc, by E. Phillips Oppenheim</title>
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Havoc, by E. Phillips Oppenheim</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Havoc</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August, 2000 [eBook #2287]<br />
+[Most recently updated: November 30, 2020]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML version by Al Haines.</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***</div>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:100%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="462" height="700" alt="[Illustration]" />
+</div>
+
+<h1>Havoc</h1>
+
+<h2>by E. Phillips Oppenheim</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">Chapter I CROWNED HEADS MEET</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">Chapter II ARTHUR DORWARD&rsquo;S &ldquo;SCOOP&rdquo;</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">Chapter III &ldquo;OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP&rdquo;</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">Chapter IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">Chapter V &ldquo;VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET&rdquo;</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">Chapter VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">Chapter VII &ldquo;WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES&rdquo;</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">Chapter VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">Chapter IX ROBBING THE DEAD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">Chapter X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">Chapter XI VON BEHRLING&rsquo;S FATE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">Chapter XII BARON DE STREUSS&rsquo; PROPOSAL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">Chapter XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK&rsquo;S CONSCIENCE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">Chapter XIV ARTHUR MORRISON&rsquo;S COLLAPSE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">Chapter XV LAVERICK&rsquo;S PARTNER FLEES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">Chapter XVI THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap17">Chapter XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap18">Chapter XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap19">Chapter XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap20">Chapter XX LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap21">Chapter XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE&rsquo;S VISIT</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap22">Chapter XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap23">Chapter XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap24">Chapter XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI&rsquo;S</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap25">Chapter XXV JIM SHEPHERD&rsquo;S SCARE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap26">Chapter XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap27">Chapter XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap28">Chapter XXVIII LAVERICK&rsquo;S NARROW ESCAPE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap29">Chapter XXIX LASSEN&rsquo;S TREACHERY DISCOVERED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap30">Chapter XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap31">Chapter XXXI MISS LENEVEU&rsquo;S MESSAGE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap32">Chapter XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap33">Chapter XXXIII LAVERICK&rsquo;S ARREST</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap34">Chapter XXXIV MORRISON&rsquo;S DISCLOSURE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap35">Chapter XXXV BELLAMY&rsquo;S SUCCESS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap36">Chapter XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap37">Chapter XXXVII THE PLOT TEAT FAILED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap38">Chapter XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<h2>Illustrations</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#illus01">Laverick, with a single bound, was upon his assailant.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#illus02">&ldquo;Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?&rdquo;</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#illus03">There was no doubt about her beauty</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#illus04">Zoe had fallen asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br />
+CROWNED HEADS MEET</h2>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy, King&rsquo;s Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their spacious
+sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. Both men were
+laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy&rsquo;s face was dark with
+forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. Failure was a new thing to
+him&mdash;a thing which those behind the great journals which he represented
+understood less, even, than he. Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing
+at his heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours broke into a
+tumult of welcoming voices. Down their thickly-packed lines the volume of sound
+arose and grew, a faint murmur at first, swelling and growing to a thunderous
+roar. Myriads of hats were suddenly torn from the heads of the excited
+multitude, handkerchiefs waved from every window. It was a wonderful greeting,
+this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Czar on his way to the railway station,&rdquo; Bellamy remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery&mdash;guardsmen
+of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white uniforms,
+their flashing helmets. The small brougham with its great black horses was
+almost hidden within a ring of naked steel. Dorward, an American to the
+backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust out his under-lip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Anointed of the Lord!&rdquo; he muttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices, muffled yet
+insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre which seems always to live
+in the cry of the multitude.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Emperor,&rdquo; declared Bellamy. &ldquo;He goes to the West
+station.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The commotion had passed. The crowds in the street below were on the move,
+melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a murmur of voices. The
+two men turned from their window back into the room. Dorward commenced to roll
+a cigarette with yellow-stained, nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself
+into an easy-chair with a gesture of depression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting,&rdquo; he said, half to
+himself, half to Dorward. &ldquo;It is over, and Europe is left to
+wonder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They were together for scarcely more than an hour,&rdquo; Dorward
+murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Long enough,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;That little room in the
+Palace, my friend, may yet become famous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you and I could buy its secrets,&rdquo; Dorward remarked, finally
+shaping a cigarette and lighting it, &ldquo;we should be big bidders, I think.
+I&rsquo;d give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable even a hundred
+words of their conversation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For the truth,&rdquo; Bellamy said, &ldquo;the whole truth, there could
+be no price sufficient. We made our effort in different directions, both of us.
+With infinite pains I planted&mdash;I may tell you this now that the thing is
+over&mdash;seven spies in the Palace. They have been of as much use as rabbits.
+I don&rsquo;t believe that a single one of them got any further than the
+kitchens.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess they weren&rsquo;t taking any chances up there,&rdquo; he
+remarked. &ldquo;There wasn&rsquo;t a secretary in the room. Carstairs was
+nearly thrown out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace. The great staircase
+was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the
+corridors.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months older,
+Dorward,&rdquo; he declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly. &ldquo;You believe that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?&rdquo; he asked.
+&ldquo;When Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner,
+can&rsquo;t you believe it is across the North Sea that they point? Things have
+been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You English are too nervous to live, nowadays,&rdquo; Dorward declared
+impatiently. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d just like to know what they said about
+America.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He can
+scarcely do more to show his regard for your country. He is giving you a
+special interview&mdash;you alone out of about two hundred journalists. Very
+likely he will give you an exact account of everything that transpired. First
+of all, he will assure you that this meeting has been brought about in the
+interests of peace. He will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is
+foremost in the thoughts of his master. He will assure you&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say, you&rsquo;re jealous, my friend,&rdquo; Dorward interrupted calmly.
+&ldquo;I wonder what you&rsquo;d give me for my ten minutes alone with the
+Chancellor, eh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he told me the truth,&rdquo; Bellamy asserted, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d give
+my life for it. For the sort of stuff you&rsquo;re going to hear, I&rsquo;d
+give nothing. Can&rsquo;t you realize that for yourself, Dorward? You know the
+man&mdash;false as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent. He will grasp your
+hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great
+Anglo-Saxon races&mdash;to England and to his dear friends the Americans. He is
+only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself candidly and
+openly. Peace is to be the watchword of the future. The white doves have
+hovered over the Palace. The rulers of the earth have met that the crash of
+arms may be stilled and that this terrible unrest which broods over Europe
+shall finally be broken up. They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work
+together for this object,&mdash;Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an
+immense army still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the
+nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the
+seaboard&mdash;Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her existence;
+Germany, with Bismarck&rsquo;s last but secret words written in letters of fire
+on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her rulers, in the brain of her
+great Emperor. Colonies! Expansion! Empire! Whose colonies, I wonder? Whose
+empire? Will he tell you that, my friend Dorward?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;ll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it,&rdquo;
+he answered indifferently. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all part of the game, of course. I
+am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth. All the same, my message
+will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately after this wonderful
+meeting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He makes use of you,&rdquo; Bellamy declared, &ldquo;to throw dust into
+our eyes and yours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Even so,&rdquo; Dorward admitted, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care so long as I
+get the copy. It&rsquo;s good-bye, I suppose?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I
+can do no more good here. And you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After I&rsquo;ve sent my cable I&rsquo;m off to Belgrade for a week, at
+any rate,&rdquo; Dorward answered. &ldquo;I hear the women are forming rifle
+clubs all through Servia.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know one who&rsquo;ll want a place among the leaders,&rdquo; he
+murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a queer position hers, if you like,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;All Vienna raves about her. They throng the Opera House every night to
+hear her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been known
+here. Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief of the Committee for
+National Defence. The jewels that are sent her anonymously go to the same
+place, all to buy arms to fight these people who worship her. I tell you,
+Dorward,&rdquo; he added, rising to his feet and walking to the window,
+&ldquo;the patriotism of these people is something we colder races scarcely
+understand. Perhaps it is because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a
+conqueror. If ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon
+which she enters,&mdash;it will be a carnage, an extermination!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I mustn&rsquo;t keep His Excellency
+waiting. Good-bye, and cheer up, Bellamy! Your old country isn&rsquo;t going to
+turn up her heels yet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Out he went&mdash;long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face&mdash;a strange figure but yet a power. Bellamy
+remained. For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the time. He stood in
+front of the window, watching the dispersal of the crowds and the marching by
+of a regiment of soldiers, whose movements he followed with critical interest,
+for he, too, had been in the service. He had still a military
+bearing,&mdash;tall, and with complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black
+moustache, dark eyes, a silent mouth,&mdash;a man of many reserves. Even his
+intimates knew little of him. Nevertheless, his was the reticence which
+befitted well his profession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters. He had just finished when
+there came a sharp tap at the door. Before he could open his lips some one had
+entered. He heard the soft swirl of draperies and turned sharply round, then
+sprang to his feet and held out both his hands. There was expression in his
+face now&mdash;as much as he ever suffered to appear there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What good fortune!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a more than
+common intimacy. Then she threw herself into an easy-chair and raised her thick
+veil. Bellamy looked at her for a moment in sorrowful silence. There were
+violet lines underneath her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any
+color. There was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him.
+She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is over, then,&rdquo; she said softly, &ldquo;this meeting. The word
+has been spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came and stood by her side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As yet,&rdquo; he reminded her, &ldquo;we do not know what that word may
+be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head mournfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who can doubt?&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;For myself, I feel it in the
+air! I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city! I can hear it
+in the peals of those awful bells! You know nothing? You have heard
+nothing?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did all that was humanly possible,&rdquo; he said, dropping his voice.
+&ldquo;An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity. I filled the
+Palace with spies, but they hadn&rsquo;t a dog&rsquo;s chance. There
+wasn&rsquo;t even a secretary present. The Czar, the two Emperors and the
+Chancellor,&mdash;not another soul was in the room.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If only Von Behrling had been taken!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;He was
+there in reserve, I know, as stenographer. I have but to lift my hand and it is
+enough. I would have had the truth from him, whatever it cost me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully. It was not for nothing that the Press of
+every European nation had called her the most beautiful woman in the world. He
+frowned slightly at her last words, for he loved her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold,&rdquo; he said
+sharply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She moved her head and looked up at him. She was leaning a little forward now,
+her chin resting upon her hands. Something about the lines of her long, supple
+body suggested to him the savage animal crouching for a spring. She was quiet,
+but her bosom was heaving, and he could guess at the passion within. With
+purpose he spoke to set it loose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You sing to-night?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Before God, no!&rdquo; she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice. &ldquo;I sing no more in this accursed city!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There will be a revolution,&rdquo; Bellamy remarked. &ldquo;I see that
+the whole city is placarded with notices. It is to be a gala night at the
+Opera. The royal party is to be present.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do I care&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;for their gala night! If I were
+like Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and bury
+them all in its ruins, I would do it!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear Louise, it is useless, this. You do everything that can be done for
+your country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My friend David,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you do not understand. None of
+you English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of this black
+fear, to feel a tyrant&rsquo;s hand come creeping out, to know that your
+life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be shed, and shed in
+vain. To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it is worse, this, than
+murder,&mdash;a worse crime than his who stains the soul of a poor innocent
+girl! It is a sin against nature herself!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;I am overwrought. I have borne
+up against this thing so long. I can do no more good here. I come to tell you
+that I go away till the time comes. I go to your London. They want me to sing
+for them there. I shall do it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will break your engagement?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am Idiale,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I keep no engagement if I do
+not choose. I will sing no more to this people whom I hate. My friend David, I
+have suffered enough. Their applause I loathe&mdash;their covetous eyes as they
+watch me move about the stage&mdash;oh, I could strike them all dead! They come
+to me, these young Austrian noblemen, as though I were already one of a
+conquered race. I keep their diamonds but I destroy their messages. Their
+jewels go to my chorus girls or to arm my people. But no one of them has had a
+kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained. Even Von
+Behrling I have fooled with promises. No Austrian shall ever touch my
+lips&mdash;I have sworn it!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he assented, &ldquo;they call you cold here in the capital!
+Even in the Palace&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held out her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is finished!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I sing no more. I have sent
+word to the Opera House. I came here to be in hiding for a while. They will
+search for me everywhere. To-night or to-morrow I leave for England.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not sure that you are wise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You take it too
+much for granted that the end has come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And do you not yourself believe it?&rdquo; she demanded. He hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As yet there is no proof,&rdquo; he reminded her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Proof!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sat upright in her chair. Her hands thrust him from her, her bosom heaved,
+a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Proof!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;What do you suppose, then, that these
+wolves have plotted for? What else do you suppose could be Austria&rsquo;s
+share of the feast? Couldn&rsquo;t you hear our fate in the thunder of their
+voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity? We are
+doomed&mdash;betrayed! You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, a
+blood-stained page of history for all time. The world would tell you that we
+have outlived the age of such barbarous doings. It is not true. My friend
+David, it is not true. It is a more terrible thing, this which is coming. Body
+and soul we are to perish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on hers. It was
+heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he loved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear Louise,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;after all, this is profitless. There
+may yet be compromises.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not pass out of
+her face or tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Compromises!&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;Do you believe, then, that we
+are like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror because their
+hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered themselves passively to be led
+into captivity? My country can be conquered in one way, and one way
+only,&mdash;not until her sons, ay, and her daughters too, have perished, can
+these people rule. They will come to an empty and a stricken country&mdash;a
+country red with blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities. The
+horror of it! Think, my friend David, the horror of it!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You take too much for granted,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;England, at
+any rate, is not yet a conquered race. And there is France&mdash;Italy, too, if
+she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient enemy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the might of the world which threatens,&rdquo; she murmured.
+&ldquo;Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless. Already it
+has been proved. Last year you declared yourself our friend&mdash;you and even
+Russia. Of what avail was it? Word came from Berlin and you were
+powerless.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man demented. For
+fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but this man was surely a
+stranger! He was hatless, dishevelled, wild. A dull streak of color had mounted
+almost to his forehead, his eyes were on fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Bellamy!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Words failed him suddenly. He leaned against the table, breathless, panting
+heavily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For God&rsquo;s sake, man,&rdquo; Bellamy began,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alone!&rdquo; Dorward interrupted. &ldquo;I must see you alone! I have
+news!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose. She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will come to me, or telephone,&rdquo; she whispered.
+&ldquo;So?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure of his
+fingers. Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
+ARTHUR DORWARD&rsquo;S &ldquo;SCOOP&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong, old man?&rdquo; Bellamy asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a siphon, and
+was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He tossed it off before he
+spoke a word. Then he turned around and faced his companion.
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; he ordered, &ldquo;lock the door.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his head in the
+Chancellor&rsquo;s presence&mdash;had made some absurd attempt to gain the
+knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little
+out of breath, &ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ve had the biggest slice of luck that was
+ever dealt out to a human being. If only I can get safe out of this city, I
+tell you I&rsquo;ve got the greatest scoop that living man ever handled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t mean that&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the most amazing thing that ever happened,&rdquo; he
+declared, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve got it here in my pocket, got it in black and
+white, in the Chancellor&rsquo;s own handwriting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Got what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,&rdquo;
+Dorward replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy&rsquo;s expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t mean this, Dorward!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You may
+have something&mdash;just what the Chancellor wants you to print. You&rsquo;re
+not supposing for an instant that you&rsquo;ve got the whole truth?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward&rsquo;s smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a conqueror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here in my pocket,&rdquo; he declared, striking his chest, &ldquo;in the
+Chancellor&rsquo;s own handwriting. I tell you I&rsquo;ve got the original
+verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this afternoon
+between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and the Emperor of Germany.
+I&rsquo;ve got it word for word as the Chancellor took it down. I&rsquo;ve got
+their decision. I&rsquo;ve got their several undertakings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb. He looked toward the door and back into
+his friend&rsquo;s face aglow with triumph. Then his power of speech returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mean to say that you stole it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not I! I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to me with
+his own hands, willingly,&mdash;pressed it upon me. No, don&rsquo;t
+scoff!&rdquo; he went on quickly. &ldquo;Listen! This is a genuine thing. The
+Chancellor&rsquo;s mad. He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace. It will
+be in all the evening papers. You will hear the boys shouting it in the streets
+within a few minutes. Don&rsquo;t interrupt and I&rsquo;ll tell you the whole
+truth. You can believe me or not, as you like. It makes no odds. I arrived
+punctually and was shown up into the anteroom. Even from there I could hear
+loud voices in the inner chamber and I knew that something was up. Presently a
+little fellow came out to me&mdash;a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed
+glasses. He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor&rsquo;s
+physician, regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see
+no one,&mdash;the excitement and hard work of the last few days had knocked him
+out. Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I could about it, and then
+all of a sudden the door of the inner room was thrown open. The Chancellor
+himself stood on the threshold. There was no doubt about his being ill; his
+face was as pale as parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all
+ruffled as though he had been standing upon his head. He began to talk to the
+physician in German. I didn&rsquo;t understand him until he began to
+swear,&mdash;then it was wonderful! In the end he brushed them all away and,
+taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room. For a long time he went
+on jabbering away half to himself, and I was wondering how on earth to bring
+the conversation round to the things I wanted to know about. Then, all of a
+sudden, he turned to me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted.
+&lsquo;Ah!&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;you are Dorward, the American journalist. I
+remember you now. Lock the door.&rsquo; I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had
+noticed they were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they&rsquo;d be
+disturbing us every moment. &lsquo;Come and sit down,&rsquo; he ordered. I did
+so at once. &lsquo;You&rsquo;re a sensible fellow,&rsquo; he declared.
+&lsquo;To-day every one is worrying me. They think that I am not well. It is
+foolish. I am quite well. Who would not be well on such a day as this?&rsquo; I
+told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and he nodded and
+seemed pleased. &lsquo;You have come to hear the truth about the meeting of my
+master with the Czar and the Emperor of Germany?&rsquo; he asked.
+&lsquo;That&rsquo;s so,&rsquo; I told him. &lsquo;America&rsquo;s more than a
+little interested in these things, and I want to know what to tell her.&rsquo;
+Then he leaned across the table. &lsquo;My young friend,&rsquo; he said,
+&lsquo;I like you. You are straightforward. You speak plainly and you do not
+worry me. It is good. You shall tell your country what it is that we have
+planned, what the things are that are coming. Yours is a great and wise
+country. When they know the truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way
+off and that the things which happen there are really no concern of
+theirs.&rsquo; &lsquo;You are right,&rsquo; I assured him,&mdash;&lsquo;dead
+right. Treat us openly, that&rsquo;s all we ask.&rsquo; &lsquo;Shall I not do
+that, my young friend?&rsquo; he answered. &lsquo;Now look, I give you
+this.&rsquo; He fumbled through all his pockets and at last he drew out a long
+envelope, sealed at both ends with black sealing wax on which was printed a
+coat of arms with two tigers facing each other. He looked toward the door
+cautiously, and there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have.
+&lsquo;Here it is,&rsquo; he whispered, &lsquo;written with my own hand. This
+will tell you exactly what passed this afternoon. It will tell you our plans.
+It will tell you of the share which my master and the other two are taking.
+Button it up safely,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;and, whatever you do, do not let
+them know outside that you have got it. Between you and me,&rsquo; he went on,
+leaning across the table, &lsquo;something seems to have happened to them all
+to-day. There&rsquo;s my old doctor there. He is worrying all the time, but he
+himself is not well. I can see it whenever he comes near me.&rsquo; I nodded as
+though I understood and the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned. Then I
+got up as casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn&rsquo;t
+let me go. We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces of
+burning coal. Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the door. Then he began
+to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a paperweight at the window, and
+talked such nonsense that I couldn&rsquo;t follow him. I unlocked the door
+myself and found the doctor there. I contrived to look as frightened as
+possible. &lsquo;His Highness is not well enough to talk to me,&rsquo; I
+whispered. &lsquo;You had better look after him.&rsquo; I heard a shout behind
+and a heavy fall. Then I closed the door and slipped away as quietly as I
+could&mdash;and here I am.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My God, but this is wonderful!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;How long is it
+since you left the Palace?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour,&rdquo; Dorward answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll find it out at once,&rdquo; declared the other.
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll miss the paper. Perhaps he&rsquo;ll tell them himself that
+he has given it to you. Don&rsquo;t let us run any risks, Dorward. Tear it
+open. Let us know the truth, at any rate. If you have to part with the
+document, we can remember its contents. Out with it, man, quick! They may be
+here at any moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward drew a few steps back. Then he shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess not,&rdquo; he said firmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to
+keep it to yourself? You know what it means to me&mdash;to England?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your old country can look after herself pretty well,&rdquo; Dorward
+declared. &ldquo;Anyhow, she&rsquo;ll have to take her chance. I am not here as
+a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I&rsquo;ll part to nobody
+with the biggest thing that&rsquo;s ever come into any man&rsquo;s
+bands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What are you going to do with it?&rdquo; he asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I tell you I&rsquo;m off out of the country to-night,&rdquo; Dorward
+declared. &ldquo;I shall head for England. Pearce is there himself, and I tell
+you it will be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his
+hand. We&rsquo;ll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy&rsquo;s manner was perfectly quiet&mdash;too quiet to be altogether
+natural. His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dorward,&rdquo; he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the
+door, &ldquo;you don&rsquo;t realize what you&rsquo;re up against. This sort of
+thing is new to you. You haven&rsquo;t a dog&rsquo;s chance of leaving Vienna
+alive with that in your pocket. If you trust yourself in the Orient Express
+to-night, you&rsquo;ll never be allowed to cross the frontier. By this time
+they know that the packet is missing; they know, too, that you are the only man
+who could have it, whether the Chancellor has told them the truth or not. Open
+it at once so that we get some good out of it. Then we&rsquo;ll go round to the
+Embassy. We can slip out by the back way, perhaps. Remember I have spent my
+life in the service, and I tell you that there&rsquo;s no other place in the
+city where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy or
+mine. Open the packet, man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think not,&rdquo; Dorward answered firmly. &ldquo;I am an American
+citizen. I have broken no laws and done no one any harm. If there&rsquo;s any
+slaughtering about, I guess they&rsquo;ll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward.... Don&rsquo;t be a fool, man!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took a quick step backward,&mdash;he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy&rsquo;s revolver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dorward,&rdquo; the latter exclaimed, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t help it!
+Yours is only a personal ambition&mdash;I stand for my country. Share the
+knowledge of that packet with me or I shall shoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then shoot and be d&mdash;d to you!&rdquo; Dorward declared fiercely.
+&ldquo;This is my show, not yours. You and your country can go to&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He broke off without finishing his sentence. There was a thunderous knocking at
+the door. The two men looked at one another for a moment, speechless. Then
+Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced the revolver in his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve thrown away our chance,&rdquo; he said bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The knocking was repeated. When Bellamy with a shrug of the shoulders answered
+the summons, three men in plain clothes entered. They saluted Bellamy, but
+their eyes were traveling around the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!&rdquo; one
+exclaimed. &ldquo;He was here but a moment ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door. He had had too much experience in such
+matters to attempt any prevarication. The three men crossed the room quickly
+and Bellamy followed in the rear. He heard a cry of disappointment from the
+foremost as he opened the door. The inner room was empty!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
+&ldquo;OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p>
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is news!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I can see it in your
+face.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; Bellamy answered, &ldquo;there is news! That is why I have
+come. Where can we talk?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on to a smooth
+green lawn. She took his arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come outside with me,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I am shut up here because
+I will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera House. An
+envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean to keep your word, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It is
+so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by high gray stone
+walls. They were secure here, at least, from eavesdroppers. She rested her
+fingers lightly upon his arm, holding up the skirts of her loose gown with her
+other hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have spoken to you,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;of Dorward, the American
+journalist.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; she assented. &ldquo;You told me that the Chancellor
+had promised him an interview for to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The latest
+telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is quite true,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;What I am going to
+tell you is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached the
+Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were trying to
+persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard Dorward&rsquo;s voice
+and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad&mdash;on the verge of a
+collapse&mdash;and he handed over to Dorward his notes, and a verbatim report
+of all that passed at the Palace this morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear David!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is amazing,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;but it is the truth. I know it
+for a fact. The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what he was
+doing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where is it?&rdquo; she asked quickly. &ldquo;You have seen it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dorward would not give it up,&rdquo; he said bitterly. &ldquo;While we
+argued in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived. Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs. He spoke of trying to catch
+the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever let him leave the
+city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is wonderful, this,&rdquo; she murmured softly. &ldquo;What are you
+going to do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other. I would have killed
+Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe that the knowledge of
+its contents in London to-day would save us from disaster. To know how far each
+is pledged, and from which direction the first blow is to come, would be our
+salvation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot understand,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;why he should have refused
+to share his knowledge with you. He is an American&mdash;it is almost the same
+thing as being an Englishman. And you are friends,&mdash;I am sure that you
+have helped him often.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a matter of vanity&mdash;simply cursed vanity,&rdquo; Bellamy
+answered. &ldquo;It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern
+times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his paper. He
+fights for his own hand alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you?&rdquo; she whispered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He will have to reckon with me,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;I know
+that he is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be at
+his heels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, too,&rdquo; she announced. &ldquo;I come with you, my friend. I do no
+more good here, and they worry my life out all the time. I come to sing in
+London at Covent Garden. I have agreements there which only await my signature.
+We will go together; is it not so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;only remember that my movements
+must depend very largely upon Dorward&rsquo;s. The train leaves at eight
+o&rsquo;clock, station time. I have already a coupe reserved.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I come with you,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;I am very weary of this
+city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around the gardens,
+brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with here and there some
+delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst the wealth of foliage. The villa
+had once belonged to a royal favorite, and the grounds had been its chief
+glory. They reached a sheltered seat and sat down. A few yards away a tiny
+waterfall came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool. They were hidden from
+the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut tree. Bellamy
+stooped and kissed her upon the lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ours is a strange courtship, Louise,&rdquo; he whispered softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his kiss, but she
+drew a little further away from him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! my dear friend,&rdquo; looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+&ldquo;courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is nothing
+to hope for, nothing beyond.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He leaned towards her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never believe that,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;These days are dark enough,
+Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our turn may
+come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed to make a
+different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened though he was he felt the
+slow stirring of his own pulses. He kissed her hand passionately and she
+shivered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We must not talk of these things,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We must not
+think of them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must go in. I
+must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her lips met
+his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve with which she yielded
+herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, too. They walked up the path
+together, and as they went she plucked a red rose and thrust it through his
+buttonhole.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If we had no dreams,&rdquo; she said softly, &ldquo;life would not be
+possible. Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they lapsed into
+sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better leave,&rdquo; she told him, &ldquo;by the garden gate.
+There are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I are not
+seen too much together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Till this evening,&rdquo; he whispered, as he turned away. &ldquo;I
+shall be at the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna.
+If he goes, it may be an eventful journey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
+THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA</h2>
+
+<p>
+Dorward, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe rolling
+innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage and wonderful
+resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as to the sanctity of an
+American citizen. He had served his apprenticeship in his own country, and his
+name had become a household word owing to his brilliant success as war
+correspondent in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries,
+however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which he had grappled
+and which he had overcome during his adventurous career, he was disposed to be
+a little contemptuous of the subtler perils at which his friend Bellamy had
+plainly hinted. He had made his escape from the hotel without any very serious
+difficulty, and since that time, although he had taken no particular
+precautions, he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore,
+it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any misgiving as
+to his personal safety. Arrest as a thief was the worst which he had feared.
+Even that he seemed now to have evaded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a somewhat
+exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself out with a murmur of
+immense satisfaction. He was close upon the great triumph of his life. He was
+perfectly content to lie there and look out upon the flying landscape, upon
+which the shadows were now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he
+assured himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he
+started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he recognized his
+visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered and dropped into a seat by his
+side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wasting your time, aren&rsquo;t you?&rdquo; the latter remarked,
+pointing to the growing heap of cigarettes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I guess not,&rdquo; Dorward answered. &ldquo;I can smoke this lot
+before we reach London.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that you will,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are such a sanguine person,&rdquo; Bellamy sighed.
+&ldquo;Personally, I do not think that there is the slightest chance of your
+reaching London at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And why not?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the gesture
+irritating.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got espionage on the brain, my dear friend,&rdquo; he
+declared dryly. &ldquo;I suppose it&rsquo;s the result of your profession. I
+may not know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think that an
+American citizen traveling with his passport on a train like this is moderately
+safe, especially when he&rsquo;s not above a scrap by way of taking care of
+himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a plucky fellow,&rdquo; remarked Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I
+shouldn&rsquo;t have been surprised if they&rsquo;d tried to fake up some sort
+of charge against me, but anyhow they didn&rsquo;t. Guess they&rsquo;d find it
+a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose you&rsquo;re not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?&rdquo; he
+said. &ldquo;You really believe what you say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why in thunder shouldn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; Dorward asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear Dorward,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is amazing to me that a man
+of your experience should talk and behave like a baby. You&rsquo;ve taken some
+notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen a few of them,&rdquo; Dorward answered carelessly.
+&ldquo;What about them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing much,&rdquo; Bellamy declared, &ldquo;except that there are, to
+my certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of Austria in
+the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of their subordinates
+somewhere on board the train.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his friend keenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess you&rsquo;re trying to scare me, Bellamy,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an utterly altered
+expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost solemn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dorward,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;upon my honor, I assure you that what I
+have told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the seriousness
+of your position. When you left the Palace with that paper in your pocket, you
+were, to all intents and purposes, a doomed man. Your passport and your
+American citizenship count for absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you
+that if you have any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me
+now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is a pretty good bluff you&rsquo;re putting up!&rdquo; Dorward
+exclaimed contemptuously. &ldquo;The long and short of it is, I suppose, that
+you want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is too late for that, Dorward,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If the seal
+were broken, they&rsquo;d very soon guess where I came in, and it
+wouldn&rsquo;t help the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a
+bullet in my forehead on the railway track.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What are you here for, anyway, then?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, frankly, not to argue with you,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;As
+a matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, old man. You
+can&rsquo;t say that I didn&rsquo;t give you good advice. I am bound to play
+for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I get any benefit at all out of
+my journey, it will be after some regrettable accident has happened to
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!&rdquo; Dorward exclaimed.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say,
+but if these fellows really are on board, they&rsquo;ll think twice before they
+meddle with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the contrary,&rdquo; Bellamy assured him, &ldquo;they will not take
+the trouble to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to what they
+are going to do. However, that&rsquo;s finished. I have nothing more to
+say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here, Bellamy,&rdquo; he said, turning abruptly round,
+&ldquo;supposing I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and
+let you read it over with me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must not think of it!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You would simply
+write my death-warrant. Don&rsquo;t allude to that matter again. I have risked
+enough in coming in here to sit with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, for Heaven&rsquo;s sake, don&rsquo;t stop any longer!&rdquo;
+Dorward said irritably. &ldquo;You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk.
+In an hour&rsquo;s time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We&rsquo;ll
+breakfast together in the morning, if you like.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies and sodas which
+Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler to his lips and set it down
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I do not think that I am
+thirsty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his eyes.
+Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him alone. As he passed
+along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the corridor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have seen Von Behrling?&rdquo; he whispered. She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is in that coupe, number 7, alone,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I invited
+him to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions who
+watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy bending over
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;it is Von Behrling who will take
+possession of the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be
+safer to go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling again. Do
+all you can to persuade him to come to London,&mdash;all you can, Louise,
+remember.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So!&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit
+in the corridor. It is hot here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train was rushing
+on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. For some time he sat
+in his own compartment, listening. The voices whose muttered conversation he
+had overheard were silent now, but once he fancied that he heard shuffling
+footsteps and a little cry. In his heart he knew well that before morning
+Dorward would have disappeared. The man within him was hard to subdue. He
+longed to make his way to Dorward&rsquo;s side, to interfere in this terribly
+unequal struggle, yet he made no movement. Dorward was a man and a friend, but
+what was a life more or less? It was to a greater cause that he was pledged.
+Towards three o&rsquo;clock he lay down on his bed and slept....
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The man&rsquo;s
+hands were trembling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are we?&rdquo; Bellamy asked sleepily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Near Munich, Monsieur,&rdquo; the man answered. &ldquo;Monsieur noticed,
+perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I sleep soundly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I heard nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There has been an accident,&rdquo; the man declared. &ldquo;An American
+gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and became very
+drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the less it was an
+awful thing, this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are sure that he is dead?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man was very sure indeed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;He examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. The next move
+was for him.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
+&ldquo;VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he came to the
+coupé which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. Assured that he was not
+watched, he softly turned the handle of the door and entered. Louise was
+sitting up in her dressing-gown, drinking her coffee. He held up his finger and
+she greeted him only with a nod.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me, Louise,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;I dared not knock, and I
+was obliged to see you at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is of no consequence,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;One is always prepared
+here. The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs&mdash;they all enter. Is
+anything wrong?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has happened,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor fellow!&rdquo; she murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He simply sat still and asked for it,&rdquo; Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone. &ldquo;He would not be warned. I could have
+saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was what you call pig-headed,&rdquo; she remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has paid the penalty,&rdquo; Bellamy continued. &ldquo;Now listen to
+me, Louise. I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling&rsquo;s, and I
+feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London, all three of
+them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is there on the train?&rdquo; she demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and Adolf
+Kahn,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling separately. Von
+Behrling has the packet. The others form a sort of cordon around him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But why,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;does he go on to London? Why not
+return to Vienna?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For one thing,&rdquo; Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, &ldquo;they
+are afraid of me. Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward will be
+talked about. They do not want to seem in any way implicated. To return from
+any one of these stations down the line would create suspicion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am going to leave the train at the next stop,&rdquo; he continued.
+&ldquo;I find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin. From
+there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can. You know the address of my
+rooms?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;15, Fitzroy Street.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I can see
+you. While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling almost inaccessible.
+Directly I have gone it will be different. Play with him carefully. He should
+not be difficult. To tell you the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been
+trusted upon a mission like this. He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a
+short while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to attend the
+conference. The others will watch him closely, but they cannot overhear
+everything that passes between you two. Von Behrling is a poor man. You will
+know how to make him wish he were rich.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up. She looked at him doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a slender chance, David,&rdquo; she remarked. &ldquo;Von Behrling
+is a little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with me, but
+I do not think that he would sell his country. Then, too, see how he will be
+watched. I do not suppose that they will leave us alone for a moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural force.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise,&rdquo; he declared earnestly, &ldquo;you don&rsquo;t quite
+realize Von Behrling&rsquo;s special weakness and your extraordinary strength.
+You know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know what that
+means. I have heard men talk about you till one would think that they were
+children. You have something of that art or guile&mdash;call it what you
+will&mdash;which passes from you through a man&rsquo;s blood to his brain, and
+carries him indeed to Heaven&mdash;but carries him there mad. Louise,
+don&rsquo;t be angry with me for what I say. Remember that I know my sex. I
+know you, too, and I trust you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane,
+honorable man into what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your
+fingers. Von Behrling has that packet in his possession. When I come to see you
+in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes.
+With that Von Behrling might fancy himself on his way to America&mdash;with
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She closed her eyes for a moment. Perhaps she wished to keep hidden from him
+the thoughts which chased one another through her brain. He wished to make use
+of her&mdash;of her, the woman whom he loved. Then she remembered that it was
+for her country and his, and the anger passed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I am afraid,&rdquo; she said softly, &ldquo;that the moment they
+reach London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Before then,&rdquo; Bellamy declared, &ldquo;Von Behrling must not know
+whether he is in heaven or upon earth. It will not be opened in London. He can
+make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which he robbed
+Dorward. Oh! it is a difficult game, I know, but it is worth playing. Remember,
+Louise, that we are not petty conspirators. It is your country&rsquo;s very
+existence that is threatened. It is for her sake as well as for England.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall do my best,&rdquo; she murmured, looking into his face.
+&ldquo;Oh, you may be sure that I shall do my best!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away. The electric lamps had
+been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light dim. Back in his own
+berth, he put his things together, ready to leave at Munich. Then he rang for
+the porter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am getting out at the next stop,&rdquo; he announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very good, Monsieur,&rdquo; the man answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a Frenchman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so, Monsieur!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I may be wrong,&rdquo; Bellamy continued slowly, &ldquo;but I believe
+that if I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians you
+would tell me the truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s gesture was inimitable. Englishmen to him were obviously the
+salt of the earth. Germans and Austrians&mdash;why, they existed as the cattle
+in the fields&mdash;nothing more. Bellamy gave him a sovereign.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;They are in numbers ten and eleven.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But yes, Monsieur!&rdquo; the man assented. &ldquo;As yet I think they
+are fast asleep. Not one of them has rung for his coffee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are they booked for?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For London, Monsieur.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do not happen,&rdquo; Bellamy continued, &ldquo;to have heard them
+say anything about leaving the train before then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the contrary, sir,&rdquo; the porter answered, &ldquo;two of the
+gentlemen have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover. They were very
+anxious to travel by a turbine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you very much. You will be so discreet as to forget that I have
+asked you any questions concerning them. As for me, if one would know, I am on
+my way to Berlin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bell rang. The man looked outside and put his head once more in
+Bellamy&rsquo;s coupe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is one of the gentleman who has rung,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;If
+anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once to
+Monsieur.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will do well,&rdquo; Bellamy answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two of the gentlemen, sir,&rdquo; he announced, &ldquo;are undressed and
+in their pyjamas. They have ordered their breakfast to be served after we leave
+Munich.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Further, sir,&rdquo; the man continued, coming a little closer,
+&ldquo;one of them asked me whether the English gentleman&mdash;meaning
+you&mdash;was going through to London or not. I told them that you were getting
+out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right,&rdquo; Bellamy said. &ldquo;If they ask any more questions,
+let me know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were traveling
+with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective toilette. At a few minutes
+before the time for luncheon, she walked down the corridor and recognized Von
+Behrling, who was sitting with his companions in one of the compartments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, it is indeed you, then!&rdquo; she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rose to his feet and came out. Tall, with a fair moustache and blue eyes, he
+was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to be proud of the fact.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?&rdquo; he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Excellently,&rdquo; replied Louise. &ldquo;Will you not take me in to
+luncheon? The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone. It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one&rsquo;s maids.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am honored,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;Will you permit me for one
+moment?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned and spoke to his companions. Louise saw at once that they were
+protesting vigorously. She saw, too, that Von Behrling only became more
+obstinate and that he was very nearly angry. She moved a few steps on down the
+corridor, and stood looking out of the window. He joined her almost
+immediately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;they will be serving luncheon in five
+minutes. We will go and take a good place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your friends, I am afraid,&rdquo; she remarked, &ldquo;did not like your
+leaving them. They are not very gallant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To me it is indifferent,&rdquo; he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache. &ldquo;Streuss there is an old fool. He has always some fancy in his
+brain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are your own master, I suppose,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The Baron is
+used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets. There are many people
+who find him too autocratic.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He means well,&rdquo; Von Behrling asserted. &ldquo;It is his manner
+only which is against him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across the white
+cloth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If this is not Sachers,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;it is at least more
+pleasant than lunching alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can assure you, Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he declared, with a vigorous
+twirl of his moustache, &ldquo;that I find it so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Always gallant,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;Tell me, is it true of
+you&mdash;the news which I heard just before I left Vienna? Have you really
+resigned your post with the Chancellor?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You heard that?&rdquo; he asked slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She hesitated for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I heard something of the sort,&rdquo; she admitted. &ldquo;To be quite
+candid with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a
+change on his own account.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So that is what they say, is it? What do they know about it&mdash;these
+gossipers?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You were not allowed at the conference yesterday,&rdquo; she remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! well,&rdquo; she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape,
+&ldquo;a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me wild. I
+should not have been content until I had learned somehow or other what had
+transpired. Lately, I am afraid, my interest in my country seems to have grown
+a trifle cold. Perhaps because I have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at
+things from your point of view. Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and
+our own little careers are, after all, the most important part of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling eyed her curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems strange to hear you talk like this,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! I still love my country, in a way,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;and I
+still hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with me, I
+must admit. If we had two lives, I would give one to my country and keep one
+for myself. Since we have only one, I am afraid, after all, that I am human,
+and I want to taste some of its pleasures.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Some of its pleasures,&rdquo; Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily.
+&ldquo;Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so easy as it may appear,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;One needs many
+things to get the best out of life. One needs wealth and one needs love, and
+one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; Von Behrling admitted,&mdash;&ldquo;quite
+true.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If one is not careful,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;one lets the years
+slip by. They can never come again. If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom. He was twenty-five years old, and his
+income barely paid for his uniforms. Of late, this fact had materially
+interfered with his enjoyments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is strange,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that you should talk like this.
+You have the world at your feet, Mademoiselle. You have only to throw the
+handkerchief.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile. The bluest eyes in the world grew softer
+as they looked into his. Von Behrling felt his cheeks burn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My friend, it is not so easy,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;Tell
+me,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;why it is that you have so little
+self-confidence. Is it because you are poor?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am a beggar,&rdquo;&mdash;bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had
+brought, &ldquo;if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that
+you have compensations.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I have none!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You should know
+that&mdash;you, Mademoiselle. Life for me means one thing and one thing
+only!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth. Von Behrling
+shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We talk too intimately,&rdquo; she whispered, as the people began to
+file in to take their places. &ldquo;After luncheon we will take our coffee in
+my coupe. Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters. I have a headache.
+Will you order me some champagne? It is a terrible thing, I know, to drink wine
+in the morning, but when one travels, what can one do? Here come your
+bodyguard. They look at me as though I had stolen you away. Remember we take
+our coffee together afterwards. I am bored with so much traveling, and I look
+to you to amuse me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling&rsquo;s journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts. The
+kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself to have
+transported him into a seventh heaven. On the other hand, he had trouble with
+his friends. Streuss drew him on one side at Ostend, and talked to him plainly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Von Behrling,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I speak to you on behalf of Kahn
+and myself. Wine and women and pleasure are good things. We two, we love them,
+perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for them, and it is not
+now. Our mission is too serious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, &ldquo;what is
+all this? What do I do wrong? What have you to say against me? If I talk with
+Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for me to do. Would
+you have us three&mdash;you and Kahn and myself&mdash;travel arm in arm and
+speak never a word to our fellow passengers? Would you have us proclaim to all
+the world that we are on a secret mission, carrying a secret document, to
+obtain which we have already committed a crime? These are old-fashioned
+methods, Streuss. It is better that we behave like ordinary mortals. You talk
+foolishly, Streuss!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is you,&rdquo; the older man declared, &ldquo;who play the fool, and
+we will not have it! Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot. She is the
+friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman. She and he were together last
+night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy is not even on the train,&rdquo; Von Behrling protested.
+&ldquo;He went north to Berlin. That itself is the proof that they know
+nothing. If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that he would
+have stayed with us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy is very clever,&rdquo; Streuss answered. &ldquo;There are too
+many of us to deal with,&mdash;he knew that. Mademoiselle Idiale is clever,
+too. Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through false women.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it that you want?&rdquo; Von Behrling demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling drew himself up. After all, it was he who was noble; Streuss was
+little more than a policeman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I refuse!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Let me remind you, Streuss, that I
+am in charge of this expedition. It was I who planned it. It was
+I&rdquo;&mdash;he dropped his voice and touched his chest&mdash;&ldquo;who
+struck the first blow for its success. I think that we need talk no
+more,&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;I welcome your companionship. It makes for
+strength that we travel together. But for the rest, the enterprise has been
+mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it shall be
+mine. Watch me, if you like. Stay with me and see that I am not robbed, if you
+fear that I am not able to take care of myself, but do not ask me to behave
+like an idiot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly. The siren was already blowing from the
+steamer.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
+VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED</h2>
+
+<p>
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, wrapped in furs,
+abandoned her private cabin directly they had left the harbor, and had a chair
+placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling found her there, but not before they
+were nearly half-way across. She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at
+him through the darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not looking after me, my friend,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;By
+myself I had to find this place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is those idiots who are with me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All the time
+they worry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know what it is,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You have secrets which you
+are taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. Tell
+me, is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sit down on the deck,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;and lean against the
+rail. You are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come underneath my
+rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:100%;">
+<a name="illus02"></a>
+<img src="images/02.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it without reason?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Would not any one be
+afraid of you&mdash;if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our
+secrets? I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed at him softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, no!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Men are not like that, nowadays. They
+talk and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman&rsquo;s
+sake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You believe that?&rdquo; he asked, in a low tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do, indeed. One reads love-stories&mdash;no, I do not mean romances,
+but memoirs&mdash;memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts&mdash;memoirs,
+even, written by Englishmen. Men were different a generation ago. Honor was
+dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet there were many, very
+many then who were willing to give all these things for the love of a woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And do you think there are none now?&rdquo; he whispered hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My friend,&rdquo; she answered, looking down at him, &ldquo;I think that
+there are very few.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized his state of
+excitement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Louise,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;my love for you has made me
+a laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna. I&mdash;the poverty-stricken, who have
+nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you&mdash;have dared to show others
+what I think, have dared to place you in my heart above all the women on
+earth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is very nice of you,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;Why do you tell me
+this now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, indeed?&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;What have I to hope for?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked along the deck. Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends burned red
+through the gloom. She knew very well that those cigar ends belonged to Streuss
+and his friend. She laughed softly and once more she bent her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How they watch you, those men!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Listen, my friend
+Rudolph. Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really a spy,
+supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else you might claim from
+me, for the secret which you carry to England!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know that I am carrying a secret?&rdquo; he asked hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My friend,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;with your two absurd companions
+shadowing you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt
+it? The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret Service
+Department, is he not? To me he seems the most obvious policeman I ever saw
+dressed as a gentleman.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t mean it!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t mean
+what you said just now!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was silent for a few moments. Some one passing struck a match, and she
+caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by her
+side&mdash;strained now and curiously intense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Supposing I did!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must be mad!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You must not talk to me like
+this, Mademoiselle. I have no secret. It is your humor, I know, but it is
+dangerous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no danger,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;for we are alone. I say
+again, Rudolph, supposing this were true?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His hand passed across his forehead. She fancied that he made a motion as
+though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay here,&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;No, I do not wish to drive you
+away. Now you are here you shall listen to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you are not in earnest!&rdquo; he faltered. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t tell
+me that you are in earnest. It is treason. I am Rudolph Von Behrling, Secretary
+to the Chancellor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rudolph,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling,
+you are indeed the Chancellor&rsquo;s secretary. What do you gain from it? A
+pittance! Many hours work a day and a pittance. What have you to look forward
+to? A little official life, a stupid official position. Rudolph, here am I, and
+there is the world. Do I not represent other things?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;God knows you do!&rdquo; he muttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, too, am weary of singing. I want a long rest&mdash;a long rest and a
+better name than my own. Don&rsquo;t shrink away from me. It isn&rsquo;t so
+wonderful, after all. Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few hours ago. He
+was Dorward&rsquo;s friend. He knew well what Dorward carried. It was not his
+affair, he told me, and interposition from him was hopeless, but he knew that
+you and I were friends.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must stop!&rdquo; Von Behrling declared. &ldquo;You must stop! I
+must not listen to this!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He offered me twenty thousand pounds,&rdquo; she went on, &ldquo;for the
+packet in your pocket. Think of that, my friend. It would be a start in life,
+would it not? I am an extravagant woman. Even if I would, I dared not think of
+a poor man. But twenty thousand pounds is sufficient. When I reach London, I am
+going to a flat which has been waiting for me for weeks&mdash;15, Dover Street.
+If you bring that packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy,
+there will be twenty thousand pounds and&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her fingers suddenly held his. She could almost hear his heart beating. Her
+eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the tumult which was passing
+within the man, reflected in his face. She whispered a warning under her
+breath. The two cigar ends had moved nearer. The forms of the two men were now
+distinct. One was leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling&rsquo;s
+side. The other stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover. Von
+Behrling staggered to his feet. He said something in an angry undertone to
+Streuss. Louise rose and shook out her furs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My friend,&rdquo; she said, turning to Von Behrling, &ldquo;if your
+friends can spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids? You will find
+them both in my cabin, number three. I wish to walk for a few moments before we
+arrive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream. Mademoiselle Idiale followed
+him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling&rsquo;s companions.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The details of the great singer&rsquo;s journey had been most carefully planned
+by an excited manager who had received the telegram announcing her journey to
+London. There was an engaged carriage at Dover, into which she was duly
+escorted by a representative of the Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down
+from London to receive her. Von Behrling seemed to be missing. She had seen
+nothing of him since he had descended to summon her maids. But just as the
+train was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment later his
+white face was pressed through the open window of the carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I
+fear that they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel with you
+they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. Listen for your
+telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must think&mdash;I must think!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
+&ldquo;WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two o&rsquo;clock on
+the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of correspondence a penciled
+message awaiting him in a handwriting he knew well. He tore open the envelope.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+D<small>AVID DEAR</small>,&mdash;I have just arrived and I am sending you these
+few lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for certain,
+but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready and come to me here.
+If R. could only escape from Streuss and those who watch him all the time, I
+should be quite sure, but they are suspicious. What may happen I cannot tell. I
+do my best and I have hated it. Get the money ready and come to me.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+L<small>OUISE</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then he rang for
+his servant. &ldquo;A bath and some clean clothes quickly,&rdquo; he ordered.
+&ldquo;While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see if Sir James is
+there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I must see him within half an
+hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained servant. In
+rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy had left his rooms.
+Before four o&rsquo;clock he had arrived at the address which Louise had given
+him. A commissionaire telephoned his name to the first floor, and in a very few
+moments a pale-faced French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and
+bowed to Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Monsieur will be so good as to come this way,&rdquo; he directed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first floor. He was
+ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with roses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle will be here immediately,&rdquo; the man announced.
+&ldquo;She is engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him
+to receive Monsieur.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pray let Mademoiselle understand,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I am
+entirely at her service. My time is of no consequence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from an inner
+chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of her journey seemed
+already to have passed away. Her eyes were bright, and a faint color glowed in
+her cheeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;David,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;thank Heaven that you are
+here!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked to the
+door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood there listening for a
+moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose I am foolish,&rdquo; she said, coming back to him, &ldquo;and
+yet I cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don&rsquo;t trust any of the
+servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I had your note&mdash;and I am
+here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The restraint of his manner was obvious. He was standing a little away from
+her. She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon his shoulders, her face
+was upturned to his. Even then he made no motion to embrace her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;David,&rdquo; she whispered softly, &ldquo;what I am doing&mdash;what I
+have done&mdash;was at your suggestion. I do it for you, I do it for my
+country, I do it against every natural feeling I possess. I hate and loathe the
+lies I tell. Are you remembering that? Is it in your heart at this
+moment?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stooped and kissed her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is I who am to blame, but I am
+only human. We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As I live,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;the kiss you gave me last is
+still upon my lips. What I have promised goes for nothing. What he has promised
+is this&mdash;the papers to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unopened?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unopened,&rdquo; she repeated, softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But how is it to be done?&rdquo; Bellamy asked. &ldquo;He must have
+arrived in London when you did last night. How is it they are not already at
+the Embassy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;He
+cannot be back until late to-night. No one else has a key to the treaty safe,
+and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one save the
+Ambassador himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What about Streuss?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Streuss and the others are all furious,&rdquo; Louise said. &ldquo;Yet,
+after all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side. His orders were
+to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the safe by the Ambassador
+himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He returns to-night!&rdquo; Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Before he comes,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;I think that the document
+will be in your hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How is it to be done?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The report is written,&rdquo; she explained, &ldquo;on five pages of
+foolscap. They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the
+Chancellor&rsquo;s crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same
+crest. He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and signed
+it with his seal. It is this which he will hand over to the Ambassador if he
+should return unexpectedly. The real one he has concealed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is he here?&rdquo; Bellamy inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank Heavens, no!&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;My dear David, what are
+you thinking of? He is not here and he dare not come here. You are to go to
+your rooms,&rdquo; she added, glancing at the clock, &ldquo;and between five
+and six o&rsquo;clock this evening you will be rung up on the telephone. A
+rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night. You must take the money
+there and receive the packet. Von Behrling will be disguised and prepared for
+flight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy&rsquo;s eyes glowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You believe this?&rdquo; he exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I believe it,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;He is going to do it. After he
+has seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth. I have
+promised&mdash;don&rsquo;t look at me, David&mdash;I have promised to join him
+there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There will be trouble,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He will come back. He will
+want to shoot you. He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is
+passionate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I a coward?&rdquo; she asked, with a scornful laugh. &ldquo;Have I
+ever shown fear of my life? No, David! It is not that of which I am afraid. It
+is the memory of the man&rsquo;s touch, it is the look which was in your face
+when you came into the room. These are the things I fear&mdash;not
+death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;At such times a man is a weak
+thing&mdash;a weak and selfish thing. I am ashamed of myself. I should have
+known better than to have doubted you for a moment. I know you so well, Louise.
+I know what you are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you have made me happy. And now you must
+go away. Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude. Over here I am
+Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden. See my roses. There
+are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in the place now. The leader
+of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and two of the directors are drinking
+whiskies and sodas with this new manager of mine in the dining-room. Between
+five and six o&rsquo;clock this afternoon you will get the message. It is
+somewhere, I think, in the city that you will have to go. There will be no
+trouble about the money? Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have it in my pocket,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I have it in notes,
+but he need never fear that they will be traced. The numbers of notes given for
+Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one&rsquo;s memory.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She drew a little sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a great sum,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;After all, he should be
+grateful to me. If only he would be sensible and get away to the United States
+or to South America! He could live there like a prince, poor fellow. He would
+be far happier.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I only hope that he will go,&rdquo; Bellamy agreed. &ldquo;There is one
+thing to be remembered. If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four hours in
+this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you harm. The men who
+are with him are not the sort to stop short at trifles. Besides Streuss and
+Kahn, they have a regular army of spies at their bidding here. If they find out
+that he has tricked them, they will hunt him down, and before long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise shivered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I hope,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;that he gets away! He is a
+traitor, of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all, I
+think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it. That sounds
+very conceited, I suppose,&rdquo; she added, with a faint smile. &ldquo;Ah!
+well, you see, for five years so many have been trying to turn my head. No
+wonder if I begin to believe some of their stories. David, I must go. I must
+not keep Dr. Henschell waiting any longer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to-morrow early I shall come. I am
+afraid I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is my signal,&rdquo; she declared smiling. &ldquo;Dr. Henschell was
+almost beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor,&rdquo; she called out.
+&ldquo;David, good fortune!&rdquo; she added, giving him her hands. &ldquo;Now
+go, dear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
+THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE</h2>
+
+<p>
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but somewhat
+barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in appearance and
+mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never been more strongly
+evident. They were partners in business and face to face with ruin. Stephen
+Laverick, senior member of the firm, although an air of steadfast gloom had
+settled upon his clean-cut, powerful countenance, retained even in despair
+something of that dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had
+served him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who sat on
+the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips notwithstanding his
+altered name, sat like a broken thing, with tears in his terrified eyes,
+disordered hair, and parchment-pale face. Words had flown from his lips in a
+continual stream. He floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child.
+The hand of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw him
+as he really was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t stand it, Laverick,&mdash;I couldn&rsquo;t face them all.
+It&rsquo;s too cruel&mdash;too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one
+week, forty thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If we could only have held on a little longer! &lsquo;Unions&rsquo; must
+turn! They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! Have
+you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through it. We should
+get our own money back&mdash;I am sure of it. There&rsquo;s Rendell, Laverick.
+He&rsquo;d do anything for you. You&rsquo;re always shooting or playing cricket
+with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He&rsquo;d never miss the money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You and I see things differently, Morrison,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But at a time like this,&rdquo; Morrison pleaded passionately.
+&ldquo;Every one does it sometimes. He&rsquo;d be glad to help you. I know he
+would. Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be
+hammered?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have,&rdquo; Laverick admitted wearily. &ldquo;God knows it seems as
+terrible a thing to me as it can to you! But if we go down, we must go down
+with clean hands. I&rsquo;ve no faith in your infernal market, and not one
+penny will I borrow from a friend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Jew&rsquo;s face was almost piteous. He stretched himself across the table.
+There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laverick,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;old man, you&rsquo;re wrong. I know you
+think I&rsquo;ve been led away. I&rsquo;ve taken you out of our depth, but the
+only trouble has been that we haven&rsquo;t had enough capital, and no backing.
+Those who stand up will win. They will make money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unfortunately,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, &ldquo;we cannot stand up.
+Please understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way. I
+will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend. I have asked the bank and I
+have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors. To help us would simply be
+a business proposition, so far as they are concerned. As you know, they have
+refused. If you see any hope in that direction, why don&rsquo;t you try some of
+your own friends? For every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be
+bosom friends with at least twenty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison groaned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those I know are not that sort of friend,&rdquo; he answered.
+&ldquo;They will drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at
+Brighton, but they do not lend money. If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking? Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us the money. I
+would even kiss his feet. I cannot bear it, Laverick! I cannot! I
+cannot!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick said nothing. Words were useless things, wasted upon such a creature.
+He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no pains to conceal. This,
+then, was the smart young fellow recommended to him on all sides, a few years
+ago, as one of the shrewdest young men in his own particular department, a
+person bound to succeed, a money-maker if ever there was one! Laverick thought
+of him as he appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately
+dressed, with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny,
+hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the real
+thing. What a collapse!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to stay and see it through?&rdquo; he whined across
+the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t! I can&rsquo;t!&rdquo; he moaned. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t
+bear seeing all the fellows, hearing them whisper things&mdash;oh, Lord! Oh,
+Lord!... Laverick, we&rsquo;ve a few hundreds left. Give me something and let
+me out of it. You&rsquo;re a stronger sort of man than I am. You can face
+it,&mdash;I can&rsquo;t! Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I do
+any good I&rsquo;ll remember it, I will indeed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent for a moment. His companion watched his face eagerly. After
+all, why not let him go? He was no help, no comfort. The very sight of him was
+contemptible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have paid no money into the bank for several days,&rdquo; Laverick
+said slowly. &ldquo;When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious
+that they guessed how things were.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right, quite right!&rdquo; the young man interrupted feverishly.
+&ldquo;They would have stuck to it against the overdraft. How much have we got
+in the safe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This afternoon,&rdquo; Laverick continued, &ldquo;I changed all our
+cheques. You can count the proceeds for yourself. There are, I think, eleven
+hundred pounds. You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take them with
+you&mdash;to any place you like.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man was already at the safe. The notes were between them, on the
+table. He counted quickly with the fingers of a born manipulator of money. When
+he had gathered up two hundred and fifty pounds, Laverick&rsquo;s hand fell
+upon his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No more,&rdquo; he ordered sternly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But, my dear fellow,&rdquo; Morrison protested, &ldquo;half of eleven
+hundred is five hundred and fifty. Why should we not go halves? That is only
+fair, Laverick. It is little enough. We ought to have had a great deal
+more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder of the
+notes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,&rdquo;
+he said, &ldquo;for various reasons. For one, I can bear this thing better
+alone. As for the rest of the money, it remains there for the accountant who
+liquidates our affairs. I do not propose to touch a penny of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh. Such ways
+were not his ways. They were not, indeed, within the limit of his
+understanding. But of his partner he had learned one thing, at least. The word
+of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth. He shambled toward the door. On the
+whole, he was lucky to have got the two hundred and fifty pounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So long, Laverick,&rdquo; he said from the door.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m&mdash;I&rsquo;m sorry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his hand.
+Laverick nodded, not unkindly. After all, this young man was as he had been
+made.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish you good luck, Morrison,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Try South
+Africa.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
+ROBBING THE DEAD</h2>
+
+<p>
+The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, the tinkling
+of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars and cabs, the ceaseless
+tramp of footsteps, all had died away. Outside, the streets were almost
+deserted. An occasional wayfarer passed along the flagged pavement with speedy
+footsteps. Here and there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the
+larger blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is no place
+in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares of the city proper
+when the hour approaches midnight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, who since his partner&rsquo;s departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little snap and
+leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got rid of Morrison, it
+had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose financial astuteness no man had
+ever questioned, could raise from those piles of figures any other answer save
+the one inevitable one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare
+stalking by his side for the last thirty-six hours. One by one during the
+evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his wonderful
+self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably inspired, that not
+a single one of them had the slightest idea how things were. Not a soul knew
+that the firm of Laverick &amp; Morrison was already practically derelict, that
+they had on the morrow twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor
+balance at their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last, turned out
+the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into the silent street.
+Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. This might well be the last night
+on which he would care to show himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night
+on which he could mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense
+of consciousness which follows upon disaster. Already there was little enough
+left of it. It was too late to change and go to his club. The places of
+amusement were already closed. To-morrow night, both club and theatres would
+lie outside his world. He walked slowly, yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a
+dozen steps when, with a purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a
+stone-flagged entry to light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost a tunnel for
+a few yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old
+churchyard&mdash;strange survival in such a part&mdash;and on the other the
+offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker, an actuary. It was
+the barest of impulses which led him to glance up the entry before he blew out
+the match. Then he gave a quick start and became for a moment paralyzed. Within
+a few feet of him something was lying on the ground&mdash;a dark mass, black
+and soft&mdash;the body of a man, perhaps. Just above it, a pair of eyes
+gleamed at him through the semi-darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy. It might be a tramp or a drunkard,
+perhaps,&mdash;a fight, or a man taken ill. Then something sinister about the
+light of those burning eyes set his heart beating faster. He struck another
+match with firm fingers, and bent forward. What he saw upon the ground made him
+feel a little sick. What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him to
+swift pursuit. Down the arched court into the open space he ran, himself an
+athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike form which he pursued.
+At the end was another street&mdash;empty. He looked up and down, seeking in
+vain for any signs of life. There was nothing to tell him which way to turn.
+Opposite was a very labyrinth of courts and turnings. There was not even the
+sound of a footfall to guide him. Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another
+match, and leaned over the prostrate figure. Then he knew that it was a tragedy
+indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means. These were
+the first two things of which Laverick assured himself. Without any doubt, a
+savage and a terrible crime had been committed. A hornhandled knife of unusual
+length had been driven up to the hilt through the heart of the murdered man.
+There had been other blows, notably about the head. There was not much blood,
+but the position of the knife alone told its ugly story. Laverick, though his
+nerves were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked. He rose to his
+feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping. The street was no
+longer empty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in the middle of
+the road. The light from the lamp-post escaped his face. Laverick could only
+see that he was slim, of medium height, dressed in dark clothes, with his hands
+in the pockets of his overcoat. To all appearance, he was watching the entry.
+Laverick took a step towards him&mdash;the man as deliberately took a step
+further away. Laverick held up his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hullo!&rdquo; he called out, and beckoned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The person addressed took no notice. Laverick advanced another two or three
+steps&mdash;the man retreated a similar distance. Laverick changed his tactics
+and made a sudden spring forward. The man hesitated no longer&mdash;he turned
+and ran as though for his life. In a few minutes he was round the corner of the
+street and out of sight. Laverick returned slowly to the entry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A distant clock struck midnight. A couple of clerks came along the pavement on
+the other side, their hands and arms full of letters. Laverick hesitated. He
+was never afterwards able to account for the impulse which prevented his
+calling out to them. Instead he lurked in the shadows and watched them go by.
+When he was sure that they had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of
+the murdered man. Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a
+nameless and terrible fascination for him. His first feelings of horror were
+mingled now with an insatiable curiosity. What manner of man was he? He was
+tall and strongly built; fair&mdash;of almost florid complexion. His clothes
+were very shabby and apparently ready-made. His moustache was upturned, and his
+hair was trimmed closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen. Laverick stooped
+lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees. There was something
+projecting from the man&rsquo;s pocket as though it had been half snatched
+out&mdash;a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the size of a satchel.
+Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand whilst with firm fingers he struck
+another match. Then, for the first time, a little cry broke from his lips. Both
+sides of the pocket-book were filled with bank-notes. As his match flickered
+out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner&mdash;500
+pounds!&mdash;great rolls of them! Laverick rose gasping to his feet. It was a
+new Arabian Nights, this!&mdash;a dream!&mdash;a continuation of the nightmare
+which had threatened him all day! Or was it, perhaps, the madness
+coming&mdash;the madness which he had begun only an hour or so ago to fear!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down. The mysterious
+stranger had vanished. There was not a soul in sight. He clutched the rough
+stone wall with his hands, he kicked the pavement with his heels. There was no
+doubt about it&mdash;everything around him was real. Most real of all was the
+fact that within a few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands
+was that brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents. For the last
+time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up shape. One by
+one he went through the other pockets. There was a packet of Russian
+cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver, and obviously of foreign
+workmanship; a cigarette holder stained with much use, but of the finest amber,
+with rich gold mountings. There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of
+identification of any sort. Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the
+thoughts that went tearing through his brain. The pocket-book began to burn his
+hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon his forehead. Yet he
+never hesitated. He walked like a man in a dream, but his footsteps were steady
+and short. Deliberately, and without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards
+his offices. If a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had
+decided to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened. It was the one
+chance he held against himself,&mdash;the gambler&rsquo;s method of decision,
+perhaps, unconsciously arrived at. As it turned out, there was still not a soul
+in sight. Laverick opened the outer door with his latchkey, let himself in and
+closed it. Then he groped his way through the clerk&rsquo;s office into his own
+room, switched on the electric light and once more sat down before his desk.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with a
+nervousness wholly unfamiliar. Then he opened the pocket-book, drew out the
+roll of bank-notes and counted them. It was curious that he felt no surprise at
+their value. Bank-notes for five hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet
+he proceeded with his task without the slightest instinct of surprise. Then he
+leaned back in his chair. Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes!
+There they lay on the table before him. A man had died for their
+sake,&mdash;another must go through all the days with the price of blood upon
+his head&mdash;a murderer&mdash;a haunted creature for the rest of his life.
+And there on the table were the spoils. Laverick tried to think the matter out
+dispassionately. He was a man of average moral fibre&mdash;that is to say, he
+was honest in his dealings with other men because his father and his
+grandfather before him had been honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty
+was shameful. Here, however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual
+problem. These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man. Save for his
+own interference, they would have been in the hands of his murderer. The use of
+them for a few days could do no one any harm. Such risk as there was he took
+himself. That it was a risk he knew and fully realized. Laverick had sat in his
+place unmoved when his partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery. Yet
+of the two men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position
+the more keenly. He was a man of some social standing, with a large circle of
+friends; a sportsman, and with many interests outside the daily routine of his
+city life. To him failure meant more than the loss of money; it would rob him
+of everything in life worth having. The days to come had been emptied of all
+promise. He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had
+strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities and
+humiliation to come. And here before him was possible salvation. There was a
+price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making use even for an hour of
+this money. Yet from the first he had known that he meant to do it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book into one of
+the drawers, and locked it up. Then he lit a cigarette, finally shut up the
+office and walked down the street. As he passed the entry he turned his head
+slowly. Apparently no one had been there, nothing had been disturbed. Straining
+his eyes through the darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying
+huddled up on the ground. Then he walked on. He had burned his boats now and
+was prepared for all emergencies. At the corner he met a policeman, to whom he
+wished a cheery good-night. He told himself that the thing which he had done
+was for the best. He owed it to himself. He owed it to those who had trusted
+him. After all, it was the chief part of his life&mdash;his city career. It was
+here that his friends lived. It was here that his ambitions flourished.
+Disgrace here was eternal disgrace. His father and his grandfather before him
+had been men honored and respected in this same circle. Disgrace to him, such
+disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a few hours ago, would
+have been, in a certain sense, a reflection upon their memories. The names upon
+the brass plates to right and to left of him were the names of men he knew, men
+with whom he desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life
+worth living or the reverse. It was worth a great risk&mdash;this effort of his
+to keep his place. His one mistake&mdash;this association with
+Morrison&mdash;had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck. He was rid of
+the fellow now. For the future there should be no more partners. He had his
+life to live. It was not reasonable that he should allow himself to be dragged
+down into the mire by such a creature. He found an empty taxicab at the corner
+of Queen Victoria Street, and hailed it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Whitehall Court,&rdquo; he told the driver.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
+BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED</h2>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life it was to
+meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this was disaster too
+appalling even for his self-control. He felt his knees shake so that he caught
+at the edge of the table before which he was standing. There was no possible
+doubt about it, he had been tricked. Von Behrling, after all,&mdash;Von
+Behrling, whom he had looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian,
+ready to sell his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man who sat at the head of the table&mdash;the only other occupant of the
+room&mdash;was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat. He had just been
+attending a Court function, from which Bellamy&rsquo;s message had summoned
+him. Before him on the table was an envelope, hastily torn open, and several
+sheets of blank paper. It was upon these that Bellamy&rsquo;s eyes were fixed
+with an expression of mingled horror and amazement. The Cabinet Minister had
+already pushed them away with a little gesture of contempt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; he said gravely, &ldquo;it is not like you to make so
+serious an error.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope not, sir,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;I&mdash;yes, I have
+been deceived.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is to be done?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together. He caught up the envelope,
+looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper to the lamp and laid
+them down. Then with clenched fists he walked to the other side of the room and
+returned. He was himself again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry. Only an
+hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the city, and gave him
+twenty thousand pounds for that envelope.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You paid him the money,&rdquo; the Minister remarked slowly,
+&ldquo;without opening the envelope.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy admitted it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In such transactions as these,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;great risks
+are almost inevitable. I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd risk.
+To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience in these things, I
+thought it no risk at all when I handed over the money. Von Behrling was there
+in disguise. The men with whom he came to this country are furious with him. To
+all appearance, he seemed to have broken with them absolutely. Even now&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Even now,&rdquo; Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall
+of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in his face,
+&ldquo;even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake. An envelope such as
+this had been arranged for him to show the others or leave at the Austrian
+Embassy in case of emergency. He had it with him in his pocket-book. He even
+told me so. God in Heaven, he gave me the wrong one!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In that case,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;perhaps he would not go to the
+Embassy to-night, especially if he was in disguise. You may still be able to
+find him and repair the error.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will try,&rdquo; answered Bellamy. &ldquo;Thank Heaven!&rdquo; he
+added, with a sudden gleam of satisfaction, &ldquo;my watchers are still
+dogging his footsteps. I can find out before morning where he went when he left
+our rendezvous. There is another way, too. Mademoiselle&mdash;this man Von
+Behrling believed that she was leaving the country with him. She was to have
+had a message within the next few hours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often. The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above supervision, but
+twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to have paid for this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger. Bellamy&rsquo;s teeth
+were clenched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The money shall be returned, sir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not misunderstand me,&rdquo; Sir James went on, speaking a little
+more kindly. &ldquo;The money, after all, in comparison with what it was
+destined to purchase, is nothing. We might even count it a fair risk if it was
+lost.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It shall not be lost,&rdquo; Bellamy promised. &ldquo;If Von Behrling
+has played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country. In that
+case, I will have the money from him without a doubt. If, on the other hand, he
+was honest to us and a traitor to his country, as I firmly believe, it may not
+yet be too late.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us hope not,&rdquo; Sir James declared. &ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; he
+continued, a note of agitation trembling in his tone, &ldquo;I need not tell
+you, I am sure, how important this matter is. You work like a mole in the dark,
+yet you have brains,&mdash;you understand. Let me tell you how things are with
+us. A certain amount of confidence is due to you, if to any one. I may tell you
+that at the Cabinet Council to-day a very serious tone prevailed. We do not
+understand in the least the attitude of several of the European Powers. It can
+be understood only under certain assumptions. A note of ours sent through the
+Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days. The German
+Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent business. We have just
+heard, too, that a secret mission from Russia left St. Petersburg last night
+for Paris. Side by side with all this,&rdquo; Sir James continued, &ldquo;the
+Czar is trying to evade his promised visit here. The note we have received
+speaks of his health. Well, we know all about that. We know, I may tell you,
+that his health has never been better than at the present moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It all means one thing and one thing only,&rdquo; Bellamy affirmed.
+&ldquo;In Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile. Even
+the man in the street seems to know what is coming.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat. His hands were tightly clenched,
+and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes. Those who were intimate with
+him knew that he had aged many years during the last few weeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The cruel part is,&rdquo; he said softly, &ldquo;that it should have
+come in my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the Opposition
+benches for the one thing which would have made us safe to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An army,&rdquo; murmured Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The days are coming,&rdquo; Sir James continued, &ldquo;when those who
+prated of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with their
+own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us. Secretly we are mobilizing all
+that we have to mobilize,&rdquo; he added, with a little sigh. &ldquo;At the
+very best, however, our position is pitiful. Even if we are prepared to defend,
+I am afraid that we shall see things on the Continent in which we shall be
+driven to interfere, or else suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has
+ever known. If we could only tell what was coming!&rdquo; he wound up, looking
+once more at those empty sheets of paper. &ldquo;It is this darkness which is
+so alarming!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street. It was half-past one, but he had no fear
+of not being admitted. Louise&rsquo;s French maid answered the bell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Madame has not retired?&rdquo; Bellamy inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But no, sir,&rdquo; the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile.
+&ldquo;It is only a few minutes ago that she has returned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room. She was gorgeous in blue satin and
+pearls. Her other maid was taking off her jewels. She dismissed both the women
+abruptly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I absolutely couldn&rsquo;t avoid a supper-party,&rdquo; she said,
+holding out her hands. &ldquo;You expected that, of course. You were not at the
+Opera House?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle. It was securely
+closed. He came back slowly to her side. Her eyes were questioning him
+fiercely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you heard from Von Behrling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;He knew that I must sing to-night. I
+have been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home. You have
+seen him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have seen him,&rdquo; Bellamy admitted. &ldquo;Either he has deceived
+us both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened. Listen. I
+met him where he appointed. He was there, disguised, almost unrecognizable. He
+was nervous and desperate; he had the air of a man who has cut himself adrift
+from the world. I gave him the money,&mdash;twenty thousand pounds in Bank of
+England notes, Louise,&mdash;and he gave me the papers, or what we thought were
+the papers. He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a
+little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to Liverpool Street
+station to wait, and would telephone you from the hotel there later on. You
+have not heard yet, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There has been no message, but go on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He gave me the wrong document&mdash;the wrong envelope,&rdquo; continued
+Bellamy. &ldquo;When I took it to&mdash;to Downing Street, it was full of blank
+paper.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The color slowly left her cheeks. She looked at him with horror in her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think that he meant to do it?&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We cannot tell,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;My own impression is
+that he did not. We must find out at once what has become of him. He might
+even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has, believing it to
+be the duplicate. He is sure to telephone you. The moment you hear you must let
+me know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better stay here,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;There are plenty
+of rooms. You will be on the spot then.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go. That
+fellow Streuss has spies everywhere. That is one reason why I believe that Von
+Behrling was serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, he was serious!&rdquo; Louise repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are sure?&rdquo; Bellamy asked. &ldquo;You have never had even any
+doubt about him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never,&rdquo; she answered firmly. &ldquo;David, I had not meant to tell
+you this. You know that I saw him for a moment this morning. He was in deadly
+earnest. He gave me a ring&mdash;a trifle&mdash;but it had belonged to his
+mother. He would not have done this if he had been playing us false.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right, Louise!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I shall go back to my
+rooms at once. Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there may
+be a report for me. If anything comes here, you will telephone at once?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; she assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do not think it possible,&rdquo; he asked slowly, &ldquo;that he
+would attempt to see you here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; he decided, &ldquo;we will wait. Dear,&rdquo; he
+added, in an altered tone, &ldquo;how splendid you look!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her face suddenly softened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, David!&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;to hear you speak naturally even
+for a moment&mdash;it makes everything seem so different!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of satisfaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;some day the time may come when we shall
+be able to give up this life of anxiety and terrors. But it cannot be
+yet&mdash;not for your country&rsquo;s sake or mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She kissed him fondly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So long as there is hope!&rdquo; she whispered.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
+VON BEHRLING&rsquo;S FATE</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when the more
+confidential of her maids&mdash;Annette, the Frenchwoman&mdash;woke her with a
+light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it, Annette?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Surely it is not mid-day
+yet? Why do you disturb me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is barely nine o&rsquo;clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur
+Bellamy&mdash;Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever he
+came. He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did he send any message?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only that his business was of the most urgent,&rdquo; the maid replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise sighed,&mdash;she was really very sleepy. Then, as the thoughts began to
+crowd into her brain, she began also to remember. Some part of the excitement
+of a few hours ago returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown,&rdquo; she ordered. &ldquo;Tell
+Monsieur Bellamy that I hurry. I will be with him in twenty minutes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory. She came at last,
+however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she herself clad in a
+pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;David!&rdquo; she cried,&mdash;&ldquo;my dear David&mdash;!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she broke off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; she asked, in a different tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tragedy!&rdquo; he answered hoarsely. &ldquo;Von Behrling was true,
+after all,&mdash;at least, it seems so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What has happened?&rdquo; she demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A little exclamation broke from Louise&rsquo;s lips. She sat down suddenly. The
+color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her bath was rapidly fading
+away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;David,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;is this true?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is indeed,&rdquo; Bellamy assured her. &ldquo;Not only that, but
+there is no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder. It must
+have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got away with the
+pocket-book and the money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What can we do?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is nothing to be done,&rdquo; Bellamy declared calmly. &ldquo;We
+are defeated. The thing is quite apparent. Von Behrling never succeeded, after
+all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who were watching him. They
+tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited about while I met him. Afterwards,
+he had to pass along a narrow passage. It was there that he was found
+murdered.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But, David, I don&rsquo;t understand! Why did they wait until after he
+had seen you? How did they know that he had not parted with the paper in the
+restaurant? To all intents and purposes he ought to have done so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot understand that myself,&rdquo; Bellamy admitted. &ldquo;In
+fact, it is inexplicable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report. Then, &ldquo;You are sure,
+I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling? He is quite unidentified, you
+see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no doubt about it,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;I have been
+to the Mortuary. It is certainly he. All our work has been in vain&mdash;just
+as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him compassionately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is hard lines, dear,&rdquo; she admitted. &ldquo;You are tired, too.
+You look as though you had been up all night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I am tired,&rdquo; he answered, sinking into a chair. &ldquo;I am
+worse than tired. This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I am
+afraid that it is the end of everything. I have lost twenty thousand pounds of
+Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance which might have saved
+England. They will never trust me again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You did your best,&rdquo; she said, coming over and sitting on the arm
+of his chair. &ldquo;You did your best, David.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his&mdash;smooth and
+cold&mdash;exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, Louise!&rdquo; he murmured, &ldquo;life is getting a little too
+strenuous. Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others. What do you
+think?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do? Could we be
+happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were coming to pass?
+Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were being butchered out of
+existence?&mdash; And you&mdash;you are not the sort of man to be content with
+an ignoble peace. No, it isn&rsquo;t possible. Our work may not be over
+yet&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many apologies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle,&rdquo; she explained, &ldquo;a thousand pardons, and to
+Monsieur also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is of
+the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once. I have done all
+that I can, but he will not go away. He knows that Monsieur Bellamy is here,
+too,&rdquo; she added, turning to him, &ldquo;and he says his business has to
+do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl&rsquo;s fingers. He read out the
+name in blank amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baron de Streuss!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a moment&rsquo;s silence. Louise and he exchanged wondering glances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What can this mean?&rdquo; she asked hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heaven knows!&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Let us see him together. After
+all&mdash;after all&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can show the gentleman in, Annette,&rdquo; her mistress ordered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he has the papers,&rdquo; Bellamy continued slowly, &ldquo;why does
+he come to us? It is not like these men to be vindictive. Diplomacy to them is
+nothing&mdash;a game of chess. I do not understand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed low to
+Louise&mdash;he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I need not introduce myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With Mr. Bellamy I
+have the honor to be well acquainted. Madame is known to all the world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,&rdquo;
+she said. &ldquo;At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I owe this
+somewhat unexpected pleasure?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be. I know that it is
+an impossible hour. I know, too, that to have forced my presence upon you in
+this manner may seem discourteous. Yet the urgency of the matter, I am
+convinced, justifies me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow of thanks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not
+waste words. We have played a game of chess together. You, Mademoiselle, and
+Mr. Bellamy on the one side&mdash;I and my friends upon the other. The honor of
+Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought. The victory remains with
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy never moved a muscle. Louise, on the contrary, could not help a slight
+start.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Under the circumstances,&rdquo; the Baron continued smoothly, &ldquo;the
+struggle was uneven. I do myself the justice to remember that from the first I
+realized that we played a losing game. Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he added,
+&ldquo;from the days of Cleopatra&mdash;ay, and throughout those shadowy days
+which lie beyond&mdash;the diplomats of the world have been powerless when
+matched against your sex. Rudolph Von Behrling was an honest fellow enough
+until he looked into your eyes. Mademoiselle, you have gifts which might,
+perhaps, have driven from his senses a stronger man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of her lips.
+Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly. She did not understand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You flatter me, Baron,&rdquo; she murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth. This plain talking is
+pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it. That time, I
+think, is now. Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice, but because he was the
+Chancellor&rsquo;s nephew, was associated with me in a certain enterprise, the
+nature of which is no secret to you, Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here. We
+followed a man who, by some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets
+of foolscap, the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and
+priceless to yours. The subsequent history of those papers should have been
+automatic. The first step was fulfilled readily enough. The man
+disappeared&mdash;the papers were ours. Von Behrling was the man who secured
+them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them. If my advice had been
+followed, I admit frankly that we should have ignored all possible comment and
+returned with them at once to Vienna. The others thought differently. They
+ruled that we should come on to London and deposit the packet with our
+Ambassador here. In a weak moment I consented. It was your opportunity,
+Mademoiselle, an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed
+yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This time Louise held herself with composure. Bellamy&rsquo;s brain was in a
+whirl but he remained silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I come to you both,&rdquo; the Baron continued, &ldquo;with my hands
+open. I come&mdash;I make no secret of it&mdash;I come to make terms. But first
+of all I must know whether I am in time. There is one question which I must
+ask. I address it, sir, to you,&rdquo; he added, turning to Bellamy.
+&ldquo;Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the papers which you
+obtained from Von Behrling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief. Though he had maintained his savoir
+faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played with his tie, as though
+to rearrange it, were trembling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, then, I am in time. Will you see my hand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle and I,&rdquo; answered Bellamy, &ldquo;are at least ready
+to listen to anything you may have to say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know quite well,&rdquo; the Baron continued, &ldquo;what it is that
+I have come to say, yet I want you to remember this. I do not come to bribe you
+in any ordinary manner. The things which are to come will happen; they must
+happen, if not this year, next,&mdash;if not next year, within half a decade of
+years. History is an absolute science. The future as well as the past can be
+read by those who know the signs. The thing which has been resolved upon is
+certain. The knowledge of the contents of those papers by your Government might
+delay the final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more. In the long
+run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every way, that the
+end come soon. Therefore, I ask you to perform no traitorous deed. I ask you to
+do that which is simply reasonable for all of us, which is, indeed, for the
+advantage of all of us. restore those papers to me instead of handing them to
+your Government, and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand
+pounds!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One hundred thousand pounds,&rdquo; Bellamy repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One hundred thousand pounds!&rdquo; murmured Louise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a brief, intense pause. Louise waited, warned by the expression in
+Bellamy&rsquo;s face. Silence, she felt, was safest, and it was Bellamy who
+spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baron,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;your visit and your proposal are both a
+little amazing. Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a
+moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Most certainly,&rdquo; the Baron agreed. &ldquo;I go away and leave
+you&mdash;out of the room, if you will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not necessary,&rdquo; Bellamy replied. &ldquo;Louise!&rdquo; The
+Baron withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest corner
+of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What can it mean?&rdquo; he whispered. &ldquo;What do you suppose has
+happened?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot imagine. My brain is in a whirl.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If they have not got the pocket-book,&rdquo; Bellamy muttered, &ldquo;it
+must have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary. If so, there is a chance.
+Louise, say nothing; leave this to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As you will,&rdquo; she assented. &ldquo;I have no wish to interfere. I
+only hope that he does not ask me any questions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron turned to meet
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must forgive Mademoiselle,&rdquo; said Bellamy, &ldquo;if she is a
+little upset this morning. She knows, of course, as I know and you know, that
+Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried his life in his
+hands. Yet his death has been a shock&mdash;has been a shock, I may say, to
+both of us. From your point of view,&rdquo; Bellamy went on, &ldquo;it was
+doubtless deserved, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What, in God&rsquo;s name, is this that you say?&rdquo; the Baron
+interrupted. &ldquo;I do not understand at all! You speak of Von
+Behrling&rsquo;s death! What do you mean?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baron,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;between us who know so much there is
+surely no need for you to play a part. Von Behrling knew that you were watching
+him. Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me. He knew that he was
+running terrible risks. He was not unprepared and he has paid. It is not for
+us&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, in God&rsquo;s name, tell me the truth!&rdquo; Baron de Streuss
+interrupted once more. &ldquo;What is it that you are saying about Von
+Behrling&rsquo;s death?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth. He leaned forward with his
+hands resting upon the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mean to say that you do not know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon my soul, no!&rdquo; replied the Baron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
+BARON DE STREUSS&rsquo; PROPOSAL</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now was
+waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and read the
+paragraph word by word.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Early this morning the body of a man was discovered in a narrow passageway
+leading from Crooked Friars to Royal Street, under circumstances which leave
+little doubt but that the man&rsquo;s death was owing to foul play. The
+deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had received several severe blows
+about the head. He was shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and
+he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+LATER
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+There appears to be no further doubt but that the man found in the entry
+leading from Crooked Friars had been the victim of a particularly murderous
+assault. Neither his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which he
+could be identified. The body has been removed to the nearest mortuary, and an
+inquest will shortly be held.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise was
+apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion. While he
+looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts were forming in his
+mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Von Behrling dead!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;But who&mdash;who could
+have done this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Until this moment,&rdquo; Bellamy answered dryly, &ldquo;it was not a
+matter concerning which we had any doubt. The only wonder to us was that it
+should have been done too late.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean,&rdquo; Streuss said slowly, &ldquo;that he was murdered after
+he had completed his bargain with you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose,&rdquo; the Baron continued, &ldquo;there is no question but
+that it was done afterwards? You smile,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;but what am
+I to think? Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed. How about
+yours?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We do not fight that way,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I had bought Von
+Behrling. He was of no further interest to me. I did not care whether he lived
+or died.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is something very strange about this,&rdquo; the Baron said.
+&ldquo;If neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That I can&rsquo;t tell you. Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from
+the police. It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain long
+undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in bank-notes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Supplied by His Majesty&rsquo;s Government, I presume?&rdquo; Streuss
+remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Precisely,&rdquo; Bellamy assented, &ldquo;and paid to him by me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate,&rdquo; Streuss said grimly, &ldquo;we have now no more
+secrets from one another. I will ask you one last question. Where is that
+packet at the present moment?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a question,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;which you could scarcely
+expect me to answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will put it another way,&rdquo; Streuss continued. &ldquo;Supposing
+you decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can be
+placed in my hands?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If we decide to accept,&rdquo; Bellamy answered, &ldquo;there is no
+reason why there should be any delay at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss was silent for several moments. His hands were thrust deep down into
+the pockets of his overcoat. With eyes fixed upon the tablecloth, he seemed to
+be thinking deeply, till presently he raised his head and looked steadily at
+Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you? You are sure that you
+have that identical packet?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am absolutely certain that I have,&rdquo; Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then accept my price and have done with this matter,&rdquo; Streuss
+begged. &ldquo;I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake to bring
+you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within twenty-four hours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot decide so quickly,&rdquo; said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not
+sure,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;whether I might not find a higher bidder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is little fear of that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The papers are of
+no use except to us and to England. To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the eventful
+result would be the same. It is for that reason that I am here, for that reason
+that I have made you this offer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle and I must discuss it,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;It
+is not a matter to be decided upon off-hand. Remember that it is not only the
+packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my honor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One hundred thousand pounds,&rdquo; Streuss said slowly. &ldquo;From
+your own side you get nothing&mdash;nothing but your beggarly salary and an
+occasional reprimand. One hundred thousand pounds is not immense wealth, but it
+is something.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your offer is a generous one,&rdquo; admitted Bellamy, &ldquo;there is
+no doubt about that. On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration. It is a big thing for us, remember. I have worked very hard for
+the contents of that packet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity. After all, was this
+Englishman playing with him? So he asked: &ldquo;You are quite sure that you
+have it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use. You
+must be content with my word. I have the packet. I paid Von Behrling for it and
+he gave it to me with his own hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must accept your word,&rdquo; Streuss declared. &ldquo;I give you
+three days for reflection. Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer once
+more to this,&rdquo;&mdash;touching the newspaper which still lay upon the
+table. &ldquo;Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked man. Your
+spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels. Yet in the end some third
+person seems to have intervened. Are you quite sure that you know nothing of
+this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon my honor,&rdquo; Bellamy replied, &ldquo;I have not the slightest
+information concerning Von Behrling&rsquo;s death beyond what you can read
+there. It was as great a surprise to me as to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is incomprehensible,&rdquo; Streuss murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One can only conclude,&rdquo; Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, &ldquo;that
+someone must have seen him with those notes. There were people moving about in
+the little restaurant where we met. The rustle of bank-notes has cost more than
+one man his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For the present,&rdquo; Streuss said, &ldquo;we must believe that it was
+so. Listen to me, both of you. You will be wiser if you do not delay. You are
+young people, and the world is before you. With money one can do everything.
+Without it, life is but a slavery. The world is full of beautiful
+dwelling-places for those who have the means to choose. Remember, too, that not
+a soul will ever know of this transaction, if you should decide to accept my
+offer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We shall remember all those things,&rdquo; Bellamy assured him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With your permission, then, Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he concluded, turning
+to Louise, &ldquo;I go. I must try and understand for myself the meaning of
+this thing which has happened to Von Behrling.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not forget,&rdquo; Bellamy said, &ldquo;that if you discover
+anything, we are equally interested.&rdquo;...
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They heard him go out. Bellamy purposely held the door open until he saw the
+lift descend. Then he closed it firmly and came back into the room. Louise and
+he looked at each other, their faces full of anxious questioning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does it mean?&rdquo; Louise cried. &ldquo;What can it mean?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heaven alone knows!&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;There is not a gleam
+of daylight. My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling. If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his people are in
+the same position. Who, then, in the name of all that is miraculous, can have
+murdered and robbed Von Behrling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In London, too,&rdquo; Louise murmured. &ldquo;It is not Vienna, this,
+or Belgrade.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right,&rdquo; Bellamy agreed. &ldquo;London is one of the most
+law-abiding cities in Europe. Besides, the quarter where the murder occurred is
+entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes. It is simply a region of great
+banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?&rdquo; Louise asked,&mdash;&ldquo;some one else who has been watching
+Von Behrling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can that be? Besides, if any one else were really on his track, they
+must have believed that he had parted with it to me. I shall go back now to
+Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of Scotland Yard. If anything
+comes out, I must have plenty of warning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I,&rdquo; she said, with an approving nod, &ldquo;shall go back to
+bed again. These days are too strenuous for me. Won&rsquo;t you stay and take
+your coffee with me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I would stay, but you understand,
+don&rsquo;t you, what a maze this is into which we have wandered. Von Behrling
+has been murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty thousand pounds
+and the packet which should have been mine. I must trace them if I can, Louise.
+It is a poor chance, but I must do my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von
+Behrling was murdered for the money, and for the money only. If so, that packet
+may be in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it. They may
+even destroy it. If Streuss returns and you are forced to see him, be careful.
+Remember, we have the document&mdash;we are hesitating. So long as he believes
+that it is in our possession, he will not look elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will be careful,&rdquo; Louise promised, with her arms around his
+neck. &ldquo;And, dear, take care. When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling, I
+tremble, also, for you. It seems to me that your danger is no less than
+his.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,&rdquo;
+with a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is pledged
+to recover. Be careful that they do not lead you into a trap. They are not
+above anything, these men. I heard once of a Bulgarian in Vienna who was
+tortured&mdash;tortured almost to death&mdash;before he spoke. Then they thrust
+him into a lunatic asylum. Remember, dear, they have no consciences and no
+pity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are in London,&rdquo; he reminded her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So was Von Behrling,&rdquo; she answered quickly,&mdash;&ldquo;not only
+in London but in a safe part of London. Yet he is dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was not their doing,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;In their own country,
+they have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their backs,
+and no fear of the law in their hearts. Here they must needs go cautiously. I
+don&rsquo;t think you need be afraid,&rdquo; he added, smiling, as he opened
+the door. &ldquo;I think I can promise you that if you will do me the honor we
+will sup together to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must fetch me from the Opera House,&rdquo; Louise insisted.
+&ldquo;It is a bargain. I have suffered enough neglect at your hands. One
+thing, David,&mdash;where do you go first from here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To find the man,&rdquo; Bellamy answered gravely, &ldquo;who was
+watching Von Behrling when he left me. If any man in England knows anything of
+the murder, it must be he. He should be at my rooms by now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br />
+STEPHEN LAVERICK&rsquo;S CONSCIENCE</h2>
+
+<p>
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor&mdash;his friends called him an incorrigible
+one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of rooms in Whitehall Court,
+looking out upon the river. His habits were almost monotonous in their
+regularity, and the morning following his late night in the city was no
+exception to the general rule. At eight o&rsquo;clock, the valet attached to
+the suite knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready. He
+awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the events of
+the preceding evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of memory. He was
+a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and by no means of an
+adventurous turn of mind. He sought naturally for the most reasonable
+explanation of this strange picture, which no effort of his will could dismiss
+from his memory. It was a dream, of course. But the dream did not fade. Slowly
+it spread itself out so that he could no longer doubt. He knew very well as he
+sat there on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth. He, Stephen
+Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of which
+unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked into the burning
+eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty thousand pounds of someone
+else&rsquo;s money. Morally, at any rate,&mdash;probably legally as
+well,&mdash;he was a thief. A glimpse inside his safe on the part of an astute
+detective might very easily bring him under the grave suspicion of being a
+criminal of altogether deeper dye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher. In the cold
+daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath, this deed which he
+had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible. Nevertheless, he realized the
+absolute finality of his action. The thing was done; he must make the best of
+it. Behaving in every way like a sensible man, he did not send for the
+newspapers and search hysterically for their account of last night&rsquo;s
+tragedy, but took his bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and
+sat down to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper. The item for which
+he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as he had expected. It
+appeared under one of the leading headlines, but it consisted of only a few
+words. He read them with interest but without emotion. Afterwards he turned to
+the Stock Exchange quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was
+interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed his usual
+custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal Hotel, where he
+called a taxicab and drove to his offices. A little crowd had gathered around
+the end of the passage which led from Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself
+leaned forward and looked curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered
+man had lain. It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night&rsquo;s scene in
+his mind now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream
+of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway. In his early morning mood the
+thing was impossible. In a moment or two he paid his driver and dismissed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when he opened
+the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+&ldquo;Good-morning!&rdquo; made his way into the private office. He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which was brought
+in to him by his head-clerk. Afterwards, as soon as he was alone, he opened the
+safe, thrust the contents of that inner drawer into his breast-pocket, and took
+up once more his hat and gloves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am going around to the bank,&rdquo; he told his clerk as he passed
+out. &ldquo;I shall be back in half-an-hour&mdash;perhaps less.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very good, sir,&rdquo; the man answered. &ldquo;Will Mr. Morrison be
+here this morning?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an interview with
+the manager was immediately granted. The latter received him kindly but with a
+certain restraint. There are not many secrets in the city, and Morrison&rsquo;s
+big plunge on a particular mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had
+been freely commented upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?&rdquo; the banker asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not sure,&rdquo; answered Laverick. &ldquo;To tell you the truth, I
+am in a somewhat singular position.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The banker nodded. He had not a doubt but that he understood exactly what that
+position was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have perhaps heard,&rdquo; Laverick continued slowly, &ldquo;that my
+late partner, Mr. Morrison,&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Late partner?&rdquo; the manager interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We had a few words last night,&rdquo; he explained &ldquo;and Mr.
+Morrison left the office with an understanding between us that he should not
+return. You will receive a formal intimation of that during the course of the
+next day or so. We will revert to the matter presently, if you wish. My
+immediate business with you is to discuss the fact that I have to provide
+something like twenty thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the
+purchases of stock which Morrison has made.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail to do
+so?&rdquo; the manager remarked gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I am quite aware of the fact
+that Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for his
+transactions. He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great deal more deeply
+than our capital warranted. I may add that I had not the slightest idea as to
+the extent of his dealings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twenty thousand pounds,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;is a great deal of
+money, Mr. Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a great deal of money,&rdquo; Laverick admitted. &ldquo;I am here
+to ask you to lend it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear Mr. Laverick!&rdquo; he exclaimed reproachfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon unimpeachable security,&rdquo; Laverick continued. The bank manager
+was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to escape him, and
+bit his lip with annoyance. It was entirely contrary to his tenets to display
+at any time during office hours any sort of emotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unimpeachable security,&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Of course, if you
+have that to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My security is of the best,&rdquo; Laverick declared grimly. &ldquo;I
+have bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action. He whistled
+softly under his breath. A very respectable client he had always considered Mr.
+Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly never suspected him of being able to
+produce at a pinch such evidence of means. Laverick smoothed out the notes and
+laid them upon the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Fenwick,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I believe I am right in assuming
+that when one comes to one&rsquo;s bankers, one enters, as it were, into a
+confessional. I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will be repeated
+outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your own mind except with
+reference to this particular transaction between you and me. I have the right,
+have I not, to take that for granted?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Most certainly,&rdquo; the banker agreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From a strictly ethical point of view,&rdquo; Laverick went on,
+&ldquo;this money is not mine. I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it
+without any conditions. I have power to make what use I wish of it, and I
+choose to-day to use it on my own behalf. Whether I am justified or not is
+scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns this excellent banking
+establishment over which you preside so ably. I do not pay these bank-notes in
+to my account and ask you to credit me with twenty thousand pounds. I ask you
+to allow me to deposit them here for seven days as security against an
+overdraft. You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of
+to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one. They were
+very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he
+said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no doubt that it must seem so to you,&rdquo; Laverick admitted.
+&ldquo;At the same time, there the money is. You can run no risk. If I am
+exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I who will have to
+pay. Will you do as I ask?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The banker hesitated. The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one, but on the
+face of it there could be no possible risk. At the same time, there was
+something about it which he could not understand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your wish, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he remarked, looking at him
+thoughtfully, &ldquo;seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In a sense, that is so,&rdquo; he assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the whole,&rdquo; the banker declared, &ldquo;I should prefer to
+credit them to your account in the usual way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;but I have a sentimental
+feeling about it. I prefer to keep the notes intact. If you cannot follow out
+my suggestion, I must remove my account at once. This isn&rsquo;t a threat, Mr.
+Fenwick,&mdash;you will understand that, I am sure. It is simply a matter of
+business, and owing to Morrison&rsquo;s speculations I have no time for
+arguments. I am quite satisfied to remain in your hands, but my feeling in the
+matter is exactly as I have stated, and I cannot change. If you are to retain
+my account, my engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have
+pointed out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments. When he
+returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who is giving in to an
+unreasonable client.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he announced. &ldquo;The
+notes are placed upon deposit. Your engagements to-day up to twenty thousand
+pounds shall be duly honored.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about indifferent
+matters, and strolled back towards his office. He had rather the sense of a man
+who moves in a dream, who is living, somehow, in a life which doesn&rsquo;t
+belong to him. He was doing the impossible. He knew very well that his name was
+in every one&rsquo;s mouth. People were looking at him sympathetically,
+wondering how he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an
+irresponsible speculator. No one ever imagined that he would be able to keep
+his engagements. And he had done it. The price might be a great one, but he was
+prepared to pay. At any moment the sensational news might be upon the placards,
+and the whole world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds. So far he
+had felt himself curiously free from anything in the shape of direct
+apprehensions. Already, however, the shadow was beginning to fall. Even as he
+entered his office, the sight of a stranger offering office files for sale made
+him start. He half expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words
+whispered in his ear. He set his teeth tight. This was his risk and he must
+take it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme for the
+redirection of its policy. With the absence of Morrison, too, there were other
+changes to be made,&mdash;changes in the nature of the business they were
+prepared to handle, limits to be fixed. It was not until nearly luncheon time
+that the telephone, the simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the
+breathless entry of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what
+was going on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Unions&rsquo; have taken their turn at last!&rdquo; the clerk
+announced, in an excited tone. &ldquo;They sagged a little this morning, but
+since eleven they have been going steadily up. Just now there seems to be a
+boom. Listen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded. He was prepared to
+be surprised at nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They were bound to go within a day or two,&rdquo; he remarked.
+&ldquo;Morrison wasn&rsquo;t an absolute idiot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The luncheon hour passed. The excitement in the city grew. By three
+o&rsquo;clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of Laverick&rsquo;s
+engagements. Just before closing-time, it was even doubtful whether he might
+not have borrowed every penny without security at all. He took it all quite
+calmly and as a matter of course. He left the office a little earlier than
+usual, and every man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him.
+He escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a taxicab, and
+as soon as he had started spread them open. It was a remarkable proof of the
+man&rsquo;s self-restraint that at no time during the afternoon had he sent out
+for one of these early editions. He turned them over now with firm fingers.
+There was absolutely no fresh news. No one had come forward with any suggestion
+as to the identity of the murdered man. All day long the body had lain in the
+Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but presumably
+unrecognized. Laverick could scarcely believe the words he read. The thing
+seemed ludicrously impossible. The twenty thousand pounds must have come from
+some one. Why did they keep silence? What was the mystery about it? Could it be
+that they were not in a position to disclose the fact? Curiously enough, this
+unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was almost fear. He
+had taken his risks boldly enough. Now that Fate was playing him this
+unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a growing nervousness. Who could he
+have been, this man? Whence could he have derived this great sum? One person at
+least must know that he had been robbed&mdash;the man who murdered him must
+know it. A cold shiver passed through Laverick&rsquo;s veins at the thought.
+Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood, a man who had
+committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his spoil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going to his club
+he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a little early for dinner and
+go to a theatre. He found there, however, a small boy waiting for him with a
+note in his hand. It was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed
+upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly concealed. There
+was something ominous to him in those printed characters. Its contents,
+however, were short enough.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+D<small>EAR</small> L<small>AVERICK</small>,<br />
+I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, for your own
+sake and mine. A. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it was with relief.
+The note was from Morrison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no address here,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The gent said as I was to take you back with me,&rdquo; the boy
+answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it far?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Close to Red Lion Square,&rdquo; the boy declared. &ldquo;Not more nor
+five minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take one. He is
+in a great hurry to see you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll start at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called them a
+taxicab.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What address?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Number 7, Theobald Square,&rdquo; the boy said. Laverick nodded and
+repeated the address to the driver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!&rdquo; he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br />
+ARTHUR MORRISON&rsquo;S COLLAPSE</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory neighborhood.
+Laverick, who had once visited his partner&rsquo;s somewhat extensive suite of
+rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. The door was opened almost at
+once, not by a servant but by a young lady who was obviously expecting him.
+Before he could open his lips to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door
+behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you please come this way?&rdquo; she said timidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, and with the
+plainness of its furniture relieved by certain undeniable traces of some
+cultured presence. The girl who had followed him stood with her back to the
+door, a little out of breath. Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was
+under medium height, with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown
+hair was parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking
+into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a child. When she
+spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she was afraid. Her voice was soft
+and low, but it was the voice of a woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?&rdquo; she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My name is Stephen Laverick,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;I understood
+that I should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; the girl answered, &ldquo;he sent for you. The note was from
+him. He is here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with her back to
+the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt himself unable to place this
+timid, childlike woman, with her terrified face and beautiful eyes. He had
+never heard Morrison speak of having any relations. His presence in such a
+locality, indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.
+Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with a
+&ldquo;W&rdquo; rather than Heaven E. C.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; Laverick said, &ldquo;that for some reason or other
+you are afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless,&rdquo; he
+added smiling. &ldquo;Won&rsquo;t you sit down and tell me what is the matter?
+Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;he is. As for me, I am
+terrified.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who inspired trust.
+His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the protective instinct of a big man
+toward a small woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come and tell me all about it,&rdquo; he suggested. &ldquo;I expected to
+hear that he had gone abroad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she said, looking up at him tremulously. &ldquo;I
+was hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that rather depends,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;We certainly
+had a terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most
+unfortunate&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes!&rdquo; the girl interrupted. &ldquo;Please go on. There have
+been business troubles, then.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rather,&rdquo; Laverick continued. &ldquo;Last night they reached such a
+pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he should leave
+the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quite understood that he was going
+abroad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There was something, then,&rdquo; she said, half to herself.
+&ldquo;There was something. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him,
+perhaps, Mr. Laverick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his hands behind
+him&mdash;a commanding figure in the tiny room full of feminine trifles. He
+looked a great deal more at his ease than he really was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered,&rdquo; he admitted.
+&ldquo;You see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was
+going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control. He had
+entered into certain speculations which I considered unjustifiable. To-day,
+however, matters took an unexpected turn for the better.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would be triumphant.
+Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. For many reasons, this was a
+thing which Laverick did not desire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now tell me,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;what is the matter with
+Morrison, and why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why
+is he here instead of in his own rooms?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will explain,&rdquo; she began softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will please explain sitting down,&rdquo; he said firmly. &ldquo;And
+don&rsquo;t look so terrified,&rdquo; he added, with a little laugh. &ldquo;I
+can assure you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. You
+make me feel quite uncomfortable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had never seen
+anything so wonderful as the change in her features. The strained rigidity
+passed away. An altogether softer light gleamed in her wonderful eyes. She was
+certainly by far the prettiest child he had ever seen. As yet he could not take
+her altogether seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+&ldquo;first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your brother!&rdquo; Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations. Besides,
+this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothing in her face to
+denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that nameless charm of manner, a
+sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which belongs sometimes to the highest type of
+Jews. It was not a quality, Laverick thought, which he should have associated
+with Morrison&rsquo;s sister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My brother, in a way,&rdquo; she resumed. &ldquo;Arthur&rsquo;s father
+was a widower and my mother was a widow when they were married. You are
+surprised?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no reason why I should be,&rdquo; he answered, curiously
+relieved at her last statement. &ldquo;Your brother and I have been connected
+in business for some years. We have seen very little of one another
+outside.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I dare say,&rdquo; she continued, still timidly, &ldquo;that
+Arthur&rsquo;s friends would not be your friends, and that he wouldn&rsquo;t
+care for the same sort of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his
+father, and as we aren&rsquo;t really related at all, I cannot expect that he
+would come to see me very often. Last night, though, quite late&mdash;long
+after I had gone to bed&mdash;he rang the bell here. I was frightened, for just
+now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the morning. So I looked out
+of the window and I saw him on the pavement, huddled up against the door. I
+hurried down and let him in. Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she went on, with an
+appealing glance at him, &ldquo;I have never seen any one look like it. He was
+terrified to death. Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from
+him even the power of speech. He pushed past me into this room, threw himself
+into that chair,&rdquo; she added, pointing across the room, &ldquo;and he
+sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a woman in a fit of
+hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he was as pale as death, and his eyes
+looked as though they were ready to start out of his head.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must indeed have been frightened,&rdquo; Laverick said softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night. He would
+tell me nothing&mdash;he has scarcely spoken a sensible word. Early this
+morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him lie down. He has taken two
+draughts which I bought from the chemist, but he has not slept. Every now and
+then he tries to get up, but in a minute or two he throws himself down on the
+bed again and hides his face. If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he
+hears a footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, I have
+never been so frightened in my life. I didn&rsquo;t know whom to send for or
+what to do. When he wrote that note to you I was so relieved. You can&rsquo;t
+imagine how glad I am to think you have come!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that the scene of
+last night had risen up again before her eyes. She was shrinking back, and the
+terror was upon her once more. He moved over to her side, and with an impulse
+which, when he thought of it afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon
+her shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry yourself thinking about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I
+will talk to your brother. We did have words, I&rsquo;ll admit, last night, but
+there wasn&rsquo;t the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this
+way. Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have improved a great
+deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I&rsquo;ll try and pump some courage into
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are so kind,&rdquo; she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, &ldquo;so very kind.
+Will you come, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and into a tiny
+bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but it seemed to him,
+notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very ordinary appointments, that
+the same note of dainty femininity pervaded this little apartment as the one
+below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is my room,&rdquo; she said shyly. &ldquo;There is no other properly
+furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps he is asleep now,&rdquo; Laverick whispered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang into a
+sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock. It was Morrison,
+still wearing the clothes in which he had left the office, his collar crushed
+out of all shape, his tie vanished. His black hair, usually so shiny and
+perfectly arranged, was all disordered. Out of his staring eyes flashed an
+expression which one sees seldom in life,&mdash;an expression of real and
+mortal terror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable.
+&ldquo;Who is that? What do you want?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is I&mdash;Laverick,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;What on earth
+is the matter with you, man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed to leave his face,
+but he was still an alarming-looking object. Laverick quietly opened the door
+and laid his hand upon the girl&rsquo;s shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you leave us alone?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;I will come and talk to
+you afterwards, if I may.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed the door and came
+up to the bedside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;Are you ill, or what is it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison opened his lips&mdash;opened them twice&mdash;without any sort of
+sound issuing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is absurd!&rdquo; Laverick exclaimed protestingly. &ldquo;I have
+been feeling worried myself, but there&rsquo;s nothing so terrifying in losing
+one&rsquo;s money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogether better
+in the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us out of our depth, but
+we are going to pull through, after all. &lsquo;Unions&rsquo; have been going
+up all day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made no reference,
+however, to Laverick&rsquo;s words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You got my note?&rdquo; he asked hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally I got it,&rdquo; Laverick answered impatiently, &ldquo;and I
+came at once. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what you are
+doing here, frightening your sister out of her life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison groaned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I came here,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;because I dared not go to my own
+rooms. I was afraid!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Man alive,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;what was there to be afraid
+of?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know!&rdquo; Morrison faltered. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t
+know!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the financial
+crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had reduced his late
+partner to this hopeless state. He looked at him narrowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where did you go last night,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;when you left
+me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nowhere,&rdquo; Morrison gasped. &ldquo;I came here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s no use sending for me
+unless you mean to tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into any
+trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection with them
+which I don&rsquo;t know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other, he
+remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick. There was
+something in Morrison&rsquo;s state which was in itself terrifying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better tell me all about it,&rdquo; Laverick persisted,
+&ldquo;whatever it is. I will help you if I can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side. He thrust his
+finger into it and passed it across his lips. They were dry, almost cracking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a
+breakdown&mdash;that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s the matter with me. My nerves were
+never good. I&rsquo;m afraid of going mad. The anxiety of the last few weeks
+has been too much for me. I want to get out of the country quickly, and I
+don&rsquo;t know how to manage it. I can&rsquo;t think. Directly I try to think
+my head goes round.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away,&rdquo;
+Laverick answered. &ldquo;It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had
+gone under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you chose to
+go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,&mdash;and I told you just now that business
+was better,&mdash;is not a crime. Pull yourself together, for Heaven&rsquo;s
+sake, man! You should be ashamed to come here and frighten that poor little
+girl downstairs almost to death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison gripped his partner&rsquo;s arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must do as I ask,&rdquo; he declared hoarsely. &ldquo;It
+doesn&rsquo;t matter about prices being better. I want to get away. You must
+help me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary young man of his
+type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a coward. But this was no
+ordinary fear&mdash;not even the ordinary fear of a coward. Laverick&rsquo;s
+face became graver. There was something else, then!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will get you out of the country if I can,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;There
+is no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something from me.
+You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South Africa or New York,
+but before I make any definite plans, hadn&rsquo;t you better tell me exactly
+what happened last night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more Morrison&rsquo;s lips parted without the ability to frame words. Then
+a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his head fell back. The
+ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips, and he sank back among the
+pillows. Laverick strode across the room to the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you anywhere about?&rdquo; he called out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is nothing to be alarmed at,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but your
+brother has fainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think
+that you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him. I know
+exactly what to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was standing, and ran
+downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed some of the spirit, and moved over to
+the side of the fainting man.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br />
+LAVERICK&rsquo;s PARTNER FLEES</h2>
+
+<p>
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes to find
+Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He felt his
+patient&rsquo;s pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed Laverick down into
+the sitting room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion,&rdquo; he pronounced. &ldquo;The
+patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be all right
+with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I will call again
+to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took his
+departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had followed them
+downstairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure&mdash;I am quite sure
+that he has something upon his mind. Did he tell you nothing?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing at all,&rdquo; Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness. &ldquo;To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are right
+and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night. He was just about to
+tell me something when he fainted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning. The girl listened with pitiful face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What am I to do?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;I cannot leave him like this,
+and if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The theatre?&rdquo; Laverick repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am on the stage,&rdquo; she said,&mdash;&ldquo;only a chorus girl at
+the Universal, worse luck. Still, they don&rsquo;t allow us to stay away, and I
+can&rsquo;t afford to lose my place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here,
+then?&rdquo; Laverick asked bluntly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I do not like to be a burden on
+any one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at all. He
+has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had been Arthur
+Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a year, but he checked
+himself. It was not his business to interfere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that your brother ought to have provided
+for you. He could have done so with very little effort.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But what am I to do now?&rdquo; she asked him. &ldquo;If I am absent, I
+shall lose my place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you went round there and told them,&rdquo; he suggested, &ldquo;would
+that make any difference? I could stay until you came back.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mind?&rdquo; she asked eagerly. &ldquo;It would be so kind of
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Perhaps you would be good enough
+to bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms. Take one from
+here, if you can find it. There are always some at the corner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I must run upstairs and
+get my hat and coat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother. Her feet
+seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure. Not a board
+creaked. She seemed to float down to him in a most becoming little hat but a
+shockingly shabby jacket, of whose deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware. Her
+lips were parted once more in a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly,&rdquo; she announced.
+&ldquo;It is nice of you to stay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you ought not to go about
+alone?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you any idea how old I am?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I took you for fourteen when I came inside,&rdquo; he answered.
+&ldquo;Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen. Later on, it seemed to me
+possible that you were eighteen. I am absolutely certain that you are not more
+than nineteen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That shows how little you know about it. I am twenty, and I am quite
+used to going about alone. Will you sit upstairs or here? I am so sorry that I
+have nothing to offer you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thanks, I need nothing. I think I will sit upstairs in case he
+wakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly. Laverick
+watched her from the window until she was out of sight, moving without any
+appearance of haste, yet with an incredible swiftness. When she had turned the
+corner, he went slowly upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay
+asleep. He drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the
+evening paper. The events of the last hour or so had completely blotted out
+from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition into the world of
+tragical happenings. He glanced at the sleeping man, then opened his paper.
+There was very little fresh news except that this time the fact was mentioned
+that upon the body of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at
+first supposed. It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after all, was
+the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in a neighborhood which
+was by no means infested with criminals. There was a suggestion of political
+motive, a reference to the &ldquo;Black Hand,&rdquo; concerning whose doings
+the papers had been full since the murder of a well-known detective a few weeks
+ago. But apart from this there was nothing fresh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair. The strain of the
+last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon his robust constitution.
+The atmosphere of the room, too, was close. He leaned back in his chair and was
+suddenly weary. Perhaps he dozed. At any rate, the whisper which called him
+back to realization of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up
+with a sudden start.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison&rsquo;s eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his lips
+were parted. His manner was quieter, but there were black lines deep engraven
+under his eyes, in which there still shone something of that haunting fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laverick!&rdquo; he repeated hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hullo,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;are you feeling more like yourself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;I am feeling&mdash;better. How did you
+come here? I can&rsquo;t remember anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You sent for me,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I arrived to find you
+pretty well in a state of collapse. Your sister has gone round to the theatre
+to ask them to excuse her this evening.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember now that I sent for you,&rdquo; Morrison continued.
+&ldquo;Tell me, has any one been around at the office asking after me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No one particular,&rdquo; Laverick answered,&mdash;&ldquo;no one at all
+that I can think of. There were one or two inquiries through the telephone, but
+they were all ordinary business matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh of relief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have made a fool of myself, Laverick,&rdquo; he said hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving
+way,&rdquo; Laverick declared, &ldquo;besides frightening your sister half to
+death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We talked&mdash;some time ago,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;about my
+getting away. You promised that you would help me. You said that I could get
+off to Africa or America to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not the slightest difficulty about that,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;There are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind&mdash;don&rsquo;t take this unkindly but the truth is best&mdash;I will
+not have you back again. There may have to be a more definite readjustment of
+our affairs now, but the old business is finished with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to come back,&rdquo; Morrison murmured. &ldquo;I have
+had enough of the city for the rest of my life. I&rsquo;d rather get away
+somewhere and make a fresh start. You&rsquo;ll help me, Laverick, won&rsquo;t
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I will help you,&rdquo; Laverick promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You were always a good sort,&rdquo; Morrison continued, &ldquo;much too
+good for me. It was a rotten partnership for you. We could never have pulled
+together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let that go,&rdquo; Laverick interrupted. &ldquo;If you really mean
+getting away, that simplifies matters, of course. Have you made any plans at
+all? Where do you want to go?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To New York,&rdquo; answered Morrison; &ldquo;New York would suit me
+best. There is money to be made there if one has something to make a start
+with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There will be some more money to come to you,&rdquo; Laverick answered,
+&ldquo;probably a great deal more. I shall place our affairs in the hands of an
+accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday. You shall have
+every penny that is due to you. You have quite enough, however, to get there
+with. I will see to your ticket to-night, if possible. When you&rsquo;ve
+arrived you can cable me your address, or you can decide where you will stay
+before you leave, and I will send you a further remittance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a good sort, Laverick,&rdquo; Morrison mumbled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;d better give me the key of your rooms,&rdquo; Laverick
+continued, &ldquo;and I will go back and put together some of your things. I
+suppose you will not want much to go away with. The rest can be sent on
+afterwards. And what about your letters?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the bed. He
+clutched at Laverick&rsquo;s shoulder frantically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go near my rooms, Laverick!&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;Promise
+me that you won&rsquo;t! I don&rsquo;t want any letters! I don&rsquo;t want any
+of my things!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean you want to go away without&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I mean just what I have said,&rdquo; Morrison continued hysterically.
+&ldquo;If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they will
+find out where I am. I should be there now but for that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent for a moment. The matter was becoming serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I will do as you say. I will not go
+near your rooms. I will get you a few things somewhere to start with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you, Laverick,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;thank you. I wish&mdash;I
+wish&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His voice seemed to die away. Laverick glanced towards him, wondering at the
+unfinished sentence. Once again the man&rsquo;s face seemed to be convulsed
+with horror. He flung himself face downward upon the bed and tore at the sheets
+with both his hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be a fool,&rdquo; Laverick said sternly. &ldquo;If
+you&rsquo;ve anything on your mind apart from business, tell me about it and
+I&rsquo;ll do what I can to help you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison made no reply. He was sobbing now like a child. Laverick rose to his
+feet and went to the window. What was to be done with such a creature! When he
+got back, Morrison had raised himself once more into a sitting posture. His
+appearance was absolutely spectral.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laverick,&rdquo; he said feebly, &ldquo;there is something else, but I
+cannot tell you&mdash;I cannot tell any one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just as you please, of course,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I am
+simply anxious to help you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can do that as it is!&rdquo; Morrison exclaimed feverishly.
+&ldquo;You must promise me something&mdash;promise that if any one asks for me
+to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am. Say you suppose
+that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into the country for a few days. Say
+that you are expecting me back. Don&rsquo;t let any one know that I have gone
+abroad, until I am safely away. And then don&rsquo;t tell a soul where I have
+gone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?&rdquo; Laverick asked
+sternly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t&mdash;I swear that I haven&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Morrison
+declared. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something quite outside business&mdash;quite
+outside business altogether.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; answered Laverick, &ldquo;I will promise what you have
+asked, then. Listen&mdash;here is your sister back again,&rdquo; he added, as
+he heard the taxicab stop outside. &ldquo;Pull yourself together and
+don&rsquo;t frighten her so much. I am going down to meet her. I shall tell her
+that you are better. Try and buck up when she comes in to see you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll do my best,&rdquo; Morrison said humbly. &ldquo;If you knew!
+If you only knew!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He began to sob again. Laverick left the room and, descending the stairs, met
+the girl in the hall. Her white face questioned him before her lips had time to
+frame the speech.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your brother is very much better,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;I am sure
+that you need not be anxious about him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am so glad,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;They let me off but I had to
+pay a fine. I had no idea before that I was so important. Shall I go to him
+now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One moment,&rdquo; Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room. &ldquo;Miss Morrison,&rdquo; he went on,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Miss Leneveu is my name,&rdquo; she interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his mind
+apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting into some sort of
+trouble. I don&rsquo;t think there is any object in bothering him about it, but
+the great thing is to get him away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will help?&rdquo; she begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will help, certainly,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I have promised
+to. You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o&rsquo;clock
+to-morrow morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special to catch the
+German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight to eight-thirty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But his clothes!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;How can he be ready by
+then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or to send
+him any of his belongings,&rdquo; Laverick continued quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But how strange!&rdquo; the girl exclaimed. &ldquo;Do you mean to say,
+then, that he is going without anything?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; Laverick said kindly, &ldquo;that we must take it
+for granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable business or
+other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts an entire secret. He has
+been asking me whether any one has been to the office to inquire for him. Under
+the circumstances, I think the best thing we can do is to humor him. I shall
+buy him before to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of
+clothes, and a few things for the voyage. Then I shall send a cab for you both
+at seven o&rsquo;clock and meet you at the station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very kind,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;What should I have done
+without you? Oh, I cannot think!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire to take her
+hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the tears which shone in her
+deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself that she was a stranger, that her
+appearance of youth was a delusion, that she could only construe such an action
+as a liberty, an impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there
+could be no possible excuse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He moved away towards the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am glad to be of use to your
+brother. You see,&rdquo; he explained, a little awkwardly, &ldquo;after all, we
+have been partners in business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally, too,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;it has been a great pleasure
+for me to do anything to relieve your anxiety.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which shone out of
+her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which was almost invitation.
+Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. Something had come into his
+life&mdash;something absurd, uncounted upon, incomprehensible. The atmosphere
+of the room seemed electrified. In a moment, he had done what only a second or
+two before he had told himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her,
+unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, he was
+never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it seemed to him that
+she had accepted his caress almost without hesitation, with the effortless
+serenity of a child receiving a natural consolation in a time of trouble. But
+Laverick was conscious of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner
+of his taxicab and was driven swiftly away.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br />
+THE WAITER AT THE &ldquo;BLACK POST&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter&rsquo;s shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases as he
+could on Morrison&rsquo;s behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, he returned
+to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last three hours. It was
+nearly nine o&rsquo;clock when he stepped out of the lift and opened the door
+of his small suite of rooms with the latchkey which hung from his chain. He
+began to change his clothes mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the
+telephone bell upon his table rang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; he asked, taking up the receiver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hall-porter, sir,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;Person here wishes to
+see you particularly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A person!&rdquo; Laverick repeated. &ldquo;Man or woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Man, sir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Better send him up,&rdquo; Laverick ordered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a seedy-looking lot, sir,&rdquo; the porter explained
+&ldquo;I told him that I scarcely thought you&rsquo;d see him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I can soon get rid of the
+fellow if he&rsquo;s cadging.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own affairs had
+sunk a little into the background lately, but the announcement of this unusual
+visitor brought them back into his mind with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron
+nerves, his fingers shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the
+passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later. A man stood
+outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face somehow was familiar to
+him, although he could not, for the moment, place it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you want to see me?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you please, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; the man replied, &ldquo;if you could
+spare me just a moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better come inside, then,&rdquo; Laverick said, closing the door
+and preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there was nothing
+threatening about the appearance of this visitor&mdash;nor anything official.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have taken the liberty of coming, sir,&rdquo; the man announced,
+&ldquo;to ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur
+Morrison.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s face showed no sign of his relief. What he felt he succeeded
+in keeping to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean Morrison&mdash;my partner, I suppose?&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you please, sir,&rdquo; the man admitted. &ldquo;I wanted a word or
+two with him most particular. I found out his address from the caretaker of
+your office, but he don&rsquo;t seem to have been home to his rooms at all last
+night, and they know nothing about him there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your face seems familiar to me,&rdquo; Laverick remarked. &ldquo;Where
+do you come from?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am the waiter, sir, at the &lsquo;Black Post,&rsquo;&mdash;little bar
+and restaurant, you know,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;just behind your offices,
+sir, at the end of Crooked Friars&rsquo; Alley. You&rsquo;ve been in once or
+twice, Mr. Laverick, I think. Mr. Morrison&rsquo;s a regular customer. He comes
+in for a drink most mornings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I knew I&rsquo;d seen your face somewhere,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What
+do you want with Mr. Morrison?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter I shouldn&rsquo;t like to mention to any one except
+Mr. Morrison himself, sir,&rdquo; he declared finally. &ldquo;If you could put
+me in the way of seeing him, I&rsquo;d be glad. I may say that it would be to
+his advantage, too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As it happens, that&rsquo;s a little difficult,&rdquo; he explained.
+&ldquo;Mr. Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I
+undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared, and he arranged
+to leave the firm and the country at once. We parted&mdash;well, not exactly
+the best of friends. I am afraid I cannot give you any information.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You haven&rsquo;t seen him since then, sir?&rdquo; the man asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly. His visitor was not in the least
+convinced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid I haven&rsquo;t made myself quite plain, sir,&rdquo; he
+said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s to do him a bit o&rsquo; good that I&rsquo;m here.
+I&rsquo;m not wishing him any harm at all. On the contrary, it&rsquo;s a great
+deal more to his advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; Laverick suggested, &ldquo;that you had better be frank
+with me. Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the country, I
+could easily deal with you on his behalf.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man looked doubtful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You see, sir,&rdquo; he replied awkwardly, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a matter I
+wouldn&rsquo;t like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison
+himself. It&rsquo;s&mdash;it&rsquo;s a bit serious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s face gave weight to his words. Curiously enough, the gleam of
+terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded him of a similar look
+which he had seen in Morrison&rsquo;s eyes barely an hour ago. To gain time,
+Laverick moved across the room, took a cigarette from a box and lit it. A
+conviction was forming itself in his mind. There was something definite behind
+these hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this man had
+an inkling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, throwing himself into an easychair, &ldquo;I
+think you had better be frank with me. I must know more than I know at present
+before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be found. We didn&rsquo;t
+part very good friends, but I&rsquo;m his friend enough&mdash;for the sake of
+others,&rdquo; he added, after a moment&rsquo;s hesitation, &ldquo;to do all
+that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may have stumbled into. So
+you see that so far as anything you may have to say to him is concerned, I
+think you might as well say it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You couldn&rsquo;t see your way, then, sir,&rdquo; the man continued
+doggedly, &ldquo;to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I couldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Laverick decided. &ldquo;Even if I knew
+exactly where he was&mdash;and I&rsquo;m not admitting that&mdash;I
+couldn&rsquo;t put you in touch with him unless I knew what your business
+was.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s eyes gleamed. He was a typical waiter&mdash;pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking&mdash;but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and they
+were expressive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ve some idea yourself,
+then, that Mr. Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t discuss that,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;You must
+either go away&mdash;it&rsquo;s past nine o&rsquo;clock and I haven&rsquo;t had
+my dinner yet&mdash;or you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no great reason why
+I should put myself out about this at all. The only thing is&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, go on,&rdquo; Laverick said encouragingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; the man continued, &ldquo;that Mr.
+Morrison&mdash;knowing, as I well do, sir, the sort of gent he is&mdash;would
+be more likely to talk common sense with me about this matter than you,
+sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll imagine I&rsquo;m Morrison, for the moment,&rdquo; Laverick
+said smiling, &ldquo;especially as I&rsquo;m acting for him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man looked around the room. The door behind had been left ajar. He stepped
+backward and closed it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll pardon the liberty, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but this is
+a serious matter I&rsquo;m going to speak about. I&rsquo;ll just tell you a
+little thing and you can form your own conclusions. Last night we was open late
+at the &lsquo;Black Post.&rsquo; We keep open, sir, as you know, when you
+gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy. About nine o&rsquo;clock there was a
+strange customer came in. He had two drinks and he sat as though he were
+waiting. In about &rsquo;arf-an-hour another gent came in, and they went into a
+corner together and seemed to be doing some sort of business. Anyways, there
+was papers passed between them. I was fairly busy about then, as there were one
+or two more customers in the place, but I noticed these two talking together,
+and I noticed the dark gentleman leave. The others went out a few minutes
+afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place. He sat in
+the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before him. I had a sort of
+casual glance at it when I brought him a drink, and it seemed to me that it was
+full of bank-notes. He sat there just like a man extra deep in thought. Just
+after eleven, in came Mr. Morrison. I could see he was rare and put out, for he
+was white, and shaking all over. &lsquo;Give me a drink, Jim,&rsquo; he
+said,&mdash;&lsquo;a big brandy and soda, big as you make
+&rsquo;em.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself. Laverick was suddenly
+conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his pulses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That was after he left me. Go on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was,&rdquo; the
+waiter continued, &ldquo;but they didn&rsquo;t say nowt to each other. All of a
+sudden I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap as
+though he&rsquo;d seen something that had given him a turn. I leaned over the
+counter and had a look, too. There he sat&mdash;this tall, fair chap who had
+been in the place so long&mdash;with his big pocket-book on the table in front
+of him, and even from where I was I could see that there was a great pile of
+bank-notes sticking out from it. All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr.
+Morrison a-watching him and me from behind the counter. Back he whisks the
+pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two mouldy pennies
+for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know who he was?&rdquo; Laverick inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered&mdash;paused and looked
+nervously around the room. His voice shook.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the
+&lsquo;Black Post&rsquo; last night, sir,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I got an hour off to-day,&rdquo; the waiter continued, &ldquo;and went
+down to the Mortuary. There was no doubt about it. There he was&mdash;same
+chap, same clothes. I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon I&rsquo;ll have
+to at the inquest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s cigarette burned away between his fingers. It seemed to him
+that he was no longer in the room. He was listening to Big Ben striking the
+hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom with its spotless sheets
+and lace curtains. The man on the bed was looking at him. Laverick remembered
+the look and shivered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What has this to do with Morrison?&rdquo; he demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half terrified way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Morrison, sir,&rdquo; he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse
+whisper, &ldquo;he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds. A sort of
+queer look he&rsquo;d got in his face too, and he went out without paying me.
+I&rsquo;ve read the papers pretty careful, sir,&rdquo; the man went on,
+&ldquo;but I ain&rsquo;t seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being
+found on the man as was murdered.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away. He walked to the window,
+keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor. His eyes followed the
+glittering arc of lights which fringed the Thames Embankment, were caught by
+the flaring sky-sign on the other side of the river. He felt his heart beating
+with unaccustomed vigor. Was this, then, the secret of Morrison&rsquo;s terror?
+He wondered no longer at his collapse. The terror was upon him, too. He felt
+his forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet. It was not Morrison
+alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man&rsquo;s knowledge. The
+thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a nightmare. He saw Morrison
+arrested, he saw the whole story of the missing pocket-book in the papers, he
+imagined his bank manager reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious
+bank-notes deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy...
+Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant though it had
+been, passed. This was no new thing with which he was confronted. All the time
+he had known that the probabilities were in favor of such a discovery. He set
+his teeth and turned to face his visitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is a very serious thing which you have told me,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;Have you spoken about it to any one else?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not a soul, sir,&rdquo; the man answered. &ldquo;I thought it best to
+have a word or two first with Mr. Morrison.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You were thinking of attending the inquest,&rdquo; Laverick said
+thoughtfully. &ldquo;The police would thank you for your evidence, and there, I
+suppose, the matter would end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve hit it precisely, sir,&rdquo; the man admitted.
+&ldquo;There the matter would end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the other hand,&rdquo; Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, &ldquo;supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were not sure as
+to the identity of your customer last night, and being a little tired you could
+not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison called in for a drink or not, and so,
+to cut the matter short, you dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let
+the inquest take its own course,&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick paused. His visitor scratched the side of his chin and nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve put this matter plainly, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;in
+what I call an understandable, straightforward way. I&rsquo;m a poor
+man&mdash;I&rsquo;ve been a poor man all my life&mdash;and I&rsquo;ve never
+seed a chance before of getting away from it. I see one now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You want to do the best you can for yourself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So &rsquo;elp me God, sir, I do!&rdquo; the man agreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have done a remarkably wise thing,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;in coming
+to me and in telling me about this affair. The idea of connecting Mr. Morrison
+with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on the other hand, it
+would be very disagreeable to him to have his name mentioned in connection with
+it. You have behaved discreetly, and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in
+trying to find him out. You will do him a further service by adopting the
+second course I suggested with regard to the inquest. What do you consider that
+service is worth?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It depends, sir,&rdquo; the man answered quietly, &ldquo;at what price
+Mr. Morrison values his life!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br />
+THE PRICE OF SILENCE</h2>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, frowning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His life!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;you must not go too far with this
+thing. I have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say,
+that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in connection with
+this affair. But because he left your bar a few minutes after the murdered man,
+it is sheer folly to assume that therefore he is necessarily implicated in his
+death. I cannot conceive anything more unlikely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man smiled&mdash;a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth less
+than anything in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are a few other things, sir,&rdquo; he remarked,&mdash;&ldquo;one
+in especial.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; Laverick inquired. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s have it. You had
+better tell me everything that is in your mind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember reading that,&rdquo; Laverick admitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The knife was mine,&rdquo; his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper. &ldquo;It lay on the edge of the counter, close to where Mr.
+Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he&rsquo;d gone I missed it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent. What was there to be said?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Horn-handled knives,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;are not rare not
+uncommon things.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One don&rsquo;t possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years
+without being able to swear to it,&rdquo; the other remarked dryly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there anything more?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There don&rsquo;t need to be,&rdquo; was the quiet reply. &ldquo;You
+know that, sir. So do I. There don&rsquo;t need to be any more evidence than
+mine to send Mr. Morrison to the gallows.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We will waive that point,&rdquo; Laverick declared. &ldquo;The jury
+sometimes are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone. However,
+as I have said, let us waive that point. Your position is clear enough. You go
+to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get nothing. You are a poor man,
+you have worked hard all your life. The chance has come in your way to do
+yourself a little good. Now take my advice. Don&rsquo;t spoil it all by asking
+for anything ridiculous. It won&rsquo;t do for you to come into a fortune a few
+days after this affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man
+was in your place. I am here to act for Mr. Morrison. What is it that you
+want?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are talking like a gent, sir,&rdquo; the man said,&mdash;&ldquo;like
+a sensible gent, too. I&rsquo;d have to keep it quiet, of course, that
+I&rsquo;d come into a bit of money,&mdash;just at present, at any rate. I could
+easy find an excuse for changing my job&mdash;perhaps get away from London
+altogether. I&rsquo;ve got a few pounds saved and I&rsquo;ve always wanted to
+open a banking account. A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in the way of
+doing it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to commence
+with?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By the way, what is your name?&rdquo; he inquired at last.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;James Shepherd, sir,&rdquo; the man answered,&mdash;&ldquo;generally
+called Jim, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you see, Shepherd,&rdquo; Laverick continued, &ldquo;the
+difficulty is, in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where
+the thing will end. A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but in four
+amounts, with three months interval between each, it could be arranged. This
+would be better for you, in any case. Two hundred and fifty pounds is not an
+unheard-of sum for you to have saved or got together. After that your
+investments would be my lookout, and they would produce, as I have said,
+another seven hundred and fifty pounds. But what security have I&mdash;has Mr.
+Morrison, let us say&mdash;that you will be content with this sum?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t any, sir,&rdquo; the man admitted at once. &ldquo;He
+couldn&rsquo;t have any. I&rsquo;m a modest-living man, and I&rsquo;ve no
+desire to go shouting around that I&rsquo;m independent all of a sudden. That
+wouldn&rsquo;t do nohow. A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a
+pound a week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my health
+being none too good. I&rsquo;ve no wife or children, sir. I was thinking of an
+annuity. With two pounds a week I&rsquo;d have no cause to trouble any one
+again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick considered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It shall be done,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To-morrow I shall buy shares
+for you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds. They will be deposited
+in a bank. Some day you can look in and see me, and I will take you round
+there. You are my client who has speculated under my instructions successfully,
+and you will sign your name and become a customer. After that, you will
+speculate again. When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how
+to buy an annuity. Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be the luckiest
+night of your life. Do you drink?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A drop or two, sir,&rdquo; the man admitted. &ldquo;If I didn&rsquo;t, I
+guess I&rsquo;d go off my chump.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you talk when you&rsquo;re drunk?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never, sir,&rdquo; the man declared. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve a way of getting
+a drop too much when I&rsquo;m by myself. Then I tumbles off to sleep and
+that&rsquo;s the end of it. I&rsquo;ve no fancy for company at such
+times.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand
+into his pocket. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a five-pound note on account. I daresay
+you can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate. That&rsquo;s all,
+isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all, sir,&rdquo; the man answered, &ldquo;unless I might
+make so bold as to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before he
+came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd,&rdquo; Laverick affirmed.
+&ldquo;Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I see, sir,&rdquo; he said, taking up his hat. &ldquo;Good night,
+sir!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good night!&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;You can find your way
+down?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite well, sir, and thank you,&rdquo; declared Mr. Shepherd, closing
+the door softly behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry. He was
+faced now with a new tragedy.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br />
+THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL</h2>
+
+<p>
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. The
+girl&rsquo;s eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious of a sense
+of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station some time before the train
+was due to leave, and, although a physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to
+depart. He had all the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him
+on the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a criminal
+expecting apprehension at any moment. The whistle of the train had been a
+relief as great to him as to Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll write you to New York, care of Barclays,&rdquo; Laverick
+called out. &ldquo;Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself together and make a fresh
+start.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison&rsquo;s only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, stirred almost to
+anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all this man had offered to the
+girl he had treated so inconsiderately. His thoughts were engrossed upon
+himself and his own danger. He would not even have kissed her if she had not
+drawn his face down to hers and whispered a reassuring little message. Laverick
+turned away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering. Conversation
+during those last few moments had been increasingly difficult. The train was
+off at last, however, and they were alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of relief.
+They turned silently toward the exit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you going back home?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered listlessly. &ldquo;There is nothing else to
+do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it rather sad for you there by yourself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the first time,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Another girl and her
+mother have lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. They are
+paying a little toward the house or I should have to go into rooms. As it is, I
+think that it would be more comfortable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You seem such a child,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to be left all alone in
+the world like this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I am not a child actually, you see,&rdquo; she answered, with an
+effort at lightness. &ldquo;Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur&rsquo;s going.
+His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that he would do
+what he could. I didn&rsquo;t see much of him, but one felt always that there
+was somebody. It&rsquo;s different now. It makes one feel very lonely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, too,&rdquo; Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, &ldquo;am
+rather a lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and
+then.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, but her
+eyes&mdash;those wonderful eyes&mdash;spoke volumes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you really mean it,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I should be so
+glad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Supposing we start to-day,&rdquo; he suggested, smiling. &ldquo;I cannot
+ask you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have dinner
+together quite early. Then I would take you to the theatre and meet you
+afterwards, if you liked.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I liked!&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;Oh, how good you are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not at all sure about that. Now I&rsquo;ll put you in this taxi and
+send you home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mustn&rsquo;t do anything so extravagant. I can get a &rsquo;bus
+just outside. I never have taxicabs.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just this morning,&rdquo; he insisted, &ldquo;and I think he won&rsquo;t
+trouble you for his fare. You must let me, please. Remember that there&rsquo;s
+a large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you
+needn&rsquo;t mind these trifles. Till this evening, then. Shall I fetch you or
+will you come to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let me fetch you, if I may,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t nice
+for you to come down to where I live. It&rsquo;s such a horrid part.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just as you like,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be very glad to
+fetch you if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came. Shall
+we say seven o&rsquo;clock? I&rsquo;ve written the address down on this card so
+that you can make no mistake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed gayly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know, all the time,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I feel that you are
+treating me as though I were a baby. I&rsquo;ll be there punctually, and I
+don&rsquo;t think I need tie the card around my neck.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cab glided off. Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face with a faint
+smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she leaned out for a moment to say
+good-bye. Then he went back to his rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his
+office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder in Crooked
+Friars&rsquo; Alley. Evidently what information the police had obtained they
+were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the moment when he entered the
+office, had little or no time to think of the tragedy under whose shadow he had
+come. The long-predicted boom had arrived at last. Without lunch, he and all
+his clerks worked until after six o&rsquo;clock. Even then Laverick found it
+hard to leave. During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask for
+Morrison. To all of them he had given the same reply,&mdash;Morrison had gone
+abroad on private business for the firm. Very few were deceived by
+Laverick&rsquo;s dry statement. He was quite aware that he was looked upon
+either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as a financier of consummate
+skill. The failure of Laverick &amp; Morrison had been looked upon as a
+certainty. How they had tided over that twenty-four hours had been known to no
+one&mdash;to no one but Laverick himself and the manager of his bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just before four o&rsquo;clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment,&rdquo; his head-clerk announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am Laverick. Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick!
+Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day. What is it? The account is all
+right, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;At the same
+time, if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you concerning the
+deposit you made yesterday.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will come in to-morrow,&rdquo; Laverick promised. &ldquo;This
+afternoon it is quite out of the question. I have a crowd of people waiting to
+see me, and several important engagements for which I am late already.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?&rdquo; he pressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow,&rdquo; Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a time this last message troubled him. As soon as the day&rsquo;s work was
+over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed it entirely from his
+thoughts. It was curious how, notwithstanding this new seriousness which had
+come into his life, notwithstanding that sensation of walking all the time on
+the brink of a precipice, he set his face homeward and looked forward to his
+evening, with a pleasure which he had not felt for many months. The whirl of
+the day faded easily from his mind. He lived no more in an atmosphere of wild
+excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety. How empty his life must
+have unconsciously grown that he could find so much pleasure in being kind to a
+pretty child! It was hard to think of her otherwise&mdash;impossible. A strange
+heritage, this, to have been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison. How
+in the world, he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was a little shy when she arrived. Laverick had left special orders
+downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room immediately. She was
+very quietly dressed except for her hat, which was large and wavy. He found it
+becoming, but he knew enough to understand that her clothes were very simple
+and very inexpensive, and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; she said timidly, with a glance at his evening
+attire, &ldquo;that we must go somewhere very quiet. You see, I have only one
+evening gown and I couldn&rsquo;t wear that. There wouldn&rsquo;t be time to
+change afterwards. Besides, one&rsquo;s clothes do get so knocked about in the
+dressing-rooms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are heaps of places we can go to,&rdquo; he assured her
+pleasantly. &ldquo;Of course you can&rsquo;t dress for the evening when you
+have to go on to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other
+smart young ladies in the same position. I had to change because I have taken a
+stall to see your performance. Tell me, how are you feeling now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rather lonely,&rdquo; she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace.
+&ldquo;That is to say I have been feeling lonely,&rdquo; she added softly.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t now, of course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a queer little person,&rdquo; he said kindly, as they went down
+in the lift. &ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you any friends?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What sort of friends could I have?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;The girls in
+the chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many people
+whom I don&rsquo;t, and they are always out to supper, or something of the
+sort.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me,&rdquo; she
+said. &ldquo;I liked it very much, but they didn&rsquo;t ask me again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder why?&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t know!&rdquo; she went on drearily. &ldquo;You see, I
+think the men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to be
+allowed to make love to them. At any rate, they behaved like that. Such a
+horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn&rsquo;t like it a bit. So
+they left me alone afterwards. The girl I lived with and her mother are quite
+nice, and they have a few friends we go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays.
+It&rsquo;s dull, though, very dull, especially now they&rsquo;re away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?&rdquo; he
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What could one do?&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;My mother&rsquo;s money
+died with her&mdash;she had only an annuity&mdash;and my stepfather, who had
+promised to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly. Arthur
+was in a stockbroker&rsquo;s office and he couldn&rsquo;t save anything. My
+only friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was
+director of the orchestra at the Universal. All he could do for me was to get
+me a place in the chorus. I have been there ever since. They keep on promising
+me a little part but I never get it. It&rsquo;s always like that in theatres.
+You have to be a favorite of the manager&rsquo;s, for some reason or other, or
+you never get your chance unless you are unusually lucky.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know much about theatres,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;I am
+afraid I am rather a stupid person. When I can get away from work I go into the
+country and play cricket or golf, or anything that&rsquo;s going. When I am up
+in town, I am generally content with looking up a few friends, or playing
+bridge at the club. I never have been a theatre-goer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder,&rdquo; she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round
+table in the restaurant which he had chosen,&mdash;&ldquo;I wonder why every
+now and then you look so serious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know that I did,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve
+had thundering hard times lately in business, though. I suppose that makes a
+man look thoughtful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she murmured softly. &ldquo;Are things any
+better now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Much better.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you have nothing really to bother you?&rdquo; she persisted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose we all have something,&rdquo; he replied, suddenly grave.
+&ldquo;Why do you ask that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She leaned across the table. In the shaded light, her oval face with its little
+halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though it might have belonged to some
+old miniature. She was delightful, like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless
+porcelain&mdash;delightful when the lights played in her eyes and the smile
+quivered at the corner of her lips. Just now, however, she became very much in
+earnest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will tell you why I ask that question,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I
+cannot help worrying still about Arthur. You know you admitted last night that
+he had done something. You saw how terribly frightened he was this morning, and
+how he kept on looking around as though he were afraid that he would see
+somebody whom he wished to avoid. Oh! I don&rsquo;t want to worry you,&rdquo;
+she went on, &ldquo;but I feel so terrified sometimes. I feel that he must have
+done something&mdash;bad. It was not an ordinary business trouble which took
+the life out of him so completely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was not,&rdquo; Laverick admitted at once. &ldquo;He has done
+something, I believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange,
+and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did you tell him so this morning?&rdquo; she asked eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I told him nothing. For many
+reasons it was better to keep him ignorant. He and I might not have seen things
+the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the best. If I were
+you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn&rsquo;t worry any more. Soon you will hear
+from your brother that he is safe in New York, and I think I can promise you
+that the trouble will never come to anything serious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why have you been so kind to him?&rdquo; she asked timidly. &ldquo;From
+what he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed, you
+and he are so different.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To be honest,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I think that I should not have
+taken so much trouble for his sake alone. You see,&rdquo; he continued,
+smiling, &ldquo;you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very
+anxious, weren&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her hand came across the table&mdash;an impulsive little gesture, which he
+nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful. He took it into his, and
+would have raised the fingers to his lips but for the waiters who were hovering
+around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are so kind,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I am so fortunate. I think
+that I wanted a friend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You poor child,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I should think you did. You
+are not drinking your wine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mind?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;A very little gets into my head
+because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes the least
+bit of a mistake. Besides, I do not think that I like to drink wine. If one
+does not take it at all, there is an excuse for never having anything when the
+girls ask you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded sympathetically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I believe you are quite right,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;in a general way,
+at any rate. Well, I will drink by myself to your brother&rsquo;s safe arrival
+in New York. Are you ready?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glanced at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must be there in a quarter of an hour,&rdquo; she told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will drive you to the theatre,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and then go
+round and fetch my ticket.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he took an
+evening paper from the stall. A brief paragraph at once attracted his
+attention.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>Murder in the City</i>.&mdash;We understand that very important information
+has come into the hands of the police. An arrest is expected to-night or
+to-morrow at the latest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was the usual
+sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found out&mdash;nothing, he
+told himself.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br />
+MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES</h2>
+
+<p>
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, Laverick,
+in response to a second and more urgent message, went round to his bank. Mr.
+Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling keenly the responsibilities of his
+position. Just how much to say and how much to leave unsaid was a question
+which called for a full measure of diplomacy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You understand, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;that I wished to
+see you with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before
+yesterday.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The arrangement, of course, was most unusual,&rdquo; the manager
+continued. &ldquo;I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was
+an urgent one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not quite follow you,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, frowning.
+&ldquo;What is it you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not in the least,&rdquo; the manager answered hastily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know the position of our market, of course,&rdquo; Laverick went on.
+&ldquo;Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to go on making
+the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things are entirely different. I
+am twenty thousand pounds better off, and if necessary I could realize
+sufficient to pay off the whole of my overdraft within half-an-hour. That I do
+not do so is simply a matter of policy and prices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; the bank manager
+declared. &ldquo;The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual and a
+strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge to you, asking
+whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes has been passed through
+our account during the last few days.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have actually had this inquiry?&rdquo; Laverick asked calmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, in a
+sense, amazing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May I ask what your reply was?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My reply was,&rdquo; Mr. Fenwick said slowly, &ldquo;that no such notes
+had passed through our account. We asked them, however, without giving any
+reasons, to repeat their question in a few days&rsquo; time. Our reply was
+perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, we are simply holding
+a certain packet for you in our security chamber. We know it to contain
+bank-notes, and there is very little doubt but that it contains the notes which
+have been the subject of this inquiry. I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be
+so good as to open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the
+usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in the first
+instance to this inquiry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The course which you suggest,&rdquo; replied the other, &ldquo;is one
+which I absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature of
+the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. All that I
+can say is that those notes are deposited with you and must remain on deposit,
+and that the transaction is one which must be treated entirely as a
+confidential one. If you decline to do this, I must remove my account, in which
+case I shall, of course, take the packet away with me. To be plain with you,
+Mr. Fenwick,&rdquo; he wound up, &ldquo;I do not intend to make use of those
+notes, I never intended to do so. I simply deposited them as security until the
+turn in price of &lsquo;Unions&rsquo; came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; the bank manager remarked.
+&ldquo;I should consider that you had already made use of them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Every one to his own conscience,&rdquo; Laverick answered calmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot admit that at all,&rdquo; Laverick replied. &ldquo;There is
+only one inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it had,&rdquo; Mr. Fenwick answered, &ldquo;no considerations of
+etiquette would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to have
+revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, the inquiry comes
+from an even more important source,&mdash;a source which cannot be
+ignored.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all, the matter is a very simple one,&rdquo; he declared.
+&ldquo;By four o&rsquo;clock this afternoon my account shall be within its
+limits. You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold on
+my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you do not mind,&rdquo; the banker answered, &ldquo;I should be glad
+if you would take it with you. It means, I think, a matter of six or seven
+thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary thing we will pass
+that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As you will,&rdquo; Laverick assented carelessly. &ldquo;The charge of
+those documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself. I have no doubt
+that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank with the
+brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket. Arrived at his office, he
+locked it up at once in his private safe and proceeded with the usual business
+of the day. Even with an added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an
+uproar. Laverick threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to
+escape from these unpleasant memories. He succeeded perfectly. It was two hours
+before he was able to sit down even for a moment. His head-clerk, almost as
+exhausted, followed him into his room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I forgot to tell you, sir,&rdquo; he announced, &ldquo;that there s a
+man outside&mdash;Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe&mdash;said he had a
+small investment to make which you promised to look after personally. He would
+insist on seeing you&mdash;said he was a waiter at a restaurant which you
+visited sometimes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; Laverick declared. &ldquo;You can show
+him in. We&rsquo;ll probably give him American rails.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t we attend to it in the office for you, sir?&rdquo; the clerk
+asked. &ldquo;I suppose it&rsquo;s only a matter of a few hundreds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I&rsquo;d look after
+it myself. Send him in, Scropes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced. Laverick, who was
+sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned cigarette, looked up and
+nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sorry to keep you waiting,&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re having
+a bit of a rush.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess that, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;from the number of people
+we&rsquo;ve had in the &lsquo;Black Post&rsquo; to-day, and the way
+they&rsquo;ve all been shouting and talking. They don&rsquo;t seem to eat much
+these days, but there&rsquo;s some of them can shift the drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got some sound stocks looked out for you,&rdquo; Laverick
+remarked, &ldquo;two hundred and fifty pounds&rsquo; worth. If you&rsquo;ll
+just approve that list as a matter of form,&rdquo; he added, pushing a piece of
+paper across, &ldquo;you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates. I
+shall tell them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if
+any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m much obliged, sir,&rdquo; the man said.
+&ldquo;To tell you the truth,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a bit of
+a scare to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; he demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May I sit down, sir? I&rsquo;m a bit worn out. I&rsquo;ve been on the go
+since half-past ten.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair. Shepherd brought it up to the side of
+the table and leaned forward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been two men in to-day,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;asking
+questions. They wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night,
+and could I describe them. Was there any one I recognized, and so on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I declared I couldn&rsquo;t remember any one. To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o&rsquo;clock. I wouldn&rsquo;t say for certain&mdash;it looked as though I
+might have had a reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And were they satisfied?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they were,&rdquo; Shepherd admitted. &ldquo;Not
+altogether, that is to say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did they mention any names?&rdquo; asked
+Laverick&mdash;&ldquo;Morrison&rsquo;s, for instance? Did they want to know
+whether he was a regular customer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t mention no names at all, sir,&rdquo; the man answered,
+&ldquo;but they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients. Fortunate
+like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not paying any too
+much attention to them. It was all I could do to keep on getting orders
+attended to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What sort of men were they?&rdquo; Laverick asked. &ldquo;Do you think
+that they came from the police?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shouldn&rsquo;t have said so,&rdquo; Shepherd replied, &ldquo;but one
+can&rsquo;t tell, and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up
+so sometimes on purpose to deceive. I should have said that these two were
+foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered. I heard a word or
+two pass, and I sort of gathered that they&rsquo;d a shrewd idea as to that
+meeting in the &lsquo;Black Post&rsquo; between the man who was murdered and
+the little dark fellow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jim Shepherd,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;you appear to me to be a very
+sagacious person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m much obliged, sir; I can tell you,
+though,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t half like these chaps coming
+round making inquiries. My nerves ain&rsquo;t quite what they were, and it
+gives me the jumps.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all, there was no one else in the bar that night,&rdquo; he
+remarked,&mdash;&ldquo;no one who could contradict you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not a soul,&rdquo; Jim Shepherd agreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then don&rsquo;t you bother,&rdquo; Laverick continued. &ldquo;You see,
+you&rsquo;ve been wise. You haven&rsquo;t given yourself away altogether.
+You&rsquo;ve simply said that you don&rsquo;t recollect any one coming in. Why
+should you recollect? At the end of a day&rsquo;s work you are not likely to
+notice every stray customer. Stick to it, and, if you take my advice,
+don&rsquo;t go throwing any money about, and don&rsquo;t give your notice in
+for another week or so. Pave the way for it a bit. Ask the governor for a
+rise&mdash;say you&rsquo;re not making a living out of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m on,&rdquo; Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m on to it, sir. I don&rsquo;t want to get into no trouble,
+I&rsquo;m sure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Laverick answered dryly, &ldquo;unless you chuck
+yourself in. You&rsquo;re not obliged to remember anything. No one can ever
+prove that you remembered anything. Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if
+these fellows turn up again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty certain they will, sir,&rdquo; the man declared.
+&ldquo;They sat about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off
+came, I hopped out the back way. They&rsquo;ll be there again to-night, sure
+enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you must let me know,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;what happens.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an awful thing to think of, sir,&rdquo; he whispered,
+blinking rapidly. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be that young Mr. Morrison for all
+that great pocketful of notes. But my! there was a sight of money there, sir!
+He&rsquo;ll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t talk any more about it,&rdquo; Laverick insisted.
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t a pleasant thing to think about or talk about. We
+won&rsquo;t know anything, Shepherd. We shall be better off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced. Laverick
+turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before eight and, tired out,
+he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way. When at last he reached his
+sitting-room he threw himself on the sofa and lit a cigar. Once more the
+evening papers had no particular news. This time, however, one of them had a
+leading article upon the English police system. The fact that an undetected
+murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the slums, a
+murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself alarming. Until the
+inquest had been held, it was better to make little comment upon the facts of
+the case so far as they were known. At the same time, the circumstance could
+not fail to incite a considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices
+in the vicinity of the tragedy. It was rumored that some mysterious inquiries
+were being circulated around London banks. It was possible that robbery, after
+all, had been the real motive of the crime, but robbery on a scale as yet
+unimagined. The whole interest of the case now was centred upon the discovery
+of the man&rsquo;s identity. As soon as this was solved, some very startling
+developments might be expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick threw the paper away. He tried to rest upon the sofa, but tried in
+vain. He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-night,&rdquo; he muttered to himself,&mdash;&ldquo;no, I will not go
+to-night! It is not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think that
+I was&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stopped short.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll change and go to the club,&rdquo; he decided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rose to his feet. Just then there was a ring at his bell. He opened the door
+and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick,&rdquo; the boy announced, opening
+his wallet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick held out his hand. The boy gave him a large square envelope, and upon
+the back of it was &ldquo;Universal Theatre.&rdquo; Laverick tried to assure
+himself that he was not so ridiculously pleased. He stepped back into the room,
+tore open the envelope, and read the few lines traced in rather faint but
+delicate handwriting.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don&rsquo;t let me be a nuisance, but do
+come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell you.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Z<small>OE</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot that he was
+tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to himself all the time. At
+eleven o&rsquo;clock, he was at the stage-door of the Universal Theatre,
+waiting in a taxicab.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX<br />
+LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED</h2>
+
+<p>
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the stage-door of the
+Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a waiting hansom or taxicab by an
+attendant cavalier. Laverick stood back in the shadows as much as possible,
+smiling now and then to himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending
+the evening. Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a
+delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter of course
+as he led her across to the waiting cab.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young,&rdquo; he declared.
+&ldquo;Luigi&rsquo;s for supper, I suppose?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Supper!&rdquo; she exclaimed, clapping her hands. &ldquo;Delightful! Two
+nights following, too! I did love last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We had better engage a table at Luigi&rsquo;s permanently,&rdquo; he
+remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If only you meant it!&rdquo; she sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. Afterwards, when
+they sat at a small round table in the somewhat Bohemian restaurant which was
+the fashionable rendezvous of the moment for ladies of the theatrical
+profession, he asked her a question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me what you meant in your note,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;You said
+that you had some information for me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid it wasn&rsquo;t anything very much,&rdquo; she
+admitted. &ldquo;I found out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the
+stage-door about me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur
+Morrison, the stockbroker.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know who it was?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell me
+about him, but he&rsquo;s such a surly old fellow, and he&rsquo;s so used to
+that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn&rsquo;t remember anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems odd,&rdquo; he remarked thoughtfully, &ldquo;that any one
+should have found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say,&rdquo;
+he added, &ldquo;it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small sum
+of money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very likely,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;But I was going to tell you. He
+came again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. I have
+brought it for you to see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The note&mdash;it was really little more than a message&mdash;was written on
+the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently borrowed from the
+box-office. It read as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+D<small>EAR</small> M<small>ISS</small> L<small>ENEVEU</small>,
+<br />
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I am venturing
+to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could you spare me half-an-hour
+of your company after the performance of this evening? If you could honor me so
+much, you might perhaps allow me to give you some supper.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Sincerely,<br />
+P<small>HILIP</small> E. M<small>ILES</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the programme.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should say,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;that this was simply some young
+man who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was or had
+been a friend of Morrison&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In that case,&rdquo; answered Zoe, &ldquo;he is very soon
+forgotten.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious of a
+ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you hear anything more about him,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you might
+let me know. You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so
+summarily.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one,&rdquo; laughing softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation of her
+speech.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For instance?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;First of all, then, how old are you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He made a grimace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirty-eight&mdash;thirty-nine my next birthday. Doesn&rsquo;t that seem
+grandfatherly to you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must not be absurd!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It is not even
+middle-aged. Now tell me&mdash;how do you spend your time generally? Do you
+really mean that you go and play cards at your club most evenings?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have no sisters?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no relatives at all in London,&rdquo; he explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is to be a real cross-examination,&rdquo; she warned him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am quite content,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Go ahead, but remember,
+though, that I am a very dull person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You look so young for your years,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I wonder,
+have you ever been in love?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed heartily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;About a dozen times, I suppose. Why? Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; she admitted, hesitatingly. &ldquo;You
+don&rsquo;t seem to me as though you cared to make friends very easily. I just
+felt I wanted to ask you. Have you ever been engaged?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never,&rdquo; he assured her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And when was the last time,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;that you felt you
+cared a little for any one?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It dates from the day before yesterday,&rdquo; he declared, filling her
+glass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!&rdquo; she said.
+&ldquo;You are quite right to make fun of me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the contrary,&rdquo; he insisted. &ldquo;I am very much in
+earnest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;if you are in earnest you
+shall be in love with me. You shall take me about, give me supper every night,
+send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre&mdash;oh, and there are heaps
+of things you ought to do if you really mean it!&rdquo; she wound up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If those things mean being fond of you,&rdquo; he answered,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll prove it with pleasure. Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs
+at the stage-door.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It all sounds very terrible,&rdquo; she sighed. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a
+horrid little life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet I suppose you enjoy it?&rdquo; he remarked tentatively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hate it, but I must do something. I could not live on charity. If I
+knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but there is no other
+way. I tried once to give music lessons. I had a few pupils, but they never
+paid&mdash;they never do pay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish I could think of something,&rdquo; Laverick said thoughtfully.
+&ldquo;Of course, it is occupation you want. So far as regards the monetary
+part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I have never complained about
+Arthur. Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not wish to take
+any of his money&mdash;or of anybody else&rsquo;s,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I
+want always to earn my own living.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For such a child,&rdquo; he remarked, smiling, &ldquo;you are
+wonderfully independent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; she answered softly. &ldquo;It is years since I had any
+one to do very much for me. Necessity teaches us a good many things. Oh, I was
+helpless enough when it began!&rdquo; she added, with a little sigh. &ldquo;I
+got over it. We all do. Tell me&mdash;who is that woman, and why does she stare
+so at you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked across the room. Louise and Bellamy were sitting at the
+opposite table. The former was strikingly handsome and very wonderfully
+dressed. Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open in front, displayed her
+marvelous figure. She wore long pearl earrings, and a hat with white feathers
+which drooped over her fair hair. Laverick recognized her at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the most wonderful
+soprano in the world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does she look so at you?&rdquo; Zoe asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know her,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know who she is, of
+course,&mdash;every one does. She is a Servian, and they say that she is
+devoted to her country. She left Vienna at a moment&rsquo;s notice, only a few
+days ago, and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again
+before the enemies of her country. She had been engaged a long time to appear
+at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really come. She breaks
+her engagements just when she chooses. In fact, she is a very wonderful person
+altogether.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never saw such pearls in my life,&rdquo; Zoe whispered. &ldquo;And how
+lovely she is! I do not understand, though, why she is so interested in
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She mistakes me for some one, perhaps.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It certainly seemed probable. Even at that moment she touched her escort upon
+the arm, and he distinctly looked across at Laverick. It was obvious that he
+was the subject of her conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know the man,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;He was at Harrow with me,
+and I have played cricket with him since. But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale. One does not forget that sort of person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Her figure is magnificent,&rdquo; Zoe murmured wistfully. &ldquo;Do you
+like tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I adore them,&rdquo; he answered, smiling, &ldquo;but I prefer small
+ones.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are very foolish people, you and I,&rdquo; she laughed. &ldquo;We
+came together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are making me young again,&rdquo; he declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, you are quite young enough!&rdquo; she assured him. &ldquo;To tell
+you the truth, I am jealous. Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the time.
+Look at her now. Is she not beautiful?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her&mdash;and she was by far the most interesting person in the
+room&mdash;thought her a little sad. Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to be
+entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over his head and
+out of the room. Wherever her thoughts were, one could be very sure that they
+were not fixed upon the subject under discussion.
+</p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:100%;">
+<a name="illus03"></a>
+<img src="images/03.jpg" width="411" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is like that when she sings,&rdquo; Laverick remarked. &ldquo;She
+has none of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen. Yet there was never anything so
+graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I were a man,&rdquo; Zoe sighed, &ldquo;that is the sort of woman I
+would die for.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you were a man,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;you would probably find
+some one whom you preferred to live for. Do you know, you are rather a morbid
+sort of person, Miss Zoe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, I like that!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I will not be called Miss
+Leneveu any more by you. You must call me Miss Zoe, please,&mdash;Zoe, if you
+like.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zoe, by all means. Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she cried softly, &ldquo;you, too, are coming under the
+spell, then. I was reading about her only the other day. They say that so many
+men fall in love with her&mdash;so many men to whom she gives no encouragement
+at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked into his companion&rsquo;s face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;my heart is not so easily won. I can assure
+you that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star.
+Don&rsquo;t you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week, and
+wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire income? Heaven
+alone knows what her gowns cost!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all, though,&rdquo; murmured Zoe, &ldquo;she is a woman. See, your
+friend is coming to speak to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room. He nodded to Laverick and bowed to his
+companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive my intruding, Laverick,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You do remember
+me, I hope? Bellamy, you know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember you quite well. We used to play together at Lord&rsquo;s,
+even after we left school.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I see by the papers that you have
+kept up your cricket. Mine, alas! has had to go. I have been too much of a
+rolling stone lately. Do you know that I have come to ask you a favor?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go ahead,&rdquo; Laverick interposed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you,&rdquo; Bellamy explained.
+&ldquo;You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims she is.
+If you won&rsquo;t come across and be introduced like a good fellow, she
+probably won&rsquo;t speak a word all through supper-time, go off in a huff,
+and my evening will be spoiled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick laughed heartily. A little smile played at the corner of Zoe&rsquo;s
+lips&mdash;nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Under those circumstances,&rdquo; remarked Laverick, &ldquo;perhaps I
+had better go. You will understand,&rdquo; he added, with a glance at Zoe,
+&ldquo;that I cannot stay for more than a second.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naturally,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;If Mademoiselle really has
+anything to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sure I have seen you at the Universal,&rdquo; he declared.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re in the front row, aren&rsquo;t you? I have seen you in that
+clever little step-dance and song in the second act.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does it seem clever to you?&rdquo; she asked wistfully. &ldquo;You see,
+we are all so tired of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think it is ripping,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;I shall have the
+pleasure again directly,&rdquo; he added, with a bow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two men crossed the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?&rdquo; Laverick
+demanded. &ldquo;Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling against
+hard times?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She isn&rsquo;t the sort to care who or what you are,&rdquo; he
+answered. &ldquo;And as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if
+she wanted to. Her interest in you is rather a curious one. No time to explain
+it now. She&rsquo;ll tell you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise smiled as he paused before her. She was certainly exquisitely beautiful.
+Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her voice, were all
+perfection. She gave him the tips of her fingers as Bellamy pronounced his
+name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so kind of you,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;to come and speak to me.
+And indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would like to
+say one word with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick bowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am thankful, Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;for anything
+which procures me such a pleasure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! you, too, are gallant,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But indeed, then, I
+fear you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested. I read
+all your newspapers. I read of that terrible murder in Crooked Friars&rsquo;
+Alley only a few days ago,&mdash;is not that how you call the place?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was suddenly grave. What was this that was coming?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One of the reports,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;says that the man was a
+foreigner. The maker&rsquo;s name upon his clothes was Austrian. I, too, come
+from that part of Europe&mdash;if not from Austria, from a country very
+near&mdash;and I am always interested in my country-people. A few moments ago I
+asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, &lsquo;Where is this Crooked Friars&rsquo;
+Alley?&rsquo; Just then he bowed to you, and he answered me, &lsquo;It is in
+the city. It is within a yard or two of the offices of the gentleman to whom I
+just have said good-evening.&rsquo; So I looked across at you and I thought
+that it was strange.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a terrible affair,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;and, as Mr. Bellamy
+has told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office. So far, too, the
+police seem completely at a loss.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she went on, shaking her head, &ldquo;your police, I am
+afraid they are not very clever. It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your offices
+are?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; Laverick replied. &ldquo;On the contrary, in the
+daytime it might be called the heart of the city&mdash;of the money-making part
+of the city, at any rate. Only this thing, you see, seems to have taken place
+very late at night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When all the offices were closed,&rdquo; she remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Most of them,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Mine, as it happened, was
+open late that night. I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of the time
+when the murder must have been committed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But that is terrible!&rdquo; she declared, shaking her head. &ldquo;Tell
+me, Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show me this
+place,&mdash;yes?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but there
+is nothing there. It is just a passage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You give me your address,&rdquo; she insisted, &ldquo;and I think that I
+will come. You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me. Well, sometimes I have
+a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will give me your advice.
+So! You have a card!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it. She thanked him and
+once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He bowed and recrossed the room. Bellamy was standing talking to Zoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he asked, as Laverick returned, &ldquo;are you, too, going
+to throw yourself beneath the car?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think so,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Our acquaintance promises
+to be a business one. Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you have kept your heart,&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;Ah, well, you
+have every reason!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place. Laverick looked
+after him a little compassionately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor fellow,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has some sort of a Government appointment,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; Zoe exclaimed. &ldquo;He is nice. She must care for some
+one. Why do you pity him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone,&rdquo; Laverick
+continued, &ldquo;and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. She
+is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to spare from herself
+are given to her country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zoe shuddered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;I do not like to think of heartless
+women. Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, very
+sad. Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I imagine,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;that it was a whim. It must have been
+a whim.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br />
+MADEMOISELLE IDIALE&rsquo;S VISIT</h2>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think about. He was
+accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, within a few yards of his
+office, and with the same little company of friends. Just as he was leaving, an
+outside broker whom he knew slightly came across the room to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, Laverick,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;what&rsquo;s become of your
+partner?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall be
+announcing a change in the firm shortly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Queer thing,&rdquo; the broker remarked. &ldquo;I was in Liverpool
+yesterday, and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I
+should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful about his
+appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking individual. I called out
+to him and he vanished like a streak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It could scarcely have been Morrison,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;He
+sailed several days ago for New York.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That settles it,&rdquo; the man declared, passing on. &ldquo;All the
+same, it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out a marconigram
+to the <i>Lusitania</i>,
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to his office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Any one to see me?&rdquo; he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Shepherd is here waiting,&rdquo; his clerk told
+him,&mdash;&ldquo;queer looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty
+pounds in cash for some railway stock.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see him,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Anything else?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A lady rang up&mdash;name sounded like a French one, but we could none
+of us catch what it was&mdash;to say that she was coming down to see
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it is Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; Laverick directed, &ldquo;I must
+see her directly she arrives. How are you, Shepherd?&rdquo; he added, nodding
+to the waiter as he passed towards his room. &ldquo;Come in, will you?
+You&rsquo;ve got your certificates all right?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not wholly
+agreed. He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his little green eyes
+seemed even more restless. His attire&mdash;a long rough overcoat over the
+livery of his profession&mdash;scarcely enhanced the dignity of his appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what is it?&rdquo; Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our bar is being watched,&rdquo; the man declared. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t
+think it&rsquo;s anything to do with the police. Seems to be a sort of foreign
+gang. They&rsquo;re all round the place, morning, noon, and night.
+They&rsquo;ve pumped everybody.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t very much,&rdquo; Laverick remarked slowly, &ldquo;for
+them to find out except from you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve found out something, anyway,&rdquo; Shepherd continued.
+&ldquo;My junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room,
+told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten and twelve
+on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking. They&rsquo;re
+beginning to look at me a bit doubtful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shouldn&rsquo;t worry,&rdquo; Laverick advised. &ldquo;The
+inquest&rsquo;s on now and you haven&rsquo;t been called. I don&rsquo;t fancy
+you&rsquo;re running any sort of risk. Any one may say they believe there were
+people in the bar between those hours, but there isn&rsquo;t any one who can
+contradict you outright. Besides, you haven&rsquo;t sworn to anything.
+You&rsquo;ve simply said, as might be very possible, that you don&rsquo;t
+remember any one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It makes me a bit nervous, though,&rdquo; Shepherd remarked
+apologetically. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell
+you. Their eyes seem to follow you all over the place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall come in for a drink presently myself,&rdquo; Laverick declared.
+&ldquo;I should like to see them. I might get an idea as to their nationality,
+at any rate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very good, sir. I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m doing just as you suggested.
+I&rsquo;ve said nothing about leaving, but I&rsquo;m beginning to grumble a bit
+at the work, so as to pave the way. It&rsquo;s a hard job, and no mistake. I
+had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed, too, with only
+a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to serve the drinks unless they
+go to the counter for them. It&rsquo;s more than one man&rsquo;s work, Mr.
+Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So much the better,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;All the more excuse for
+your leaving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?&rdquo; the man asked,
+taking up his hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall look in for a few moments, for certain,&rdquo; Laverick
+answered. &ldquo;If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those
+fellows.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jim Shepherd departed. There was a shouting of newspaper boys in the street
+outside. Laverick sent out for a paper. The account of the inquest was brief
+enough, and there were no witnesses called except the men who had found the
+dead body. The nature of the wounds was explained to the jury, also the
+impossibility of their having been self-inflicted. In the absence of any police
+evidence or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death
+was naturally limited. The jury contented themselves by bringing in a verdict
+of &ldquo;Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.&rdquo; Laverick
+laid down the paper. The completion of the inquest was at least the first
+definite step toward safety. The question now before him was what to do with
+that twenty thousand pounds. He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy. After
+all, had he paid too great a price? The millstone was gone from around his
+neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life. Yet for a
+background there was always this secret knowledge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections. Laverick
+rose from his seat to greet his visitor. She was wonderfully dressed, as usual,
+yet with the utmost simplicity,&mdash;a white serge gown with a large black
+hat, but a gown that seemed to have been moulded on to her slim, faultless
+figure. She brought with her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle
+perfumes&mdash;a perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except
+in its faint suggestion of hothouse flowers. She held out her hand to Laverick,
+who placed for her at once an easy-chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She inclined her head graciously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very kind,&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;I know that here in the city
+you are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long. Will you
+buy me some stocks,&mdash;some good safe stocks, which will bring me in at
+least four per cent?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can promise to do that,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Have you any
+choice?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I have no choice,&rdquo; Louise told him. &ldquo;I bring with me a
+cheque,&mdash;see, I give it to you,&mdash;it is for six thousand pounds. I
+would like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I may
+watch them in the paper. I like to see whether they go up or down, but I do not
+wish to risk their going down too much. It is something like gambling but it is
+no trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle,&rdquo;
+Laverick assured her, &ldquo;and I think I can promise you that for a week or
+two, at any rate, your stocks will go up. With regard to selling&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I leave everything to you,&rdquo; she interrupted, &ldquo;only let me
+know what you propose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We will do our best,&rdquo; Laverick promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is good,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Money is a wonderful thing. Without
+it one can do little. You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you were going
+to show me this passage?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not. Come with me now, if you will. It is only a yard or two
+away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took her out into the street. Every clerk in the office forgot his manners
+and craned his neck. Outside, Mademoiselle let fall her veil and passed
+unrecognized. Laverick showed her the entry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was just there,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;about half a dozen yards
+up on the left, that the body was found.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at the place steadily. Then she looked along the passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where does it lead to&mdash;that?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come and I will show you. On the left&rdquo;&mdash;as they passed along
+the flagged pavement&mdash;&ldquo;is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard. On the
+right here there are just offices. The street in front of us is Henschell
+Street. All of those buildings are stockbrokers&rsquo; offices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And directly opposite,&rdquo; she asked,&mdash;&ldquo;that is a café, is
+it not,&mdash;a restaurant, as you would call it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so,&rdquo; he agreed. &ldquo;One goes in there sometimes for a
+drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And a meeting place, perhaps?&rdquo; she inquired. &ldquo;It would
+probably be a meeting place. One might leave there and walk down this passage
+naturally enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick inclined his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;I think that the
+evidence went to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that
+night. You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven
+o&rsquo;clock, and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence. In the
+hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long before now. The
+guilty person would be in the hands of the law. As it is, I suppose that he
+will go free.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate,&rdquo; answered
+Laverick. &ldquo;They haven&rsquo;t had much time so far.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she admitted, &ldquo;they have not had much time. I
+wonder&mdash;&rdquo; She hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her
+sentence. &ldquo;Come,&rdquo; she exclaimed, with a little shiver, &ldquo;let
+us go back to your office! This place is not cheerful. All the time I think of
+that poor man. It does make me frightened.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which was waiting
+before his door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by
+to-night&rsquo;s post,&rdquo; he promised her. &ldquo;We shall do our best in
+your interests.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very kind, Mr. Laverick. I would like to see you again very
+soon. You have heard me sing in <i>Samson and Delilah?</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-night,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;you must come to the Opera House.
+I leave a box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you are there, and
+it is possible that I may see you. It is against the rules, but for me there
+are no rules.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are doing something else?&rdquo; she protested. &ldquo;You were,
+perhaps, thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were
+sitting last night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I had half promised&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter. &ldquo;She is
+not for you&mdash;that child. She is too young. She knows nothing. Better to
+leave her alone. She is not for a man of the world like you. Soon she would
+cease to amuse you. You would be dull and she would still care. Oh, there is so
+much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick&mdash;so much tragedy for the woman!
+It is she always who suffers. You will take my advice. You will leave that
+little girl alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;that I cannot promise that so
+quickly. You see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me. Perhaps,&rdquo; he added, after a second&rsquo;s
+pause, &ldquo;I care for her too much.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not for you,&rdquo; she answered scornfully, &ldquo;to care too
+much. An Englishman, he cares never enough. A woman to him is something
+amusing,&mdash;his companion for a little of his spare time, something to be
+pleased about, to show off to his friends,&mdash;to share, even, the passion of
+the moment. But an Englishman he does not care too much. He never cares enough.
+He does not know what it is to care enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there may
+not. We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at least we are
+faithful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, how I do hate that word!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Who is there,
+indeed, who wishes that you would be faithful? How much we poor women do suffer
+from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would be cared for very,
+very much, with all the strength and all the passion you can conceive, but let
+it not last for too long. It gets weary. It gets stale. It is as you
+say,&mdash;the Englishman he cares very little, perhaps, but he cares always;
+and the woman, if she be an artiste and a woman, she tires. But good afternoon,
+Mr. Laverick! I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these
+frivolous matters. You come to-night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very kind,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;If I may come until
+eleven o&rsquo;clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As you will,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;We shall see. I expect you,
+then. You ask for your box.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you wish it, certainly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will tell him, please,&rdquo; she directed, &ldquo;to drive to Bond
+Street.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his clerk
+instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle Idiale. He had
+scarcely reached his own room when he was told that Mr. James Shepherd wished
+to speak to him for a moment upon the telephone. He took up the receiver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Shepherd,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;Is that Mr.
+Laverick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago,&rdquo; Shepherd
+continued. &ldquo;You had with you a lady&mdash;a young, tall lady with a
+veil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; Laverick admitted. &ldquo;What about
+her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in the
+window,&rdquo; Shepherd went on hoarsely. &ldquo;He saw her with you and I
+heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He dropped his
+glass and his paper. He watched you every second of the time you were there
+until you had disappeared. Then he, too, put on his hat and went out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anything else?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing else,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;I thought you might like to
+know this, sir. The man recognized the lady right enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems queer,&rdquo; Laverick admitted. &ldquo;Thank you for ringing
+me up, Shepherd. Good morning!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now in his mind
+but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other, was interested in this
+crime. Her wish to see the place, her introduction to him last night and her
+purchase of stocks, were all part of a scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely
+convinced of it. As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her
+place amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br />
+ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES</h2>
+
+<p>
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green Park.
+Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. She took his arm in
+foreign fashion. They walked together towards Buckingham Palace&mdash;a
+strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear David,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;the man perplexes me. To look at
+him, to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just those
+clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half splendid, of your
+athletic Englishman. One would imagine him doing a foolishly honorable thing,
+but he is not my conception of a criminal at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path. His forehead wore a perplexed frown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t give himself away, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not in the least.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without an instant&rsquo;s hesitation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of curiosity,&rdquo; asked Bellamy, &ldquo;did he try to
+make love to you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I even gave him an opening,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Of flirtation he has
+no more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that there is the least
+doubt but that he has the money and the portfolio. I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed only a week
+ago. They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly insolvent. No one can
+imagine how they tided over the crisis.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The man who was watching for you?&rdquo; she inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He makes no mistakes,&rdquo; Bellamy assured her. &ldquo;He saw Laverick
+enter that passage and come out. Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way. The thing
+could not have been accidental.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you not go to him openly?&rdquo; she suggested. &ldquo;He is,
+after all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be very
+much in your power. Tell him of the value of that document. Tell him that you
+must have it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It could be done,&rdquo; Bellamy admitted. &ldquo;I think that one of us
+must talk plainly to him. Listen, Louise,&mdash;are you seeing him
+again?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See what you can do,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;I would rather keep away
+from him myself, if I can. Have you heard anything of Streuss?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing directly,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;but my rooms have been
+searched&mdash;even my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man&rsquo;s spies
+are simply wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And,
+David!&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, dear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has got hold of Lassen,&rdquo; she continued. &ldquo;I am perfectly
+certain of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better,&rdquo; Bellamy
+declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so difficult,&rdquo; she murmured, in a perplexed tone. &ldquo;The
+man has all my affairs in his hands. Up till now, although he is uncomely, and
+a brute in many ways, he has served me well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he is Streuss&rsquo;s creature he must go,&rdquo; Bellamy insisted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us sit down for a few minutes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I am
+tired.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side. In full view of them was
+Buckingham Palace with its flag flying. She looked thoughtfully at it and
+across to Westminster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps,&rdquo; he answered gloomily, no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-day,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;I seem to have lost confidence. I
+seem to feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk, to
+see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who throng your
+streets. They are a stolid, unbelieving people&mdash;these. The blow, when it
+comes, will be the harder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When one comes to think of it, it
+is amazing. How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how completely
+their teachings have been ignored! The invasion bogey has been so long among us
+that it has become nothing but a jest. Even I, in a way, am one of the
+unbelievers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not serious, David!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am,&rdquo; he affirmed. &ldquo;I think that if we could read that
+document we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion
+of England. I think you would find that the blow would be struck simultaneously
+at our Colonies. We should either have to submit or send a considerable fleet
+away from home waters. Then, I presume, the question of invasion would come
+again. All the time, of course, the gage would be flung down, treaties would be
+defied, we should be scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings. Austria
+would gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history,&rdquo; she
+said, &ldquo;this decadence of your country. Once England held the scales of
+justice for the world. Now she is no longer strong enough, and there is none to
+take her place. David, even if you know what that document contains, even then
+will it help very much?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very much indeed. Don&rsquo;t you see that there is one hope left to
+us&mdash;one hope&mdash;and that is Russia? The Czar must be made to withdraw
+from that compact. We want to know his share in it. When we know that, there
+will be a secret mission sent to Russia. Germany and Austria are strong, but
+they are not all the world. With Russia behind and France and England westward,
+the struggle is at least an equal one. They have to face both directions, they
+have to face two great armies working from the east and from the west.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments. Bellamy was
+thinking deeply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You say, Louise,&rdquo; he asked, looking up quickly, &ldquo;that your
+rooms have been searched. When was this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only last night,&rdquo; she replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;Streuss has no idea that the
+document is not in our possession. He knows nothing about Laverick. How are we
+going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have a plan?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is only one thing to be done,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;I
+shall say that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government. It will be a bluff, pure and simple. He may believe it or he may
+not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will break your compact then,&rdquo; she reminded him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall call myself justified,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;He has
+attempted to rob us of the document. You are sure of what you say&mdash;that
+your rooms and dressing-room have been searched?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Absolutely certain,&rdquo; she declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That will be sufficient,&rdquo; Bellamy decided. &ldquo;If Streuss comes
+to me, I shall meet him frankly. I shall tell him that he has tried to play the
+burglar and that it must be war. I shall tell him that the compact is in the
+hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and his spies had better clear
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him questioningly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course, you understand,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;there is one thing we
+can do, and one thing only. We must send a mission to Russia and another to
+France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea we must declare
+war. It is the only thing left to us&mdash;a bold front. Without that packet we
+have no casus belli. With it, we can strike, and strike hard. I still believe
+that if we declare war within seven days, we shall save ourselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across the dingy
+Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world beyond. They were
+together in Streuss&rsquo;s sitting-room on the seventh floor of one of the
+great Strand hotels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our enterprise is a failure!&rdquo; Kahn exclaimed gloomily. &ldquo;We
+cannot doubt it any longer. I think, Streuss, that the best course you and I
+could adopt would be to realize it and to get back. We do no good here. We only
+run needless risks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The face of the other man was dark with anger. His tone, when he spoke, shook
+with passion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know what you say, Kahn!&rdquo; he cried hoarsely.
+&ldquo;I tell you that we must succeed. If that document reaches the hands of
+any one in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen upon
+our country since you or I were born. You don&rsquo;t understand, Kahn! You
+keep your eyes closed!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What men can do we have done,&rdquo; the other answered. &ldquo;Von
+Behrling played us false. He has died a traitor&rsquo;s death, but it is very
+certain that he parted with his document before he received that twenty
+thousand pounds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once and for all, I do not believe it!&rdquo; Streuss declared.
+&ldquo;At mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were
+unknown to the Ministers of the King here. Now if Von Behrling had parted with
+that document last Monday night, don&rsquo;t you suppose that everything would
+be known by now? He did not part with it. Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when
+they say that they possess it. That document remains in the possession of Von
+Behrling&rsquo;s murderer, and it is for us to find him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kahn sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is outside our sphere&mdash;that. What can we do against the police
+of this country working in their own land?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing. The veins in his
+temples were like whipcord.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Adolf,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;you talk like a fool! Can&rsquo;t you
+see what it means? If that document reaches its destination, what do you
+suppose will happen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They will know our plans, of course,&rdquo; Kahn answered. &ldquo;They
+will have time to make preparation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Worse than that!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;They are not all fools,
+these English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches.
+Can&rsquo;t you see what the result would be if that document reaches Downing
+Street? War at a moment&rsquo;s notice, war six months too soon! Don&rsquo;t
+you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working night and day?
+Don&rsquo;t you know that every nerve is being strained, that the muscles of
+the country are hammering the rivets into our new battleships? There is but one
+chance for this country, and if her statesmen read that document they will know
+what it is. It is open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render
+themselves secure against attack.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They would never have the courage,&rdquo; Kahn declared. &ldquo;They
+might make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to take
+the initiative&mdash;no! I do not believe it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is one man who has wit enough to do it,&rdquo; Streuss said.
+&ldquo;He may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it. Kahn, wake up, man!
+You and I together have never known what failure means. I tell you that that
+document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must find it. This morning
+Mademoiselle drove into the city and called at the offices of a stockbroker
+within a dozen yards of Crooked Friars&rsquo; Alley. She was there a long time.
+The stockbroker himself came out with her into the street, took her to see the
+entry, stood with her there and returned. What was her interest in him, Kahn?
+His name is Laverick. Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin. To the
+amazement of every one, he met all his engagements. Why did Mademoiselle go to
+the city to see him? He was at his office late that Tuesday night. He had a
+partner who has disappeared.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have found all this out!&rdquo; he exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And more,&rdquo; Streuss declared. &ldquo;For twenty-four hours, this
+man Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not approach him boldly?&rdquo; Kahn suggested. &ldquo;If he has the
+document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know the man. He is an Englishman, and if he had any
+idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would be small
+indeed. This is what I think will happen. Mademoiselle will try to obtain it,
+and try in vain. Then Bellamy will tell him the truth, and he will part with it
+willingly. In the meantime, I believe that it is in his possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The evidence is slender enough,&rdquo; objected Kahn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What if it is!&rdquo; Streuss exclaimed. &ldquo;If it is only a hundred
+to one chance, we have to take it. I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf, and I
+know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The telephone bell rang. Streuss took off the receiver and held it to his ear.
+The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid the instrument down there
+was a certain amount of satisfaction in his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate,&rdquo; he announced, &ldquo;this man Laverick did not part
+with the document to-day. Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been sitting in
+the Park for an hour. When they separated, she drove home and dropped him at
+his club. Up till now, then, they have not the document. We shall see what Mr.
+Laverick does when he leaves business this evening; if he goes straight home,
+either the document has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe
+in his office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale&rsquo;s&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; Kahn asked eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Streuss repeated
+slowly, &ldquo;there is still a chance for us!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br />
+LAVERICK AT THE OPERA</h2>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden that
+evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the reasons which had
+prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become her guest. It was sheer
+curiosity which prompted him to pursue this adventure. He was perfectly
+convinced that personally he had no interest for her. In some way or other he
+had become connected in her mind with the murder which had taken place within a
+few yards of his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that
+murder had become a subject of interest to her. Either that, or this was one of
+the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of courtesy from the
+attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary visitor. The opera was Samson
+and Delilah, and even before her wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed
+to Laverick that no person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had
+ever moved upon any stage. It appeared impossible that movement so graceful and
+passionate should remain so absolutely effortless. There seemed to be some
+strange power inside the woman. Surely her will guided her feet! The necessity
+for physical effort never once appeared. Notwithstanding the slight prejudice
+which he had felt against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration
+altogether in check. The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her
+glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience. He clapped as the
+others did at the end of the first act, and he leaned forward just as eagerly
+to catch a glimpse of her when she reappeared and stood there with that
+marvelous smile upon her lips, accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the
+homage of the packed house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock at his box
+door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of somewhat remarkable
+personality. He was barely five feet in height, and an extremely fat neck and a
+corpulent body gave him almost the appearance of a hunchback. He had black,
+beady eyes, a black moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin. His white
+gloves had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his silk
+hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually associated with Bond
+Street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and commenced to
+speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an Englishman, he at any rate spoke
+the language with confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear sir,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;I owe you many apologies. It was
+Mademoiselle Idiale&rsquo;s wish that I should make your acquaintance. My name
+is Lassen. I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle&rsquo;s business manager.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen,&rdquo; said Laverick.
+&ldquo;Will you sit down?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed back his
+glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took the seat opposite
+Laverick. His first question was inevitable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you think of the opera, sir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;It is above criticism.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is,&rdquo; Mr. Lassen said firmly, &ldquo;the loveliest woman in
+Europe and her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, this. I
+myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to England most of those
+whose names are known during the last ten years; but there has never been
+another Louise Idiale,&mdash;never will be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can believe it,&rdquo; Laverick admitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She has wonderful qualities, too,&rdquo; continued Mr. Lassen.
+&ldquo;Your acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so,&rdquo; Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you,&rdquo; the latter proceeded.
+&ldquo;She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is very kind of you,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;As a matter of
+fact, it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist upon my
+coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may know, of paying me a
+visit in the city this morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So she did tell me,&rdquo; Mr. Lassen declared. &ldquo;Mademoiselle is a
+great woman of business. Most of her investments she controls herself. She has
+whims, however, and it never does to contradict her. She has also, curiously
+enough, a preference for the men of affairs.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss Mademoiselle
+any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger should be her manager. He
+nodded and took up his programme. As he did so, the curtain rang up upon the
+next act. Laverick turned deliberately towards the stage. The little man had
+paid his respects, as he put it. Laverick felt disinclined for further
+conversation with him. Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that
+his companion&rsquo;s eyes were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable sense
+that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this visitor, that he
+had come for some specific object which as yet he had not declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle,&rdquo; the latter
+remarked, some time afterwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But, my dear sir, she expects to see you,&rdquo; Mr. Lassen protested.
+&ldquo;You are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me,&rdquo; Laverick said.
+&ldquo;I have an engagement immediately after the performance is over.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, and made some
+excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When he returned, he carried a
+little, note which he presented to Laverick with an air of triumph.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is as I said!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Mademoiselle expects
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come round or escort me
+yourself, will you come later to the restaurant of Luigi, where, as always, I
+shall sup. Do not fail.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+L<small>OUISE</small> I<small>DIALE</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate remark.
+Later on he turned to his companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I will do
+myself the honor of coming to her at Luigi&rsquo;s restaurant. I have an
+engagement after the performance which I must keep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will certainly come?&rdquo; Lassen asked anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without a doubt,&rdquo; Laverick promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she seemed
+particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has her whims, and those
+who have most to do with her, like myself, find it well to keep them gratified.
+If I do not see you again, sir, permit me to wish you good evening.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and Laverick was
+left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the least conceited, and he
+did not for a moment misinterpret this woman&rsquo;s interest in him. Her
+invitation, he knew very well, was one which half London would have coveted.
+Yet it meant nothing personal, he was sure of that. It simply meant that for
+some mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit him in
+the city he was of interest to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove to the
+stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the first and paused
+upon the threshold, looking up and down the street eagerly. When she recognized
+him, her smile was heavenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, how nice of you!&rdquo; she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know how different it feels to hope that there
+is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. To-night I
+was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I could not help believing
+that you would be here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was hoping,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that we might have another supper
+together. Unfortunately, I have an engagement.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An engagement?&rdquo; she repeated, her face falling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is rather an odd thing,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You remember that
+woman at Luigi&rsquo;s last night&mdash;Mademoiselle Idiale?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to invest
+for her. She made me take her out and show her where the murder was committed,
+and asked a great many questions about it. Then she insisted that I should go
+and hear her sing this evening, and I find that I was expected to take her on
+to supper afterwards. I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised
+to go to Luigi&rsquo;s, where she will be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are we going now, then?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wherever you like. I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The last two nights you have spoiled me,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I have
+so many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sorry. If I could think of anything or anywhere&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, you must take me home, please,&rdquo; said she. &ldquo;It was
+selfish of me. Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person. Do you
+think that she will want you every night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course not,&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Come, I will make an engagement
+with you. We will have supper together to-morrow evening.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She brightened up at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder,&rdquo; she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards,
+&ldquo;have you heard anything from Arthur? He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head. He said nothing about the marconigram he had sent, or
+the answer which he had received informing him that there was no such person on
+board. It seemed scarcely worth while to worry her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have heard nothing,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;Of course, he must be
+half-way to America by now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There have been no more inquiries about him?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors. The
+latter I am paying as they come. But there is one thing you ought to do with
+me. I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock up his papers and letters. He
+never even went back, you know, after that night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When would you like to do this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until Monday
+afternoon. Would you go with me then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course... My time is my own. We have no matinee, and I have nothing
+to do except in the evening.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They had reached her home. It looked very dark and very uninviting. She
+shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was carrying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come in with me, please, while I light the gas,&rdquo; she begged.
+&ldquo;It looks so dreary, doesn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You ought to have some one with you,&rdquo; he declared,
+&ldquo;especially in a part like this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I am not really afraid,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I am only
+lonely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit the gas
+jet. In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting for her, and some
+bread.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you so much,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Now I am going to make up the
+fire and read for a short time. I hope that you will enjoy your
+supper&mdash;well, moderately,&rdquo; she added, with a little laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can promise you,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;that I shall enjoy it no
+more than last night&rsquo;s or to-morrow night&rsquo;s.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor little me!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It is not fair to have to
+compete with Mademoiselle Idiale. Good night!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would you like me,&rdquo; he asked hesitatingly, &ldquo;supposing I get
+away early&mdash;would you like me to come in and say good night to you later
+on?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, do!&rdquo; she begged. &ldquo;Do!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned away with a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t shut up just yet and I
+will try.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall stay here until three o&rsquo;clock,&rdquo; she
+declared,&mdash;&ldquo;until four, even. You must come. Remember, you must
+come. See.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held out to him her key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can knock at the door,&rdquo; he protested. &ldquo;You would hear
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I might fall asleep,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I am afraid. If you
+have the key, I am sure that you will come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;if it is only for five minutes, I will
+come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br />
+A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI&rsquo;S</h2>
+
+<p>
+Laverick walked into Luigi&rsquo;s Restaurant at about a quarter to twelve, and
+found the place crowded with many little supper-parties on their way to a fancy
+dress ball. The demand for tables was far in excess of the supply, but he had
+scarcely shown himself before the head maitre d&rsquo;hotel came hurrying up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir,&rdquo; he announced at
+once. &ldquo;Will you be so good as to come this way?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last night, but she
+was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, only for two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have treated me,&rdquo; she said, as she held out her fingers,
+&ldquo;to a new sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of an
+hour&mdash;I! Such a thing has never happened to me before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do me too much honor,&rdquo; Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, too,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;I sup alone with you. That is
+what I seldom do with any man. Not that I care for the appearance,&rdquo; she
+added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand. &ldquo;Nothing troubles me less.
+It is simply that one man alone wearies me. Almost always he will make love,
+and that I do not like. You, Mr. Laverick, I am not afraid of. I do not think
+that you will make love to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Any intentions I may have had,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, with a sigh,
+&ldquo;I forthwith banish. You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I do not
+think that you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To tell you the truth,&rdquo; Laverick admitted, &ldquo;I find it hard
+to make love to any one. I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one&rsquo;s self is
+difficult&mdash;sometimes it is even embarrassing. For supper?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is ordered,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;You are my guest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Impossible!&rdquo; Laverick asserted firmly. &ldquo;I have been your
+guest at the Opera. You at least owe me the honor of being mine for
+supper.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She frowned a little. She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I sup with you, then, another night,&rdquo; she insisted.
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;If you are going to look like that, I
+take it back. I sup with you to-night. This is an ill omen for our future
+acquaintance. I have given in to you already&mdash;I, who give in to no man.
+Give me some champagne, please.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the sommelier
+darted forward and served them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo;
+she said, raising her glass, &ldquo;and, if you would like a double toast, I
+drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is consuming
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The curiosity?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes! You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last night to
+send and have you presented to me, why I came to your office in the city to-day
+with the excuse of investing money with you, why I invited you to the Opera
+to-night, why I commanded you to supper here and am supping with you alone. Now
+confess the truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frankly, I am.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I knew it quite well. You are not conceited. You do not believe, as so
+many men would, that I have fallen in love with you. You think that there must
+be some object, and you ask yourself all the time, &lsquo;What is it?&rsquo; in
+your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether you have any idea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. She looked at him with a suggestion
+of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only needed the slightest
+softening of her face to have made it something almost irresistible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can assure you,&rdquo; Laverick said firmly, &ldquo;that I have no
+idea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you remember almost my first question to you?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was about the murder. You seemed interested in the fact that my
+office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right,&rdquo; she admitted. &ldquo;I see that your memory is very
+good. There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick drank his wine slowly. The woman knew! Impossible! Her eyes were
+watching his face, but he held himself bravely. What could she know? How could
+she guess?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frankly,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I do not understand. Your interest in me
+arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that murder. Well,
+to begin with, what concern have you in that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The murdered man,&rdquo; she declared thoughtfully, &ldquo;was an
+acquaintance of mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An acquaintance of yours!&rdquo; Laverick exclaimed. &ldquo;Why, he has
+not been identified. No one knows who he was.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;the newspapers do not tell you
+everything. I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of mine. Only
+three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I could,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I can tell you one thing,
+at any rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you. At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him. This is a fact
+which has not been spoken of in the Press.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his. He sat quite still.
+His face exhibited nothing more than the blank amazement which he certainly
+felt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is marvelous,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Have you told the
+police?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have not,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I wish, if I can, to avoid
+telling the police.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But the money? To whom did it belong?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not to the murdered man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To any one whom you know of?&rdquo; he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder,&rdquo; she said, after a moment of hesitation, &ldquo;whether
+I am telling you too much.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are telling me a good deal,&rdquo; he admitted frankly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder how far,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;you will be inclined to
+reciprocate?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I reciprocate!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;But what can I do? What do I
+know of these things?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful gold purse
+set with emeralds. Carefully opening it, she drew from the interior a small
+flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great uncut emerald set into its centre.
+This, too, she opened, and drew out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned
+together at the top. These she glanced through until she came to the third or
+fourth. Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may read that,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is part of a report which
+I have had in my possession since Wednesday morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular characters, very
+distinct and plain:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down the street but did
+not glance toward the passage. The next person to appear was a gentleman who
+left some offices on the same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on
+his homeward way. He glanced up the passage and saw the body lying there. He
+disappeared for a moment and struck a match. A minute afterwards he emerged
+from the passage, looked up and down the street, and finding it empty returned
+to the office from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, and
+closed the door behind him. He was there for about ten minutes. When he
+reappeared, he walked quickly down the street and for obvious reasons I was
+unable to follow him.<br />
+    The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was Messrs.
+Laverick &amp; Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That interests you, Mr. Laverick?&rdquo; she asked softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He handed it back to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It interests me very much,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Who was this
+unseen person who wrote from the clouds?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she declared.
+&ldquo;What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to the music,
+and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that beautiful face a few
+feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her forehead wrinkled. There was
+nothing of the accuser in her countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant
+expression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It might seem so,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;Sometimes I think that all
+the time we live two lives,&mdash;the life of which the world sees the outside,
+and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows anything at all. Look,
+for instance, at all these people&mdash;these chorus girls and young men about
+town&mdash;the older ones, too&mdash;all hungry for pleasure, all drinking at
+the cup of life as though they had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to
+live and enjoy. Have they no shadows, too, no secrets? They seem so harmless,
+yet if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer there, a
+dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus on the verge of
+bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor? But those are the things of the
+other world which we do not see. The men look at us to-night and they envy you
+because you are with me. The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my
+neck and shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame throughout
+Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very few minutes. But they do
+not know. There are the shadows across my path, and I think that there are the
+shadows across yours. What do you say, Mr. Laverick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at her, curiously moved. Now at last he began to believe that it was
+true what they said of her, that she was indeed a marvelous woman. She had a
+fame which would have contented nine hundred and ninety-nine women out of a
+thousand. She had beauty, and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination
+which are irresistible. She had but to lift a finger and there were few who
+would not kneel to do her bidding. And yet, behind it all there were other
+things in her life. Had she sought them, or had they come to her?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she said,
+&ldquo;who realize the danger of words. You believe in silence. Well, silence
+is often good. You do not choose to admit anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is there for me to admit? Do you want to know whether I am the man
+who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage, who reappeared
+again&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds,&rdquo; she
+murmured across the flowers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least tell me this?&rdquo; he demanded. &ldquo;Was the money
+yours?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not like you,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I have talked a great deal
+and I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But where are we?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Are you seriously accusing me
+of having robbed this murdered man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be thankful,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;that I am not accusing you of
+having murdered him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But seriously,&rdquo; he insisted, &ldquo;am I on my defence&mdash;have
+I to account for my movements that night as against the written word of your
+mysterious informant? Is it you who are charging me with being a thief? Is it
+to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself or to plead
+guilty?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I have said almost my last word to you
+upon this subject. All that I have to ask of you is this. If that pocket-book
+is in your possession, empty it first of its contents, then go over it
+carefully with your fingers and see if there is not a secret pocket. If you
+discover that, I think that you will find in it a sealed document. If you find
+that document, you must bring it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lights went down. The voice of the waiter murmured something in his ears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is after hours,&rdquo; Mademoiselle Idiale said, &ldquo;but Luigi
+does not wish to disturb us. Still, perhaps we had better go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They passed down the room. To Laverick it was all&mdash;like a dream&mdash;the
+laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the lowered lights, the
+air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to have enfolded the place. In the
+hall her maid came up. A small motor-brougham, with two servants on the box,
+was standing at the doorway. Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;has
+been quite a success. We shall before long, I hope, meet again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He handed her into the carriage. Her maid walked with them. The footman stood
+erect by his side. There were no further words to be spoken. A little crowd in
+the doorway envied him as he stood bareheaded upon the pavement.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br />
+JIM SHEPHERD&rsquo;S SCARE</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when he stole
+into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen asleep in a small,
+uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the window. Her supper of bread and
+milk was half finished, her hat lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as
+though she had started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He
+stood with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her eyelashes,
+long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that her eyes were closed.
+Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed more the creamy pallor of some
+southern race than the whiteness of ill-health. The bodice of her dress was
+open a few inches at the neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her
+flawless skin. Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her
+feet and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his first thought of
+her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty statuette, uncouthly clad, who had
+strayed from a world of her own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped
+indeed for the struggle. His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he
+stood and watched her. Supposing she had been different! It would have been his
+fault, leaving her alone to battle her way through the most difficult of all
+lives. Brute!
+</p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:100%;">
+<a name="illus04"></a>
+<img src="images/04.jpg" width="402" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her eyes. At first
+she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have been asleep!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A most unnecessary statement,&rdquo; he answered, smiling. &ldquo;I have
+been standing looking at you for five minutes at least.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How fortunate that I gave you the key!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t suppose I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in the
+light and let me look at you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle
+Idiale.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They tell strange stories about her,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;but oh, she
+is so beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she even
+looked my way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I am glad,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;that I am less
+impressionable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you are not in love with her?&rdquo; she asked eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why should I be?&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;She is like a wonderful
+picture, a marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless.
+But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life which stirs
+life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?&rdquo; Zoe asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If there is,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I do not think that I am the man
+to stir it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You see,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you are my first admirer, and I
+haven&rsquo;t the least desire to let you go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Incredible!&rdquo; he declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But it is true,&rdquo; she answered earnestly. &ldquo;You would not have
+me talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men to whom I
+have been introduced by the other girls have been very few, and they have not
+been very nice, and they have not cared for me and I have not cared for them. I
+think,&rdquo; she said, disconsolately, &ldquo;I am too small. Every one to-day
+seems to like big women. Cora Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus,
+gets bouquets every night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to
+supper.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not envying her?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Miss Zoe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I have come because you told me to,
+just to prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. But
+do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any longer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sighed once more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right,&rdquo; she admitted, &ldquo;but it is so lonely. I have
+never been here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in the
+house before the other night. If I had known that they were going away, I
+should never have dared to come here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is too bad,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you get one of
+the other girls to stay with you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are one or two whom I would like to have,&rdquo; she said,
+&ldquo;but they are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I
+am afraid about. They seem to like to sit up so late and&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are quite right,&rdquo; he interrupted hastily,&mdash;&ldquo;quite
+right. You are better alone. But you ought to have a servant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On two pounds fifteen a week?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;You must remember
+that I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Miss Zoe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am perfectly serious when I tell you
+that I have money which should go to your brother. Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little? I cannot bear to think of you here all
+alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is very kind of you,&rdquo; she answered doubtfully; &ldquo;but
+please, no. Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that
+sort of help from you. If you have any money of Arthur&rsquo;s, keep it for a
+time and I think when you write him&mdash;I do not want to seem
+grasping&mdash;but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that he
+does give me just a little. I have never had anything from him at all. Perhaps
+he does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will do that, of course,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;but I wish
+you would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to you. I
+will take the responsibility for it. It will come from him and not from
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She remained unconvinced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I would rather wait,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;If you really want to give
+me something, I will let you&mdash;out of my brother&rsquo;s money, of course,
+I mean,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t anything saved at all, or I
+wouldn&rsquo;t have that. But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress
+and hat. You can tell Arthur directly you write to him. I don&rsquo;t mind
+that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed&mdash;I did the other night to have you
+sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very differently from all
+of them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed reassuringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think men notice those things. To me you seemed just as
+you should seem. I only know that I was glad enough to be there with
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Were you?&rdquo;&mdash;rather wistfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course I was. Now I am going, but before I go, don&rsquo;t forget
+Monday afternoon. We&rsquo;ll have lunch and then go to your brother&rsquo;s
+rooms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glanced at the clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it really so late?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is. Don&rsquo;t you notice how quiet it is outside?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stood hand in hand for a moment. A strange silence seemed to have fallen
+upon the streets. Laverick was suddenly conscious of something which he had
+never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had smiled upon him&mdash;a quickening of
+the pulses, a sense of gathering excitement which almost took his breath away.
+His eyes were fixed upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same
+wave of feeling in her own expressive face. Her lips trembled, her eyes were
+deeper and softer than ever. They seemed to be asking him a question, asking
+and asking till every fibre of his body was concentrated in the desperate
+effort with, which he kept her at arm&rsquo;s length.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so very late?&rdquo; she whispered, coming just a little closer,
+so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Much too late for me to stay here, child,&rdquo; he said, and his voice
+even to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Run along to bed. To-morrow night&mdash;to-morrow night, then, I will
+fetch you. Good-bye!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He let himself out. He did not even look behind to the spot where he had left
+her. He closed the front door and walked with swift, almost savage footsteps
+down the quiet Street, across the Square, and into New Oxford Street. Here he
+seemed to breathe more freely. He called a hansom and drove to his rooms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was no one to
+inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him. When he entered his
+sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise. Mr. James Shepherd
+was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands upon his knees&mdash;Mr. James
+Shepherd with his face more pasty even than usual, his eyes a trifle greener,
+his whole demeanor one of unconcealed and unaffected terror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hullo!&rdquo; Laverick exclaimed. &ldquo;What the dickens&mdash;what do
+you want here, Shepherd?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Upon my word, sir, I&rsquo;m not sure that I know,&rdquo; the man
+replied, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m scared. I&rsquo;ve brought you back the
+certificates of them shares. I want you to keep them for me. I&rsquo;m
+terrified lest they come and search my room. I am, I tell you fair. I&rsquo;m
+terrified to order a pint of beer for myself. They&rsquo;re watching me all the
+time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are?&rdquo; Laverick demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lord knows who;&rdquo; Shepherd answered, &ldquo;but there&rsquo;s two
+of them at it. I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there
+we&rsquo;d done and finished with it. Not a bit of it! There was another one
+there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of the passage
+and asking me no end of questions. He wasn&rsquo;t no journalist, I&rsquo;ll
+swear to that. I asked him about his paper. &lsquo;Half-a-dozen,&rsquo; he
+declared. &lsquo;They&rsquo;re all glad to have what I send them.&rsquo;
+Journalist! Lord knows who the other chap was and what he was asking questions
+for, but this one was a &rsquo;tec, straight. Joe Forman, he was in to-day
+looking after my place, for I&rsquo;d given a month&rsquo;s notice, and he says
+to me, &lsquo;You see that big chap?&rsquo;&mdash;meaning him as had been
+asking me the questions&mdash;and I says &lsquo;Yes!&rsquo; and he says,
+&lsquo;That&rsquo;s a &rsquo;tee. I&rsquo;ve seed him in a police court, giving
+evidence.&rsquo; I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me
+down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come, come!&rdquo; said Laverick. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no need for you
+to be feeling like this about it. All that you&rsquo;ve done is not to have
+remembered those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night.
+There&rsquo;s nothing criminal in that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s something criminal in having two hundred and fifty
+pounds&rsquo; worth of shares in one&rsquo;s pocket&mdash;something suspicious,
+anyway,&rdquo; Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table. &ldquo;I
+ain&rsquo;t giving you these back, mind, but you must keep &rsquo;em for me. I
+wish I&rsquo;d never given notice. I think I&rsquo;ll ask the boss to keep me
+on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in
+you?&rdquo; Laverick inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ain&rsquo;t I told you?&rdquo; Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up.
+&ldquo;Why, he&rsquo;s been to my place down in &rsquo;Ammersmith, asking
+questions about me. My landlady swears he didn&rsquo;t go into my room, but who
+can tell whether he did or not? Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere. Then I
+went out for a bit of an airing after the one o&rsquo;clock rush was over
+to-day, and I&rsquo;m danged if he wasn&rsquo;t at my &rsquo;eels. I seed him
+coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get a drop of
+something.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick frowned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If there is anything in this story, Shepherd,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;if
+you are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come here!
+All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t help it, sir,&rdquo; the man declared. &ldquo;I
+couldn&rsquo;t, indeed. I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some
+one. And then there were these shares. There was nowhere I could keep &rsquo;em
+safe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; Laverick went on, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re alarming
+yourself about nothing. In any case, there is only one thing for you to do.
+Pull yourself together and put a bold face upon it. I&rsquo;ll keep these
+certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come to me for it.
+Go back to your place, and if your master is willing to keep you on perhaps it
+would be a good thing to stay there for another month or so. But don&rsquo;t
+let any one see that you&rsquo;re frightened. Remember, there&rsquo;s nothing
+that you can get into trouble for. No one&rsquo;s obliged to answer such
+questions as you&rsquo;ve been asked, except in a court and under oath. Stick
+to your story, and if you take my advice,&rdquo; Laverick added, glancing at
+his visitor&rsquo;s shaking fingers, &ldquo;you will keep away from the
+drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s little enough I&rsquo;ve had, sir,&rdquo; Shepherd assured
+him. &ldquo;A drop now and then just to keep up one&rsquo;s
+spirits&mdash;nothing that amounts to anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Make it as little as possible,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;Remember,
+I&rsquo;m back of you, I&rsquo;ll see that you get into no trouble. And
+don&rsquo;t come here again. Come to my office, if you like&mdash;there&rsquo;s
+nothing in that&mdash;but don&rsquo;t come here, you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand, sir. I&rsquo;m sorry to have troubled you, but the sight
+of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come into the office as often as you like, in reason,&rdquo; Laverick
+said, showing him out, &ldquo;but not here again. Keep your eyes open, and let
+me know if you think you&rsquo;ve been followed here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no more news in the papers, sir? Nothing turned up?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; replied Laverick. &ldquo;If the police have found out
+anything at all, they will keep it until after the inquest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you&rsquo;ve heard nothing, sir,&rdquo; Shepherd asked, speaking in
+a hoarse whisper, &ldquo;of Mr. Morrison?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Mr. Morrison is abroad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;A good job, too, for him!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap26"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br />
+THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED</h2>
+
+<p>
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and one
+errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found a woman busy
+brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. They stared at him in
+amazement. His arrival at such an hour was absolutely unprecedented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can leave the office just as it is, if you please,&rdquo; he told
+them. &ldquo;I have a few things to attend to at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being the one
+period during the day when he could rely upon not being disturbed.
+Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure against any possible
+intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked it, and drew from its secret
+drawer the worn brown-leather pocket-book.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. Then he felt
+the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little leap. It was true what
+Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one side there was distinctly a rustling
+as of paper. He opened the case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully
+over the lining. Very soon he found the opening&mdash;it was simply a matter of
+drawing down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge.
+Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope, securely sealed.
+Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged the pocket-book, replaced the
+notes, and locked it up again. Then he unbolted his door and sat down at his
+desk, with the document which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was not much to be made of it. There was no address, but the black seal
+at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms, and a motto which to
+him was indecipherable. He held it up to the light, but the outside sheet had
+not been written on, and he gained no idea as to its contents. He leaned back
+in his chair for a moment, and looked at it. So this was the document which
+would probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars&rsquo; Alley!
+This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so much more
+importance than the fortune represented by that packet of bank-notes! What did
+it all mean? Was this man, who had either expiated a crime or been the victim
+of a terrible vengeance,&mdash;was he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets,
+a member of a secret society, an informer? Or was he one of the underground
+criminals of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known
+things&mdash;a creature of the dark places? Perhaps during those few minutes,
+when his brain was cool and active, with the great city awakening all around
+him, Laverick realized more completely than ever before exactly how he stood.
+Without doubt he was walking on the brink of a precipice. Four days ago there
+had been nothing for him but ruin. The means of salvation had suddenly
+presented themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without
+hesitation he had embraced them. What did it all amount to? How far was he
+guilty, and of what? Was he a thief? The law would probably call him so. The
+law might have even more to say. It would say that by keeping his mouth closed
+as to his adventure on that night he had ranged himself on the side of the
+criminals,&mdash;he was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal
+knowledge of this terrible crime. Events had followed upon one another so
+rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time for
+reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood. The long-expected boom
+in &ldquo;Unions,&rdquo; the coming of Zoe, the strange advances made to him by
+Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible connection with this tragedy across
+which he had stumbled, and her apparent knowledge of his share in
+it,&mdash;these things were sufficient, indeed, to give him food for thought.
+Laverick was not by nature a pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have
+made, without doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and
+high order. It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger. He
+rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other thoughts. Yet
+in those few minutes, while he waited for the business of the day to commence,
+he looked his exact position in the face and he realized more thoroughly how
+grave it really was. How was he to find a way out&mdash;to set himself right
+with the law? What could he do with those notes? They were there untouched. He
+had only made use of them in an indirect way. They were there intact, as he had
+picked them up upon that fateful night. Was there any possible chance by means
+of which he might discover the owner and restore them in such a way that his
+name might never be mentioned? His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which
+lay before him. Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy. Should he
+risk everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much and tell
+the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale? It was a strange dilemma for a man to
+find himself in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced. A pile of letters was
+brought in, the telephones in the outer office began to ring. He thrust the
+sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of his coat and buttoned it up. There,
+for the present, it must remain. He owed it to himself to devote every energy
+he possessed to make the most of this great tide of business. With set face he
+closed the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which were
+to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual figure.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him that
+Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the lady who was here the other day,&rdquo; his head clerk
+reminded him. &ldquo;We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her. They
+must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit. Perhaps she wants to
+realize.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In any case, you had better show her in,&rdquo; said Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and heavy veil,
+the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat severely furnished office.
+Her skirts swept his carpet with a musical swirl. She carried with her a faint,
+indefinable perfume of violets,&mdash;a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated
+to her by a famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person
+upon earth. Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those few yards
+as she walked?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have come to ask about your shares?&rdquo; he asked politely.
+&ldquo;So far, we have nothing but good news for you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk, and she waved
+her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments are
+a nuisance, I suppose,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But indeed I will not keep you
+long. A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you. I am beginning to find
+city affairs so interesting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so high that he
+could see her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, supporting her chin with the
+long, exquisite fingers of her right hand. She looked at him thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have examined the pocket-book?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the document was there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The document was there,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;Perhaps you can tell
+me how it would be addressed?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was assumed. She
+was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I imagine that there would be no address,&rdquo; she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right. That document is in my pocket.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What are you going to do with it?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you advise me to do with it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Give it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you any claim?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least I have more claim to it,&rdquo; she whispered, &ldquo;than you
+to that twenty thousand pounds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not claim them,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;They are in my safe at
+this moment, untouched. They are there ready to be returned to their proper
+owner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you not find him?&rdquo;&mdash;with a note of incredulity in her
+tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How am I to do that?&rdquo; Laverick demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We waste words,&rdquo; she continued coldly. &ldquo;I think that if I
+leave you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand me
+that document.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am inclined to do so,&rdquo; Laverick admitted. &ldquo;The very fact
+that you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to it.
+But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that it would be better if you asked me
+none.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But listen,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;You are the only person with whom I
+have come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair. I should
+rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it. Why can we not
+exchange confidence for confidence? I want neither the twenty thousand pounds
+nor the document. I want, to be frank with you, nothing but to escape from the
+position I am now in of being half a thief and half a criminal. Show me some
+claim to that document and you shall have it. Tell me to whom that money
+belongs, and it shall be restored.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are incomprehensible,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Are you, by any
+chance, playing a part with me? Do you think that it is worth while?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; Laverick protested earnestly, &ldquo;nothing
+in the world is further from my thoughts. There is very little of the
+conspirator about me. I am a plain man of business who stumbled in upon this
+affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary use of his discovery.
+You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid. I want to get out. Nothing would
+give me greater pleasure, if such a thing were possible, than to send this
+pocket-book and its contents anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about
+them again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She listened to him with unchanged face. Yet for some moments after he had
+finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may be speaking the truth,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;If so, I have
+been deceived. You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were. What
+you tell me is amazing, but it may be true.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the truth,&rdquo; Laverick repeated calmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; she said, after a brief pause. &ldquo;You were at school,
+were you not, with Mr. David Bellamy? You know well who he is?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perfectly well,&rdquo; Laverick admitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You would consider him a person to be trusted?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Absolutely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;You shall come to my fiat
+at five o&rsquo;clock this afternoon and bring that document. If it is
+possible, David Bellamy shall be there himself. We will try then and prove to
+you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will come,&rdquo; Laverick promised, &ldquo;at five o&rsquo;clock; but
+you must tell me where.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will put it down, please,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There must not be
+any mistake. You must come, and you must come to-day. I am staying at number
+15, Dover Street. I will leave orders that you are shown in at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her. On the way she
+hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she begged.
+&ldquo;There are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you
+carry with you. You represent to them things beside which life and death are
+trivial happenings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick laughed shortly. He was a matter-of-fact man, and there seemed
+something a little absurd in such a warning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;that you need have any fear.
+London is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably
+safe one to live in.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she repeated earnestly, &ldquo;be on
+your guard to-day, for all our sakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your investments,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;you will be content,
+perhaps, to leave as they are. It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to know
+that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a thousand
+pounds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was an excuse&mdash;that investment,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Yet
+money is always good. Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will. I
+will trust your judgment. Buy or sell as you please. You will let nothing
+prevent your coming this afternoon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; he promised her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham she held
+out her hand in farewell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You think me foolish, I know, that I persist,&rdquo; she said,
+&ldquo;but I do beg that you will remember what I say. Do not be alone to-day
+more than you can help. Suspect every one who comes near to you. There may be a
+trap before your feet at any moment. Be wary always and do not forget&mdash;at
+five o&rsquo;clock I expect you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a promise, Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he assured her.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap27"></a>CHAPTER XXVII<br />
+PENETRATING A MYSTERY</h2>
+
+<p>
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale&rsquo;s departure a note marked
+&ldquo;Urgent&rdquo; was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. It
+was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two of the partners
+of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+M<small>Y DEAR</small> L<small>AVERICK</small>,&mdash;I want a chat with you,
+if you can spare five minutes at lunch time. Come to Lyons&rsquo; a little
+earlier than usual, if you don&rsquo;t mind,&mdash;say at a quarter to one.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+J. H<small>ENSHAW</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He had even laid
+it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention of starting out, when a
+thought struck him. He took it up and read it though again. Then he turned to
+the telephone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Put me on to the office of Henshaw &amp; Allen. I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands ready to go
+out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the receiver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hullo! Is that Henshaw?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m Henshaw,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s Laverick,
+isn&rsquo;t it? How are you, old fellow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m all right,&rdquo; Laverick replied. &ldquo;What is it that you
+want to see me about?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat down in
+his chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t you send me a note a few
+minutes ago, asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons&rsquo;?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henshaw&rsquo;s laugh was sufficient response.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,&mdash;you know
+that,&rdquo; was the answer, &ldquo;but some one&rsquo;s been putting up a
+practical joke on you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You did not send me a note round this morning, then?&rdquo; Laverick
+insisted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll swear I didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; came the reply. &ldquo;Do you
+seriously mean that you&rsquo;ve had one purporting to come from me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, the signature&rsquo;s such a scrawl,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that
+no one could tell what the name really was. I guessed at you but I seem to have
+guessed wrong. Good-bye!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning. Now indeed
+the plot was commencing to thicken. This was a deliberate effort on the part of
+some one to secure his absence from his offices at a quarter to one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked, Laverick felt at
+ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of his premises. At the same
+time his curiosity was excited. Here, perhaps, was a chance of finding some
+clue to this impenetrable mystery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were thee clerks in the outer office. He put on his hat and despatched
+two of them on errands in different directions. The last he was obliged to take
+into his confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Halsey,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am going out to lunch. At least, I wish
+it to be thought that I am going out to lunch. As a matter of fact, I shall
+return in about ten minutes by the back way. I do not wish you, however, to
+know this. I want you to have it in your mind that I have gone to lunch and
+shall not be back until a quarter past two. If there are visitors for
+me&mdash;inquirers of any sort&mdash;act exactly as you would have done if you
+really believed that I was not in the building.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified. Laverick took him even further into his
+confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To tell you the truth, Halsey,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I have just
+received a bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him. Some one
+was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour or so. I want to
+find out for myself what this means, if possible. You understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so, sir,&rdquo; the man replied doubtfully. &ldquo;I am not to
+be aware that you have returned, then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Please be quite clear
+about that. If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in, but do
+not send for the police unless I tell you to. I wish to look into this affair
+for myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer&rsquo;s clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would it not be better, sir,&rdquo; he suggested, &ldquo;for me to
+communicate with the police in the first case? If this should really turn out
+to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the matter to
+them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick frowned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to tell
+you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter personally. Please do
+exactly as I say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of the
+restaurant which he chiefly frequented. He reached it in a moment or two, but
+left it at once by another entrance. Within ten minutes he was back at his
+office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has any one been, Halsey?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No one, sir,&rdquo; the clerk answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will be so good,&rdquo; Laverick continued, &ldquo;as to forget that
+I have returned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the small closet
+where he kept his coat and washed his hands. He had scarcely been there a
+minute when he heard voices in the outside hall. The door of his office was
+opened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour,&rdquo; he
+heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He had, perhaps, forgotten,&rdquo; was the answer, in a totally
+unfamiliar voice. &ldquo;At any rate, I am not in a great hurry. The matter is
+of some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The visitor was shown in. Laverick investigated his appearance through a crack
+in the door. He was a man of medium height, well-dressed, clean-shaven, and
+wore gold-rimmed spectacles. He made himself comfortable in Laverick&rsquo;s
+easy-chair, and accepted the paper which Halsey offered him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall be quite glad of a rest,&rdquo; he remarked genially. &ldquo;I
+have been running about all the morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir,&rdquo; Halsey said.
+&ldquo;I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or twenty
+minutes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door. The man in the chair waited for a
+moment. Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously around the room.
+Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to his feet and walked swiftly
+to Laverick&rsquo;s writing-table. With fingers which seemed gifted with a
+lightning-like capacity for movement, he swung open the drawers, one by one,
+and turned over the papers. His eyes were everywhere. Every document seemed to
+be scanned and as rapidly discarded. At last he found something which
+interested him. He held it up and paused in his search. Laverick heard a little
+breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the paper as one
+which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon which he had written down
+the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had given him. The man with the
+gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper where he had found it. Evidently he had
+done with the writing-table. He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there
+listening for a few seconds. Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys. To
+Laverick&rsquo;s surprise, at the stranger&rsquo;s first effort the great door
+of the safe swung open. He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand reappear
+almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers. Then he stood
+once more quite still, listening. Satisfied that no one was disturbed, he
+closed the door of the safe softly and moved once more to the writing-table.
+With marvelous swiftness the notes were laid upon the table, the pocket-book
+was turned upside down, the secret place disclosed&mdash;the secret place which
+was empty. It seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the
+little oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips. The man
+replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated. Laverick,
+who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly out from his
+hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better put down that pocket-book,&rdquo; he ordered quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without the slightest
+hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where he lay, for a moment,
+motionless. Then he slowly picked himself up. His spectacles were
+broken&mdash;he blinked as he stood there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sorry to be so rough,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;Perhaps if you will
+kindly realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so good
+as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your intrusion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man obeyed. He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment, as though in
+pain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I imagine,&rdquo; he said&mdash;and it seemed to Laverick that his voice
+had a slight foreign accent&mdash;&ldquo;I imagine that the motive for my
+paying you this visit is fairly clear to you. People who have compromising
+possessions may always expect visits of this sort. You see, one runs so little
+risk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So little risk!&rdquo; Laverick repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Exactly,&rdquo; the other answered. &ldquo;Confess that you are not in
+the least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give me in
+charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted from your safe,
+containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t do at all,&rdquo; Laverick admitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a man of common sense,&rdquo; declared the other. &ldquo;It
+would not do. Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There was a
+sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it? What have you done with
+it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can you tell me,&rdquo; Laverick asked, &ldquo;why I should answer
+questions from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
+attempt at burglary?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked into
+the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because if you don&rsquo;t, you die,&rdquo; was the quick reply.
+&ldquo;Whether you&rsquo;ve read that document or not, I want it. If
+you&rsquo;ve read it, you know the sort of men you&rsquo;ve got to deal with.
+If you haven&rsquo;t, take my word for it that we waste no time. The document!
+Will you give it me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do I understand that you are threatening me?&rdquo; Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I seldom
+miss a half-crown at twenty paces,&rdquo; his visitor answered. &ldquo;If you
+put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last movement you&rsquo;ll
+ever make on earth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;London isn&rsquo;t really the place for this sort of thing,&rdquo;
+Laverick said. &ldquo;If you discharge that revolver, you haven&rsquo;t a
+dog&rsquo;s chance of getting clear of the building. My clerks would rush out
+after you into the street. You&rsquo;d find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
+business men. You couldn&rsquo;t make your way through anywhere. You&rsquo;d be
+held up before you&rsquo;d gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver. We can
+perhaps settle this little matter without it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The document!&rdquo; the man ordered. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got it! You
+must have it! You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that
+pocket-book was the document. We must have it. We intend to have it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And who, may I ask, are we?&rdquo; Laverick inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no document.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was very
+bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Give it to me!&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;You ought to know that you are
+not dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about you.
+Produce it, and I&rsquo;ve done with you. Deny me, and you have not time to say
+your prayers!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door. His
+fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it. He held it in front of
+his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at his visitor. He followed
+behind with one desperate spring. Once, twice, the revolver barked out.
+Laverick felt the skin of his temple burn and a flick on the ear which reminded
+him of his school-days. Then his hand was upon the other man&rsquo;s throat and
+the revolver lay upon the carpet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see about that. By the Lord, I&rsquo;ve a good mind to wring
+the life out of you. That bullet of yours might have been in my temple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was meant to be there,&rdquo; the man gasped. &ldquo;Hand over the
+document, you pig-headed fool! It&rsquo;ll cost you your life&mdash;if not
+to-day, to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be hanged if you get it, anyway!&rdquo; Laverick answered
+fiercely. &ldquo;You assassin! Scoundrel! To come here and make a cold-blooded
+effort at murder! You shall see what you think of the inside of an English
+prison.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what about the pocket-book?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent. His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I have made my effort and failed. You have
+twenty thousand pounds. That&rsquo;s a fair price, but I&rsquo;ll add another
+twenty thousand for that document unopened.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is possible that we might deal,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away. &ldquo;Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he was
+murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in his
+possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo;
+his visitor declared, &ldquo;or you&rsquo;re too subtle for me. You do not
+expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? You do
+not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that sealed envelope?
+Bah! It is a child&rsquo;s game, that, and we play as men with men.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your offer,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;what is it exactly?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twenty thousand pounds,&rdquo; the man answered. &ldquo;The document is
+worth no more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, but
+you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty thousand pounds, Mr.
+Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You find it interesting?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I find it interesting,&rdquo; Laverick answered dryly, &ldquo;but I am
+not a seller.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was full of
+wonder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Consider for a moment,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;While that document
+remains in your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a
+thread. Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. Heaven knows
+how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner you are out of them the
+better. What do you say now to my offer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is refused,&rdquo; Laverick declared. &ldquo;I regret to add,&rdquo;
+he continued, &ldquo;that I have already spared you all the time I have at my
+disposal. Forgive me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He pressed a button with his finger. His visitor rose up in anger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not such a fool!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You are not going
+to send me away without it? Why, I tell you that there won&rsquo;t be a safe
+corner in the world for you!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halsey opened the door. Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Show this gentleman out, Halsey,&rdquo; he ordered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Halsey started. The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been muffled by
+the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of gunpowder in the room, and
+a little wreath of smoke. The man rose slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It must be as you will, of course. I wonder if you would be so good as
+to let your clerk direct me to an oculist? I am, unfortunately, a helpless man
+in this condition.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is one a few yards off,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Put on
+your hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight,&rdquo; he
+muttered. &ldquo;Do you accept my offer? Will you give me the document?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not and I will not,&rdquo; Laverick replied. &ldquo;I shall not
+part with anything until I know more than I know at present.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man stood motionless for a moment. His fingers seemed to be twitching.
+Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but if ever he had had any
+thoughts of the kind, Halsey&rsquo;s reappearance checked them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he said quietly.
+&ldquo;We shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room. Laverick went to the
+window and threw it wide open. The smoke floated out, the smell of gunpowder
+was gradually dispersed. Then he walked back to his seat. Once more he locked
+up the notes. The document was safe in his pocket. There was a slight mark by
+the side of his temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding. He rang the
+bell and Halsey entered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has our friend gone, Halsey?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I left him in the optician&rsquo;s, sir,&rdquo; the clerk answered.
+&ldquo;He was buying some spectacles.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those gold-rimmed glasses
+were scattered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better send for a locksmith at once,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The
+gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe. We&rsquo;ll have a
+combination put on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very good, sir,&rdquo; Halsey answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And, Halsey,&rdquo; his master continued, &ldquo;be careful about one
+thing, for your own sake as well as mine. If that man presents himself again,
+don&rsquo;t let him come into my room unannounced. If you can help it,
+don&rsquo;t let him come in at all. I have an idea that he might be
+dangerous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clerk&rsquo;s face was a study.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he presents himself here, sir,&rdquo; he announced stiffly, &ldquo;I
+shall take the liberty of sending for the police.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick made no reply.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br />
+LAVERICK&rsquo;S NARROW ESCAPE</h2>
+
+<p>
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the meantime but a
+steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab to be summoned. He then
+unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book securely in his breast pocket, walked
+through the office, and directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the
+headquarters of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in
+the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the document
+left. Stepping once more into the street, he found that his taxicab had
+vanished. He looked up and down in vain. The man had not been paid and there
+seemed to be no reason for his departure. A policeman who was standing by
+touched his hat and addressed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t paid him and I
+told him to wait.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought there was something queer about it,&rdquo; the policeman
+remarked. &ldquo;Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up in a
+hansom. They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, who shook his
+head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said something else to
+him&mdash;can&rsquo;t say as I heard what it was, but it was probably offering
+him double fare. Anyway, they both got in and off went your taxi, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; Laverick said thoughtfully. &ldquo;It sounds a little
+perplexing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hesitated for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Constable,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;I have just made a very valuable
+deposit in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still in
+my pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt whatever but that the
+object of the men who have taken my taxicab is to leave me in the street here
+alone under circumstances which will render a quick attack upon me likely to be
+successful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. He was more
+than half inclined to believe that this was a practical joke. Were they not
+standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and was not he an able-bodied
+policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! Yet his companion did not look by
+any means a man of the nervous order. Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin
+was tanned a wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to
+defend himself at any time. The constable smiled in a non-committal manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ll excuse my saying so, sir,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t think this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an
+assault.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I agree with you,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;but, on the other
+hand, you must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped from
+my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight from here to
+the place where I shall probably leave the other document I am carrying with
+me. Why I have taken you into my confidence is to ask you this. Can you walk
+with me to the corner of the street, or until we meet a taxicab? It sounds
+cowardly, but, as a matter of fact, I am not afraid. I simply want to make sure
+of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My beat, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;only goes about twenty-five yards
+further on. I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire it. At
+the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. How do I know that it
+is not your scheme to get me away from this neighborhood for some purpose of
+your own?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t believe anything of the sort,&rdquo; Laverick declared,
+with a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not, sir,&rdquo; the policeman admitted. &ldquo;Keep by my side,
+and I think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of the policeman
+he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the passers-by closely&mdash;the
+police-man with mild interest, Laverick with almost feverish anxiety. It was a
+gray afternoon, pleasant but close. There seemed to be nothing whatever to
+account for the feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick.
+He felt himself in danger&mdash;he had no idea how, or in what way&mdash;but
+the conviction was there. He took every step fully alert, absolutely on his
+guard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the bystanders caused
+them to look away into the middle of the road. Laverick only cast one glance
+there and abandoned every instinct of curiosity, thinking once more only of
+himself and his own position. With the constable, however, it was naturally
+different. He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and he
+immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he was engaged. A man
+had fallen in the middle of the street, either knocked down by the shaft of a
+passing vehicle or in some sort of fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses,
+an omnibus was making desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body. The
+constable sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing
+that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around. He was just in
+time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had been meant for the back of
+his head. He was confronted by a man dressed exactly as he himself was, in
+morning coat and silk hat, a man with long, lean face and legal appearance,
+such a person as would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment&rsquo;s
+suspicion. Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one
+pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking life-preserver,
+and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked with chloroform. Laverick,
+quick and resourceful, feeling his left arm sink helpless, struck at the man
+with his right and sent him staggering against the wall. The handkerchief, with
+its load of sickening odor, fell to the pavement. The man was obviously
+worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost unobserved, for the crowd was
+all intent upon the accident in the roadway. With wonderful skill, his
+assailant eluded his attempt to close, and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at
+him again but met only the air. The man&rsquo;s fingers now were upon his
+pocket, but this time Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that
+with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he could recover,
+Laverick had struck him again. He reeled into the crowd that was fast gathering
+around them, attracted by what seemed to be a fight between two men of
+unexceptionable appearance. But there was to be no more fight. Through the
+people, swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to find some
+hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but the man had gone. His left
+hand crept to his chest. The victory was with him; the document was still
+there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring the storm of
+questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing helmet of his friend
+the policeman at the back of the crowd, Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly
+inside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Back out of this and drive to Dover Street,&rdquo; he directed. The man
+obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. The other commotion
+had died away,&mdash;the man in the road had got up and walked off. A policeman
+came hurrying along but he was just too late. Very soon they were on their way
+down Holborn. Once more Laverick had escaped.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a High-Church
+cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked for Mademoiselle Idiale.
+He was shown into one of the most delightful little rooms he had ever even
+dreamed of. The walls were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which
+Mademoiselle so often affected in her clothes. Laverick, who was something of a
+connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort,
+priceless,&mdash;French furniture of the best and choicest period, a statuette
+which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene from which he had just
+arrived. The air in the room seemed as though it had passed through a grove of
+lemon trees,&mdash;it was fresh and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank
+down into one of the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first
+time that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and there entered
+not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. Lassen. Laverick rose to his
+feet half doubtfully. Lassen&rsquo;s small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have
+become one huge ingratiating smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he
+said,&mdash;&ldquo;very glad indeed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment he had seen
+him, and he saw no particular reason why he should conceal his feelings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am here to explain,&rdquo; Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself
+opposite to Laverick. &ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately prevented
+from seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, and her only chance of
+appearing tonight is to remain perfectly undisturbed. Women of her position, as
+you may understand, have to be exceptionally careful. It would be a very
+serious matter indeed if she were unable to sing to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am exceedingly sorry to hear it,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;In
+that case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By all means, my dear sir!&rdquo; Mr. Lassen exclaimed. &ldquo;Many
+times, let us hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a document
+which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is most anxious that you
+should hand it to me&mdash;most anxious. She will tender you her thanks
+personally, tomorrow or the next day, if she is well enough to receive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Under no circumstances,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;should I think of
+delivering the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with it even to
+her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. But it may save time if
+I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would induce me to part with it to any
+one else.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen&rsquo;s
+face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show its teeth.
+Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, he thought, casting a
+somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique of the other man. He laid his
+fingers as though carelessly upon a small bronze ornament which reposed amongst
+others on a table by his side. If Mr. Lassen&rsquo;s fat and ugly hand should
+steal toward his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his
+head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; Lassen said
+slowly. &ldquo;I hope very much that you will see your way clear to change your
+mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to the document as
+Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest wish that you should hand it
+over to me. Further, I may inform you that the document itself is a most
+incriminating one. Its possession upon your person, or upon the person of any
+one who was not upon his guard, might be a very serious matter indeed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;I certainly have no idea
+of carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it to no
+one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale as soon as she is
+recovered. I am not disposed&mdash;I mean no offence, sir&mdash;but I may say
+frankly that I am not disposed even to do as much with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. Lassen
+followed his example and confronted him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;in your own interests you must not
+talk like that,&mdash;in your own interests, I say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, &ldquo;my interests are better
+looked after by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, Mr.
+Lassen, that you are a stranger to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!&rdquo; the little man exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at least of
+the existence of this document,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;She has
+established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. You announce
+yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale&rsquo;s deputy, but you bring me no proof of
+the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to treat with you. You must allow me
+to wish you good afternoon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lassen shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;you are too impetuous. You
+force me to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is not
+a very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching to-day for the
+man who killed that unfortunate creature who was found murdered in Crooked
+Friars&rsquo; Alley. If they could find the man who was in possession of his
+pocket-book, who was in possession of twenty thousand pounds taken from the
+dead man&rsquo;s body and with it had saved his business and his credit, how
+then, do you think? I say nothing of the document.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to make terms with
+this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust him. He did not even trust
+him so far as to believe him the accredited envoy of Mademoiselle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My unfortunate position,&rdquo; Laverick said, &ldquo;has nothing
+whatever to do with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot
+say. I neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I am not to be
+intimidated. This document will remain in my possession until some one can show
+me a very good reason for parting with it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with his
+clenched fist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A reason why you should part with it!&rdquo; he exclaimed fiercely.
+&ldquo;Man, it stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you
+will be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in the
+murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall see to
+myself!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In which case,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, &ldquo;the document will fall
+into the hands of the English police.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect upon his
+listener. Mr. Lassen&rsquo;s face was black with unuttered curses. He looked as
+though he would have fallen upon Laverick bodily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you know about its contents?&rdquo; he hissed. &ldquo;Why do you
+suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands of the
+English police?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can see no reason whatever,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;why I
+should take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do not
+know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready to wait upon
+Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But in case it should
+interest you to be made aware of the fact,&rdquo; he added, with a little bow,
+&ldquo;I am not going round with this terrible document in my
+possession.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he saw the
+movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single bound, was upon his
+would-be assailant. The hand which had already closed upon the butt of the
+small revolver was gripped as though in a vice. With a scream of pain Lassen
+dropped the weapon upon the floor. Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his
+coat pocket and, taking the man&rsquo;s collar with both hands, he shook him
+till the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were
+changed into moans. Then he flung him into a corner of the room.
+</p>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:100%;">
+<a name="illus01"></a>
+<img src="images/01.jpg" width="439" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You cowardly brute!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You come of the breed of
+men who shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, you&rsquo;ll
+be lucky if you live to whimper about it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any servants in the
+hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From Dover Street he drove
+straight to Zoe&rsquo;s house. Keeping the cab waiting, he knocked at the door.
+She opened it herself at once, and her eyes glowed with pleasure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How delightful!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Please come in. Have you come
+to take me to the theatre?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zoe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am going to ask you a favor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Me a favor?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;I think you know how happy it
+will make me if there is anything&mdash;anything at all in the world that I
+could do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A week ago,&rdquo; Laverick continued, &ldquo;I was an honest but not
+very successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which never
+came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled in upon the most
+curious little chain of happenings which ever became entwined with the life of
+a commonplace being like myself. The net result, for the moment, is this. Every
+one is trying to steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket. I
+want to hide it for the night. I cannot go to the police, it is too late to go
+back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling that my flat is
+absolutely at the mercy of my enemies. May I hide my document in your room? I
+do not believe for a moment that any one would think of searching here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course you may,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;But listen. Can you see
+out into the street without moving very much?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the window, and Zoe
+had been facing it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I can see into the street,&rdquo; he assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me&mdash;you see that taxi on the other side of the way?&rdquo; she
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t there when I drove up,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was at the window, looking out, when you came,&rdquo; she said.
+&ldquo;It followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It seemed to me so
+strange, just as though some one were watching you all the time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who lives in the house opposite?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;that there are no very nice
+people who live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of that
+house are not nice people at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Thank you, Zoe. You are right.
+Whatever I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell you
+the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid my last call
+this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come back with me and I will
+give you some dinner before you go to the theatre.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She clapped her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall love it,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;But what shall you do with
+the document?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and give
+it to the cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best thing I can
+think of. Can you suggest anything?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She considered for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know what is inside?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, so far
+as I am concerned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not open it and read it?&rdquo; she suggested; &ldquo;then you will
+know exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear it
+up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must think that over,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;One second before we go
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It was a perfect
+little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in his pocket, keeping his
+finger upon the trigger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Zoe, if you are ready,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;come along.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick ordered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To the Milan Hotel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap29"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br />
+LASSEN&rsquo;S TREACHERY DISCOVERED</h2>
+
+<p>
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his clothes thick
+with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly from a sixty horse-power
+car and rang the bell of the lift at number 15, Dover Street. Arrived on the
+first floor, he was confronted almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant
+of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle is in?&rdquo; Bellamy asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man&rsquo;s expression was one of sombre regret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy took him
+by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard that before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise&rsquo;s
+sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and listened at the
+key-hole. There was some movement inside but no one spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise,&rdquo; he cried softly, &ldquo;let me in. It is
+I&mdash;David.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds. Almost it seemed as though a
+woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth. Then Bellamy suddenly
+stiffened into rigid attention. There were voices in the small reception
+room,&mdash;the voice of Henri, the butler, and another. Reluctantly he turned
+away from the closed door and walked swiftly down the passage. He entered the
+reception room and looked around him in amazement. It was still in disorder.
+Lassen sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side. Henri was
+tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there were marks of blood
+about his shirt. Bellamy&rsquo;s eyes sparkled. He closed the door behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;after all, I fancy that my arrival is
+somewhat opportune!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He has
+had a fit and fallen down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that,&rdquo; he
+declared. &ldquo;What do you say, Mr. Lassen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man glared at him viciously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know what you are talking about,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I do
+not wish to speak to you. I am ill. You had better go and persuade Mademoiselle
+to return. She is at Dover, waiting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a liar!&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;She is in her room now,
+locked up&mdash;guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures. I have been
+half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen. You found
+our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From your somewhat dishevelled appearance,&rdquo; Bellamy continued,
+&ldquo;I think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle&rsquo;s visitor. He declined to accept you as her
+proxy, I imagine. Still, one must make sure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He advanced quickly. Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; he asked gruffly. &ldquo;Keep him away from me,
+Henri. Ring the bell for your other man. This fellow will do me a
+mischief.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not I,&rdquo; Bellamy answered scornfully. &ldquo;Stay where you are,
+Henri. To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting. Take off his coat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But, Monsieur!&rdquo; Henri protested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m d&mdash;d if he shall!&rdquo; the man in the chair snarled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I do not for one moment believe that
+Laverick handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain. On the
+other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is the result of
+fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing him to do so.
+Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks. The coat first, please, Henri. It
+is necessary that I search it thoroughly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a brief hesitation. Bellamy&rsquo;s hand went reluctantly into his
+pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hate to seem melodramatic,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;and I never
+carry firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have learned
+how to use pretty effectively. Come, you know, it isn&rsquo;t a fair fight.
+You&rsquo;ve had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn&rsquo;t the muscle
+of a chicken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be removed. Bellamy
+glanced through the pockets, holding one letter for a moment in his hands as he
+glanced at the address.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The writing of our friend Streuss,&rdquo; he remarked, with a smile.
+&ldquo;No, you need not fear, Lassen! I am not going to read it. There is
+plenty of proof of your treachery without this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lassen&rsquo;s face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads. Bellamy handed
+back the coat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Nothing there, I am glad
+to see&mdash;or in the waistcoat,&rdquo; he added, passing his hands over it.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over. When he had finished,
+he held in his hand a key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The key of Mademoiselle&rsquo;s chamber, I have no doubt,&rdquo; he
+announced, &ldquo;I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have
+been up to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and deliberately cut
+the telephone wire. With the instrument under his arm, he left the room. Lassen
+blundered to his feet as though to intercept him, but Bellamy&rsquo;s eyes
+suddenly flashed red fury, and the life-preserver of which he had spoken
+glittered above his head. Lassen staggered away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a long-suffering man,&rdquo; Bellamy said, &ldquo;and if you
+don&rsquo;t remember now that you&rsquo;re the beaten dog, I may lose my
+temper.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise&rsquo;s bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little. With a smothered
+oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the gag from her mouth.
+Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was lying upon the bed, as though
+asleep. Bellamy saw with an impulse of relief that she was breathing regularly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is Lassen&rsquo;s work, of course!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What
+have they done to her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The maid spoke thickly. She was very pale, and unsteady upon her feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was something they put in her wine,&rdquo; she faltered. &ldquo;I
+heard Mr. Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours. I
+think&mdash;I think that she is waking now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement. Bellamy sat by the
+side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is only a skirmish, dear,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;and it is a
+drawn battle, although you got the worst of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick has been here?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has. Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game. I came
+here to find you like this and Annette tied up. Henri is in with him. What has
+become of your other servants I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Henri asked for a holiday for them,&rdquo; she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks. &ldquo;I begin to understand. But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can only guess,&rdquo; Bellamy answered, &ldquo;but it seems that
+Lassen must have received him as though with your authority.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what then?&rdquo; she asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am almost certain,&rdquo; Bellamy declared, &ldquo;that Laverick
+refused to have anything to do with him. I received a wire from Dover to say
+that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the Lord Warden
+Hotel. I borrowed Montresor&rsquo;s racing-car, but I sent telegrams, and I was
+pretty soon on my way back. When I arrived here, I found Lassen in your little
+room with a broken head. Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got
+the worst of it. I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper. Laverick
+brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose to her feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go and let Lassen out,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Tell him he must never
+come here again. I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night&mdash;that is, if I can get there. I do not know whether I shall feel fit
+to sing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall take the liberty, also,&rdquo; remarked Bellamy, &ldquo;of
+kicking Henri out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was such a good servant. I think it must have cost our friend Streuss
+a good deal to buy Henri. You will come back to me when you have finished with
+them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners. Lassen was surly but only
+eager to depart; Henri was resigned but tearful. Almost as they went the other
+servants began to return from their various missions. Bellamy went back to
+Louise, who was lying down again and drinking some tea. She motioned Bellamy to
+come over to her side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;what are you going to do now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am going to do what I ought to have done before,&rdquo; Bellamy
+answered. &ldquo;Laverick&rsquo;s connection with this affair is suspicious
+enough, but after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman. I am going to tell
+him what that envelope contains&mdash;tell him the truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are right!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Whatever he may have done,
+if you tell him the truth he will give you that document. I am sure of it. Do
+you know where to find him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall go to his rooms,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;I must be
+quick, too, for Lassen is free&mdash;they will know that he has failed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come back to me, David,&rdquo; she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap30"></a>CHAPTER XXX<br />
+THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS</h2>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking around the
+restaurant with an expression in her face which he did not wholly understand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe,&rdquo; he said
+anxiously. &ldquo;Tell me what it is. You don&rsquo;t like this place,
+perhaps?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is your dinner, then, or me?&rdquo; he persisted. &ldquo;Come, out
+with it. Haven&rsquo;t we promised to tell each other the truth always?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a moment to
+his, were almost reproachful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know very well that it is not anything to do with you,&rdquo; she
+whispered. &ldquo;You are too kind to me all the time. Only,&rdquo; she went
+on, a little hesitatingly, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t you realize&mdash;can&rsquo;t you
+see how differently most of the girls here are dressed? I don&rsquo;t mind so
+much for myself&mdash;but you&mdash;you have so many friends. You keep on
+seeing people whom you know. I am afraid they will think that I ought not to be
+here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction. For the first
+time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her clothes. Everything about her
+was so neat&mdash;pathetically neat, as it seemed to him in one illuminating
+moment of realization. The white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed
+edges, was spotlessly clean. The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its
+worn parts. Her gloves had been stitched a good many times. Her gown, although
+it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days. He
+suddenly recognized the effort&mdash;the almost despairing effort&mdash;which
+her toilette had cost her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that men notice these things,&rdquo; he said simply.
+&ldquo;To me you look just as you should look&mdash;and I wouldn&rsquo;t change
+places with any other man in the room for a great deal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her eyes were soft&mdash;perilously soft&mdash;as she looked at him with
+uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her lips. A
+wave of tenderness crept into his heart. What a brave little child she was!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches,&rdquo; she
+murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anyhow,&rdquo; he went on, speaking with decision, &ldquo;so long as you
+feel like that, you are going to have a new gown&mdash;or two&mdash;and a new
+hat, and you are going to have them at once. They are going to be bought with
+your brother&rsquo;s money, mind. Shall I come shopping with you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in,&rdquo; she said.
+&ldquo;It would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much
+money. You really mean it all?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I insist upon it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes. After all, she was very much of a
+child. The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted herself to think of
+it, was enthralling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I might get a coat and skirt,&rdquo; she remarked thoughtfully,
+&ldquo;and a simple white dress. A black hat would do for both of them,
+then.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you study your brother too much,&rdquo; Laverick declared.
+&ldquo;His stock is going up all the time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me your favorite color,&rdquo; she begged confidentially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t conceive your looking nicer than you do in black,&rdquo;
+he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She made a wry face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose it must be black,&rdquo; she murmured doubtfully. &ldquo;It is
+much more economical than anything&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude stare, had
+greeted her with a patronizing nod. Laverick frowned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is that fellow?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager,&rdquo; Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?&rdquo;
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She caught at his arm in terror. The man was sitting at the next table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t, please!&rdquo; she implored. &ldquo;He might hear you. He
+is just behind there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick half turned in his chair. She guessed what he was about to say, and
+went on rapidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has been so foolish,&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;He has asked me so
+often to go out with him. And he could get me sent away, if he wanted, any
+time. He almost threatened it, the last time I refused. Now that he has seen me
+with you, he will be worse than ever.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes. The
+man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go with
+him,&rdquo; Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t think
+why he bothers me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can,&rdquo; Laverick muttered. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s forget about the
+brute.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the bill a few
+minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the theatre with her. Her
+little hand, when she gave it to him at parting, was quite cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m as nervous as I can be,&rdquo; she confessed. &ldquo;Mr.
+Heepman will be watching all the night for something to find fault with me
+about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you let him bully you,&rdquo; Laverick begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; she promised. &ldquo;Good-bye! Thanks so much for
+my dinner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an attempt.
+Laverick walked on to his club. There was no one in the dining-room whom he
+knew, and the card-room was empty. He played one game of billiards, but he
+played badly. He was upset. His nerves were wrong he told himself, and little
+wonder. There seemed to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out
+again and walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden. Outside the Opera House he
+hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of which he
+scarcely recognized. While he was inquiring about a stall, a small printed
+notice was thrust into his hand. He read it with a slight start.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle Idiale will not
+be able to appear this evening. The part of Delilah will be taken by
+Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal Opera House, St. Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street. A
+strange man-servant answered him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale,&rdquo; Laverick said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards. Laverick,
+however, retained his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should be glad if you would take mine in to her,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;I think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The servant&rsquo;s attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility. He
+would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over the threshold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir,&rdquo; the man
+declared. &ldquo;She shall have your card as soon as possible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should like her to have it now,&rdquo; Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be only waste of time, sir,&rdquo; he declared.
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle is confined to her bedroom and my orders are
+absolute.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not the man who was here earlier in the day,&rdquo; Laverick
+remarked. &ldquo;I wonder,&rdquo; he continued, with a sudden inspiration,
+&ldquo;whether you are not Mr. Bellamy&rsquo;s servant?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so, sir. Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one has
+access to Mademoiselle Idiale.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card,&rdquo; Laverick
+declared convincingly. &ldquo;You can put that note in your pocket. I am
+perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and that your master
+would wish her to do so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will take the risk, sir,&rdquo; the man decided, &ldquo;but the orders
+I have received were stringent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments. When he came back he was
+accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously a maid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Monsieur Laverick,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale will
+receive you. If you will come this way?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick followed her.
+The man returned to his place in the hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Madame will be here in a moment,&rdquo; the maid said. &ldquo;She will
+be glad to see you, but she has been very badly frightened.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick bowed sympathetically. The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a great
+deal of trouble here,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Madame never trusted him and now
+we have discovered that he is a spy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The woman seemed to fade away. The door of the inner room was opened and Louise
+came out. She was still exceedingly pale, and there were dark rims under her
+eyes. She came across the room with outstretched hands. There was no doubt
+whatever as to her pleasure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have seen Mr. Bellamy?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day. I came to call upon you this
+afternoon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She wrung her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You understand, of course!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I did not trust
+Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this. He is an Austrian. Only a few
+hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily paid spies. Streuss
+got hold of him. But there, I forgot&mdash;you do not understand this. It is
+enough that he laid a plot to get that document from you. Where is it, Mr.
+Laverick? You have brought it now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, no,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;I have not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her eyes were round with terror. She held out her hands as though to keep away
+some tormenting thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where is it?&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;You have not parted with it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have not,&rdquo; Laverick replied gravely. &ldquo;It is in the safe
+deposit of a hotel to which I have moved.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not well,&rdquo; Laverick said. &ldquo;Let me help you to a
+chair.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sat down wearily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why have you moved to a hotel?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To tell you the truth,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;I seem to have
+wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights. Three times to-day attempts have
+been made to get that document from me by force. I have been followed whereever
+I went. I felt that it was not safe in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and
+deposited it in their strong-room. I have come to the conclusion that the best
+thing I can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself as to its
+destination.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise sat quite still for several moments. Then she opened her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she
+declared. &ldquo;I perceive now that we have made a mistake. We should have
+told you the whole truth from the first. This afternoon when Mr. Bellamy left
+me, it was to come to you and tell you everything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick listened gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Really,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it seems to me the wisest course. I
+haven&rsquo;t the least desire to keep the document. I cannot think why Bellamy
+did not treat me with confidence from the first&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stopped short. Suddenly he understood. Something in Louise&rsquo;s face gave
+him the hint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course!&rdquo; he murmured to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; Louise said quietly, &ldquo;in this matter I am no
+man&rsquo;s judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only. There may be some explanation. If so,
+it is for you to offer it or not, as you think best. Mr. Bellamy and I are
+allies in this matter. It is not our business to interfere with the course of
+justice. You will run no risk in parting with that paper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where can I see Bellamy?&rdquo; Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up
+his hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He would go straight to your rooms,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;Did you
+leave word there where you had gone?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Purposely I did not,&rdquo; Laverick replied. &ldquo;I had better try
+and find him, perhaps.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not necessary,&rdquo; she announced. &ldquo;No wonder that you
+feel yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick. There are
+two sets of spies who follow you everywhere&mdash;two sets that I know of.
+There may be another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You think that Bellamy will find me?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sure of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I&rsquo;ll go back to the hotel and wait.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she said, looking at him earnestly, &ldquo;somehow
+or other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick sighed. He opened his lips but closed them again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very kind, Mademoiselle,&rdquo; he declared simply.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel, noticed a man
+leaning over the cashier&rsquo;s desk talking confidentially to the clerk in
+charge. The latter recognized Laverick with obvious relief, and at once
+directed his questioner&rsquo;s attention to him. Kahn turned swiftly around
+and without a moment&rsquo;s hesitation came smiling towards Laverick with the
+apparent intention of accosting him. He was correctly garbed, tall and fair,
+with every appearance of being a man of breeding. He glanced at Laverick
+carelessly as he passed, but, as though changing his original purpose, made no
+attempt to address him. The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a
+little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter. He approached
+Laverick hastily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never saw him before in my life,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is this your handwriting, sir?&rdquo; the man inquired, touching with
+his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been carrying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick read quickly,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,&mdash;Deliver to bearer document deposited
+with you.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+S<small>TEPHEN</small> L<small>AVERICK</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not,&rdquo; he declared promptly. &ldquo;It is an impudent
+forgery. Good God! You don&rsquo;t mean to say that you parted with my property
+to&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t parted with anything, sir,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was
+just wondering what to do when you came in. I&rsquo;d no reason to believe that
+the signature was a forgery, but I didn&rsquo;t like the look of it, somehow.
+We&rsquo;d better be after him. Come along, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They hurried outside. The man was nowhere in sight. The cashier summoned the
+head porter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A gentleman has just come out,&rdquo; he exclaimed,&mdash;&ldquo;tall
+and fair, very carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass! Which way did he
+go?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir,&rdquo; the porter
+answered. &ldquo;I noticed him particularly. He spoke to the chauffeur in
+Austrian.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t we stop him?&rdquo; he asked rapidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not the ghost of a chance, sir. He shot round the corner there as though
+he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the island. I heard
+the police calling to him. I hope there&rsquo;s nothing wrong, Mr. Dean?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing much,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;We should have liked to
+have asked him a question&mdash;that is all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How are you, Laverick?&rdquo; he said quietly. &ldquo;Nothing the
+matter, I hope?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing worth mentioning,&rdquo; Laverick replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cashier returned to his duties. The two men were alone. Bellamy, most
+carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under his arm, and his silk hat
+at precisely the correct angle, seemed very far removed from the work of
+intrigue into which Laverick felt himself to have blundered. He looked down for
+a moment at the tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though
+anxious about the weather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What about a drink, Laverick?&rdquo; he asked nonchalantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Delighted!&rdquo; Laverick assented.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI<br />
+MISS LENEVEU&rsquo;S MESSAGE</h2>
+
+<p>
+The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned to his desk,
+and the incident which had just transpired seemed to have passed unnoticed.
+Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied indifference of his
+companion&rsquo;s manner had its significance, and he endeavored to imitate it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shall we go through into the bar?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s
+very seldom any one there at this time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anywhere you say,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s years since
+we had a drink together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two chairs into the
+further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim,&rdquo; he ordered. &ldquo;Now,
+Laverick, listen to me,&rdquo; he added, as the waiter turned away. &ldquo;We
+are alone for the moment but it won&rsquo;t be for long. You know very well
+that it wasn&rsquo;t to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I&rsquo;ve asked
+you to come in here with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Please go on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am as anxious as you can be to
+grasp this affair properly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When we left school,&rdquo; Bellamy remarked, &ldquo;you were destined
+for the Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear what became
+of me afterwards?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I always understood,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;that you went into
+one of the Government offices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right,&rdquo; Bellamy assented. &ldquo;I did. At this moment I
+have the honor to serve His Majesty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two thousand a year and two hours work a day,&rdquo; Laverick laughed.
+&ldquo;I know the sort of thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You evidently don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Bellamy answered. &ldquo;I often work
+twenty hours a day, I don&rsquo;t get half two thousand a year, and most of the
+time I carry my life in my hands. When I am working&mdash;and I am working
+now&mdash;I am never sure of the morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not joking, Bellamy?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not by any manner of means. I have the honor to be a humble member of
+His Majesty&rsquo;s Secret Service.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that such a service
+had any actual existence except in novels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am a proof to the contrary,&rdquo; Bellamy declared grimly.
+&ldquo;Abroad, I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like
+one. At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service. Here
+come our drinks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s luck!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Now go on,
+Bellamy,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;The waiter can&rsquo;t overhear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tim is one of the few persons in the place,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;whom
+one can trust. As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once. Now listen to me attentively, Laverick. I am going to speak to you as one
+man to another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am ready,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Last Monday,&rdquo; Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a
+soft but very distinct undertone, &ldquo;a man was murdered late at night in
+the heart of the city&mdash;within one hundred yards of the Stock Exchange. The
+papers called it a mysterious murder. No one knows who the man was, or who
+committed the crime, or why. You and I, Laverick, both know a little more than
+the rest of the world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The murder,&rdquo; Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
+&ldquo;was accomplished only a stone&rsquo;s throw from your office.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Horrible affair it was,&rdquo; he remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy glanced toward the door,&mdash;a man had looked in and departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Enough of this fencing, Laverick,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A theft was
+committed from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
+knows nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty thousand
+pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man, I want you to
+understand that that is not my affair. As to what has become of that twenty
+thousand pounds, I have not the slightest curiosity. I want the
+document.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What claim have you to it?&rdquo; Laverick asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I might retort, but I will not,&rdquo; Bellamy replied. &ldquo;Time is
+too short. I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what that
+document consists of. The man&rsquo;s name was Von Behrling, and he was a
+trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document of which he was
+robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference which recently took place
+at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany, the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar
+of Russia. It contains the details of a plot against this country and the
+undertakings entered into by those several Powers. I want that document,
+Laverick. Have I established my claim?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Why on earth Didn&rsquo;t you
+come to me before? Don&rsquo;t you believe that I should have listened to you
+as readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish that I had come,&rdquo; Bellamy admitted, &ldquo;and yet, here is
+the truth, Laverick, because the truth is best. Twenty-two years lie between us
+and the time when we knew anything of one another. To me, therefore, you are a
+stranger. I had my spies following Von Behrling that night. I know that you
+took the pocket-book from his dead body. If you did not murder him yourself,
+the deed was done by an accomplice of yours. How was I to trust you? We are
+speaking naked words, my friend. We are dealing with naked truths. To me you
+were a murderer and a thief. A word from me and you would have realized the
+value of that document. I tell you frankly that Austria would give you almost
+any sum for it to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden weakness. He
+raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away&mdash;wet. He struggled
+desperately for self-control.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;here&rsquo;s truth for truth. I am not
+on my trial before you. Believe me, man, for God&rsquo;s sake!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try,&rdquo; Bellamy promised. &ldquo;Go on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me on
+the morrow. I left it meaning to go straight home. I lit a cigarette near that
+entry, and by the light of a match, as I was throwing it away, I saw the
+murdered man. I think for a time I was paralyzed. The pocket-book was half
+dragged out from his pocket. Why I looked inside it I don&rsquo;t know. I had
+some sort of wild idea that I must find out who he was. Mind you, though, I
+should have given the alarm at once, but there wasn&rsquo;t a soul in the
+street. There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully.
+When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty. I looked
+inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the possession of his
+murderer but for my unexpected appearance. I saw the notes there. Once more I
+went out into the street. I gave no alarm,&mdash;I am not attempting to explain
+why. I was like a man made suddenly mad. I went back to my office and shut
+myself in.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward and refilled
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; Laverick continued, &ldquo;your career and mine lie far
+apart, and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
+man&rsquo;s life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition. My
+grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored and well
+thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too, was there. Without
+becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become known and respected. Failure,
+whatever one may say, means a broken life and a broken honor. I sat in my
+office and I knew that the use of those notes for a few days might save me from
+disgrace, might keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
+jealously, free from shame. I would have paid any price for the use of them. I
+would have paid with my life, if that had been possible. Think of the risk I
+ran&mdash;the danger I am now in. I deposited those notes on the morrow as
+security at my bank, and I met all my engagements. The crisis is over! Those
+notes are in a safe deposit vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that
+I could find the owner!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the document?&rdquo; Bellamy asked. &ldquo;The document?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is in the hotel safe,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler and lit a
+cigarette.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laverick,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;I believe you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank God!&rdquo; Laverick muttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am no crime investigator,&rdquo; Bellamy went on thoughtfully.
+&ldquo;As to who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
+idea. That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service money, paid by
+me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was murdered, in a small
+restaurant there, for what I supposed to be the document. He deceived me by
+making up a false packet. The real one he kept. He deserved to die, and I am
+glad he is dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick&rsquo;s face was suddenly hopeful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you can take these notes!&rdquo; he exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In a few days,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I shall take you with me to a
+friend of mine&mdash;a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly
+as you&rsquo;ve told it to me, and restore the money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m mad,&rdquo; he apologized, &ldquo;but I am
+not a person like you, Bellamy,&mdash;used to adventures and this sort of wild
+happenings. I&rsquo;m a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing
+has been like a hateful nightmare to me. I can&rsquo;t believe that I&rsquo;m
+going to get rid of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great adventure,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;to come to any
+one like you. To tell you the truth, I can&rsquo;t imagine how you had the
+pluck&mdash;don&rsquo;t misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck&mdash;to run
+such a risk. Why, at the moment you used those notes,&rdquo; Bellamy continued,
+&ldquo;the odds must have been about twenty to one against your not being found
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One doesn&rsquo;t stop to count the odds,&rdquo; Laverick said grimly.
+&ldquo;I saw a chance of salvation and I went for it. And now about this
+letter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the King&rsquo;s service!&rdquo; he whispered softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked once more to the cashier&rsquo;s desk. A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should like the packet I deposited here this evening,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it
+unexpectedly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock. &ldquo;I am afraid,
+sir,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;that we cannot get at it before the
+morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; Laverick demanded, frowning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Dean has just gone home,&rdquo; the man declared, &ldquo;and he is
+the only one who knows the combination on the &lsquo;L&rsquo; safe. You see,
+sir,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;we keep this particular safe for documents,
+and we did not expect that anything would be required from it to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;perhaps to-morrow morning would be
+better. There&rsquo;s no need to get shirty with these fellows. As a matter of
+fact, I don&rsquo;t think that I should have dared to receive it without making
+some special preparations. I can get some plain clothes men here upon whom I
+can rely, at nine o&rsquo;clock.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They strolled back into the hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; Laverick asked, &ldquo;do you know who the man was who
+forged my name to the order a few hours ago?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy. I have been watching him for days.
+If they&rsquo;d given him the paper I had four men at the door, but it would
+have been touch and go. He is a very prince of conspirators, that fellow. To
+tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note to
+Laverick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A messenger has just left this for you, sir,&rdquo; he explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick tore open the envelope. The contents consisted of a few words only,
+written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which was strange to him.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;Ring up 1232 Gerrard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked once more at
+the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you make of that, Bellamy?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What could any one make of it?&rdquo; he remarked, laconically.
+&ldquo;Do you know the handwriting?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never saw it before, to my knowledge,&rdquo; Laverick answered.
+&ldquo;What should you do about it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; Bellamy suggested, &ldquo;that I should ring up number
+1232 Gerrard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;1232 Gerrard,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The connection was made almost at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneveu,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;Are you
+Mr. Laverick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am,&rdquo; Laverick answered. &ldquo;Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she
+speak to me herself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is not here,&rdquo; the voice continued. &ldquo;She was fetched away
+in a hurry from the theatre&mdash;we understood by her brother. She left two
+and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain that she had
+been summoned to her brother&rsquo;s rooms, 25, Jermyn Street, and would you
+kindly go on there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you?&rdquo; Laverick demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no reply. Laverick remained speechless, listening intently. He stood
+still with the receiver pressed to his ear. Was it his fancy, or was that
+really Zoe&rsquo;s protesting voice which he heard in the background? It was a
+woman or a child who was speaking&mdash;he was almost sure that it was Zoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you?&rdquo; he asked fiercely. &ldquo;Miss Leneveu is there with
+you. Why does she not speak for herself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Miss Leneveu is not here,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;I have done what
+she desired. You can please yourself whether you go or not. The address is 25,
+Jermyn Street. Ring off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The connection was gone. Laverick laid down the receiver and stepped out of the
+booth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must be off at once,&rdquo; he said to Bellamy. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be
+round in the morning?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;I have changed my plans. I shall
+not leave the hotel. I am going to telephone round to my man to bring me some
+clothes. By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this message which you have
+just received had anything to do with the little affair in which we are
+interested?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not directly,&rdquo; Laverick answered, after a moment&rsquo;s
+hesitation. &ldquo;The message was from a young lady. I have to go and meet
+her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A young lady whom you can trust?&rdquo; Bellamy inquired quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Implicitly,&rdquo; Laverick assured him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She spoke herself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, she sent a message. Excuse me, Bellamy, won&rsquo;t you, but I must
+really go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By all means,&rdquo; Bellamy answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab was summoned.
+Laverick stepped quickly in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;25, Jermyn Street,&rdquo; he ordered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy watched him drive off. Then he sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think, my friend Laverick,&rdquo; he said softly, &ldquo;that you will
+need some one to look after you to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap32"></a>CHAPTER XXXII<br />
+MORRISON IS DESPERATE</h2>
+
+<p>
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison&rsquo;s
+room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen&mdash;flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. There was
+Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan Hotel as Laverick had
+entered it, leaving the forged order behind him. There was Streuss&mdash;stern,
+and desperate with anxiety. There was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a
+workman, worn to a shadow, with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in
+his sunken eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual
+criminal. There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with anger burning
+in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled eyes. She, too, like the
+others, watched the door. So they waited.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing aside the
+curtains looked down into the street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will he come&mdash;this Englishman?&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Has he
+courage?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!&rdquo; Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly. &ldquo;More courage than my poor brother, who
+stands there like a coward!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shut up, Zoe!&rdquo; Morrison exclaimed harshly. &ldquo;There is nothing
+for you to be furious about or frightened. No one wants to ill-treat you. These
+gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us. It is Laverick they want.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;are content to stand by and let him
+walk into a trap&mdash;you let them even use my name to bring him here! Arthur,
+be a man! Have nothing more to do with them. Help me to get away from this
+place. Call out. Do something instead of standing there and wasting the
+precious minutes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came towards her&mdash;ugly and threatening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll do something in a minute,&rdquo; he declared
+savagely,&mdash;&ldquo;something you won&rsquo;t like, either. Keep your mouth
+shut, I tell you. It&rsquo;s me or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what
+he&rsquo;ll get!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Young lady,&rdquo; he said quietly, &ldquo;let me beg you not to
+distress yourself so. I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen. If
+it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary absence. You
+shall not be disturbed in any way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady,&rdquo; Lassen
+growled. &ldquo;If any one&rsquo;s in danger, it&rsquo;s he. He&rsquo;ll be
+lucky if he saves his own skin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man glowered at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You hear that, you little fool!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Keep still,
+can&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her face was full of defiance. He came nearer to her and changed his tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zoe,&rdquo; he whispered hoarsely, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t you understand? If
+they can&rsquo;t get what they want from Laverick, they&rsquo;ll visit it upon
+me. They&rsquo;re desperate, I tell you. They mean mischief all the
+time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you when
+you were ill, and who helped you to get away!&rdquo; she cried indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When it comes to a matter of life or death, it&rsquo;s every man for
+himself. Besides, if I&rsquo;d known as much about Laverick as I know now,
+I&rsquo;m not sure that I should have been so ready to go&mdash;not
+empty-handed, by any manner of means.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What have you done that you should be so much in the power of these
+people?&rdquo; she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him searchingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The terror whitened his face once more. The perspiration stood out in beads
+upon his forehead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t dare to ask me questions!&rdquo; he exclaimed nervously.
+&ldquo;I should like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him? Listen here, my fine young lady. If I&rsquo;ve been mug enough
+to do the dirty work, he hasn&rsquo;t made any bones about taking advantage of
+it. He&rsquo;s a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across the room to
+them all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is here,&rdquo; he announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alone?&rdquo; Lassen asked thickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Alone,&rdquo; Streuss echoed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room. Zoe made no attempt to cry
+out. Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though listening. Her
+attitude seemed harmless enough. No one took any more notice of her. They all
+watched the entrance to the apartment. Zoe remembered the two flights of
+stairs. She was absorbed in a breathless calculation. Now&mdash;now he should
+be coming quite close. Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of
+listening. At last she raised her head. The room resounded with her cries.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t come in! Don&rsquo;t come in here!&rdquo; she shrieked.
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick, do you hear? Go away! Don&rsquo;t come in here
+alone!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth brutally.
+Her little effort was naturally a failure&mdash;defeating, in fact, its own
+object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply hastened his coming, threw open the
+door without waiting to knock, and stepped quickly across the threshold. He saw
+a man dressed in shabby workman&rsquo;s clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding
+Zoe in a rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling
+across the room. Then something in the man&rsquo;s cry, a momentary glimpse of
+his white face, revealed his identity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Morrison!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Good God, it&rsquo;s Morrison!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face turned
+upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his surroundings. There was
+the tall, fair young man&mdash;Adolf Kahn&mdash;whom he had seen at the Milan a
+few hours ago&mdash;the man who had unsuccessfully forged his name. There was
+Lassen, the man who, under pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon
+Louise. There was Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with
+his back to the door. There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out her
+hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; she cried softly.
+&ldquo;I tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it, dear,&rdquo; he murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard. Lassen
+was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough written in his pasty
+face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him his left shoulder and sent him
+staggering across the floor. He was angry at having been outwitted and his eyes
+gleamed ominously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, gentlemen,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;you seem to have taken
+unusual pains to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with the
+consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice had many agreeable
+qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;let us first apologize if we
+used a little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit. We are
+men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either wilfully or
+accidentally strayed. An understanding between us has become a
+necessity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go on,&rdquo; Laverick interrupted. &ldquo;Tell me exactly who you are
+and what you want.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As to who we are,&rdquo; Streuss answered, &ldquo;does that really
+matter? I repeat that we are men who are in earnest&mdash;let that be enough.
+As to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every claim, and
+which has come into your possession&mdash;I flatter you somewhat, Mr. Laverick,
+if I say by chance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let that go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know all about the document you
+refer to, and the notes. They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession. Prove your claim to both and you
+shall have them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence,&rdquo; he
+asked suavely, &ldquo;is equal to yours?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;but then I never had any
+idea of keeping either the document or the money. That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title is better
+still.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss frowned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he begged. &ldquo;We are men of
+peace&mdash;when peace is possible. The money of which you spoke you can
+consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention to possess
+ourselves of the document. It is for that reason that we are here in London. I,
+personally, am committed to the extent of my life and my honor to its
+recovery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive. Laverick looked around
+him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know very well that I do not carry it about with me,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;The gentleman on my left,&rdquo; he added, pointing to Kahn, &ldquo;can
+tell you where it is kept.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; Streuss admitted. &ldquo;We are not doing you the
+injustice to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself
+anywhere with that document upon your person. It is in the safe at the Milan
+Hotel. I may add that probably, if it had not occurred to you to change your
+quarters, it would have been in our possession before now. We are hoping to
+persuade you to return to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure
+it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As it happens,&rdquo; Laverick remarked, &ldquo;that is impossible. The
+man who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty, and
+will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But he is to be found,&rdquo; Streuss answered easily. &ldquo;His
+present whereabouts and his address are known to us. He lives with his family
+at Harvard Court, Hampstead. We shall assist you in making it worth his while
+to return to the hotel or to give you the combination word for the safe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are rather great on detail!&rdquo; Laverick exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is our business. The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in our
+hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are ready to accept my word, then?&rdquo; Laverick asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have a certain hold upon you,&rdquo; Streuss continued slowly.
+&ldquo;Your partner Mr. Morrison&rsquo;s position in connection with the murder
+in Crooked Friars&rsquo; Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one. Your own I will not allude to. I will simply suggest that for
+both your sakes publicity&mdash;any measure of publicity, in fact, as regards
+this little affair&mdash;would not be desirable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick hesitated. He understood all that was implied. Morrison&rsquo;s eyes
+were fixed upon him&mdash;the eyes of a craven coward. He felt the intensity of
+the moment. Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are not to give it up!&rdquo; she cried, with trembling lips.
+&ldquo;They cannot hurt you, and it is not true&mdash;about Arthur.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick knocked him
+down. Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was changed. Lassen and
+Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from different sides. Streuss covered him
+with the shining barrel of a revolver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we are not here to be trifled with.
+Keep your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you&rsquo;ll swing!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick looked at the revolver&mdash;fascinated, for an instant, by its
+unexpected appearance. The face of the man who held it had changed. There was
+lightning playing about the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the dock for you both!&rdquo; Streuss exclaimed
+fiercely,&mdash;&ldquo;for you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play
+with us any longer! One of you&rsquo;s a murderer and the other receives the
+booty. Who are you to have scruples&mdash;criminals, both of you? Your place is
+in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if there are any
+more evasions. Now, Laverick, will you fetch that document? It is your last
+chance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened&mdash;a
+voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite inquiry. Yet its
+level utterance fell like a bomb among the little company. The curtain
+separating this from the inner room had been drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy
+was standing there, in black overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the
+back of his head, his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the
+curtain which he had drawn aside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope I am not disturbing you at all?&rdquo; he murmured softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain. The gleaming
+barrel of Streuss&rsquo;s revolver changed its destination. Bellamy glanced at
+it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I really ought not to have intruded,&rdquo; he continued amiably.
+&ldquo;I happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with him before I
+left for the Continent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan! His revolver had disappeared. The
+smile upon his lips was both gracious and unembarrassed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy
+anywhere&mdash;anyhow,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;If apologies are needed at
+all,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;it is to our friend and host&mdash;Mr.
+Morrison here. Permit me&mdash;Mr. Arthur Morrison&mdash;the Honorable David
+Bellamy! These are Mr. Morrison&rsquo;s rooms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Morrison could do no more than stare. Bellamy, on the contrary, with a little
+bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat from his head. Lassen
+glided round behind him, remaining between Bellamy and the heavy curtains.
+Adolf Kahn moved as though unconsciously in front of the door of the room in
+which they were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I must not stay for more than a
+moment. I have a car full of friends below&mdash;we are on our way, in fact, to
+the Covent Garden Ball&mdash;and one or two of them, I fear,&rdquo; he added
+indulgently, &ldquo;have already reached that stage of exhilaration which such
+an entertainment in England seems to demand. They will certainly come and rout
+me out if I am here much longer. There!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;you hear
+that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss, with an
+oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were two motor-cars
+waiting there&mdash;large cars with Limousine bodies, and apparently full of
+men. After all, it was to be expected. Bellamy was no fool!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; Streuss remarked
+with a gesture of farewell, &ldquo;let us say good night. The little matter of
+business which we were discussing can be concluded with your partner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick turned toward Zoe. Their eyes met and he read their message of terror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;You must let me offer you my escort.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison moved near
+to them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you leave me here, Laverick,&rdquo; he muttered beneath his
+breath,&mdash;&ldquo;if you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they
+will do? They will hand me over to the police&mdash;they have sworn it!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why did you come back?&rdquo; Laverick asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer,&rdquo; Morrison declared.
+&ldquo;I tell you they have eyes everywhere. You cannot move without their
+knowledge. I had to come. Now that I am here they have told me plainly the
+price of my freedom. It is that document. Laverick, it is my life! You must
+give in&mdash;you must, indeed! Remember you&rsquo;re in it, too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I?&rdquo; Laverick asked quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You fool, of course you are!&rdquo; Morrison whispered hoarsely.
+&ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t you come into the entry and take the pocket-book? Heaven
+knows what possessed you to do it! Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use
+the money! But you did it, and you are a criminal&mdash;a criminal as I am.
+Don&rsquo;t be a fool, Laverick. Make terms with these people. They want the
+document&mdash;the document&mdash;nothing but the document! They will let us
+keep the money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you?&rdquo; Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe. &ldquo;What do
+you say about all this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I trust you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I trust you to do what is
+right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII<br />
+LAVERICK&rsquo;S ARREST</h2>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At last, David!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which Bellamy
+raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the third person, who
+had also risen at the opening of the door&mdash;a short, somewhat thick-set
+man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped black hair, and upturned black
+moustache.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You remember Prince Rosmaran?&rdquo; she said to Bellamy. &ldquo;He left
+Servia only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a special
+mission to the King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shook hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; he remarked, &ldquo;I had the honor of meeting you once
+before, Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago. It was
+just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic party.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince bowed sadly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My leadership, I fear,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;has brought little
+good to my unhappy country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,&rdquo;
+Bellamy reminded him sympathetically. &ldquo;At the same time, we must not
+despair. Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she has not dared to
+strike.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As yet, no!&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;But how long&mdash;how long, I
+wonder&mdash;before the blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming
+ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being secretly
+concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working night and day. Her
+soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight of Belgrade. We have hoped
+against hope, yet in our hearts we know that our fate was sealed when the Czar
+of Russia left Vienna last week.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing is certain,&rdquo; Bellamy declared restlessly. &ldquo;England
+has been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a negligible
+Power.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;David,&rdquo; she whispered, &ldquo;the compact!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He answered her unspoken question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is arranged,&rdquo; he said,&mdash;&ldquo;finished. To-morrow morning
+at nine o&rsquo;clock I receive it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are sure?&rdquo; she begged. &ldquo;Why need there be any
+delay?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is locked up in a powerful safe,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;and the
+clerk who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine. Laverick is
+there simply waiting for the hour. You were right, Louise, as usual. I should
+have trusted him from the first.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is a rumor,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that some secret information
+concerning the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We three have no secrets from one another,&rdquo; the Prince declared.
+&ldquo;Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you suggest,
+Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the Chancellor, in the first
+few moments of his illness, gave valuable information to some one who is likely
+to have communicated it to the Government here. To be forewarned is to be
+forearmed. That, I know, is one of your own mottoes. So I am here to know if
+there is anything to be learned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I reached Charing Cross at midnight,&rdquo; the Prince answered.
+&ldquo;Our train was an hour late. I am presenting my credentials early this
+morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is true!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Between us three there is indeed no
+need for secrecy. The information you speak of will be in our hands within a
+few hours. I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister will share in
+it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know of what it consists?&rdquo; the Prince inquired curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so,&rdquo; Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock. &ldquo;For
+my own part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another and a
+profounder source of interest in that document. If, indeed, it is what we
+believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean that you would provoke war?&rdquo; Prince Rosmaran asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I,&rdquo; said he,&mdash;&ldquo;I am not even a politician. But, you
+know, the lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is
+only one course open for this country,&mdash;to work upon Russia so that she
+withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with Austria and Germany,
+to accept Germany&rsquo;s cooperation with Austria in the despoilment of your
+country as a casus belli, and to declare war at once while our fleet is
+invincible and our Colonies free from danger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is good,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;to hear man&rsquo;s talk once
+more. Wherever one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and
+Austria. Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed rule
+Europe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three o&rsquo;clock struck. The Prince rose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I go,&rdquo; he announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;Come to my rooms at ten
+o&rsquo;clock tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Bellamy lingered behind. For a moment he held Louise in his arms and gazed
+sorrowfully into her weary face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it worth while, I wonder?&rdquo; he asked bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Worth while,&rdquo; she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him,
+&ldquo;to feel the mother love? Who can help it who would not be
+ignoble?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But yours, dear,&rdquo; he murmured, &ldquo;is all grief. Even now I am
+afraid.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We can do no more than toil to the end,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;David,
+you are sure this time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sure,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I am going back now to the hotel
+where Laverick is staying. We are going to sit together and smoke until the
+morning. Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel. I was with them all
+only an hour ago,&mdash;Streuss, that blackguard Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the
+police spy. They are beaten men and they know it. They had Laverick, had him by
+a trick, but I made a dramatic entrance and the game was up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,&rdquo;
+she begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will,&rdquo; he promised.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand. The streets were almost
+brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight. The air seemed curiously keen. Once or
+twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement was so clear and distinct that he
+fancied he was being followed and glanced sharply around. He reached the Milan
+Hotel, however, without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in
+the hall where he had expected to find Laverick. There was no one there! He
+stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense of apprehension. The
+place was deserted except for a couple of sleepy-looking clerks and a small
+army of cleaners busy with their machines down in the restaurant, moving about
+like mysterious figures in the dim light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was with
+about an hour ago?&rdquo; he asked,&mdash;&ldquo;a tall, fair
+gentleman&mdash;Mr. Laverick his name was?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes, sir!&rdquo; he answered with a somewhat mysterious air.
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago. Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and inquired for
+him. They talked for a little time, and finally Mr. Laverick went away with
+them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Went away with them?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t understand
+that, Reynolds. He was to have waited here till I returned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t strike me, sir,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that Mr. Laverick
+was very wishful to go. It seemed as though he hadn&rsquo;t much choice about
+the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me what is in your mind?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Bellamy, sir,&rdquo; the hall-porter replied, &ldquo;I knew one of
+those gentlemen by sight. He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the one
+who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good God!&rdquo; Bellamy exclaimed. &ldquo;You think,
+then,&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir,&rdquo; the man answered.
+&ldquo;Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV<br />
+MORRISON&rsquo;S DISCLOSURE</h2>
+
+<p>
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot humanity, came
+Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. She was a little whiter, a
+little more tired than usual. All day long she had heard nothing of Laverick.
+All day long she had sat in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible
+night before her. She had tried in vain to sleep,&mdash;she had made no effort
+whatever to eat. She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew the
+cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out. The horror of
+the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison. Life was once more a
+dreary, profitless struggle. All the wonderful dreams, which had made existence
+seem almost like a fairy-tale for this last week, had faded away. She was once
+more a mournful little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube. Boys were shouting everywhere
+the contents of the evening papers. Nearly every one seemed to be carrying one
+of the pink sheets. She herself passed on with unseeing eyes. News was nothing
+to her. Governments might rise and fall, war might come and go,&mdash;she had
+still life to support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen
+shillings a week. The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but one boy
+unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers trembled so
+that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked it up willingly enough,
+however, and she passed on with the paper in her hand. There it was on the
+front page&mdash;staring her in the face:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of Laverick &amp;
+Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was arrested at the Milan Hotel on
+the charge of being concerned in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked
+Friars&rsquo; Alley, on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the
+charge, was removed to Bow Street Police-Station. Particulars of his
+examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up from the
+underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of thunder from an
+unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping for breath. If she could
+find somewhere to sit down! If she could only rest for a moment! Then a sudden
+wave of strength came to her, the blood flowed once more in her
+veins&mdash;blood that was hot with anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot
+of red. It was the man she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely. It was
+the fulfilment of their threat&mdash;a deliberate plot against him. The
+murderer of Crooked Friars&rsquo; Alley&mdash;she knew who that was!&mdash;she
+knew! Perhaps she might help!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that walk, but she
+found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of the theatre with the paper
+spread out before her. She read that Stephen Laverick had been brought before
+Mr. Rawson, the magistrate of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging
+him with having been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he
+had pleaded &ldquo;Not Guilty!&rdquo; Her eyes glittered as she read that the
+first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the accused. She
+read his deposition&mdash;that he had left Laverick at their offices at eleven
+o&rsquo;clock on the night in question, that they were at that time absolutely
+without means, and had no prospect of meeting their engagements on the morrow.
+She read the evidence of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr.
+Laverick had, on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the engagements of
+the firm were duly met, that those notes had since been redeemed, and that he
+had no idea of their present whereabouts. She read, too, the evidence of Adolf
+Kahn, an Austrian visiting this country upon private business, who deposed that
+he was in the vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he
+identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after disappearing for
+a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter the offices from which he had
+issued. He explained his presence there by the fact that he was waiting for a
+clerk employed by the Goldfields&rsquo; Corporation, Limited, whose offices
+were close by. Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for. The
+accused&rsquo;s solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when Mr.
+Rawson was unfortunately taken ill. After waiting for some time, the case was
+adjourned until the next day, and the accused man was removed in custody.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet. She made her way to where the
+stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new scenery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Heepman,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;I cannot stay to rehearsal! I
+have to go out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rehearsal postponed,&rdquo; he declared solemnly. &ldquo;Shall you be
+back for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His clumsy irony missed its mark. Her thoughts were too intensely focussed upon
+one thing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am sorry,&rdquo; she replied, turning away. &ldquo;I will come back as
+soon as I can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He called out after her and she paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you were absent from the performance
+the other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even waiting for
+permission. It can&rsquo;t be done, young lady. You must do your playing around
+some other time. If you&rsquo;re not here when you&rsquo;re called, you
+needn&rsquo;t trouble to turn up again. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed to be
+brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll come back as soon as I can,&rdquo; she promised, with a
+little break in her voice,&mdash;&ldquo;as soon as ever I can, Mr.
+Heepman.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among the hurrying
+throng of pedestrians. Several people turned round to look at her. Her white
+face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost unnaturally large, seemed to have
+become the abiding-place for tragedy. She herself saw no one. She would have
+taken a cab, but a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her. She
+walked steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third floor,
+and knocked at her brother&rsquo;s door. No one answered her at first. She
+turned the handle and entered to find the room empty. There were sounds,
+however, in the further apartment, and she called out to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Arthur,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;are you there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; he demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is I&mdash;Zoe!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to speak to you, Arthur. I must speak to you. Please come as
+quickly as you can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared. He was wearing the
+morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier in the day, but the
+change in him was perhaps all the more marked by reason of this resumption of
+his old attire. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed
+to lose that feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from
+Liverpool. He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously to
+try and bully her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t come to these rooms, Zoe,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told you before they&rsquo;re bachelors&rsquo; apartments,
+and they don&rsquo;t like women about the place. What is it? What do you
+want?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part,&rdquo; she answered, looking him in the face. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come now
+to ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick? What were you
+doing in the court this morning, lying? What is the meaning of it,
+Arthur?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve come to talk rubbish like that,&rdquo; he declared
+roughly, &ldquo;you&rsquo;d better be off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, it is not rubbish!&rdquo; she went on fearlessly. &ldquo;I think I
+can understand what it is that has happened. They have terrified you and bribed
+you until you are willing to do any despicable thing&mdash;even this. Your
+father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I have tried to feel towards you as
+though you were indeed a relation. But nothing of that counts. I want you to
+realize that I know the truth, and that I will not see an innocent man
+convicted while the guilty go free.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He moved a step towards her. They were on opposite sides of the small round
+table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; he demanded hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it plain enough?&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;You came to my
+rooms a week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man. If ever there was guilt
+in a man&rsquo;s face, it was in yours. You sent for Laverick. He pitied you
+and helped you away. At Liverpool they would not let you embark&mdash;these
+men. They have brought you back here. You are their tool. But you know very
+well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen Laverick who killed the man in Crooked
+Friars&rsquo; Alley! You know very well that it was not Stephen
+Laverick!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why the devil should I know anything about it?&rdquo; he asked fiercely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice. Her little white hand, with
+its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime,&rdquo;
+she cried, &ldquo;and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall go
+to court myself and tell the truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with nervously
+twitching lips and fingers. But there was murder in his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you know about this?&rdquo; he muttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I know and I guess quite enough
+to convince me&mdash;and I think anybody else&mdash;that you are the guilty
+man. I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but I will
+not do so at Stephen Laverick&rsquo;s expense.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is Laverick to you?&rdquo; he growled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is nothing to me,&rdquo; she replied, &ldquo;but the best of friends.
+Even were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent man
+suffer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are talking nonsense, Zoe,&rdquo; he said,&mdash;&ldquo;nonsense!
+Even if there has been some little mistake, what could I do now? I have given
+my evidence. So far as I am concerned, the case is finished. I shall not be
+called again until the trial.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and take back
+your evidence,&rdquo; she declared boldly, &ldquo;for if you do not, I shall be
+there and I shall tell the truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zoe,&rdquo; he gasped, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t try me too high. This thing
+has upset me. I&rsquo;m ill. Can&rsquo;t you see it, Zoe? Look at me. I
+haven&rsquo;t slept for weeks. Night and day I&rsquo;ve had the fear&mdash;the
+fear always with me. You don&rsquo;t know what it is&mdash;you can&rsquo;t
+imagine. It&rsquo;s like a terrible ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you
+go, laying his icy finger upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when
+you try to drown thought even for a moment. Don&rsquo;t you try me too far,
+Zoe. I&rsquo;m not responsible. Laverick isn&rsquo;t the man you think him to
+be. He isn&rsquo;t the man I believed. He did have that money&mdash;he did,
+indeed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;is to be explained. But he is not a
+murderer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen to me, Zoe,&rdquo; Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+&ldquo;Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a
+week&mdash;somewhere to the seaside. We will talk about this and think it over.
+I want to get away from London. We will go to Brighton, if you like. I must do
+something for you, Zoe. I&rsquo;m afraid I&rsquo;ve neglected you a good deal.
+Perhaps I could get you a better part at one of the theatres. I must make you
+an allowance. You ought to be wearing better clothes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She drew a little away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want nothing from you, Arthur,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;except
+this&mdash;that you speak the truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But, good God, Zoe!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;do you know what it is
+that you are asking me? Do you want me to go into court and
+say&mdash;&lsquo;That isn&rsquo;t the man... It is I who am the
+murderer&rsquo;? Do you want me to feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put
+there in the dock and have all the people staring at me curiously because they
+know that before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope
+around my neck and&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a fit of
+impotent terror. But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Arthur,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;crime is a terrible thing, but nothing
+in the world can alter its punishment. If it is frightful for you to think of
+this, what must it be for him? And you are guilty and he is not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was mad!&rdquo; Morrison went on, now almost beside himself.
+&ldquo;Zoe, I was mad! I called there to have a drink. We were broke,&mdash;the
+firm was broke. I&rsquo;d a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt
+the next day. And there, within a few yards of me, was that man, with such a
+roll of notes as I had never seen in my life. Five hundred pounds, every one of
+them, and a wad as thick as my fists. Zoe, they fascinated me. I had two drinks
+quickly and I followed him out. Somehow or other, I found that I&rsquo;d caught
+up a knife that was on the counter. I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I
+wanted some of those notes! I was leaving the next day for Africa and I
+hadn&rsquo;t enough money to make a fair start. I wanted it&mdash;my God, how I
+wanted money!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It couldn&rsquo;t have been worth&mdash;that!&rdquo; she cried, looking
+at him wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was mad,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;I saw the notes and they went to
+my head. Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for love. I
+don&rsquo;t drink much, and I&rsquo;m not over fond of women, but, my God,
+money is like the blood of my body to me! I saw it, and I wanted it and I
+wanted it, and I went mad! Zoe, you won&rsquo;t give me away? Say you
+won&rsquo;t!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But what am I to do?&rdquo; she protested. &ldquo;He must not
+suffer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll get off,&rdquo; Morrison assured her thickly. &ldquo;I tell
+you he&rsquo;ll get off. He&rsquo;s only to part with the document, which never
+belonged to him, and the charge will be withdrawn. They know who the murdered
+man was. They know where the money came from which he was carrying. I tell you
+he can save himself. You wouldn&rsquo;t dream of sending me to the gallows,
+Zoe!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those
+people,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I am sure of that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s his own lookout,&rdquo; Morrison muttered. &ldquo;He has the
+chance, anyway.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned toward the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must go away,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I must go away and think. It is
+all too horrible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t let you go like this. You
+must tell me that you are not going to give me up. Do you hear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can make no promises, Arthur,&rdquo; she answered sadly, &ldquo;only
+this&mdash;I shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what it was
+that he was holding. Then he struck her down and without a backward glance fled
+out of the place.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap35"></a>CHAPTER XXXV<br />
+BELLAMY&rsquo;S SUCCESS</h2>
+
+<p>
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the commissionaire, and
+the chief maitre d&rsquo;hotel from the Café, who happened to be in the hall,
+together with several others around the place who knew Stephen Laverick by
+sight, were treated to an unexpected surprise. A large closed motor-car drove
+up to the front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick
+himself. He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely mechanical, and
+making his way without hesitation to the interior of the hotel, presented his
+receipt at the cashier&rsquo;s desk and asked for his packet. The clerk looked
+up at him in amazement. He did not, for the moment, notice that the two men
+standing immediately behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen. He had
+only a few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick&rsquo;s
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow, upon the
+charge of murder. His knowledge of English law was by no means perfect, but he
+was at least aware that Laverick&rsquo;s appearance outside the purlieus of the
+prison was an unusual happening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your packet, sir!&rdquo; he repeated, in amazement. &ldquo;Why, this is
+Mr. Laverick himself, is it not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; was the quiet reply. &ldquo;I am Stephen
+Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as though he
+were a ghost. They whispered together in the background for a moment, and their
+faces were a study in perplexity. Of Laverick&rsquo;s identity, however, there
+was no manner of doubt. Besides, the presence of what was obviously a very
+ample escort somewhat reassured them. The cashier himself came forward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick,&rdquo; he said dryly,
+&ldquo;to get rid of your packet. Your instructions were that we should
+disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and I may say
+that they have been strictly adhered to. We have, however, had two applications
+in your name this morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They were both forgeries,&rdquo; Laverick declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cashier hesitated. Then he leaned across the broad mahogany counter towards
+Laverick. One of the men who appeared to form part of the escort detached
+himself from them and approached a few steps nearer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This gentleman is your friend, sir?&rdquo; the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is my solicitor,&rdquo; Laverick answered, &ldquo;and is entirely in
+my confidence. If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr. Bellamy also
+to hear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place by
+Laverick&rsquo;s side. The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beside these two forged orders, sir,&rdquo; he said, turning again to
+Laverick, &ldquo;we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a small
+black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in our document safe.
+My assistant had accepted it and was actually locking it up when he noticed a
+faint sound inside which he could not understand. The bag was opened and found
+to contain an infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an
+hour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We should have thought of that!&rdquo; he exclaimed softly.
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s Kahn&rsquo;s work!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble,&rdquo; Laverick
+remarked quietly. &ldquo;I gather, however, from what you say, that my packet
+is still in your possession?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is, sir,&rdquo; the man assented. &ldquo;We have two detectives from
+Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had almost decided to
+place it in their charge for greater security.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you,&rdquo; Laverick
+declared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office. At their
+invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few yards behind came the
+two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and the superintendent. The safe was
+opened and the packet placed in Laverick&rsquo;s hands. He passed it on at once
+to Bellamy, and immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with
+men, apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel. They made a slow and
+exceedingly cautious exit. Once outside, Bellamy turned to Laverick with
+outstretched hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Au revoir and good luck, old chap!&rdquo; he said heartily. &ldquo;I
+think you&rsquo;ll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade&mdash;two of his
+friends on either side, two in front, and two behind. It had almost the
+appearance of a procession. The whole party stepped into a closed motor-car.
+Three or four men were lounging on the pavement and there was some excited
+whispering, but no one actually interfered. As soon as they had left the
+courtyard, Laverick and his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the
+motor-car in which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street. Very few
+words were exchanged during the short journey. His solicitor, however, bade him
+good-night cheerfully, and Laverick&rsquo;s bearing was by no means the bearing
+of a man in despair.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat remarkable little
+gathering took place. The two men chiefly responsible for the destinies of the
+nation&mdash;the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign
+Affairs&mdash;sat side by side before a small table. Facing them was Bellamy,
+and spread out in front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
+envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of the great
+Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The Foreign Minister had just
+finished a translation for the benefit of his colleague, and the two men were
+silent, as men are in the presence of big events.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; the Prime Minister said slowly, &ldquo;you are willing
+to stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
+document?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My honor and my life, if you will,&rdquo; Bellamy answered earnestly.
+&ldquo;That is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the handwriting
+is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The latter, whose
+eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words, looked up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All I can say is this,&rdquo; he remarked impressively, &ldquo;that
+never in my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
+One moment, if you please.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from an
+adjoining room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anthony,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;telephone to the Great Western Railway
+Company at Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that a
+special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour. Tell the
+station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up, but that the
+destination of the special is not to be divulged.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The more I consider this matter,&rdquo; the Foreign Minister went on,
+&ldquo;the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem. We know
+now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail his visit&mdash;why he
+came, as it were, under protest, and seeks everywhere for an opportunity to
+leave before the appointed time. His health is all right. He has had a hint
+from Vienna that there has been a leakage. His special mission only reached
+Paris this morning. The President is in the country and their audience is not
+fixed until to-morrow. Rawson will go over with a copy of these papers and a
+dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o&rsquo;clock train. It is not often that
+we have had the chance of such a &lsquo;coup&rsquo; as this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He drew his chief a few steps away. They whispered together for several
+moments. When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang the bell again for his
+secretary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anthony,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;Sir James and I will be leaving in a few
+minutes for Windsor. Go round yourself to General Hamilton, telephone to
+Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the Admiralty Board for Sir John
+Harrison. Tell them all to be here at ten o&rsquo;clock tonight. If I am not
+back, they must wait. If either of them have royal commands, you need only
+repeat the word &lsquo;Finisterre.&rsquo; They will understand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man once more withdrew. The Prime Minister turned back to the papers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be worth a great deal,&rdquo; he remarked, with a grim smile,
+&ldquo;to see His Majesty&rsquo;s face when he reads this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be worth a great deal more,&rdquo; his fellow statesman
+answered dryly, &ldquo;to be with his August cousin at the interview which will
+follow. A month ago, the thought that war might come under our administration
+was a continual terror to me. To-day things are entirely different. To-day it
+really seems that if war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for
+England of this century. You saw the last report from Kiel?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sir James nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean,&rdquo; his colleague continued earnestly.
+&ldquo;They are cooped up&mdash;safe enough, they think&mdash;under the shelter
+of their fortifications. Hamilton has another idea. Between you and me, Sir
+James, so have I. I tell you,&rdquo; he went on, in a deeper and more
+passionate tone, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s like the passing of a terrible
+nightmare&mdash;this. We have had ten years of panic, of nervous fears of a
+German invasion, and no one knows more than you and I, Sir James, how much
+cause we have had for those fears. It will seem strange if, after all, history
+has to write that chapter differently.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone interview
+with the superintendent at Paddington. The two great men rose. The Prime
+Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bellamy,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ve done us one more
+important service. There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but
+you&rsquo;ve earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate. There is nothing more
+we can do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James,&rdquo; Bellamy
+answered. &ldquo;Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the man to
+whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a difficult situation, Bellamy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You
+are asking a great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the
+slightest manner with the course of justice. You are absolutely convinced, I
+suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do with the murder?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Absolutely and entirely, sir,&rdquo; Bellamy replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The murdered man has never been identified by the police,&rdquo; Sir
+James remarked. &ldquo;Who was he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His name was Rudolph Von Behrling,&rdquo; Bellamy announced, &ldquo;and
+he was actually the Chancellor&rsquo;s nephew, also his private secretary. I
+have told you the history, sir, of those papers. It was Von Behrling who,
+without a doubt, murdered the American journalist and secured them. It was he
+who insisted upon coming to London instead of returning with them to Vienna,
+which would have been the most obvious course for him to have adopted. He was a
+pauper, and desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me
+throughout this matter. He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand
+pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the same night. I
+met him by appointment at that little restaurant in the city, paid him the
+twenty thousand pounds, and received the false packet which you remember I
+brought to you, sir. As a matter of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or
+design, and no man now will ever know which, left me with those papers which I
+was supposed to have bought in his possession, and also the money. Within five
+minutes he was murdered. Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom, but it was
+not by Stephen Laverick. Laverick&rsquo;s share in the whole thing was nothing
+but this&mdash;that he found the pocket-book, and that he made use of the notes
+in his business for twenty-four hours to save himself from ruin. That was
+unjustifiable, of course. He has made atonement. The notes at this minute are
+in a safe deposit vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they
+came. I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron de
+Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully. He stooped down and scrawled a few lines on half
+a sheet of note-paper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and
+tell him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the nature
+of the papers. The thing must be arranged, of course.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that the Prime
+Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were going down to Windsor
+on a special mission, followed them, but even they remained altogether in the
+dark as to the events which were really transpiring. They knew nothing of the
+interview between the Czar and his August host&mdash;an interview which in
+itself was a chapter in the history of these times. They knew nothing of the
+reason of their royal visitor&rsquo;s decision to prolong his visit instead of
+shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the President of the French
+Republic, which reached Paris even before the special mission from St.
+Petersburg had presented themselves. The one thing which they did know, and
+that alone was significant enough, was that the Czar&rsquo;s Foreign Minister
+was cabled for that night to come to his master by special train from St.
+Petersburg. At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from
+Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned. The Russian Ambassador,
+heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under pretence of a command from his
+royal master. The happiest man in London was Prince Rosmaran.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap36"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI<br />
+LAVERICK ACQUITTED</h2>
+
+<p>
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the dock at Bow
+Street and, as the evening papers put it, &ldquo;in company with his friends
+left the court.&rdquo; The proceedings altogether took scarcely more than
+half-an-hour. Laverick&rsquo;s solicitor first put Shepherd in the box, who
+gave his account of Morrison&rsquo;s visit to the restaurant, spoke of his
+hurried exit, and identified the knife which he had seen him snatch up.
+Cross-examined as to why he had kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had
+been a good customer and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited
+evidence which would cost a man his life. Directly, however, another man had
+been accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different. He had
+come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick&rsquo;s arrest, to offer his
+evidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick&rsquo;s solicitor
+called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran though the court.
+Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the witness-box, looking exceedingly
+pale, and with a bandage over the upper part of her head. She admitted that she
+was the half-sister of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood
+relationship. She described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the
+murder, and his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed to her
+on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the murder in question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David Bellamy. He
+declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, and that the twenty
+thousand pounds of which he had been recently possessed, had come from him for
+investment in Laverick&rsquo;s business. The circumstances, he admitted, were
+somewhat peculiar, and until negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had
+doubtless felt uncertain how to make use of the money. But he assured the court
+that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in question save
+himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use to which Laverick had put
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant was issued for
+the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found Bellamy waiting for him, and was
+hurried into his motor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you see,&rdquo; the latter exclaimed, &ldquo;we kept our word!
+That dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any case I
+think that there would not have been much trouble about the matter. The
+magistrate had received a communication direct from the Home Secretary
+concerning your case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am very grateful indeed,&rdquo; Laverick declared. &ldquo;I tell you I
+think I am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss Leneveu. The usher
+told me she left the court before we came out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I asked her to go straight back to her rooms,&rdquo; Bellamy said.
+&ldquo;You must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in
+a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having Morrison watched,
+and my man reported to me that he had left his rooms in a state of great
+excitement, and that a young lady was there who appeared to be seriously
+injured.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;D&mdash;d scamp!&rdquo; Laverick muttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did everything I could,&rdquo; Bellamy continued. &ldquo;I fetched her
+at once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some one to
+look after her. The wound wasn&rsquo;t serious, but the fellow must have been a
+brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such a child. I wonder whether
+he&rsquo;ll get away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should doubt it,&rdquo; Laverick remarked. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t the
+nerve. He&rsquo;ll probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He&rsquo;s a
+broken-spirited cur, after all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have some lunch?&rdquo; Bellamy asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t mind, I&rsquo;d like to go on and see Miss
+Leneveu.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe&rsquo;s little house for
+nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and locked, and a neighbor
+had informed him that Miss Leneveu had gone out in a cab with the nurse, some
+time ago, and had not returned. Laverick sent Bellamy&rsquo;s car back and
+waited. Presently a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front
+of her house. Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out. She was as white as
+death, and the nurse who was with her was looking anxious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are safe, then?&rdquo; she murmured, holding out her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;You dear little girl!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor. Curiously
+enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago had come to see Arthur
+Morrison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She has had a bad scalp wound,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;and her
+nervous system is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She seems to
+have just escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay with her for another
+day, at any rate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are sure that it isn&rsquo;t serious?&rdquo; Laverick asked eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not in the least,&rdquo; the doctor answered dryly. &ldquo;I see worse
+wounds every day of my life. I&rsquo;ll come again to-morrow, if you like, but
+it really isn&rsquo;t necessary with the nurse on the spot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which Laverick
+pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more encouraging words. Laverick
+stayed and talked for a short time with the nurse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She has gone off to sleep now, sir,&rdquo; the latter announced.
+&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t anything to worry about. She seems as though she had
+been having a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house but
+half a packet of tea&mdash;and these.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I found these in a drawer when I came,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I had to
+look round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the
+house.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor little woman!&rdquo; he murmured. &ldquo;I think she&rsquo;d sooner
+have starved than ask for help.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The nurse smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady,&rdquo; she
+remarked. &ldquo;An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new hat with
+a receipted bill for thirty shillings,&rdquo; she added, pointing to the sofa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Please keep these,&rdquo; he begged, &ldquo;and see that she has
+everything she wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the
+slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest of her
+life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to come in until she is
+able to be moved?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll look after her,&rdquo; the nurse promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were becoming
+more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club almost from habit.
+Presently the excitement which all London seemed to be sharing drove his own
+personal feelings a little into the background. The air was full of rumors. The
+Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of
+heroes. Nothing was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of
+confidence that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her
+existence as a great Power.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap37"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII<br />
+THE PLOT THAT FAILED</h2>
+
+<p>
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion House, where he
+had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord Mayor, witnessed a popular
+outburst of enthusiasm absolutely inexplicable to the general public. It was
+known that affairs in Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state,
+and it was felt that the Czar&rsquo;s visit here, and the urgent summons which
+had brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications that the
+long wished-for entente between Russia and this country was now actually at
+hand. There was in the Press a curious reticence with regard to the development
+of the political situation. One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the
+storm&mdash;that at any moment the great black headlines might tell of some
+startling stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied. The
+circumstances themselves of the Czar&rsquo;s visit had been a little peculiar.
+On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of health, the original
+period of his stay, namely a week, was to be cut down to two days. No sooner
+had he arrived at Windsor, however, than a change was announced. The Czar had
+so far recovered as to be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his
+visit. Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full of
+bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable. The Czar had
+thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany. That he was going
+deliberately to break away from that arrangement there seemed now scarcely any
+manner of doubt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go by. Prince
+Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but he, too, had been with
+them earlier in the morning. Afterwards they turned their backs upon the city,
+and as soon as the crowd had thinned made their way to one of the west-end
+restaurants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems too good to be true,&rdquo; declared Louise. Bellamy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true. The humor of the whole
+thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who pressed the Czar not
+to altogether cancel his visit for fear of exciting suspicion. That, of course,
+was when there seemed to be no question of the news of the Vienna compact
+leaking out. They would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the
+Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in the
+Chancellor&rsquo;s own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You saw the telegram from Paris?&rdquo; Louise interposed. &ldquo;The
+special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It all goes to prove what I say,&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;Any morning
+you may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an
+ultimatum.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder,&rdquo; she remarked, &ldquo;what became of Streuss.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt,&rdquo; Bellamy
+answered. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always plenty of work for spies.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t use that word,&rdquo; she begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He made a little grimace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Well, that counts for nothing now. I hope I may
+still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different
+way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; she demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I heard from my uncle&rsquo;s solicitors this morning,&rdquo; Bellamy
+continued, &ldquo;that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few
+months. When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords. It
+is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I suppose there is
+nothing left for me but to give it up. I have done my share of traveling and
+work, after all,&rdquo; he concluded, thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your share, indeed,&rdquo; she murmured. &ldquo;Remember that but for
+that document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have gone
+down, and England would have had to take a place among the second-class Powers.
+There may be war now, it is true, but it will be a glorious war.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Louise, very soon we shall know. Until then I will say nothing. But I do
+not want you altogether to forget that there has been something in my life
+dearer to me even than my career for these last few years.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft. She looked across towards him wistfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear,&rdquo; she whispered, &ldquo;things will be altered with you now.
+I am not fit to be the wife of an English peer&mdash;I am not noble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; he assured her, &ldquo;that I am democrat enough to
+think you one of the noblest women on earth. Why should I not? Your life itself
+has been a study in devotion. The modern virtues seem almost to ignore
+patriotism, yet the love of one&rsquo;s country is a splendid thing. But
+don&rsquo;t you think, Louise, that we have done our work&mdash;that it is time
+to think of ourselves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gave him her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us see,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Let us wait for a little time and
+see what comes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely spontaneous, broke
+out in one of the least expected places. Louise was encored for her wonderful
+solo in a modern opera of bellicose trend, and instead of repeating it she came
+alone on the stage after a few minutes&rsquo; absence, dressed in Servian
+national dress. For a short time the costume was not recognized. Then the
+music&mdash;the national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage,
+brought the thing home to the audience. They did not even wait for her to
+finish. In the middle of her song the applause broke like a crash of thunder.
+From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered her wildly, madly. A dozen
+times she came before the curtain. It seemed impossible that they would ever
+let her go. Directly she turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again.
+The manager at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words. She
+stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the previous
+applause had been unanimous. Her voice reached easily to every place in the
+House.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you all very much,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I am very happy
+indeed to be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous
+country in the world&mdash;the country that is always ready to protect and help
+her weaker neighbors. I am a Servian, and I love my country, and
+therefore,&rdquo; she added, with a little break in her
+voice,&mdash;&ldquo;therefore I love you all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the streets of
+London had not been so impassable for years. Crowds made their way to the front
+of Buckingham Palace and on to the War Office, where men were working late.
+Everything seemed to denote that the spirit of the country was roused: The
+papers next morning made immense capital of the incident, and for the following
+twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at fever height.
+It was known that the Cabinet Council had been sitting for six hours. It was
+known, too, that without the least commotion, with scarcely any movements of
+ships that could be called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which
+the world had ever known was assembling off Dover. The stock markets were
+wildly excited. Laverick, back again in his office, found that his return to
+his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any comment. More startling events
+were shaping themselves. His own remarkable adventure remained, curiously
+enough, almost undiscussed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding the rush of
+business, and drove at once to the little house in Theobald Square. Zoe was
+lying on the sofa, still white, but eager to declare that the pain had gone and
+that she was no longer suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is too absurd,&rdquo; she declared, smiling, &ldquo;my having this
+nurse here. Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me. I should have
+gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which contained her
+somewhat curt dismissal. He laughed as he tore it into pieces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you so sorry, Zoe? Is the stage so wonderful a place that you could
+not bear to think of leaving it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not that,&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;You know that it is not
+that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days. A bachelor
+who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying sort of
+person.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shrank away a little.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t mean it,&rdquo; she murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know very well that I mean it,&rdquo; he answered, kissing her.
+&ldquo;I think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were
+doomed to become my wife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes. For the moment she had forgotten
+everything. She was absolutely and completely happy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards, as they sat
+talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zoe,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;the best thing that could has happened.
+You will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know. Remember the
+alternative&mdash;and read that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur Morrison in
+a house in Bloomsbury Square. The police had apparently tracked him down, and
+he had shot himself at the final moment. The details of his last few hours were
+indescribable. Zoe shuddered, and her eyes filled with tears. She smiled
+bravely in his face, however.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is terrible,&rdquo; she whispered simply, &ldquo;but, after all, he
+was no relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury. When I
+think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded up the paper,
+as though she felt something of that common instinct of her sex which
+transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard, merciless creature when the
+being whom she loves is threatened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us go out into the streets,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and hear what all
+this excitement is about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and white. An
+ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna. Certain treaty rights which
+had been broken with regard to Austria&rsquo;s action in the East were insisted
+upon by Great Britain. It was demanded that Austria should cease the
+mobilization of her troops upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights
+to a protectorate over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt
+called upon, from that time forward, to guarantee. It was further announced
+that England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete
+concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured. Further, it was known
+that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea with sealed orders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy&rsquo;s rooms. Bellamy
+greeted him heartily. He was on the point of going out, and the two men drove
+off together in the latter&rsquo;s car.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See, my dear friend,&rdquo; Bellamy exclaimed, &ldquo;what great things
+come from small means! The document which you preserved for us, and for which
+we had to fight so hard, has done all this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is marvelous!&rdquo; Laverick murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is very simple,&rdquo; Bellamy declared. &ldquo;That meeting in
+Vienna was meant to force our hands. It is all a question of the balance of
+strength. Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,&mdash;even with
+Russia neutral,&mdash;could have defied Europe. Germany could have spread out
+her army westwards while Austria seized upon her prey. It was a splendid plot,
+and it was going very well until the Czar himself was suddenly confronted by
+our King and his Ministers with a revelation of the whole affair. At Windsor
+the thing seemed different to him. The French Government behaved splendidly,
+and the Czar behaved like a man. Germany and Austria are left <i>planté la</i>.
+If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair. They have no fleet, or
+rather they will have none in a fortnight&rsquo;s time. They have no means of
+landing an army here. Austria, perhaps, can hold Russia, but with a French army
+in better shape than it has been for years, and the English landing as many men
+as they care to do, with ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the
+entire scheme proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick.
+To-day great things have happened to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And to me,&rdquo; Laverick interposed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You can guess my news, perhaps,&rdquo; Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs. &ldquo;Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to be my
+wife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Laverick held out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I congratulate you heartily!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I have been an
+engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap38"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII<br />
+A FAREWELL APPEARANCE</h2>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever may be
+responsible for the government of this country,&rdquo; Bellamy remarked to his
+wife, as he laid down the morning paper. &ldquo;For the first time in many
+years we have taken the aggressive against Powers of equal standing. We were
+always rather good at bullying smaller countries, but the bare idea of an
+ultimatum to Germany would have made our late Premier go lightheaded.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And yet it succeeded,&rdquo; Louise reminded him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; he affirmed. &ldquo;To-day&rsquo;s news makes peace a
+certainty. If your country knew everything, Louise, they&rsquo;d give us a
+royal welcome next month.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You really mean that we are to go there, then?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t exactly one of my privileges,&rdquo; he declared,
+&ldquo;to fix upon the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I
+haven&rsquo;t been in Belgrade for years, and I know you&rsquo;d like to see
+your people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of,&rdquo; she murmured.
+&ldquo;Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Remember,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I am no longer David Bellamy, with
+a silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious reputation in
+foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of Denchester, a harmless English peer
+traveling on his honeymoon. By the way, I hope you like the title.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall love it when I get used to it,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;To be
+an English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to go on
+singing at Covent Garden.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow will be your last night,&rdquo; he reminded her. &ldquo;I have
+asked Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with me.
+Afterwards we must all have supper together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How nice of you!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know about that,&rdquo; Bellamy said, smiling. &ldquo;I
+really like Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he
+was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He interests me, too,
+in another way. He is a man who, face to face with a moral problem, acted
+exactly as I should have done myself!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bellamy assented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was practically dishonest,&rdquo; he pointed out. &ldquo;He had no
+right to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station. If he had done so&mdash;that is to say, if he had waited there
+for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that pocket-book, to have
+discussed it with any one, it is ten to one that there would have been another
+tragedy that night. At any rate, the document would never have come to
+us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My moral judgment is warped,&rdquo; she asserted, &ldquo;from the fact
+that Laverick&rsquo;s decision brought us the document.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps so,&rdquo; he agreed, &ldquo;and yet, there was the man face to
+face with ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any harm, and
+saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of calculation, and in
+this case that he was justified.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder what he really thinks about it himself,&rdquo; she remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I&rsquo;ll ask him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, he forgot
+everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he had loved so long. She
+moved about the stage that night as though her feet indeed fell upon the air.
+She appeared to be singing always with restraint, yet with some new power in
+her voice, a quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience
+thrilled. Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance. Her
+marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the <i>Morning Post</i>.
+When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous love song, it
+seemed to them all that although her voice trembled more than once, it was a
+new thing to which they listened. Zoe found herself clasping Laverick&rsquo;s
+hand in tremulous excitement. Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the
+box, his clean-cut face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond. Yet,
+as he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft. The song grew and grew
+till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite and expectant
+passion seemed trembling in her voice. The last note came from her lips almost
+as though unwillingly, and was prolonged for an extraordinary period. When it
+died away, its passing seemed something almost unrealizable. It quivered away
+into a silence which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of
+applause swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and
+faced Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from his seemed
+answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her good-bye. She was singing a
+new love-song, singing her way into the life of the man whom she loved, singing
+her way into love itself. Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was
+worked up to a state of frenzied excitement. Bellamy was recognized, and the
+significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the house whose only
+possible form of expression took to itself shape in the frantic greetings which
+called her to the front again and again. But the three in the box were silent.
+Bellamy stood back in the shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become
+immersed in themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed
+outside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At Luigi&rsquo;s in half-an-hour,&rdquo; said he softly. &ldquo;You will
+excuse me for a few minutes? I am going to Louise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***</div>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #2287 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2287)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
+
+
+Title: Havoc
+
+Author: E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287]
+Release Date: August, 2000
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML
+version by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Havoc
+
+
+by
+
+E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+       I  CROWNED HEADS MEET
+      II  ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+     III  "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+      IV  THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+       V  "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+      VI  VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+     VII  "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES
+    VIII  THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+      IX  ROBBING THE DEAD
+       X  BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+      XI  VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+     XII  BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+    XIII  STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+     XIV  ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+      XV  LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES
+     XVI  THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST
+    XVII  THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+   XVIII  THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+     XIX  MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+      XX  LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED
+     XXI  MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+    XXII  ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+   XXIII  LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+    XXIV  A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+     XXV  JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+    XXVI  THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+   XXVII  PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+  XXVIII  LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+    XXIX  LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+     XXX  THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+    XXXI  MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+   XXXII  MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+  XXXIII  LAVERICK'S ARREST
+   XXXIV  MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+    XXXV  BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+   XXXVI  LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+  XXXVII  THE PLOT TEAT FAILED
+ XXXVIII  A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+
+
+HAVOC
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CROWNED HEADS MEET
+
+
+Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their
+spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath.
+Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure.  Bellamy's
+face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous.
+Failure was a new thing to him--a thing which those behind the
+great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he.
+Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart.
+
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours
+broke into a tumult of welcoming voices.  Down their thickly-packed
+lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first,
+swelling and growing to a thunderous roar.  Myriads of hats were
+suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs
+waved from every window.  It was a wonderful greeting, this.
+
+"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked.
+
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery--guardsmen
+of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white
+uniforms, their flashing helmets.  The small brougham with its
+great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked steel.
+Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust
+out his under-lip.
+
+"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered.
+
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices,
+muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre
+which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude.
+
+"The Emperor," declared Bellamy.  "He goes to the West station."
+
+The commotion had passed.  The crowds in the street below were on
+the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a
+murmur of voices.  The two men turned from their window back into
+the room.  Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained,
+nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with
+a gesture of depression.
+
+"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to
+himself, half to Dorward.  "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder."
+
+"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured.
+
+"Long enough," Bellamy answered.  "That little room in the Palace,
+my friend, may yet become famous."
+
+"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally
+shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I
+think.  I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable
+even a hundred words of their conversation."
+
+"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no
+price sufficient.  We made our effort in different directions, both
+of us.  With infinite pains I planted--I may tell you this now that
+the thing is over--seven spies in the Palace.  They have been of
+as much use as rabbits.  I don't believe that a single one of them
+got any further than the kitchens."
+
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+
+"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked.
+"There wasn't a secretary in the room.  Carstairs was nearly thrown
+out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace.  The great staircase
+was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the
+corridors."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months
+older, Dorward," he declared.
+
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly.  "You believe that?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked.  "When
+Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you
+believe it is across the North Sea that they point?  Things have
+been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe."
+
+"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared
+impatiently.  "I'd just like to know what they said about America."
+
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+
+"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said.  "He can
+scarcely do more to show his regard for your country.  He is giving
+you a special interview--you alone out of about two hundred
+journalists.  Very likely he will give you an exact account of
+everything that transpired.  First of all, he will assure you that
+this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace.  He
+will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in
+the thoughts of his master.  He will assure you--"
+
+"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly.  "I
+wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the
+Chancellor, eh?"
+
+"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for
+it.  For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing.
+Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward?  You know the man--false
+as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent.  He will grasp your
+hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great
+Anglo-Saxon races--to England and to his dear friends the Americans.
+He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself
+candidly and openly.  Peace is to be the watchword of the future.
+The white doves have hovered over the Palace.  The rulers of the
+earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this
+terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up.
+They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this
+object,--Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army
+still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the
+nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the
+seaboard--Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her
+existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in
+letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her
+rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor.  Colonies!  Expansion!
+Empire!  Whose colonies, I wonder?  Whose empire?  Will he tell you
+that, my friend Dorward?"
+
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+
+"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he
+answered indifferently.  "It's all part of the game, of course.  I
+am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth.  All the same,
+my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately
+after this wonderful meeting."
+
+"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our
+eyes and yours."
+
+"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the
+copy.  It's good-bye, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said.  "I can do
+no more good here.  And you?"
+
+"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any
+rate," Dorward answered.  "I hear the women are forming rifle
+clubs all through Servia."
+
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+
+"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said.  "All Vienna
+raves about her.  They throng the Opera House every night to hear
+her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been
+known here.  Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief
+of the Committee for National Defence.  The jewels that are sent her
+anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these
+people who worship her.  I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to
+his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people
+is something we colder races scarcely understand.  Perhaps it is
+because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror.  If
+ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which
+she enters,--it will be a carnage, an extermination!"
+
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting.  Good-bye,
+and cheer up, Bellamy!  Your old country isn't going to turn up
+her heels yet."
+
+Out he went--long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face--a strange figure but yet a power.
+Bellamy remained.  For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the
+time.  He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of
+the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose
+movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been
+in the service.  He had still a military bearing,--tall, and with
+complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes,
+a silent mouth,--a man of many reserves.  Even his intimates knew
+little of him.  Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted
+well his profession.
+
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters.  He had just
+finished when there came a sharp tap at the door.  Before he could
+open his lips some one had entered.  He heard the soft swirl of
+draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and
+held out both his hands.  There was expression in his face now--as
+much as he ever suffered to appear there.
+
+"Louise!" he exclaimed.  "What good fortune!"
+
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a
+more than common intimacy.  Then she threw herself into an
+easy-chair and raised her thick veil.  Bellamy looked at her for a
+moment in sorrowful silence.  There were violet lines underneath
+her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color.  There
+was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him.
+She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was
+dead.
+
+"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting.  The word has
+been spoken."
+
+He came and stood by her side.
+
+"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be."
+
+She shook her head mournfully.
+
+"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed.  "For myself, I feel it in the air!
+I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city!  I can
+hear it in the peals of those awful bells!  You know nothing?  You
+have heard nothing?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice.
+"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity.  I
+filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance.  There
+wasn't even a secretary present.  The Czar, the two Emperors and the
+Chancellor,--not another soul was in the room."
+
+"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed.  "He was there
+in reserve, I know, as stenographer.  I have but to lift my hand
+and it is enough.  I would have had the truth from him, whatever it
+cost me."
+
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully.  It was not for nothing that
+the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful
+woman in the world.  He frowned slightly at her last words, for he
+loved her.
+
+"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said
+sharply.
+
+She moved her head and looked up at him.  She was leaning a little
+forward now, her chin resting upon her hands.  Something about the
+lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal
+crouching for a spring.  She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving,
+and he could guess at the passion within.  With purpose he spoke to
+set it loose.
+
+"You sing to-night?" he asked.
+
+"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice.  "I sing no more in this accursed city!"
+
+"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked.  "I see that the
+whole city is placarded with notices.  It is to be a gala night at
+the Opera.  The royal party is to be present."
+
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+
+"What do I care--I--I--for their gala night!  If I were like
+Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and
+bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!"
+
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+
+"Dear Louise, it is useless, this.  You do everything that can be
+done for your country."
+
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+
+"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand.  None of you
+English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of
+this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know
+that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be
+shed, and shed in vain.  To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it
+is worse, this, than murder,--a worse crime than his who stains
+the soul of a poor innocent girl!  It is a sin against nature
+herself!"
+
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+
+"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought.  I have borne up
+against this thing so long.  I can do no more good here.  I come
+to tell you that I go away till the time comes.  I go to your
+London.  They want me to sing for them there.  I shall do it."
+
+"You will break your engagement?"
+
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+
+"I am Idiale," she declared.  "I keep no engagement if I do not
+choose.  I will sing no more to this people whom I hate.  My friend
+David, I have suffered enough.  Their applause I loathe--their
+covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage--oh, I could
+strike them all dead!  They come to me, these young Austrian
+noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race.  I keep
+their diamonds but I destroy their messages.  Their jewels go to
+my chorus girls or to arm my people.  But no one of them has had a
+kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained.
+Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises.  No Austrian shall
+ever touch my lips--I have sworn it!"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital!  Even
+in the Palace--"
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"It is finished!" she declared.  "I sing no more.  I have sent word
+to the Opera House.  I came here to be in hiding for a while.  They
+will search for me everywhere.  To-night or to-morrow I leave for
+England."
+
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+
+"I am not sure that you are wise," he said.  "You take it too much
+for granted that the end has come."
+
+"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded.  He hesitated.
+
+"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her.
+
+"Proof!"
+
+She sat upright in her chair.  Her hands thrust him from her, her
+bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+
+"Proof!" she cried.  "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves
+have plotted for?  What else do you suppose could be Austria's share
+of the feast?  Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their
+voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity?  We
+are doomed--betrayed!  You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
+a blood-stained page of history for all time.  The world would tell
+you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings.  It is
+not true.  My friend David, it is not true.  It is a more terrible
+thing, this which is coming.  Body and soul we are to perish."
+
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on
+hers.  It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he
+loved.
+
+"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless.  There may
+yet be compromises."
+
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not
+pass out of her face or tone.
+
+"Compromises!" she repeated.  "Do you believe, then, that we are
+like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror
+because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered
+themselves passively to be led into captivity?  My country can be
+conquered in one way, and one way only,--not until her sons, ay,
+and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule.  They
+will come to an empty and a stricken country--a country red with
+blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities.  The
+horror of it!  Think, my friend David, the horror of it!"
+
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+
+"You take too much for granted," he declared.  "England, at any
+rate, is not yet a conquered race.  And there is France--Italy,
+too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient
+enemy."
+
+"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured.
+"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless.
+Already it has been proved.  Last year you declared yourself our
+friend--you and even Russia.  Of what avail was it?  Word came
+from Berlin and you were powerless."
+
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man
+demented.  For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but
+this man was surely a stranger!  He was hatless, dishevelled, wild.
+A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes
+were on fire.
+
+"Bellamy!" he cried.  "Bellamy!"
+
+Words failed him suddenly.  He leaned against the table, breathless,
+panting heavily.
+
+"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began,--
+
+"Alone!" Dorward interrupted.  "I must see you alone!  I have news!"
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose.  She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+
+"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered.  "So?"
+
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure
+of his fingers.  Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+
+
+"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a
+siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers.  He
+tossed it off before he spoke a word.  Then he turned around and
+faced his companion.  "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door."
+
+Bellamy obeyed.  He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his
+head in the Chancellor's presence--had made some absurd attempt to
+gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+
+"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little
+out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was
+ever dealt out to a human being.  If only I can get safe out of
+this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man
+ever handled."
+
+"You don't mean that--"
+
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+
+"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but
+I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting."
+
+"Got what?"
+
+"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,"
+Dorward replied.
+
+Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+
+"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed.  "You may have
+something--just what the Chancellor wants you to print.  You're
+not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?"
+
+Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a
+conqueror.
+
+"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting.  I tell you I've got the original
+verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this
+afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and
+the Emperor of Germany.  I've got it word for word as the Chancellor
+took it down.  I've got their decision.  I've got their several
+undertakings."
+
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb.  He looked toward the door
+and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph.  Then his power
+of speech returned.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you stole it?"
+
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+
+"Not I!  I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to
+me with his own hands, willingly,--pressed it upon me.  No, don't
+scoff!" he went on quickly.  "Listen!  This is a genuine thing.
+The Chancellor's mad.  He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace.
+It will be in all the evening papers.  You will hear the boys
+shouting it in the streets within a few minutes.  Don't interrupt
+and I'll tell you the whole truth.  You can believe me or not, as
+you like.  It makes no odds.  I arrived punctually and was shown up
+into the anteroom.  Even from there I could hear loud voices in the
+inner chamber and I knew that something was up.  Presently a little
+fellow came out to me--a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses.
+He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician,
+regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see
+no one,--the excitement and hard work of the last few days had
+knocked him out.  Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I
+could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room
+was thrown open.  The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold.
+There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as
+parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled
+as though he had been standing upon his head.  He began to talk to
+the physician in German.  I didn't understand him until he began to
+swear,--then it was wonderful!  In the end he brushed them all
+away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room.
+For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I
+was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the
+things I wanted to know about.  Then, all of a sudden, he turned to
+me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted.  'Ah!' he
+said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now.
+Lock the door.'  I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they
+were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing
+us every moment.  'Come and sit down,' he ordered.  I did so at
+once.  'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared.  'To-day every one
+is worrying me.  They think that I am not well.  It is foolish.  I
+am quite well.  Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I
+told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and
+he nodded and seemed pleased.  'You have come to hear the truth
+about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of
+Germany?' he asked.  'That's so,' I told him.  'America's more
+than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what
+to tell her.'  Then he leaned across the table.  'My young friend,'
+he said, 'I like you.  You are straightforward.  You speak plainly
+and you do not worry me.  It is good.  You shall tell your country
+what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are
+coming.  Yours is a great and wise country.  When they know the
+truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that
+the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.'
+'You are right,' I assured him,--'dead right.  Treat us openly,
+that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he
+answered.  'Now look, I give you this.'  He fumbled through all his
+pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends
+with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two
+tigers facing each other.  He looked toward the door cautiously, and
+there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have.
+'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand.  This will
+tell you exactly what passed this afternoon.  It will tell you our
+plans.  It will tell you of the share which my master and the other
+two are taking.  Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you
+do, do not let them know outside that you have got it.  Between
+you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems
+to have happened to them all to-day.  There's my old doctor there.
+He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well.  I can see
+it whenever he comes near me.'  I nodded as though I understood and
+the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned.  Then I got up as
+casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let
+me go.  We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces
+of burning coal.  Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the
+door.  Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a
+paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't
+follow him.  I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there.
+I contrived to look as frightened as possible.  'His Highness is not
+well enough to talk to me,' I whispered.  'You had better look after
+him.'  I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall.  Then I closed the
+door and slipped away as quietly as I could--and here I am."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+
+"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered.  "How long is it
+since you left the Palace?"
+
+"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered.
+
+"They'll find it out at once," declared the other.  "They'll miss
+the paper.  Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to
+you.  Don't let us run any risks, Dorward.  Tear it open.  Let us
+know the truth, at any rate.  If you have to part with the document,
+we can remember its contents.  Out with it, man, quick!  They may
+be here at any moment."
+
+Dorward drew a few steps back.  Then he shook his head.
+
+"I guess not," he said firmly.
+
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+
+"What do you mean?" he exclaimed.  "You're not going to keep it to
+yourself?  You know what it means to me--to England?"
+
+"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward
+declared.  "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance.  I am not here
+as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to
+nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands."
+
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly.  "I tell you
+I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared.  "I shall
+head for England.  Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will
+be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his
+hand.  We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too."
+
+Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet--too quiet to be altogether
+natural.  His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+
+"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the
+door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing
+is new to you.  You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive
+with that in your pocket.  If you trust yourself in the Orient
+Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier.
+By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too,
+that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor
+has told them the truth or not.  Open it at once so that we get some
+good out of it.  Then we'll go round to the Embassy.  We can slip
+out by the back way, perhaps.  Remember I have spent my life in the
+service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city
+where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy
+or mine.  Open the packet, man."
+
+"I think not," Dorward answered firmly.  "I am an American citizen.
+I have broken no laws and done no one any harm.  If there's any
+slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward....  Don't be a fool, man!"
+
+He took a quick step backward,--he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy's revolver.
+
+"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it!  Yours is only
+a personal ambition--I stand for my country.  Share the knowledge
+of that packet with me or I shall shoot."
+
+"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely.  "This
+is my show, not yours.  You and your country can go to--"
+
+He broke off without finishing his sentence.  There was a thunderous
+knocking at the door.  The two men looked at one another for a
+moment, speechless.  Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced
+the revolver in his pocket.
+
+"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly.
+
+The knocking was repeated.  When Bellamy with a shrug of the
+shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered.
+They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room.
+
+"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed.
+"He was here but a moment ago."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door.  He had had too much experience
+in such matters to attempt any prevarication.  The three men crossed
+the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear.  He heard a cry
+of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door.  The inner
+room was empty!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+
+
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+
+"There is news!" she exclaimed.  "I can see it in your face."
+
+"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news!  That is why I have come.
+Where can we talk?"
+
+She rose to her feet.  Before them the open French windows led on
+to a smooth green lawn.  She took his arm.
+
+"Come outside with me," she said.  "I am shut up here because I
+will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera
+House.  An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away."
+
+"You mean to keep your word, then?"
+
+"Have I ever broken it?  Never again will I sing in this City.  It
+is so."
+
+Bellamy looked around.  The garden of the villa was enclosed by
+high gray stone walls.  They were secure here, at least, from
+eavesdroppers.  She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding
+up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand.
+
+"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Of course," she assented.  "You told me that the Chancellor had
+promised him an interview for to-day."
+
+"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.".
+
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+
+"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose.  The
+latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill."
+
+"It is quite true," Bellamy declared.  "What I am going to tell you
+is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself.  When he reached
+the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane.  His doctors were
+trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard
+Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him.  The man was mad--on
+the verge of a collapse--and he handed over to Dorward his notes,
+and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning."
+
+She looked at him incredulously.
+
+"My dear David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth.  I know it for
+a fact.  The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what
+he was doing."
+
+"Where is it?" she asked quickly.  "You have seen it?"
+
+"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly.  "While we argued
+in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived.  Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs.  He spoke of trying
+to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever
+let him leave the city."
+
+"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly.  "What are you going
+to do?"
+
+"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other.  I would have
+killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe
+that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us
+from disaster.  To know how far each is pledged, and from which
+direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation."
+
+"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to
+share his knowledge with you.  He is an American--it is almost the
+same thing as being an Englishman.  And you are friends,--I am
+sure that you have helped him often."
+
+"It was a matter of vanity--simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered.
+"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern
+times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his
+paper.  He fights for his own hand alone."
+
+"And you?" she whispered.
+
+"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared.  "I know that he
+is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be
+at his heels."
+
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+
+"I, too," she announced.  "I come with you, my friend.  I do no
+more good here, and they worry my life out all the time.  I come to
+sing in London at Covent Garden.  I have agreements there which only
+await my signature.  We will go together; is it not so?"
+
+"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must
+depend very largely upon Dorward's.  The train leaves at eight
+o'clock, station time.  I have already a coupe reserved."
+
+"I come with you," she murmured.  "I am very weary of this city."
+
+They walked on for a few paces in silence.  Bellamy looked around
+the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with
+here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst
+the wealth of foliage.  The villa had once belonged to a royal
+favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory.  They reached
+a sheltered seat and sat down.  A few yards away a tiny waterfall
+came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool.  They were hidden
+from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut
+tree.  Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips.
+
+"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly.
+
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it.  She had returned his
+kiss, but she drew a little further away from him.
+
+"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+"courtship is scarcely the word, is it?  For you and me there is
+nothing to hope for, nothing beyond."
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+"Never believe that," he begged.  "These days are dark enough,
+Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal.  Even our
+turn may come."
+
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed
+to make a different woman of her.  Bellamy saw it, and hardened
+though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses.  He
+kissed her hand passionately and she shivered.
+
+"We must not talk of these things," she said.  "We must not think
+of them.  At least our friendship has been wonderful.  Now I must
+go in.  I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night."
+
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment.  Though her
+lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve
+with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful,
+too.  They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked
+a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.
+
+"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible.
+Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together."
+
+He raised her fingers to his lips.  It was not often that they
+lapsed into sentiment.  When she spoke again it was finished.
+
+"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate.  There
+are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I
+are not seen too much together."
+
+"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at
+the station early.  If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna.
+If he goes, it may be an eventful journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+
+
+Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe
+rolling innumerable cigarettes.  He was a man of unbounded courage
+and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as
+to the sanctity of an American citizen.  He had served his
+apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a
+household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent
+in the Russo-Japanese War.  His experience of European countries,
+however, was limited.  After the more obvious dangers with which
+he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous
+career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler
+perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted.  He had made
+his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and
+since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions,
+he had remained unmolested.  From his own point of view, therefore,
+it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any
+misgiving as to his personal safety.  ARREST as a thief was the
+worst which he had feared.  Even that he seemed now to have evaded.
+
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a
+somewhat exciting day.  He lit a cigarette and stretched himself
+out with a murmur of immense satisfaction.  He was close upon the
+great triumph of his life.  He was perfectly content to lie there
+and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were
+now fast descending.  He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured
+himself.  Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he
+started almost like a guilty man.  The relief in his face as he
+recognized his visitor was obvious.  It was Bellamy who entered
+and dropped into a seat by his side.
+
+"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to
+the growing heap of cigarettes.
+
+"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered.  "I can smoke this lot before
+we reach London."
+
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+
+"I don't think that you will," he said.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed.  "Personally, I
+do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching
+London at all."
+
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+
+"And why not?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders.  Dorward seemed to find the
+gesture irritating.
+
+"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared
+dryly.  "I suppose it's the result of your profession.  I may not
+know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think
+that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train
+like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a
+scrap by way of taking care of himself."
+
+"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy.
+
+"I don't see any pluck about it.  In Vienna, I must admit, I
+shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort
+of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't.  Guess they'd find
+it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen."
+
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+
+"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said.
+"You really believe what you say?"
+
+"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked.
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your
+experience should talk and behave like a baby.  You've taken some
+notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?"
+
+"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly.  "What about
+them?"
+
+"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my
+certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of
+Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of
+their subordinates somewhere on board the train."
+
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his
+friend keenly.
+
+"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked.
+
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave.  There had come into his face an
+utterly altered expression.  His tone, when he spoke, was almost
+solemn.
+
+"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have
+told you is the truth.  I cannot seem to make you realize the
+seriousness of your position.  When you left the Palace with that
+paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a
+doomed man.  Your passport and your American citizenship count for
+absolutely nothing.  I have come in to warn you that if you have
+any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now."
+
+"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed
+contemptuously.  "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you
+want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said.  "If the seal were
+broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help
+the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my
+forehead on the railway track."
+
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+
+"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked.
+
+"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered.  "As a
+matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer.  I am sorry,
+old man.  You can't say that I didn't give you good advice.  I am
+bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I
+get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some
+regrettable accident has happened to you."
+
+"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed.
+"I've had about enough of it.  I am not denying anything you say,
+but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice
+before they meddle with me."
+
+"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the
+trouble to think at all.  Their minds are perfectly made up as to
+what they are going to do.  However, that's finished.  I have
+nothing more to say."
+
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+
+"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing
+I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let
+you read it over with me?"
+
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+
+"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed.  "You would simply
+write my death-warrant.  Don't allude to that matter again.  I
+have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!"  Dorward said
+irritably.  "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk.  In
+an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep.  We'll
+breakfast together in the morning, if you like."
+
+Bellamy said nothing.  The steward had brought them the whiskies
+and sodas which Dorward had ordered.  Bellamy raised his tumbler
+to his lips and set it down again.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty."
+
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp.  Almost immediately he closed his
+eyes.  Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him
+alone.  As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the
+corridor.
+
+"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered.  She nodded.
+
+"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said.  "I invited him
+to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed.  It is his companions
+who watch him all the time.  He has promised to talk with me later."
+
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy
+bending over her.
+
+"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession
+of the packet.  They have been discussing whether it will not be
+safer to go on to London instead of doubling back.  See Von Behrling
+again.  Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,--all you
+can, Louise, remember."
+
+"So!" she whispered.  "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in
+the corridor.  It is hot here."
+
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him.  The train
+was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night.
+For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening.  The voices
+whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but
+once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry.
+In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have
+disappeared.  The man within him was hard to subdue.  He longed to
+make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly
+unequal struggle, yet he made no movement.  Dorward was a man and a
+friend, but what was a life more or less?  It was to a greater cause
+that he was pledged.  Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed
+and slept....
+
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight.  The
+man's hands were trembling.
+
+"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily.
+
+"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered.  "Monsieur noticed,
+perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I sleep soundly," he said.  "I heard nothing."
+
+"There has been an accident," the man declared.  "An American
+gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and
+became very drunk.  In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line."
+
+Bellamy shuddered a little.  He had been prepared, but none the
+less it was an awful thing, this.
+
+"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked.
+
+The man was very sure indeed.
+
+"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said.  "He
+examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes.
+The next move was for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+
+
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he
+came to the coup� which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale.
+Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of
+the door and entered.  Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown,
+drinking her coffee.  He held up his finger and she greeted him
+only with a nod.
+
+"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was
+obliged to see you at once."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"It is of no consequence," she said.  "One is always prepared here.
+The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs--they all enter.
+Is anything wrong?"
+
+"It has happened," he answered.
+
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+
+"Poor fellow!" she murmured.
+
+"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone.  "He would not be warned.  I could
+have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason."
+
+"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked.
+
+"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued.  "Now listen to me,
+Louise.  I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I
+feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London,
+all three of them."
+
+"Who is there on the train?" she demanded.
+
+"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and
+Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered.  "Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling
+separately.  Von Behrling has the packet.  The others form a sort
+of cordon around him."
+
+"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London?  Why not return to
+Vienna?"
+
+"For one thing," Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are
+afraid of me.  Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward
+will be talked about.  They do not want to seem in any way
+implicated.  To return from any one of these stations down the line
+would create suspicion."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued.  "I
+find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin.  From
+there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can.  You know the
+address of my rooms?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"15, Fitzroy Street."
+
+"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I
+can see you.  While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling
+almost inaccessible.  Directly I have gone it will be different.
+Play with him carefully.  He should not be difficult.  To tell you
+the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a
+mission like this.  He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short
+while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to
+attend the conference.  The others will watch him closely, but
+they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two.  Von
+Behrling is a poor man.  You will know how to make him wish he were
+rich."
+
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up.  She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked.  "Von Behrling is a
+little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with
+me, but I do not think that he would sell his country.  Then, too,
+see how he will be watched.  I do not suppose that they will leave
+us alone for a moment."
+
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural
+force.
+
+"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von
+Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength.  You
+know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know
+what that means.  I have heard men talk about you till one would
+think that they were children.  You have something of that art or
+guile--call it what you will--which passes from you through a
+man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven--but
+carries him there mad.  Louise, don't be angry with me for what I
+say.  Remember that I know my sex.  I know you, too, and I trust
+you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into
+what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your
+fingers.  Von Behrling has that packet in his possession.  When I
+come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds
+in Bank of England notes.  With that Von Behrling might fancy
+himself on his way to America--with you."
+
+She closed her eyes for a moment.  Perhaps she wished to keep hidden
+from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain.
+He wished to make use of her--of her, the woman whom he loved.
+Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the
+anger passed.
+
+"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach
+London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy."
+
+"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether
+he is in heaven or upon earth.  It will not be opened in London.
+He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which
+he robbed Dorward.  Oh!  it is a difficult game, I know, but it is
+worth playing.  Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators.
+It is your country's very existence that is threatened.  It is for
+her sake as well as for England."
+
+"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face.  "Oh,
+you may be sure that I shall do my best!"
+
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away.  The electric
+lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light
+dim.  Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to
+leave at Munich.  Then he rang for the porter.
+
+"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced.
+
+"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered.
+
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+
+"You are a Frenchman?"
+
+"It is so, Monsieur!"
+
+"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if
+I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians
+you would tell me the truth."
+
+The man's gesture was inimitable.  Englishmen to him were obviously
+the salt of the earth.  Germans and Austrians--why, they existed
+as the cattle in the fields--nothing more.  Bellamy gave him a
+sovereign.
+
+"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said.  "They
+are in numbers ten and eleven."
+
+"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented.  "As yet I think they are
+fast asleep.  Not one of them has rung for his coffee."
+
+"Where are they booked for?"
+
+"For London, Monsieur."
+
+"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say
+anything about leaving the train before then?"
+
+"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen
+have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover.  They were very
+anxious to travel by a turbine."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Thank you very much.  You will be so discreet as to forget that I
+have asked you any questions concerning them.  As for me, if one
+would know, I am on my way to Berlin."
+
+The bell rang.  The man looked outside and put his head once more
+in Bellamy's coupe.
+
+"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared.  "If
+anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once
+to Monsieur."
+
+"You will do well," Bellamy answered.
+
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+
+"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in
+their pyjamas.  They have ordered their breakfast to be served after
+we leave Munich."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of
+them asked me whether the English gentleman--meaning you--was
+going through to London or not.  I told them that you were getting
+out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy said.  "If they ask any more questions, let
+me know."
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were
+traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective
+toilette.  At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked
+down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with
+his companions in one of the compartments.
+
+"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+
+He rose to his feet and came out.  Tall, with a fair moustache and
+blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to
+be proud of the fact.
+
+"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+
+"Excellently," replied Louise.  "Will you not take me in to luncheon?
+The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone.  It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids."
+
+"I am honored," he declared.  "Will you permit me for one moment?"
+
+He turned and spoke to his companions.  Louise saw at once that they
+were protesting vigorously.  She saw, too, that Von Behrling only
+became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry.  She moved
+a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the
+window.  He joined her almost immediately.
+
+"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes.
+We will go and take a good place."
+
+"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your
+leaving them.  They are not very gallant."
+
+"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache.  "Streuss there is an old fool.  He has always some
+fancy in his brain."
+
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+
+"You are your own master, I suppose," she said.  "The Baron is
+used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets.  There are
+many people who find him too autocratic."
+
+"He means well," Von Behrling asserted.  "It is his manner only
+which is against him."
+
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across
+the white cloth.
+
+"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant
+than lunching alone."
+
+"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous
+twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so."
+
+"Always gallant," she murmured.  "Tell me, is it true of you--the
+news which I heard just before I left Vienna?  Have you really
+resigned your post with the Chancellor?"
+
+"You heard that?" he asked slowly.
+
+She hesitated for a moment.
+
+"I heard something of the sort," she admitted.  "To be quite candid
+with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a
+change on his own account."
+
+"So that is what they say, is it?  What do they know about it--these
+gossipers?"
+
+"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked.
+
+"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing."
+
+"Ah!  well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape,
+"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me
+wild.  I should not have been content until I had learned somehow
+or other what had transpired.  Lately, I am afraid, my interest in
+my country seems to have grown a trifle cold.  Perhaps because I
+have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your
+point of view.  Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own
+little careers are, after all, the most important part of it."
+
+Von Behrling eyed her Curiously.
+
+"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked.
+
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+
+"Oh!  I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still
+hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with
+me, I must admit.  If we had two lives, I would give one to my
+country and keep one for myself.  Since we have only one, I am
+afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its
+pleasures."
+
+"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily.
+"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!"
+
+"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered.  "One needs many
+things to get the best out of life.  One needs wealth and one needs
+love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy."
+
+"It is true," Von Behrling admitted,--"quite true."
+
+"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by.
+They can never come again.  If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance."
+
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom.  He was twenty-five years
+old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms.  Of late, this
+fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments.
+
+"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this.  You have
+the world at your feet, Mademoiselle.  You have only to throw the
+handkerchief."
+
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile.  The bluest eyes in the world
+grew softer as they looked into his.  Von Behrling felt his cheeks
+burn.
+
+"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured.  "Tell me," she
+continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence.  Is
+it because you are poor?"
+
+"I am a beggar,"--bitterly.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought,
+"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you
+have compensations."
+
+"But I have none!" he declared.  "You should know that--you,
+Mademoiselle.  Life for me means one thing and one thing only!"
+
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth.  Von
+Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+
+"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file
+in to take their places.  "After luncheon we will take our coffee
+in my coupe.  Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters.  I
+have a headache.  Will you order me some champagne?  It is a terrible
+thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels,
+what can one do?  Here come your bodyguard.  They look at me as
+though I had stolen you away.  Remember we take our coffee together
+afterwards.  I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you
+to amuse me."
+
+Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts.
+The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself
+to have transported him into a seventh heaven.  On the other hand,
+he had trouble with his friends.  Streuss drew him on one side at
+Ostend, and talked to him plainly.
+
+"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and
+myself.  Wine and women and pleasure are good things.  We two, we
+love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for
+them, and it is not now.  Our mission is too serious."
+
+"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this?
+What do I do wrong?  What have you to say against me?  If I talk
+with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for
+me to do.  Would you have us three--you and Kahn and myself--travel
+arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers?  Would
+you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret
+mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already
+committed a crime?  These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss.  It
+is better that we behave like ordinary mortals.  You talk foolishly,
+Streuss!"
+
+"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will
+not have it!  Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot.  She
+is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman.  She and he were
+together last night."
+
+"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested.  "He
+went north to Berlin.  That itself is the proof that they know
+nothing.  If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that
+he would have stayed with us?"
+
+"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered.  "There are too many of
+us to deal with,--he knew that.  Mademoiselle Idiale is clever,
+too.  Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through
+false women.
+
+"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded.
+
+"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle."
+
+Von Behrling drew himself up.  After all, it was he who was noble;
+Streuss was little more than a policeman.
+
+"I refuse!" he exclaimed.  "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am
+in charge of this expedition.  It was I who planned it.  It was I"--he
+dropped his voice and touched his chest--"who struck the
+first blow for its success.  I think that we need talk no more," he
+went on.  "I welcome your companionship.  It makes for strength
+that we travel together.  But for the rest, the enterprise has been
+mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it
+shall be mine.  Watch me, if you like.  Stay with me and see that
+I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of
+myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot."
+
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly.  The siren was already blowing
+from the steamer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+
+
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth.  Louise,
+wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left
+the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck.  Von Behrling
+found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across.
+She beckoned him to her side.  Her eyes glowed at him through the
+darkness.
+
+"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared.  "By myself
+I had to find this place."
+
+Von Behrling was ruffled.  He was also humbly apologetic.
+
+"It is those idiots who are with me," he said.  "All the time they
+worry."
+
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+
+"I know what it is," she said.  "You have secrets which you are
+taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian.
+Tell me, is it not so?  Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy."
+
+Von Behrling hesitated.  She drew him closer towards her.
+
+"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail.
+You are too big to talk to up there.  So!  Now you can come
+underneath my rug.  Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?"
+
+"Is it without reason?" he asked.  "Would not any one be afraid of
+you--if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets?
+I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger."
+
+She laughed at him softly.
+
+"Ah, no!" she said.  "Men are not like that, nowadays.  They talk
+and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake."
+
+"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone.
+
+"I do, indeed.  One reads love-stories--no, I do not mean romances,
+but memoirs--memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts--memoirs,
+even, written by Englishmen.  Men were different a generation ago.
+Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet
+there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these
+things for the love of a woman.
+
+"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely.
+
+"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there
+are very few."
+
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized
+his state of excitement.
+
+"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a
+laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna.  I--the poverty-stricken,
+who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you--have dared
+to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart
+above all the women on earth."
+
+"It is very nice of you," she murmured.  "Why do you tell me this
+now?"
+
+"Why, indeed?" he answered.  "What have I to hope for?"
+
+She looked along the deck.  Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends
+burned red through the gloom.  She knew very well that those cigar
+ends belonged to Streuss and his friend.  She laughed softly and
+once more she bent her head.
+
+"How they watch you, those men!" she said.  "Listen, my friend
+Rudolph.  Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really
+a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else
+you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!"
+
+"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+She laughed.
+
+"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing
+you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt
+it?  The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret
+Service Department, is he not?  To me he seems the most obvious
+policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman."
+
+"You don't mean it!" he muttered.  "You can't mean what you said
+just now!"
+
+She was silent for a few moments.  Some one passing struck a match,
+and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by
+her side--strained now and curiously intense.
+
+"Supposing I did!"
+
+"You must be mad!" he declared.  "You must not talk to me like this,
+Mademoiselle.  I have no secret.  It is your humor, I know, but it
+is dangerous."
+
+"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone.  I say again,
+Rudolph, supposing this were true?"
+
+His hand passed across his forehead.  She fancied that he made a
+motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+
+"Stay here," she whispered.  "No, I do not wish to drive you away.
+Now you are here you shall listen to me."
+
+"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered.  "Don't tell me that you
+are in earnest.  It is treason.  I am Rudolph Von Behrling,
+Secretary to the Chancellor."
+
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+
+"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are
+indeed the Chancellor's secretary.  What do you gain from it?  A
+pittance!  Many hours work a day and a pittance.  What have you to
+look forward to?  A little official life, a stupid official position.
+Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world.  Do I not represent
+other things?"
+
+"God knows you do!" he muttered.
+
+"I, too, am weary of singing.  I want a long rest--a long rest and
+a better name than my own.  Don't shrink away from me.  It isn't so
+wonderful, after all.  Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few
+hours ago.  He was Dorward's friend.  He knew well what Dorward
+carried.  It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from
+him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends."
+
+"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared.  "You must stop!  I must
+not listen to this!"
+
+"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet
+in your pocket.  Think of that, my friend.  It would be a start in
+life, would it not?  I am an extravagant woman.  Even if I would, I
+dared not think of a poor man.  But twenty thousand pounds is
+sufficient.  When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has
+been waiting for me for weeks--15, Dover Street.  If you bring that
+packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there
+will be twenty thousand pounds and--"
+
+Her fingers suddenly held his.  She could almost hear his heart
+beating.  Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the
+tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face.
+She whispered a warning under her breath.  The two cigar ends had
+moved nearer.  The forms of the two men were now distinct.  One was
+leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side.  The other
+stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover.  Von Behrling
+staggered to his feet.  He said something in an angry undertone to
+Streuss.  Louise rose and shook out her furs.
+
+"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can
+spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids?  You will find
+them both in my cabin, number three.  I wish to walk for a few
+moments before we arrive."
+
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream.  Mademoiselle Idiale
+followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions.
+
+
+The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully
+planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram
+announcing her journey to London.  There was an engaged carriage at
+Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the
+Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her.
+Von Behrling seemed to be missing.  She had seen nothing of him
+since he had descended to summon her maids.  But just as the train
+was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment
+later his white face was pressed through the open window of the
+carriage.
+
+"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire!  I cannot talk to you!  I fear
+that they suspect something.  They have told me that if I travel
+with you they will force their way in.  Even now, Streuss comes.
+Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can.  I must
+think--I must think!"
+
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES"
+
+
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two
+o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of
+correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he
+knew well.  He tore open the envelope.
+
+
+DAVID DEAR,--I have just arrived and I am sending you these few
+lines at once.  As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for
+certain, but there is a chance.  You had better get the money ready
+and come to me here.  If R. could only escape from Streuss and
+those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they
+are suspicious.  What may happen I cannot tell.  I do my best and
+I have hated it.  Get the money ready and come to me.
+
+                                                           LOUISE.
+
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces.  Then
+he rang for his servant.  "A bath and some clean clothes quickly,"
+he ordered.  "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see
+if Sir James is there.  If not, find out exactly where he is.  I
+must see him within half an hour.  Afterwards, get me a taxicab."
+
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained
+servant.  In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy
+had left his rooms.  Before four o'clock he had arrived at the
+address which Louise had given him.  A commissionaire telephoned his
+name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced
+French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to
+Bellamy.
+
+"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed.
+
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first
+floor.  He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with
+roses.
+
+"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is
+engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to
+receive Monsieur."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at
+her service.  My time is of no consequence."
+
+The man bowed and withdrew.  Louise came to him almost directly from
+an inner chamber.  She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of
+her journey seemed already to have passed away.  Her eyes were
+bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks.
+
+"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!"
+
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment.  Then she walked
+to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood
+there listening for a moment.
+
+"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I
+cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England.  I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any
+of the servants he has engaged for me.  You got my note?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, "I had your note--and I am here."
+
+The restraint of his manner was obvious.  He was standing a little
+away from her.  She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon
+his shoulders, her face was upturned to his.  Even then he made no
+motion to embrace her.
+
+"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing--what I have done--was
+at your suggestion.  I do it for you, I do it for my country,
+I do it against every natural feeling I possess.  I hate and loathe
+the lies I tell.  Are you remembering that?  Is it in your heart at
+this moment?"
+
+He stooped and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human.
+We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets."
+
+"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon
+my lips.  What I have promised goes for nothing.  What he has
+promised is this--the papers to-night."
+
+"Unopened?"
+
+"Unopened," she repeated, softly.
+
+"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked.  "He must have arrived
+in London when you did last night.  How is it they are not already
+at the Embassy?"
+
+"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained.  "He cannot
+be back until late to-night.  No one else has a key to the treaty
+safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one
+save the Ambassador himself."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"What about Streuss?"
+
+"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said.  "Yet, after
+all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side.  His
+orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the
+safe by the Ambassador himself."
+
+"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be
+in your hands."
+
+"How is it to be done?"
+
+"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap.
+They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's
+crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest.
+He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and
+signed it with his seal.  It is this which he will hand over to the
+Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly.  The real one he has
+concealed."
+
+"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered.  "My dear David, what are you
+thinking of?  He is not here and he dare not come here.  You are to
+go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between
+five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the
+telephone.  A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night.
+You must take the money there and receive the packet.  Von Behrling
+will be disguised and prepared for flight."
+
+Bellamy's eyes glowed.
+
+"You believe this?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I believe it," she replied.  "He is going to do it.  After he has
+seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth.  I have promised--don't
+look at me, David--I have promised to join him there."
+
+Bellamy was grave.
+
+"There will be trouble," he said.  "He will come back.  He will want
+to shoot you.  He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is
+passionate."
+
+"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh.  "Have I ever
+shown fear of my life?  No, David!  It is not that of which I am
+afraid.  It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which
+was in your face when you came into the room.  These are the things
+I fear--not death."
+
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he begged.  "At such times a man is a weak thing--a
+weak and selfish thing.  I am ashamed of myself.  I should have
+known better than to have doubted you for a moment.  I know you so
+well, Louise.  I know what you are."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy.  And now you must go away.
+Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude.  Over here I
+am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden.  See my
+roses.  There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in
+the place now.  The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and
+two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new
+manager of mine in the dining-room.  Between five and six o'clock
+this afternoon you will get the message.  It is somewhere, I think,
+in the city that you will have to go.  There will be no trouble
+about the money?  Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use."
+
+"I have it in my pocket," he answered.  "I have it in notes, but he
+need never fear that they will be traced.  The numbers of notes
+given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's
+memory."
+
+She drew a little sigh.
+
+"It is a great sum," she said.  "After all, he should be grateful
+to me.  If only he would be sensible and get away to the United
+States or to South America!  He could live there like a prince,
+poor fellow.  He would be far happier."
+
+"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed.  "There is one thing
+to be remembered.  If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four
+hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you
+harm.  The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at
+trifles.  Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of
+spies at their bidding here.  If they find out that he has tricked
+them, they will hunt him down, and before long."
+
+Louise shivered.
+
+"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away!  He is a traitor,
+of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all,
+I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it.
+That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint
+smile.  "Ah!  well, you see, for five years so many have been trying
+to turn my head.  No wonder if I begin to believe some of their
+stories.  David, I must go.  I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting
+any longer."
+
+"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come.  I am afraid
+I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise."
+
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+
+"That is my signal," she declared smiling.  "De. Henschell was
+almost beside himself that I came away.  I come, Doctor," she called
+out.  "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands.  "Now
+go, dear."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+
+
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but
+somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in
+appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never
+been more strongly evident.  They were partners in business and face
+to face with ruin.  Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm,
+although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut,
+powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that
+dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served
+him well along the road to fortune.  Arthur Morrison, the man who
+sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips
+notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with
+tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale
+face.  Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream.  He
+floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child.  The hand
+of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw
+him as he really was.
+
+"I can't stand it, Laverick,--I couldn't face them all.  It's too
+cruel--too horrible!  Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week,
+forty thousand in a month!  Forty thousand pounds!  Oh, my God!"
+
+He writhed in agony.  The man on the other side of the table said
+nothing.
+
+"If we could only have held on a little longer!  'Unions' must turn!
+They will turn!  Laverick, have you tried all your friends?  Think!
+Have you tried them all?  Twenty thousand pounds would see us through
+it.  We should get our own money back--I am sure of it.  There's
+Rendell, Laverick.  He'd do anything for you.  You're always shooting
+or playing cricket with him.  Have you asked him, Laverick?  He'd
+never miss the money."
+
+"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered.
+"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend."
+
+"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately.  "Every
+one does it sometimes.  He'd be glad to help you.  I know he would.
+Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be
+hammered?"
+
+"I have," Laverick admitted wearily.  "God knows it seems as
+terrible a thing to me as it can to you!  But if we go down, we
+must go down with clean hands.  I've no faith in your infernal
+market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend."
+
+The Jew's face was almost piteous.  He stretched himself across the
+table.  There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+
+"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong.  I know you think I've
+been led away.  I've taken you out of our depth, but the only
+trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing.
+Those who stand up will win.  They will make money."
+
+"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up.  Please
+understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way.
+I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend.  I have asked
+the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors.
+To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they
+are concerned.  As you know, they have refused.  If you see any hope
+in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends?  For
+every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom
+friends with at least twenty."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered.  "They will
+drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but
+they do not lend money.  If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking?  Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us
+the money.  I would even kiss his feet.  I cannot bear it, Laverick!
+I cannot!  I cannot!"
+
+Laverick said nothing.  Words were useless things, wasted upon such
+a creature.  He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no
+pains to conceal.  This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended
+to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young
+men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a
+money-maker if ever there was one!  Laverick thought of him as he
+appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed,
+with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny,
+hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the
+real thing.  What a collapse!
+
+"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table.
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered.
+
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+
+"I can't!  I can't!" he moaned.  "I couldn't bear seeing all the
+fellows, hearing them whisper things--oh, Lord!  Oh, Lord!...
+Laverick, we've a few hundreds left.  Give me something and let me
+out of it.  You're a stronger sort of man than I am.  You can face
+it,--I can't!  Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I
+do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  His companion watched his face
+eagerly.  After all, why not let him go?  He was no help, no comfort.
+The very sight of him was contemptible.
+
+"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said
+slowly.  "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious
+that they guessed how things were."
+
+"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly.
+"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft.  How much have
+we got in the safe?"
+
+"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques.
+You can count the proceeds for yourself.  There are, I think, eleven
+hundred pounds.  You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take
+them with you--to any place you like."
+
+The young man was already at the safe.  The notes were between them,
+on the table.  He counted quickly with the fingers of a born
+manipulator of money.  When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty
+pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his.
+
+"No more," he ordered sternly.
+
+"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred
+is five hundred and fifty.  Why should we not go halves?  That is
+only fair, Laverick.  It is little enough.  We ought to have had a
+great deal more."
+
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder
+of the notes.
+
+"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,"
+he said, "for various reasons.  For one, I can bear this thing
+better alone.  As for the rest of the money, it remains there for
+the accountant who liquidates our affairs.  I do not propose to
+touch a penny of it."
+
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh.
+Such ways were not his ways.  They were not, indeed, within the
+limit of his understanding.  But of his partner he had learned one
+thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth.
+He shambled toward the door.  On the whole, he was lucky to have
+got the two hundred and fifty pounds.
+
+"So long, Laverick," he said from the door.  "I'm--I'm sorry."
+
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his
+hand.  Laverick nodded, not unkindly.  After all, this young man was
+as he had been made.
+
+"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said.  "Try South Africa."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ROBBING THE DEAD
+
+
+The roar of the day was long since over.  The rattle of vehicles,
+the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars
+and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away.
+Outside, the streets were almost deserted.  An occasional wayfarer
+passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps.  Here and
+there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger
+blocks of offices.  The bustle of the day was finished.  There is
+no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares
+of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight.
+
+Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little
+snap and leaned back in his chair.  After all, save that he had got
+rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening.  Not even he, whose
+financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from
+those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable
+one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking
+by his side for the last thirty-six hours.  One by one during the
+evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his
+wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably
+inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how
+things were.  Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison
+was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow
+twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at
+their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe.
+
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last,
+turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into
+the silent street.  Instinctively he turned his steps westwards.
+This might well be the last night on which he would care to show
+himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could
+mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of
+consciousness which follows upon disaster.  Already there was little
+enough left of it.  It was too late to change and go to his club.
+The places of amusement were already closed.  To-morrow night, both
+club and theatres would lie outside his world.  He walked slowly,
+yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a
+purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to
+light a cigarette.  It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few
+yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old
+churchyard--strange survival in such a part--and on the other
+the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker,
+an actuary.  It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance
+up the entry before he blew out the match.  Then he gave a quick
+start and became for a moment paralyzed.  Within a few feet of him
+something was lying on the ground--a dark mass, black and soft--the
+body of a man, perhaps.  Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed
+at him through the semi-darkness.
+
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy.  It might be a tramp
+or a drunkard, perhaps,--a fight, or a man taken ill.  Then
+something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his
+heart beating faster.  He struck another match with firm fingers,
+and bent forward.  What he saw upon the ground made him feel a
+little sick.  What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him
+to swift pursuit.  Down the arched court into the open space he ran,
+himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike
+form which he pursued.  At the end was another street--empty.  He
+looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life.  There
+was nothing to tell him which way to turn.  Opposite was a very
+labyrinth of courts and turnings.  There was not even the sound of
+a footfall to guide him.  Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another
+match, and leaned over the prostrate figure.  Then he knew that it
+was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means.
+These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself.
+Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed.
+A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt
+through the heart of the murdered man.  There had been other blows,
+notably about the head.  There was not much blood, but the position
+of the knife alone told its ugly story.  Laverick, though his nerves
+were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked.  He rose to
+his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping.  The
+street was no longer empty.
+
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in
+the middle of the road.  The light from the lamp-post escaped his
+face.  Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height,
+dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his
+overcoat.  To all appearance, he was watching the entry.  Laverick
+took a step towards him--the man as deliberately took a step further
+away.  Laverick held up his hand.
+
+"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned.
+
+The person addressed took no notice.  Laverick advanced another two
+or three steps--the man retreated a similar distance.  Laverick
+changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward.  The man
+hesitated no longer--he turned and ran as though for his life.  In
+a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight.
+Laverick returned slowly to the entry.
+
+A distant clock struck midnight.  A couple of clerks came along the
+pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters.
+Laverick hesitated.  He was never afterwards able to account for the
+impulse which prevented his calling out to them.  Instead he lurked
+in the shadows and watched them go by.  When he was sure that they
+had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered
+man.  Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a
+nameless and terrible fascination for him.  His first feelings of
+horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity.  What manner
+of man was he?  He was tall and strongly built; fair--of almost
+florid complexion.  His clothes were very shabby and apparently
+ready-made.  His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed
+closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen.  Laverick stooped
+lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees.  There
+was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been
+half snatched out--a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the
+size of a satchel.  Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand
+whilst with firm fingers he struck another match.  Then, for the
+first time, a little cry broke from his lips.  Both sides of the
+pocket-book were filled with bank-notes.  As his match flickered
+out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner--500
+pounds!--great rolls of them!  Laverick rose gasping to his
+feet.  It was a new Arabian Nights, this!--a dream!--a continuation
+of the nightmare which had threatened him all day!  Or was it,
+perhaps, the madness coming--the madness which he had begun only
+an hour or so ago to fear!
+
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down.  The
+mysterious stranger had vanished.  There was not a soul in sight.
+He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the
+pavement with his heels.  There was no doubt about it--everything
+around him was real.  Most real of all was the fact that within a
+few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that
+brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents.  For the
+last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up
+shape.  One by one he went through the other pockets.  There was a
+packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver,
+and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained
+with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings.
+There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification
+of any sort.  Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the
+thoughts that went tearing through his brain.  The pocket-book began
+to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon
+his forehead.  Yet he never hesitated.  He walked like a man in a
+dream, but his footsteps were steady and short.  Deliberately, and
+without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices.  If
+a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided
+to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened.  It was the
+one chance he held against himself,--the gambler's method of
+decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at.  As it turned out, there
+was still not a soul in sight.  Laverick opened the outer door with
+his latchkey, let himself in and closed it.  Then he groped his way
+through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the
+electric light and once more sat down before his desk.
+
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with
+a nervousness wholly unfamiliar.  Then he opened the pocket-book,
+drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them.  It was curious
+that he felt no surprise at their value.  Bank-notes for five
+hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with
+his task without the slightest instinct of surprise.  Then he leaned
+back in his chair.  Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes!
+There they lay on the table before him.  A man had died for their
+sake,--another must go through all the days with the price of blood
+upon his head--a murderer--a haunted creature for the rest of his
+life.  And there on the table were the spoils.  Laverick tried to
+think the matter out dispassionately.  He was a man of average moral
+fibre--that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other
+men because his father and his grandfather before him had been
+honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful.  Here,
+however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem.
+These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man.  Save for
+his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his
+murderer.  The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm.
+Such risk as there was he took himself.  That it was a risk he knew
+and fully realized.  Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his
+partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery.  Yet of the two
+men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position
+the more keenly.  He was a man of some social standing, with a
+large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests
+outside the daily routine of his city life.  To him failure meant
+more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life
+worth having.  The days to come had been emptied of all promise.
+He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had
+strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities
+and humiliation to come.  And here before him was possible salvation.
+There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making
+use even for an hour of this money.  Yet from the first he had known
+that he meant to do it.
+
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book
+into one of the drawers, and locked it up.  Then he lit a cigarette,
+finally shut up the office and walked down the street.  As he passed
+the entry he turned his head slowly.  Apparently no one had been
+there, nothing had been disturbed.  Straining his eyes through the
+darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up
+on the ground.  Then he walked on.  He had burned his boats now and
+was prepared for all emergencies.  At the corner he met a policeman,
+to whom he wished a cheery good-night.  He told himself that the
+thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself.
+He owed it to those who had trusted him.  After all, it was the
+chief part of his life--his city career.  It was here that his
+friends lived.  It was here that his ambitions flourished.  Disgrace
+here was eternal disgrace.  His father and his grandfather before
+him had been men honored and respected in this same circle.  Disgrace
+to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a
+few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection
+upon their memories.  The names upon the brass plates to right and
+to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he
+desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth
+living or the reverse.  It was worth a great risk--this effort of
+his to keep his place.  His one mistake--this association with
+Morrison--had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck.  He
+was rid of the fellow now.  For the future there should be no more
+partners.  He had his life to live.  It was not reasonable that he
+should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a
+creature.  He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria
+Street, and hailed it.
+
+"Whitehall Court," he told the driver.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+
+
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life
+it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien.  But this
+was disaster too appalling even for his self-control.  He felt his
+knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which
+he was standing.  There was no possible doubt about it, he had been
+tricked.  Von Behrling, after all,--Von Behrling, whom he had
+looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell
+his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+
+The man who sat at the head of the table--the only other occupant
+of the room--was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat.
+He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's
+message had summoned him.  Before him on the table was an envelope,
+hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper.  It was upon
+these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled
+horror and amazement.  The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them
+away with a little gesture of contempt.
+
+"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious
+an error.
+
+"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered.  "I--yes, I have been deceived."
+
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+
+"What is to be done?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together.  He caught up the
+envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper
+to the lamp and laid them down.  Then with clenched fists he walked
+to the other side of the room and returned.  He was himself again.
+
+"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry.
+Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the
+city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope."
+
+"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without
+opening the envelope."
+
+Bellamy admitted it.
+
+"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are
+almost inevitable.  I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd
+risk.  To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience
+in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the
+money.  Von Behrling was there in disguise.  The men with whom he
+came to this country are furious with him.  To all appearance, he
+seemed to have broken with them absolutely.  Even now--
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall
+of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in
+his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake.  An
+envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others
+or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency.  He had it
+with him in his pocket-book.  He even told me so.  God in Heaven,
+he gave me the wrong one!"
+
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+
+"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy
+to-night, especially if he was in disguise.  You may still be able
+to find him and repair the error.
+
+"I will try," answered Bellamy.  "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a
+sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his
+footsteps.  I can find out before morning where he went when he
+left our rendezvous.  There is another way, too.  Mademoiselle--this
+man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country
+with him.  She was to have had a message within the next few hours."
+
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often.  The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above
+supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to
+have paid for this."
+
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger.  Bellamy's
+teeth were clenched.
+
+"The money shall be returned, sir.
+
+"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more
+kindly.  "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was
+destined to purchase, is nothing.  We might even count it a fair
+risk if it was lost."
+
+"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised.  "If Von Behrling has
+played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country.  In
+that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt.  If, on
+the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country,
+as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late."
+
+"Let us hope not," Sir James declared.  "Bellamy," he continued, a
+note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I
+am sure, how important this matter is.  You work like a mole in the
+dark, yet you have brains,--you understand.  Let me tell you how
+things are with us.  A certain amount of confidence is due to you,
+if to any one.  I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a
+very serious tone prevailed.  We do not understand in the least the
+attitude of several of the European Powers.  It can be understood
+only under certain assumptions.  A note of ours sent through the
+Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days.  The
+German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent
+business.  We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from
+Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris.  Side by side with
+all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his
+promised visit here.  The note we have received speaks of his
+health.  Well, we know all about that.  We know, I may tell you,
+that his health has never been better than at the present moment."
+
+"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed.  "In
+Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile.  Even
+the man in the street seems to know what is coming."
+
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat.  His hands were tightly
+clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes.  Those
+who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during
+the last few weeks.
+
+"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in
+my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the
+Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe
+to-day."
+
+"An army," murmured Bellamy.
+
+"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated
+of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with
+their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us.  Secretly we are
+mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little
+sigh.  "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful.  Even
+if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things
+on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else
+suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known.  If we
+could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at
+those empty sheets of paper.  "It is this darkness which is so
+alarming!"
+
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+
+"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news."
+
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street.  It was half-past one, but
+he had no fear of not being admitted.  Louise's French maid answered
+the bell.
+
+"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile.  "It
+is only a few minutes ago that she has returned."
+
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room.  She was gorgeous in blue
+satin and pearls.  Her other maid was taking off her jewels.  She
+dismissed both the women abruptly.
+
+"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out
+her hands.  "You expected that, of course.  You were not at the
+Opera House?"
+
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle.  It
+was securely closed.  He came back slowly to her side.  Her eyes
+were questioning him fiercely.
+
+"Well?" she exclaimed.  "Well?"
+
+"Have you heard from Von Behrling?"
+
+"No," she answered.  "He knew that I must sing to-night.  I have
+been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home.  You
+have seen him?"
+
+"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted.  "Either he has deceived us
+both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened.
+Listen.  I met him where he appointed.  He was there, disguised,
+almost unrecognizable.  He was nervous and desperate; he had the air
+of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world.  I gave him the
+money,--twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,--and
+he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers.
+He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a
+little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to
+Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the
+hotel there later on.  You have not heard yet, then?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There has been no message, but go on."
+
+"He gave me the wrong document--the wrong envelope," continued
+Bellamy.  "When I took it to--to Downing Street, it was full of
+blank paper."
+
+The color slowly left her cheeks.  She looked at him with horror in
+her face.
+
+"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed.
+
+"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered.  "My own impression is that he
+did not.  We must find out at once what has become of him.  He might
+even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has,
+believing it to be the duplicate.  He is sure to telephone you.  The
+moment you hear you must let me know."
+
+"You had better stay here," she declared.  "There are plenty of
+rooms.  You will be on the spot then."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go.
+That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere.  That is one reason why
+I believe that Von Behrling was serious.
+
+"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated.
+
+"You are sure?" Bellamy asked.  "You have never had even any doubt
+about him?"
+
+"Never," she answered firmly.  "David, I had not meant to tell you
+this.  You know that I saw him for a moment this morning.  He was
+in deadly earnest.  He gave me a ring--a trifle--but it had
+belonged to his mother.  He would not have done this if he had been
+playing us false."
+
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+
+"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed.  "I shall go back to my rooms
+at once.  Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there
+may be a report for me.  If anything comes here, you will telephone
+at once?"
+
+"Of course," she assented.
+
+"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would
+attempt to see you here?"
+
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+
+"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that."
+
+"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait.  Dear," he added, in
+an altered tone, "how splendid you look!"
+
+Her face suddenly softened.
+
+"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a
+moment--it makes everything seem so different!"
+
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able
+to give up this life of anxiety and terrors.  But it cannot be
+yet--not for your country's sake or mine."
+
+She kissed him fondly.
+
+"So long as there is hope!" she whispered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+
+
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when
+the more confidential of her maids--Annette, the Frenchwoman--woke
+her with a light touch of the arm.  She sat up in bed sleepily.
+
+"What is it, Annette?" she asked.  "Surely it is not mid-day yet?
+Why do you disturb me?"
+
+"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur
+Bellamy--Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever
+he came.  He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient."
+
+"Did he send any message?"
+
+"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied.
+
+Louise sighed,--she was really very sleepy.  Then, as the thoughts
+began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember.  Some
+part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned.
+
+"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered.  "Tell Monsieur
+Bellamy that I hurry.  I will be with him in twenty minutes."
+
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory.  She came
+at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she
+herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+
+"David!" she cried,--"my dear David--!"
+
+Then she broke off.
+
+"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone.
+
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+
+"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely.  "Von Behrling was true, after
+all,--at least, it seems so."
+
+"What has happened?" she demanded.
+
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+
+"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous."
+
+A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips.  She sat down
+suddenly.  The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her
+bath was rapidly fading away.
+
+"David," she murmured, "is this true?"
+
+"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her.  "Not only that, but there is
+no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder.  It must
+have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got
+away with the pocket-book and the money."
+
+"What can we do?" she asked.
+
+"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly.  "We are
+defeated.  The thing is quite apparent.  Von Behrling never
+succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who
+were watching him.  They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited
+about while I met him.  Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow
+passage.  It was there that he was found murdered."
+
+"But, David, I don't understand!  Why did they wait until after he
+had seen you?  How did they know that he had not parted with the
+paper in the restaurant?  To all intents and purposes he ought to
+have done so."
+
+"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted.  "In fact, it
+is inexplicable."
+
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report.  Then, "You
+are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling?  He is
+quite unidentified, you see."
+
+"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared.  "I have been to
+the Mortuary.  It is certainly he.  All our work has been in
+vain--just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of
+it."
+
+She looked at him compassionately.
+
+"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted.  "You are tired, too.  You
+look as though you had been up all night."
+
+"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair.  "I am worse
+than tired.  This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I
+am afraid that it is the end of everything.  I have lost twenty
+thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance
+which might have saved England.  They will never trust me again."
+
+"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm
+of his chair.  "You did your best, David."
+
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his--smooth
+and cold--exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+
+"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous.
+Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others.  What do you
+think?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do?  Could
+we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were
+coming to pass?  Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were
+being butchered out of existence?--  And you--you are not the sort
+of man to be content with an ignoble peace.  No, it isn't possible.
+Our work may not be over yet--"
+
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many
+apologies.
+
+"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur
+also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is
+of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once.  I
+have done all that I can, but he will not go away.  He knows that
+Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and
+he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle."
+
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers.  He read
+out the name in blank amazement.
+
+"Baron de Streuss!"
+
+There was a moment's silence.  Louise and he exchanged wondering
+glances.
+
+"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely.
+
+"Heaven knows!" he answered.  "Let us see him together.  After
+all--after all--"
+
+"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered.
+
+"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come
+to us?  It is not like these men to be vindictive.  Diplomacy to
+them is nothing--a game of chess.  I do not understand."
+
+The door opened.  Annette announced their visitor.  Streuss bowed
+low to Louise--he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+
+"I need not introduce myself," he said.  "With Mr. Bellamy I have
+the honor to be well acquainted.  Madame is known to all the world."
+
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+
+"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,"
+she said.  "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I
+owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?"
+
+"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be.  I know that
+it is an impossible hour.  I know, too, that to have forced my
+presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous.  Yet the
+urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me."
+
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow
+of thanks.
+
+"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste
+words.  We have played a game of chess together.  You, Mademoiselle,
+and Mr. Bellamy on the one side--I and my friends upon the other.
+The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought.
+The victory remains with you."
+
+Bellamy never moved a muscle.  Louise, on the contrary, could not
+help a slight start.
+
+"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the
+struggle was uneven.  I do myself the justice to remember that from
+the first I realized that we played a losing game.  Mademoiselle,"
+he added, "from the days of Cleopatra--ay, and throughout those
+shadowy days which lie beyond--the diplomats of the world have been
+powerless when matched against your sex.  Rudolph Von Behrling was
+an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes.  Mademoiselle,
+you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a
+stronger man."
+
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of
+her lips.  Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly.  She did
+not understand.
+
+"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured.
+
+"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth.  This plain talking
+is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it.
+That time, I think, is now.  Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice,
+but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me
+in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you,
+Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here.  We followed a man who, by
+some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap,
+the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and
+priceless to yours.  The subsequent history of those papers should
+have been automatic.  The first step was fulfilled readily enough.
+The man disappeared--the papers were ours.  Von Behrling was the
+man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them.
+If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have
+ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to
+Vienna.  The others thought differently.  They ruled that we should
+come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here.
+In a weak moment I consented.  It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle,
+an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself."
+
+This time Louise held herself with composure.  Bellamy's brain was
+in a whirl but he remained silent.
+
+"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open.  I
+come--I make no secret of it--I come to make terms.  But first of
+all I must know whether I am in time.  There is one question which
+I must ask.  I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to
+Bellamy.  "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the
+papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief.  Though he had maintained
+his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played
+with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling.
+
+"Well, then, I am in time.  Will you see my hand?"
+
+"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to
+listen to anything you may have to say."
+
+"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have
+come to say, yet I want you to remember this.  I do not come to
+bribe you in any ordinary manner.  The things which are to come will
+happen; they must happen, if not this year, next,--if not next year,
+within half a decade of years.  History is an absolute science.  The
+future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs.
+The thing which has been resolved upon is certain.  The knowledge
+of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the
+final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more.  In the
+long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every
+way, that the end come soon.  Therefore, I ask you to perform no
+traitorous deed.  I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable
+for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us.
+restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government,
+and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!"
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Bellamy repeated.
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise.
+
+There was a brief, intense pause.  Louise waited, warned by the
+expression in Bellamy's face.  Silence, she felt, was safest, and it
+was Bellamy who spoke.
+
+"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little
+amazing.  Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment."
+
+"Most certainly," the Baron agreed.  "I go away and leave you--out
+of the room, if you will."
+
+"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied.  "Louise!"  The Baron
+withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest
+corner of the room.
+
+"What can it mean?" he whispered.  "What do you suppose has happened?"
+
+"I cannot imagine.  My brain is in a whirl."
+
+"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must
+have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary.  If so, there is a
+chance.  Louise, say nothing; leave this to me."
+
+"As you will," she assented.  "I have no wish to interfere.  I only
+hope that he does not ask me any questions."
+
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron
+turned to meet them.
+
+"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little
+upset this morning.  She knows, of course, as I know and you know,
+that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried
+his life in his hands.  Yet his death has been a shock--has been a
+shock, I may say, to both of us.  From your point of view," Bellamy
+went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but--"
+
+"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted.
+"I do not understand at all!  You speak of Von Behrling's death!
+What do you mean?"
+
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+
+"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no
+need for you to play a part.  Von Behrling knew that you were
+watching him.  Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me.
+He knew that he was running terrible risks.  He was not unprepared
+and he has paid.  It is not for us--"
+
+"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted
+once more.  "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's
+death?"
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth.  He leaned forward
+with his hands resting upon the table.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you do not know?"
+
+"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron.
+
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+
+"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+
+
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers.  His face now
+was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and
+read the paragraph word by word.
+
+                     TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+
+        Early this morning the body of a man was discovered
+        in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to
+        Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little
+        doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play.
+        The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had
+        received several severe blows about the head.  He was
+        shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and
+        he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found.
+
+                            LATER
+
+        There appears to be no further doubt but that the man
+        found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been
+        the victim of a particularly murderous assault.  Neither
+        his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which
+        he could be identified.  The body has been removed to the
+        nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held.
+
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise
+was apparent.  He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion.
+While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts
+were forming in his mind.
+
+"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered.  "But who--who could have done
+this?"
+
+"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter
+concerning which we had any doubt.  The only wonder to us was that
+it should have been done too late."
+
+"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had
+completed his bargain with you?"
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it
+was done afterwards?  You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to
+think?  Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed.  How about
+yours?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"We do not fight that way," he replied.  "I had bought Von Behrling.
+He was of no further interest to me.  I did not care whether he
+lived or died."
+
+"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said.  "If
+neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?"
+
+"That I can't tell you.  Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from
+the police.  It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain
+long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in
+bank-notes."
+
+"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked.
+
+"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me."
+
+"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets
+from one another.  I will ask you one last question.  Where is that
+packet at the present moment?"
+
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+
+"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me
+to answer."
+
+"I will put it another way," Streuss continued.  "Supposing you
+decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can
+be placed in my hands?"
+
+"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why
+there should be any delay at all."
+
+Streuss was silent for several moments.  His hands were thrust deep
+down into the pockets of his overcoat.  With eyes fixed upon the
+tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised
+his head and looked steadily at Bellamy.
+
+"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you?  You are sure
+that you have that identical packet?"
+
+"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+
+"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss
+begged.  "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake
+to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within
+twenty-four hours."
+
+"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure,"
+he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder."
+
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+
+"There is little fear of that," he said.  "The papers are of no
+use except to us and to England.  To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the
+eventful result would be the same.  It is for that reason that I am
+here, for that reason that I have made you this offer."
+
+"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared.  "It is not
+a matter to be decided upon off-hand.  Remember that it is not only
+the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my
+honor."
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly.  "From your own
+side you get nothing--nothing but your beggarly salary and an
+occasional reprimand.  One hundred thousand pounds is not immense
+wealth, but it is something."
+
+"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt
+about that.  On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration.  It is a big thing for us, remember.  I have worked
+very hard for the contents of that packet."
+
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity.  After all,
+was this Englishman playing with him?  So he asked: "You are quite
+sure that you have it?"
+
+"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use.
+You must be content with my word.  I have the packet.  I paid Von
+Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands."
+
+"I must accept your word," Streuss declared.  "I give you three days
+for reflection.  Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer
+once more to this,"--touching the newspaper which still lay upon
+the table.  "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked
+man.  Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels.  Yet
+in the end some third person seems to have intervened.  Are you
+quite sure that you know nothing of this?"
+
+"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest
+information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read
+there.  It was as great a surprise to me as to you."
+
+"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured.
+
+"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone
+must have seen him with those notes.  There were people moving about
+in the little restaurant where we met.  The rustle of bank-notes has
+cost more than one man his life.
+
+"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so.
+Listen to me, both of you.  You will be wiser if you do not delay.
+You are young people, and the world is before you.  With money one
+can do everything.  Without it, life is but a slavery.  The world
+is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means
+to choose.  Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this
+transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer."
+
+"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him.
+
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+
+"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to
+Louise, "I go.  I must try and understand for myself the meaning of
+this thing which has happened to Von Behrling."
+
+"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we
+are equally interested."...
+
+They heard him go out.  Bellamy purposely held the door open until
+he saw the lift descend.  Then he closed it firmly and came back
+into the room.  Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full
+of anxious questioning.
+
+"What does it mean?" Louise cried.  "What can it mean?"
+
+"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered.  "There is not a gleam of
+daylight.  My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling.  If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his
+people are in the same position.  Who, then, in the name of all that
+is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?"
+
+"In London, too," Louise murmured.  "It is not Vienna, this, or
+Belgrade."
+
+"You are right," Bellamy agreed.  "London is one of the most
+law-abiding cities in Europe.  Besides, the quarter where the murder
+occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes.  It is
+simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+
+"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?" Louise asked,--"some one else who has been watching Von
+Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"How can that be?  Besides, if any one else were really on his track,
+they must have believed that he had parted with it to me.  I shall
+go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of
+Scotland Yard.  If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning."
+
+"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed
+again.  These days are too strenuous for me.  Won't you stay and take
+your coffee with me?"
+
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+
+"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what
+a maze this is into which we have wandered.  Von Behrling has been
+murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty
+thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine.  I must
+trace them if I can, Louise.  It is a poor chance, but I must do
+my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered
+for the money, and for the money only.  If so, that packet may be
+in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it.
+They may even destroy it.  If Streuss returns and you are forced to
+see him, be careful.  Remember, we have the document--we are
+hesitating.  So long as he believes that it is in our possession,
+he will not look elsewhere."
+
+"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck.
+"And, dear, take care.  When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling,
+I tremble, also, for you.  It seems to me that your danger is no
+less than his."
+
+"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,"
+with a smile.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is
+pledged to recover.  Be careful that they do not lead you into a
+trap.  They are not above anything, these men.  I heard once of a
+Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured--tortured almost to death--before
+he spoke.  Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum.  Remember,
+dear, they have no consciences and no pity."
+
+"We are in London," he reminded her.
+
+"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly,--"not only in London
+but in a safe part of London.  Yet he is dead."
+
+"It was not their doing," he declared.  "In their own country, they
+have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their
+backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts.  Here they must needs
+go cautiously.  I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling,
+as he opened the door.  "I think I can promise you that if you will
+do me the honor we will sup together to-night."
+
+"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted.  "It is
+a bargain.  I have suffered enough neglect at your hands.  One thing,
+David,--where do you go first from here?"
+
+"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von
+Behrling when he left me.  If any man in England knows anything of
+the murder, it must be he.  He should be at my rooms by now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+
+
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor--his friends called him an
+incorrigible one.  He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of
+rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river.  His habits
+were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning
+following his late night in the city was no exception to the
+general rule.  At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite
+knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready.  He
+awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the
+events of the preceding evening.
+
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of
+memory.  He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and
+by no means of an adventurous turn of mind.  He sought naturally
+for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which
+no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory.  It was a dream,
+of course.  But the dream did not fade.  Slowly it spread itself out
+so that he could no longer doubt.  He knew very well as he sat there
+on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth.  He, Stephen
+Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of
+which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked
+into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty
+thousand pounds of someone else's money.  Morally, at any
+rate,--probably legally as well,--he was a thief.  A glimpse inside his
+safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him
+under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper
+dye.
+
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher.  In
+the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath,
+this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible.
+Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action.  The
+thing was done; he must make the best of it.  Behaving in every way
+like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search
+hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his
+bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down
+to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper.  The item for
+which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as
+he had expected.  It appeared under one of the leading headlines,
+but it consisted of only a few words.  He read them with interest
+but without emotion.  Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange
+quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested.
+
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed
+his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal
+Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices.  A little
+crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from
+Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked
+curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain.
+It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind
+now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream
+of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway.  In his early morning
+mood the thing was impossible.  In a moment or two he paid his driver
+and dismissed him.
+
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when
+he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office.  He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which
+was brought in to him by his head-clerk.  Afterwards, as soon as he
+was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner
+drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and
+gloves.
+
+"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out.
+"I shall be back in half-an-hour--perhaps less."
+
+"Very good, sir," the man answered.  "Will Mr. Morrison be here this
+morning?"
+
+Laverick hesitated.
+
+"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day."
+
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an
+interview with the manager was immediately granted.  The latter
+received him kindly but with a certain restraint.  There are not
+many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular
+mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely
+commented upon.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked.
+
+"I am not sure," answered Laverick.  "To tell you the truth, I am
+in a somewhat singular position."
+
+The banker nodded.  He had not a doubt but that he understood
+exactly what that position was.
+
+"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late
+partner, Mr. Morrison,--"
+
+"Late partner?" the manager interrupted.
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison
+left the office with an understanding between us that he should not
+return.  You will receive a formal intimation of that during the
+course of the next day or so.  We will revert to the matter
+presently, if you wish.  My immediate business with you is to
+discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty
+thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock
+which Morrison has made."
+
+"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail
+to do so?" the manager remarked gravely.
+
+"Naturally," Laverick answered.  "I am quite aware of the fact that
+Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for
+his transactions.  He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great
+deal more deeply than our capital warranted.  I may add that I had
+not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings."
+
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money,
+Mr. Laverick."
+
+"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted.  "I am here to
+ask you to lend it to me."
+
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+
+"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully.
+
+"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued.  The bank manager
+was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to
+escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance.  It was entirely contrary
+to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of
+emotion.
+
+"Unimpeachable security," he repeated.  "Of course, if you have that
+to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you."
+
+"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly.  "I have
+bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds."
+
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action.  He
+whistled softly under his breath.  A very respectable client he
+had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly
+never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence
+of means.  Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the
+table.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when
+one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a
+confessional.  I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will
+be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your
+own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between
+you and me.  I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?"
+
+"Most certainly," the banker agreed.
+
+"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this
+money is not mine.  I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it
+without any conditions.  I have power to make what use I wish of
+it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf.  Whether I am
+justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns
+this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably.
+I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to
+credit me with twenty thousand pounds.  I ask you to allow me to
+deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft.
+You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of
+to-day."
+
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one.
+They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+
+"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he
+said.
+
+"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted.
+"At the same time, there the money is.  You can run no risk.  If I
+am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I
+who will have to pay.  Will you do as I ask?"
+
+The banker hesitated.  The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one,
+but on the face of it there could be no possible risk.  At the same
+time, there was something about it which he could not understand.
+
+"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully,
+"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation."
+
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+
+"In a sense, that is so," he assented.
+
+"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit
+them to your account in the usual way."
+
+"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling
+about it.  I prefer to keep the notes intact.  If you cannot follow
+out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once.  This isn't a
+threat, Mr. Fenwick,--you will understand that, I am sure.  It is
+simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations
+I have no time for arguments.  I am quite satisfied to remain in
+your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated,
+and I cannot change.  If you are to retain my account, my
+engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have
+pointed out."
+
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments.
+When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who
+is giving in to an unreasonable client.
+
+"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced.  "The notes
+are placed upon deposit.  Your engagements to-day up to twenty
+thousand pounds shall be duly honored."
+
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about
+indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office.  He had
+rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living,
+somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him.  He was doing the
+impossible.  He knew very well that his name was in every one's
+mouth.  People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how
+he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an
+irresponsible speculator.  No one ever imagined that he would be
+able to keep his engagements.  And he had done it.  The price
+might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay.  At any moment
+the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole
+world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds.
+So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the
+shape of direct apprehensions.  Already, however, the shadow was
+beginning to fall.  Even as he entered his office, the sight of a
+stranger offering office files for sale made him start.  He half
+expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in
+his ear.  He set his teeth tight.  This was his risk and he must
+take it.
+
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme
+for the redirection of its policy.  With the absence of Morrison,
+too, there were other changes to be made,--changes in the nature
+of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed.
+It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the
+simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry
+of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was
+going on.
+
+"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in
+an excited tone.  "They sagged a little this morning, but since
+eleven they have been going steadily up.  Just now there seems to
+be a boom.  Listen."
+
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded.  He
+was prepared to be surprised at nothing.
+
+"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked.  "Morrison
+wasn't an absolute idiot."
+
+The luncheon hour passed.  The excitement in the city grew.  By
+three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of
+Laverick's engagements.  Just before closing-time, it was even
+doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without
+security at all.  He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of
+course.  He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every
+man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him.  He
+escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a
+taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open.  It was
+a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time
+during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions.
+He turned them over now with firm fingers.  There was absolutely no
+fresh news.  No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the
+identity of the murdered man.  All day long the body had lain in
+the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but
+presumably unrecognized.  Laverick could scarcely believe the words
+he read.  The thing seemed ludicrously impossible.  The twenty
+thousand pounds must have come from some one.  Why did they keep
+silence?  What was the mystery about it?  Could it be that they were
+not in a position to disclose the fact?  Curiously enough, this
+unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was
+almost fear.  He had taken his risks boldly enough.  Now that Fate
+was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a
+growing nervousness.  Who could he have been, this man?  Whence
+could he have derived this great sum?  One person at least must
+know that he had been robbed--the man who murdered him must know
+it.  A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought.
+Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood,
+a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his
+spoil.
+
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going
+to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a
+little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there,
+however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand.  It
+was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it.
+
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly
+concealed.  There was something ominous to him in those printed
+characters.  Its contents, however, were short enough.
+
+DEAR LAVERICK,
+I must see you.  Come the moment you get this.  Come without fail,
+for your own sake and mine.  A.  M.
+
+Laverick looked at the boy.  His fingers were trembling, but it
+was with relief.  The note was from Morrison.
+
+"There is no address here," he remarked.
+
+"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered.
+
+"Is it far?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared.  "Not more nor five
+minutes in one of them taxicabs.  The gent said we was to take
+one.  He is in a great hurry to see you."
+
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment.
+
+"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once."
+
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called
+them a taxicab.
+
+"What address?" he asked.
+
+"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said.  Laverick nodded and
+repeated the address to the driver.
+
+"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+
+
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory
+neighborhood.  Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat
+extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.
+The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young
+lady who was obviously expecting him.  Before he could open his lips
+to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
+
+"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly.
+
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat,
+and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain
+undeniable traces of some cultured presence.  The girl who had
+followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath.
+Laverick contemplated her in surprise.  She was under medium height,
+with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes.  Her brown hair was
+parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking
+into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a
+child.  When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she
+was afraid.  Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a
+woman.
+
+"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+
+"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted.  "I understood that I
+should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here."
+
+"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you.  The note was from him.
+He is here."
+
+She made no movement to summon him.  She still stood, in fact, with
+her back to the door.  Laverick was distinctly puzzled.  He felt
+himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her
+terrified face and beautiful eyes.  He had never heard Morrison
+speak of having any relations.  His presence in such a locality,
+indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.
+Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with
+a "W" rather than Heaven E. C.
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you
+are afraid of me.  I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he
+added smiling.  "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter?
+Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?"
+
+"Yes," she answered, "he is.  As for me, I am terrified."
+
+She came a little away from the door.  Laverick was a man who
+inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind.  He had the
+protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
+
+"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested.  "I expected to hear
+that he had gone abroad."
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously.  "I was
+hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him."
+
+"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered.  "We certainly had
+a terribly anxious time yesterday.  Our business has been most
+unfortunate--"
+
+"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted.  "Please go on.  There have been
+business troubles, then."
+
+"Rather," Laverick continued.  "Last night they reached such a
+pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he
+should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else.  I quite
+understood that he was going abroad."
+
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+
+"There was something, then," she said, half to herself.  "There was
+something.  Oh, I am glad of that!  You were angry with him, perhaps,
+Mr. Laverick?"
+
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his
+hands behind him--a commanding figure in the tiny room full of
+feminine trifles.  He looked a great deal more at his ease than
+he really was.
+
+"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted.  "You
+see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was
+going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control.
+He had entered into certain speculations which I considered
+unjustifiable.  To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn
+for the better."
+
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded.  Morrison, of course, would be
+triumphant.  Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated.  For
+many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
+
+"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and
+why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why
+is he here instead of in his own rooms?"
+
+"I will explain," she began softly.
+
+"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly.  "And don't
+look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh.  "I can assure
+you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort.  You
+make me feel quite uncomfortable."
+
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had
+never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features.  The
+strained rigidity passed away.  An altogether softer light gleamed
+in her wonderful eyes.  She was certainly by far the prettiest child
+he had ever seen.  As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
+
+"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother."
+
+"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.
+Besides, this meant that she must be of his race.  There was nothing
+in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that
+nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which
+belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews.  It was not a quality,
+Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's
+sister.
+
+"My brother, in a way," she resumed.  "Arthur's father was a widower
+and my mother was a widow when they were married.  You are surprised?"
+
+"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved
+at her last statement.  "Your brother and I have been connected in
+business for some years.  We have seen very little of one another
+outside."
+
+"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends
+would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same
+sort of things.  You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and
+as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would
+come to see me very often.  Last night, though, quite late--long
+after I had gone to bed--he rang the bell here.  I was frightened,
+for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the
+morning.  So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the
+pavement, huddled up against the door.  I hurried down and let him
+in.  Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him,
+"I have never seen any one look like it.  He was terrified to death.
+Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him
+even the power of speech.  He pushed past me into this room, threw
+himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and
+he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a
+woman in a fit of hysterics.  His clothes were all untidy, he was
+as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready
+to start out of his head."
+
+"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly.
+
+"Frightened!  I shall never forget it!  I did not sleep all night.
+He would tell me nothing--he has scarcely spoken a sensible word.
+Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him
+lie down.  He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist,
+but he has not slept.  Every now and then he tries to get up, but
+in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides
+his face.  If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks.  If he hears a
+footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me.  Mr. Laverick, I
+have never been so frightened in my life.  I didn't know whom to
+send for or what to do.  When he wrote that note to you I was so
+relieved.  You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!"
+
+Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy.  One could see that the
+scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes.  She was
+shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more.  He moved
+over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it
+afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
+
+"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said.  "I will talk to
+your brother.  We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there
+wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this
+way.  Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have
+improved a great deal to-day.  Let me go upstairs and I'll try and
+pump some courage into him."
+
+"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very
+kind.  Will you come, then?"
+
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and
+into a tiny bedroom.  Laverick had no time to look around, but it
+seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very
+ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity
+pervaded this little apartment as the one below.
+
+"It is my room," she said shyly.  "There is no other properly
+furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed."
+
+"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered.
+
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang
+into a sitting posture.  Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock.
+It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the
+office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished.  His
+black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all
+disordered.  Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one
+sees seldom in life,--an expression of real and mortal terror.
+
+"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable.
+"Who is that?  What do you want?"
+
+"It is I--Laverick," Laverick answered.  "What on earth is the
+matter with you, man?"
+
+Morrison drew a quick breath.  Some part of the terror seemed to
+leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object.
+Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's
+shoulder.
+
+"Will you leave us alone?" he asked.  "I will come and talk to
+you afterwards, if I may."
+
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out.  Laverick closed the
+door and came up to the bedside.
+
+"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said.
+"Are you ill, or what is it?"
+
+Morrison opened his lips--opened them twice--without any sort of
+sound issuing.
+
+"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly.  "I have been
+feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing
+one's money, after all.  As a matter of fact, things are altogether
+better in the city to-day.  You made a big mistake in taking us out
+of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all.  'Unions'
+have been going up all day."
+
+Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner.  He made no
+reference, however, to Laverick's words.
+
+"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at
+once.  Try and pull yourself together.  Sit up and tell me what you
+are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms.
+I was afraid!"
+
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+
+"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?"
+
+"You don't know!" Morrison faltered.  "You don't know!"
+
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the
+financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had
+reduced his late partner to this hopeless state.  He looked at him
+narrowly.
+
+"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?"
+
+"Nowhere," Morrison gasped.  "I came here."
+
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat
+down.
+
+"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you mean
+to tell me everything.  Have you been getting yourself into any
+trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection
+with them which I don't know?"
+
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other,
+he remained speechless.  Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick.
+There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself
+terrifying.
+
+"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever
+it is.  I will help you if I can."
+
+Morrison shook his head.  There was a glass of water by his side.
+He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips.  They
+were dry, almost cracking.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown--that's what's the
+matter with me.  My nerves were never good.  I'm afraid of going
+mad.  The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me.
+I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to
+manage it.  I can't think.  Directly I try to think my head goes
+round."
+
+"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick
+answered.  "It is the simplest matter possible.  Even if we had gone
+under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you
+chose to go.  Ruin, even if it had been ruin,--and I told you just
+now that business was better,--is not a crime.  Pull yourself
+together, for Heaven's sake, man!  You should be ashamed to come
+here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death."
+
+Morrison gripped his partner's arm.
+
+"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely.  "It doesn't matter
+about prices being better.  I want to get away.  You must help me."
+
+Laverick looked at him steadily.  Morrison was an ordinary young
+man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a
+coward.  But this was no ordinary fear--not even the ordinary fear
+of a coward.  Laverick's face became graver.  There was something
+else, then!
+
+"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he.  "There is
+no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something
+from me.  You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South
+Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't
+you better tell me exactly what happened last night?"
+
+Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words.
+Then a feeble moan escaped him.  He threw up his hands and his head
+fell back.  The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips,
+and he sank back among the pillows.  Laverick strode across the
+room to the door.
+
+"Are you anywhere about?" he called out.
+
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has
+fainted.  Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think
+that you had better run out and get a doctor.  I will stay with him.
+I know exactly what to do."
+
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was
+standing, and ran downstairs without a word.  Laverick mixed some
+of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES
+
+
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes
+to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted.  He
+felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed
+Laverick down into the sitting room.
+
+"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced.  "The
+patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately.  He will be
+all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I
+will call again to-morrow."
+
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took
+his departure.  Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had
+followed them downstairs.
+
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked.
+
+"It is not his health which frightens me.  I am sure--I am quite
+sure that he has something upon his mind.  Did he tell you nothing?"
+
+"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness.  "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are
+right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night.  He
+was just about to tell me something when he fainted."
+
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning.  The girl listened with
+pitiful face.
+
+"What am I to do?" she asked.  "I cannot leave him like this, and
+if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined."
+
+"The theatre?" Laverick repeated.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I am on the stage," she said,--"only a chorus girl at the
+Universal, worse luck.  Still, they don't allow us to stay away,
+and I can't afford to lose my place."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?"
+Laverick asked bluntly.
+
+"Of course," she answered.  "I do not like to be a burden on any
+one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at
+all.  He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately."
+
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had
+been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a
+year, but he checked himself.  It was not his business to interfere.
+
+"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for
+you.  He could have done so with very little effort."
+
+"But what am I to do now?" she asked him.  "If I am absent, I shall
+lose my place."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that
+make any difference?  I could stay until you came back."
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly.  "It would be so kind of you."
+
+"Not at all," he answered.  "Perhaps you would be good enough to
+bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms.  Take
+one from here, if you can find it.  There are always some at the
+corner."
+
+"I'd love to," she answered.  "I must run upstairs and get my hat
+and coat."
+
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother.
+Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure.
+Not a board creaked.  She seemed to float down to him in a most
+becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose
+deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware.  Her lips were parted once
+more in a smile.
+
+"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced.
+"It is nice of you to stay."
+
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+
+"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?"
+
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+
+"Have you any idea how old I am?"
+
+"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered.
+"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen.  Later on, it seemed
+to me possible that you were eighteen.  I am absolutely certain
+that you are not more than nineteen."
+
+"That shows how little you know about it.  I am twenty, and I am
+quite used to going about alone.  Will you sit upstairs or here?
+I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you."
+
+"Thanks, I need nothing.  I think I will sit upstairs in case he
+wakes."
+
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly.
+Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight,
+moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible
+swiftness.  When she had turned the corner, he went slowly
+upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep.  He
+drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the
+evening paper.  The events of the last hour or so had completely
+blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition
+into the world of tragical happenings.  He glanced at the sleeping
+man, then opened his paper.  There was very little fresh news
+except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body
+of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first
+supposed.  It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after
+all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in
+a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals.  There
+was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black
+Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the
+murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago.  But apart from
+this there was nothing fresh.
+
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair.  The
+strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon
+his robust constitution.  The atmosphere of the room, too, was close.
+He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary.  Perhaps he
+dozed.  At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization
+of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a
+sudden start.
+
+Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his
+lips were parted.  His manner was quieter, but there were black
+lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone
+something of that haunting fear.
+
+"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely.
+
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+
+"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?"
+
+Morrison nodded.
+
+"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling--better.  How did you come here?
+I can't remember anything."
+
+"You sent for me," Laverick answered.  "I arrived to find you
+pretty well in a state of collapse.  Your sister has gone round to
+the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening."
+
+"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued.  "Tell me,
+has any one been around at the office asking after me?"
+
+"No one particular," Laverick answered,--"no one at all that I can
+think of.  There were one or two inquiries through the telephone,
+but they were all ordinary business matters."
+
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh
+of relief.
+
+"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely.
+
+"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving
+way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to
+death."
+
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+"We talked--some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away.
+You promised that you would help me.  You said that I could get
+off to Africa or America to-morrow."
+
+"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered.  "There
+are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind--don't take this unkindly but the truth is best--I will not
+have you back again.  There may have to be a more definite
+readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished
+with."
+
+"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured.  "I have had enough
+of the city for the rest of my life.  I'd rather get away somewhere
+and make a fresh start.  You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?"
+
+"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised.
+
+"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good
+for me.  It was a rotten partnership for you.  We could never have
+pulled together."
+
+"Let that go," Laverick interrupted.  "If you really mean getting
+away, that simplifies matters, of course.  Have you made any plans
+at all?  Where do you want to go?"
+
+"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best.
+There is money to be made there if one has something to make a
+start with."
+
+"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered,
+"probably a great deal more.  I shall place our affairs in the hands
+of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday.
+You shall have every penny that is due to you.  You have quite
+enough, however, to get there with.  I will see to your ticket
+to-night, if possible.  When you've arrived you can cable me your
+address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave,
+and I will send you a further remittance."
+
+"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled.
+
+"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued,
+"and I will go back and put together some of your things.  I suppose
+you will not want much to go away with.  The rest can be sent on
+afterwards.  And what about your letters?"
+
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the
+bed.  He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically.
+
+"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged.  "Promise me that you
+won't!  I don't want any letters!  I don't want any of my things!"
+
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+
+"You mean you want to go away without--"
+
+"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically.
+"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they
+will find out where I am.  I should be there now but for that."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  The matter was becoming serious.
+
+"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say.  I will not go near
+your rooms.  I will get you a few things somewhere to start with."
+
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+
+"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you.  I wish--I wish--"
+
+His voice seemed to die away.  Laverick glanced towards him,
+wondering at the unfinished sentence.  Once again the man's face
+seemed to be convulsed with horror.  He flung himself face downward
+upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands.
+
+"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly.  "If you've anything on
+your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what
+I can to help you."
+
+Morrison made no reply.  He was sobbing now like a child.  Laverick
+rose to his feet and went to the window.  What was to be done with
+such a creature!  When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once
+more into a sitting posture.  His appearance was absolutely spectral.
+
+"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot
+tell you--I cannot tell any one."
+
+"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered.  "I am simply
+anxious to help you."
+
+"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly.  "You
+must promise me something--promise that if any one asks for me
+to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am.
+Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into
+the country for a few days.  Say that you are expecting me back.
+Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely
+away.  And then don't tell a soul where I have gone."
+
+"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked
+sternly.
+
+"I haven't--I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared.  "It's
+something quite outside business--quite outside business altogether."
+
+"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked,
+then.  Listen--here is your sister back again," he added, as he
+heard the taxicab stop outside.  "Pull yourself together and don't
+frighten her so much.  I am going down to meet her.  I shall tell
+her that you are better.  Try and buck up when she comes in to see
+you."
+
+"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly.  "If you knew!  If you
+only knew!"
+
+He began to sob again.  Laverick left the room and, descending the
+stairs, met the girl in the hall.  Her white face questioned him
+before her lips had time to frame the speech.
+
+"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said.  "I am sure that
+you need not be anxious about him."
+
+"I am so glad," she murmured.  "They let me off but I had to pay a
+fine.  I had no idea before that I was so important.  Shall I go to
+him now?"
+
+"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room.  "Miss Morrison," he went on,--
+
+"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted.
+
+"I beg your pardon.  Your brother evidently has something on his
+mind apart from business.  I am afraid that he has been getting
+into some sort of trouble.  I don't think there is any object in
+bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away."
+
+"You will help?" she begged.
+
+"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered.  "I have promised to.
+You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock
+to-morrow morning.  He wants to go to New York, and the special
+to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight
+to eight-thirty."
+
+"But his clothes!" she cried.  "How can he be ready by then?"
+
+"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or
+to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly.
+
+"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed.  "Do you mean to say, then,
+that he is going without anything?"
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for
+granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable
+business or other.  He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts
+an entire secret.  He has been asking me whether any one has been
+to the office to inquire for him.  Under the circumstances, I think
+the best thing we can do is to humor him.  I shall buy him before
+to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of
+clothes, and a few things for the voyage.  Then I shall send a cab
+for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station.
+
+"You are very kind," she murmured.  "What should I have done without
+you?  Oh, I cannot think!"
+
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong.  Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire
+to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the
+tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes.  He reminded himself
+that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion,
+that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an
+impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be
+no possible excuse.
+
+He moved away towards the door.
+
+"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother.  You
+see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been
+partners in business."
+
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+
+"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for
+me to do anything to relieve your anxiety."
+
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord.  The gratitude which
+shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which
+was almost invitation.  Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet.
+Something had come into his life--something absurd, uncounted upon,
+incomprehensible.  The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified.
+In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had
+told himself would be the action of a cad.  He had taken her,
+unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips.  Afterwards,
+he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it
+seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without
+hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a
+natural consolation in a time of trouble.  But Laverick was conscious
+of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab
+and was driven swiftly away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"
+
+
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases
+as he could on Morrison's behalf.  Then, with the bag ready packed,
+he returned to his rooms.  Time had passed quickly during the last
+three hours.  It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the
+lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the
+latchkey which hung from his chain.  He began to change his clothes
+mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell
+upon his table rang.
+
+"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver.
+
+"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer.  "Person here wishes to see you
+particularly."
+
+"A person!" Laverick repeated.  "Man or woman?"
+
+"Man, sir.
+
+"Better send him up," Laverick ordered.
+
+"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him
+that I scarcely thought you'd see him."
+
+"Never mind," Laverick answered.  "I can soon get rid of the fellow
+if he's cadging."
+
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie.  His own
+affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the
+announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his
+mind with a rush.  Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers
+shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the
+passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later.  A
+man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face
+somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment,
+place it.
+
+"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare
+me just a moment."
+
+"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door
+and preceding the way into the sitting-room.  At any rate, there
+was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor--nor
+anything official.
+
+"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to
+ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison."
+
+Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief.  What he felt he
+succeeded in keeping to himself.
+
+"You mean Morrison--my partner, I suppose?" he answered.
+
+"If you please, sir," the man admitted.  "I wanted a word or two
+with him most particular.  I found out his address from the
+caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to
+his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there."
+
+"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked.  "Where do you
+come from?"
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,'--little bar and
+restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir,
+at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley.  You've been in once or
+twice, Mr. Laverick, I think.  Mr. Morrison's a regular customer.
+He comes in for a drink most mornings."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+
+"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said.  "What do you want
+with Mr. Morrison?"
+
+The man was silent.  He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+
+"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr.
+Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally.  "If you could put me
+in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad.  I may say that it would be
+to his advantage, too."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+
+"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained.  "Mr.
+Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night.  I
+undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared,
+and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once.  We
+parted--well, not exactly the best of friends.  I am afraid I
+cannot give you any information."
+
+"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked.
+
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly.  His visitor was not in
+the least convinced.
+
+"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said.
+"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here.  I'm not wishing him
+any harm at all.  On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his
+advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him."
+
+"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with
+me.  Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the
+country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf."
+
+The man looked doubtful.
+
+"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't
+like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself.
+It's--it's a bit serious."
+
+The man's face gave weight to his words.  Curiously enough, the
+gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded
+him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely
+an hour ago.  To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took
+a cigarette from a box and lit it.  A conviction was forming
+itself in his mind.  There was something definite behind these
+hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this
+man had an inkling.
+
+"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think
+you had better be frank with me.  I must know more than I know at
+present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be
+found.  We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend
+enough--for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation,
+"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may
+have stumbled into.  So you see that so far as anything you may have
+to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me."
+
+"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly,
+"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?"
+
+"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided.  "Even if I knew exactly where
+he was--and I'm not admitting that--I couldn't put you in touch
+with him unless I knew what your business was."
+
+The man's eyes gleamed.  He was a typical waiter--pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking--but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and
+they were expressive.
+
+"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr.
+Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble."
+
+"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered.  "You must either go
+away--it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet--or
+you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison."
+
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+
+"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put
+myself out about this at all.  The only thing is--"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly.
+
+"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison--knowing, as I
+well do, sir, the sort of gent he is--would be more likely to talk
+common sense with me about this matter than you, sir."
+
+"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling,
+"especially as I'm acting for him."
+
+The man looked around the room.  The door behind had been left ajar.
+He stepped backward and closed it.
+
+"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious
+matter I'm going to speak about.  I'll just tell you a little thing
+and you can form your own conclusions.  Last night we was open late
+at the 'Black Post.'  We keep open, sir, as you know, when you
+gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy.  About nine o'clock there
+was a strange customer came in.  He had two drinks and he sat as
+though he were waiting.  In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in,
+and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort
+of business.  Anyways, there was papers passed between them.  I was
+fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in
+the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed
+the dark gentleman leave.  The others went out a few minutes
+afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place.
+He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before
+him.  I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink,
+and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes.  He sat there
+just like a man extra deep in thought.  Just after eleven, in came
+Mr. Morrison.  I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white,
+and shaking all over.  'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said,--'a big
+brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."'
+
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself.  Laverick
+was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his
+pulses.
+
+"Go on," he said.  "That was after he left me.  Go on."
+
+"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter
+continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other.  All of a sudden
+I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap
+as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn.  I leaned
+over the counter and had a look, too.  There he sat--this tall,
+fair chap who had been in the place so long--with his big
+pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was
+I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out
+from it.  All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison
+a-watching him and me from behind the counter.  Back he whisks the
+pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two
+mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out."
+
+"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired.
+
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered--paused
+and looked nervously around the room.  His voice shook.
+
+"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the
+'Black Post' last night, sir," he said.
+
+"How do you know?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to
+the Mortuary.  There was no doubt about it.  There he was--same
+chap, same clothes.  I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon
+I'll have to at the inquest."
+
+Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers.  It seemed to
+him that he was no longer in the room.  He was listening to Big
+Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom
+with its spotless sheets and lace curtains.  The man on the bed was
+looking at him.  Laverick remembered the look and shivered.
+
+"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded.
+
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half
+terrified way.
+
+"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper,
+"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds.  A sort of
+queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying
+me.  I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on,
+"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being
+found on the man as was murdered."
+
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away.  He walked to
+the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor.
+His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the
+Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other
+side of the river.  He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor.
+Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror?  He wondered no
+longer at his collapse.  The terror was upon him, too.  He felt his
+forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet.  It was not
+Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's
+knowledge.  The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a
+nightmare.  He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the
+missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager
+reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes
+deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy...
+Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant
+though it had been, passed.  This was no new thing with which he
+was confronted.  All the time he had known that the probabilities
+were in favor of such a discovery.  He set his teeth and turned to
+face his visitor.
+
+"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said.
+"Have you spoken about it to any one else?"
+
+"Not a soul, sir," the man answered.  "I thought it best to have a
+word or two first with Mr. Morrison."
+
+"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said
+thoughtfully.  "The police would thank you for your evidence, and
+there, I suppose, the matter would end."
+
+"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted.  "There the matter
+would end."
+
+"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were
+not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being
+a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison
+called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you
+dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take
+its own course,--Laverick paused.  His visitor scratched the side
+of his chin and nodded.
+
+"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an
+understandable, straightforward way.  I'm a poor man--I've been a
+poor man all my life--and I've never seed a chance before of
+getting away from it.  I see one now."
+
+"You want to do the best you can for yourself?"
+
+"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed.
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me
+and in telling me about this affair.  The idea of connecting Mr.
+Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on
+the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his
+name mentioned in connection with it.  You have behaved discreetly,
+and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out.
+You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I
+suggested with regard to the inquest.  What do you consider that
+service is worth?"
+
+"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr.
+Morrison values his life!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+
+
+The man's manner was expressive.  Laverick repeated his phrase,
+frowning.
+
+"His life!"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing.  I
+have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say,
+that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in
+connection with this affair.  But because he left your bar a few
+minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that
+therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death.  I cannot
+conceive anything more unlikely."
+
+The man smiled--a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth
+less than anything in the world.
+
+"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked,--"one in especial."
+
+"Well?" Laverick inquired.  "Let's have it.  You had better tell me
+everything that is in your mind."
+
+"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife."
+
+"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper.  "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to
+where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it."
+
+Laverick was silent.  What was there to be said?
+
+"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things."
+
+"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years
+without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly.
+
+"Is there anything more?"
+
+"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply.  "You know that, sir.
+So do I.  There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send
+Mr. Morrison to the gallows."
+
+"We will waive that point," Laverick declared.  "The jury sometimes
+are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone.  However,
+as I have said, let us waive that point.  Your position is clear
+enough.  You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get
+nothing.  You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life.
+The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good.  Now
+take my advice.  Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous.
+It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this
+affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in
+your place.  I am here to act for Mr. Morrison.  What is it that you
+want?"
+
+"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said,--"like a sensible
+gent, too.  I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into
+a bit of money,--just at present, at any rate.  I could easy find
+an excuse for changing my job--perhaps get away from London
+altogether.  I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to
+open a banking account.  A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in
+the way of doing it."
+
+"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to
+commence with?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last.
+
+"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered,--"generally called Jim,
+sir."
+
+"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is,
+in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where
+the thing will end.  A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but
+in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could
+be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case.  Two
+hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have
+saved or got together.  After that your investments would be my
+lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven
+hundred and fifty pounds.  But what security have I--has Mr.
+Morrison, let us say--that you will be content with this sum?"
+
+"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once.  "He couldn't have
+any.  I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting
+around that I'm independent all of a sudden.  That wouldn't do
+nohow.  A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a
+week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my
+health being none too good.  I've no wife or children, sir.  I was
+thinking of an annuity.  With two pounds a week I'd have no cause
+to trouble any one again."
+
+Laverick considered.
+
+"It shall be done," he said.  "To-morrow I shall buy shares for
+you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds.  They will be
+deposited in a bank.  Some day you can look in and see me, and I
+will take you round there.  You are my client who has speculated
+under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name
+and become a customer.  After that, you will speculate again.
+When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to
+buy an annuity.  Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be
+the luckiest night of your life.  Do you drink?"
+
+"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess
+I'd go off my chump."
+
+"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop
+too much when I'm by myself.  Then I tumbles off to sleep and
+that's the end of it.  I've no fancy for company at such times."
+
+"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into
+his pocket.  "Here's a five-pound note on account.  I daresay you
+can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate.  That's all, isn't
+it?"
+
+"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as
+to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?"
+
+"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before
+he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed.
+"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement."
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!"
+
+"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?"
+
+"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing
+the door softly behind him.
+
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry.
+He was faced now with a new tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+
+
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train.
+The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious
+of a sense of immense relief.  Morrison had been at the station
+some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a
+physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all
+the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on
+the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a
+criminal expecting apprehension at any moment.  The whistle of the
+train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick.
+
+"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out.
+"Good luck, Morrison!  Pull yourself together and make a fresh
+start."
+
+Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod.  Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands.  He felt himself at the last moment,
+stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all
+this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately.
+His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger.  He
+would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down
+to hers and whispered a reassuring little message.  Laverick turned
+away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering.
+Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly
+difficult.  The train was off at last, however, and they were alone.
+
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of
+relief.  They turned silently toward the exit.
+
+"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Yes," she answered listlessly.  "There is nothing else to do."
+
+"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"It is the first time," she said.  "Another girl and her mother
+have lived with me always.  They started off last week, touring.
+They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go
+into rooms.  As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable."
+
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+
+"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the
+world like this."
+
+"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an
+effort at lightness.  "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going.
+His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that
+he would do what he could.  I didn't see much of him, but one felt
+always that there was somebody.  It's different now.  It makes
+one feel very lonely."
+
+"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a
+lonely person.  You must let me see something of you now and then."
+
+She looked up at him quickly.  Her gaze was altogether disingenuous,
+but her eyes--those wonderful eyes--spoke volumes.
+
+"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad."
+
+"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling.  "I cannot ask
+you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have
+dinner together quite early.  Then I would take you to the theatre
+and meet you afterwards, if you liked."
+
+"If I liked!" she whispered.  "Oh, how good you are."
+
+"I am not at all sure about that.  Now I'll put you in this taxi
+and send you home."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"You mustn't do anything so extravagant.  I can get a 'bus just
+outside.  I never have taxicabs."
+
+"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you
+for his fare.  You must let me, please.  Remember that there's a
+large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you
+needn't mind these trifles.  Till this evening, then.  Shall I
+fetch you or will you come to me?"
+
+"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said.  "It isn't nice for you to
+come down to where I live.  It's such a horrid part."
+
+"Just as you like," he answered.  "I'd be very glad to fetch you
+if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came.  Shall
+we say seven o'clock?  I've written the address down on this card
+so that you can make no mistake."
+
+She laughed gayly.
+
+"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating
+me as though I were a baby.  I'll be there punctually, and I don't
+think I need tie the card around my neck."
+
+The cab glided off.  Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face
+with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she
+leaned out for a moment to say good-bye.  Then he went back to his
+rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office.
+
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder
+in Crooked Friars' Alley.  Evidently what information the police
+had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the
+moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think
+of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come.  The long-predicted
+boom had arrived at last.  Without lunch, he and all his clerks
+worked until after six o'clock.  Even then Laverick found it hard
+to leave.  During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask
+for Morrison.  To all of them he had given the same reply,--Morrison
+had gone abroad on private business for the firm.  Very few were
+deceived by Laverick's dry statement.  He was quite aware that he
+was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as
+a financier of consummate skill.  The failure of Laverick & Morrison
+had been looked upon as a certainty.  How they had tided over that
+twenty-four hours had been known to no one--to no one but Laverick
+himself and the manager of his bank.
+
+Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment," his head-clerk announced.
+
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick.  Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick!
+Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day.  What is it?  The
+account is all right, isn't it?"
+
+"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer.  "At the same time,
+if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you
+concerning the deposit you made yesterday."
+
+"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised.  "This afternoon it
+is quite out of the question.  I have a crowd of people waiting to
+see me, and several important engagements for which I am late
+already."
+
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+
+"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed.
+
+"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+
+For a time this last message troubled him.  As soon as the day's
+work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed
+it entirely from his thoughts.  It was curious how, notwithstanding
+this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding
+that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice,
+he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a
+pleasure which he had not felt for many months.  The whirl of the
+day faded easily from his mind.  He lived no more in an atmosphere
+of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety.  How
+empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so
+much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child!  It was hard to think
+of her otherwise--impossible.  A strange heritage, this, to have
+been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison.  How in the world,
+he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection.
+
+She was a little shy when she arrived.  Laverick had left special
+orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room
+immediately.  She was very quietly dressed except for her hat,
+which was large and wavy.  He found it becoming, but he knew enough
+to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive,
+and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact.
+
+"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire,
+"that we must go somewhere very quiet.  You see, I have only one
+evening gown and I couldn't wear that.  There wouldn't be time to
+change afterwards.  Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about
+in the dressing-rooms."
+
+"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly.
+"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on
+to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other
+smart young ladies in the same position.  I had to change because I
+have taken a stall to see your performance.  Tell me, how are you
+feeling now?"
+
+"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace.
+"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly.  "I
+don't now, of course.
+
+"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down
+in the lift.  "Haven't you any friends?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked.  "The girls in the
+chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many
+people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something
+of the sort."
+
+"And you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said.
+"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again."
+
+"I wonder why?" he remarked.
+
+"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily.  "You see, I think the
+men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to
+be allowed to make love to them.  At any rate, they behaved like
+that.  Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't
+like it a bit.  So they left me alone afterwards.  The girl I lived
+with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we
+go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays.  It's dull, though, very
+dull, especially now they're away."
+
+"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he
+asked.
+
+"What could one do?" she answered.  "My mother's money died with
+her--she had only an annuity--and my stepfather, who had promised
+to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly.  Arthur
+was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything.  My only
+friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was
+director of the orchestra at the Universal.  All he could do for me
+was to get me a place in the chorus.  I have been there ever since.
+They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it.  It's
+always like that in theatres.  You have to be a favorite of the
+manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance
+unless you are unusually lucky."
+
+"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted.  "I am afraid I am
+rather a stupid person.  When I can get away from work I go into
+the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going.
+When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few
+friends, or playing bridge at the club.  I never have been a
+theatre-goer.
+
+"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round
+table in the restaurant which he had chosen,--"I wonder why every
+now and then you look so serious."
+
+"I didn't know that I did," he answered.  "We've had thundering
+hard times lately in business, though.  I suppose that makes a man
+look thoughtful."
+
+"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly.  "Are things any better
+now?"
+
+"Much better."
+
+"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted.
+
+"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+She leaned across the table.  In the shaded light, her oval face
+with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though
+it might have belonged to some old miniature.  She was delightful,
+like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain--delightful
+when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the
+corner of her lips.  Just now, however, she became very much in
+earnest.
+
+"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said.  "I cannot
+help worrying still about Arthur.  You know you admitted last
+night that he had done something.  You saw how terribly frightened
+he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though
+he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid.
+Oh!  I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so
+terrified sometimes.  I feel that he must have done something--bad.
+It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of
+him so completely."
+
+"It was not," Laverick admitted at once.  "He has done something, I
+believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange,
+and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it."
+
+"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I did not," he answered.  "I told him nothing.  For many reasons
+it was better to keep him ignorant.  He and I might not have seen
+things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the
+best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any
+more.  Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in
+New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will
+never come to anything serious."
+
+"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly.  "From what
+he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed,
+you and he are so different."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+
+"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so
+much trouble for his sake alone.  You see," he continued, smiling,
+"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very
+anxious, weren't you?"
+
+Her hand came across the table--an impulsive little gesture,
+which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful.  He
+took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips
+but for the waiters who were hovering around.
+
+"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate.  I think that
+I wanted a friend."
+
+"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did.  You are
+not drinking your wine."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked.  "A very little gets into my head
+because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes
+the least bit of a mistake.  Besides, I do not think that I like
+to drink wine.  If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse
+for never having anything when the girls ask you."
+
+He nodded sympathetically.
+
+"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any
+rate.  Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival
+in New York.  Are you ready?"
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him.
+
+"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and
+fetch my ticket."
+
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he
+took an evening paper from the stall.  A brief paragraph at once
+attracted his attention.
+
+     Murder in the City.--We understand that very important
+     information has come into the hands of the police.  An
+     ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest.
+
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side.  It was
+the usual sort of thing.  There was nothing they could have found
+out--nothing, he told himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+
+
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning,
+Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went
+round to his bank.  Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely.  He was feeling
+keenly the responsibilities of his position.  Just how much to say
+and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full
+measure of diplomacy.
+
+"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you
+with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday."
+
+Laverick nodded.  It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued.
+"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an
+urgent one."
+
+"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning.  "What is
+it you wish me to do?  Withdraw my account?"
+
+"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily.
+
+"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on.
+"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate.  I could quite understand that you needed security to
+go on making the necessary payments on my behalf.  To-day, things
+are entirely different.  I am twenty thousand pounds better off,
+and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of
+my overdraft within half-an-hour.  That I do not do so is simply a
+matter of policy and prices."
+
+"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager
+declared.  "The position is simply this.  We have had a most unusual
+and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge
+to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes
+has been passed through our account during the last few days."
+
+"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly.
+
+"We have.  I can tell you no more.  The source of the inquiry was,
+in a sense, amazing."
+
+"May I ask what your reply was?"
+
+"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had
+passed through our account.  We asked them, however, without giving
+any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time.  Our
+reply was perfectly truthful.  Owing to your peculiar stipulations,
+we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security
+chamber.  We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little
+doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of
+this inquiry.  I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to
+open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the
+usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in
+the first instance to this inquiry."
+
+"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I
+absolutely decline to take.  It is not for me to tell you the nature
+of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client.
+All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and
+must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must
+be treated entirely as a confidential one.  If you decline to do
+this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course,
+take the packet away with me.  To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick,"
+he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never
+intended to do so.  I simply deposited them as security until the
+turn in price of 'Unions' came.
+
+"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked.
+"I should consider that you had already made use of them."
+
+"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly.
+
+"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick."
+
+"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied.  "There is only one
+inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested.  It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?"
+
+"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette
+would have intervened at all.  I should have felt it my duty to
+have revealed at once the fact of your deposit.  At the same time,
+the inquiry comes from an even more important source,--a source
+which cannot be ignored."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared.  "By
+four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits.
+You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold
+on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you."
+
+"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you
+would take it with you.  It means, I think, a matter of six or
+seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary
+thing we will pass that."
+
+"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly.  "The charge of those
+documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself.  I have no
+doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place
+elsewhere."
+
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank
+with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket.
+Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe
+and proceeded with the usual business of the day.  Even with an
+added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar.  Laverick
+threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to
+escape from these unpleasant memories.  He succeeded perfectly.  It
+was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment.  His
+head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room.
+
+"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man
+outside--Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe--said he had a small
+investment to make which you promised to look after personally.  He
+would insist on seeing you--said he was a waiter at a restaurant
+which you visited sometimes."
+
+"That's all right," Laverick declared.  "You can show him in.  We'll
+probably give him American rails."
+
+"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked.
+"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds."
+
+"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after
+it myself.  Send him in, Scropes."
+
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced.
+Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned
+cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+
+"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked.  "We're having a bit of a
+rush."
+
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side.
+
+"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had
+in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting
+and talking.  They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's
+some of them can shift the drink."
+
+"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked,
+"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth.  If you'll just approve that
+list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across,
+"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates.  I shall tell
+them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if
+any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said.  "To tell you the
+truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day."
+
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded.
+
+"May I sit down, sir?  I'm a bit worn out.  I've been on the go
+since half-past ten."
+
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair.  Shepherd brought it up to
+the side of the table and leaned forward.
+
+"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions.  They
+wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and
+could I describe them.  Was there any one I recognized, and so on."
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"I declared I couldn't remember any one.  To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o'clock.  I wouldn't say for certain--it looked as though I might
+have had a reason."
+
+"And were they satisfied?"
+
+"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted.  "Not altogether,
+that is to say."
+
+"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick--"Morrison's, for
+instance?  Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?"
+
+"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but
+they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients.  Fortunate
+like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not
+paying any too much attention to them.  It was all I could do to
+keep on getting orders attended to."
+
+"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked.  "Do you think that
+they came from the police?"
+
+"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell,
+and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so
+sometimes on purpose to deceive.  I should have said that these two
+were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered.
+I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a
+shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man
+who was murdered and the little dark fellow."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very
+sagacious person."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added,
+"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries.  My
+nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he
+remarked,--"no one who could contradict you?"
+
+"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed.
+
+"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued.  "You see, you've been
+wise.  You haven't given yourself away altogether.  You've simply
+said that you don't recollect any one coming in.  Why should you
+recollect?  At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice
+every stray customer.  Stick to it, and, if you take my advice,
+don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in
+for another week or so.  Pave the way for it a bit.  Ask the governor
+for a rise--say you're not making a living out of it."
+
+"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head.  "I'm on to it,
+sir.  I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure."
+
+"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in.
+You're not obliged to remember anything.  No one can ever prove that
+you remembered anything.  Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if
+these fellows turn up again."
+
+"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared.  "They sat
+about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I
+hopped out the back way.  They'll be there again to-night, sure
+enough."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens."
+
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his
+voice.
+
+"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking
+rapidly.  "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great
+pocketful of notes.  But my! there was a sight of money there,
+sir!  He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out."
+
+"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted.  "It isn't a
+pleasant thing to think about or talk about.  We won't know anything,
+Shepherd.  We shall be better off."
+
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced.
+Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before
+eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way.
+When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the
+sofa and lit a cigar.  Once more the evening papers had no
+particular news.  This time, however, one of them had a leading
+article upon the English police system.  The fact that an undetected
+murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the
+slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself
+alarming.  Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make
+little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known.
+At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a
+considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the
+vicinity of the tragedy.  It was rumored that some mysterious
+inquiries were being circulated around London banks.  It was
+possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the
+crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined.  The whole interest
+of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity.
+As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might
+be expected.
+
+Laverick threw the paper away.  He tried to rest upon the sofa, but
+tried in vain.  He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+
+"To-night," he muttered to himself,--"no, I will not go to-night!
+It is not fair to the child.  It is absurd.  Why, she would think
+that I was--"
+
+He stopped short.
+
+"I'll change and go to the club," he decided.
+
+He rose to his feet.  Just then there was a ring at his bell.  He
+opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+
+"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening
+his wallet.
+
+Laverick held out his hand.  The boy gave him a large square
+envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre."
+Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously
+pleased.  He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope,
+and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate
+handwriting.
+
+
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night?  Don't let me be a nuisance,
+but do come if you have nothing to do.  I have something to tell
+you.
+
+                                                        ZOE.
+
+
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot
+that he was tired.  He changed his clothes, whistling softly to
+himself all the time.  At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door
+of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
+
+
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the
+stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a
+waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier.  Laverick stood
+back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to
+himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening.
+Zoe was among the last to appear.  She came up to him with a
+delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter
+of course as he led her across to the waiting cab.
+
+"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared.
+"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?"
+
+"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.  "Delightful!  Two
+nights following, too!  I did love last night."
+
+"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked.
+
+"If only you meant it!" she sighed.
+
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes.
+Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat
+Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the
+moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a
+question.
+
+"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged.  "You said that
+you had some information for me.
+
+"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted.  "I found
+out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about
+me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur
+Morrison, the stockbroker."
+
+"Do you know who it was?" he asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"The man left no name at all.  I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell
+me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to
+that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything."
+
+"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have
+found you out.  You were so seldom with Morrison.  I dare say," he
+added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small
+sum of money."
+
+"Very likely," she answered.  "But I was going to tell you.  He came
+again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round.
+I have brought it for you to see."
+
+The note--it was really little more than a message--was written
+on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently
+borrowed from the box-office.  It read as follows:
+
+
+DEAR MISS LENEVEU,
+
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I
+am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his.  Could
+you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of
+this evening?  If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps
+allow me to give you some supper.
+
+                                               Sincerely,
+                                               PHILIP E. MILES.
+
+
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the
+programme.
+
+"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man
+who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was
+or had been a friend of Morrison's."
+
+"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten."
+
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious
+of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+
+"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me
+know.  You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so
+summarily."
+
+"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly.
+
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation
+of her speech.
+
+"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged.
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"First of all, then, how old are you?"
+
+He made a grimace.
+
+"Thirty-eight--thirty-nine my next birthday.  Doesn't that seem
+grandfatherly to you?"
+
+"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed.  "It is not even
+middle-aged.  Now tell me--how do you spend your time generally?
+Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most
+evenings?"
+
+"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal."
+
+"You have no sisters?"
+
+"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained.
+
+"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him.
+
+"I am quite content," he answered.  "Go ahead, but remember, though,
+that I am a very dull person."
+
+"You look so young for your years," she declared.  "I wonder, have
+you ever been in love?"
+
+He laughed heartily.
+
+"About a dozen times, I suppose.  Why?  Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?"
+
+"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly.  "You don't seem to me
+as though you cared to make friends very easily.  I just felt I
+wanted to ask you.  Have you ever been engaged?"
+
+"Never," he assured her.
+
+"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a
+little for any one?"
+
+"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her
+glass.
+
+She laughed at him.
+
+"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said.
+"You are quite right to make fun of me."
+
+"On the contrary," he insisted.  "I am very much in earnest."
+
+"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall
+be in love with me.  You shall take me about, give me supper every
+night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre--oh, and
+there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!"
+she wound up.
+
+"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove
+it with pleasure.  Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the
+stage-door."
+
+"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed.  "It's a horrid little
+life."
+
+"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively.
+
+"I hate it, but I must do something.  I could not live on charity.
+If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but
+there is no other way.  I tried once to give music lessons.  I had
+a few pupils, but they never paid--they never do pay.
+
+"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully.
+"Of course, it is occupation you want.  So far as regards the
+monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal--"
+
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+
+"No, no!" she declared.  "I have never complained about Arthur.
+Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not
+wish to take any of his money--or of anybody else's," she added.
+"I want always to earn my own living."
+
+"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully
+independent."
+
+"Why not?" she answered softly.  "It is years since I had any one
+to do very much for me.  Necessity teaches us a good many things.
+Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little
+sigh.  "I got over it.  We all do.  Tell me--who is that woman,
+and why does she stare so at you?"
+
+Laverick looked across the room.  Louise and Bellamy were sitting
+at the opposite table.  The former was strikingly handsome and very
+wonderfully dressed.  Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open
+in front, displayed her marvelous figure.  She wore long pearl
+earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair
+hair.  Laverick recognized her at once.
+
+"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano
+in the world."
+
+"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not know her," he said.  "I know who she is, of course,--every
+one does.  She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her
+country.  She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago,
+and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again
+before the enemies of her country.  She had been engaged a long time
+to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really
+come.  She breaks her engagements just when she chooses.  In fact,
+she is a very wonderful person altogether."
+
+"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered.  "And how
+lovely she is!  I do not understand, though, why she is so
+interested in you."
+
+"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps."
+
+It certainly seemed probable.  Even at that moment she touched
+her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at
+Laverick.  It was obvious that he was the subject of her
+conversation.
+
+"I know the man," Laverick said.  "He was at Harrow with me, and I
+have played cricket with him since.  But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale.  One does not forget that sort of person."
+
+"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully.  "Do you like
+tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones."
+
+"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed.  "We came
+together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense."
+
+"You are making me young again," he declared.
+
+"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him.  "To tell you
+the truth, I am jealous.  Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the
+time.  Look at her now.  Is she not beautiful?"
+
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her--and she was by far the most interesting person in the room--thought
+her a little sad.  Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to
+be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over
+his head and out of the room.  Wherever her thoughts were, one could
+be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under
+discussion.
+
+"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked.  "She has none
+of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen.  Yet there was never anything
+so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage."
+
+"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would
+die for."
+
+"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one
+whom you preferred to live for.  Do you know, you are rather a
+morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?"
+
+"Ah, I like that!" she declared.  "I will not be called Miss Leneveu
+any more by you.  You must call me Miss Zoe, please,--Zoe, if you
+like."
+
+"Zoe, by all means.  Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting."
+
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+
+"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then.
+I was reading about her only the other day.  They say that so many
+men fall in love with her--so many men to whom she gives no
+encouragement at all."
+
+Laverick looked into his companion's face.
+
+"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won.  I can assure you
+that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star.
+Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week,
+and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire
+income?  Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!"
+
+"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman.  See, your
+friend is coming to speak to you."
+
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room.  He nodded to Laverick and
+bowed to his companion.
+
+"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said.  "You do remember me, I
+hope?  Bellamy, you know."
+
+"I remember you quite well.  We used to play together at Lord's,
+even after we left school."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"That is so," he answered.  "I see by the papers that you have kept
+up your cricket.  Mine, alas! has had to go.  I have been too much
+of a rolling stone lately.  Do you know that I have come to ask you
+a favor?"
+
+"Go ahead," Laverick interposed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained.
+"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims
+she is.  If you won't come across and be introduced like a good
+fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time,
+go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled."
+
+Laverick laughed heartily.  A little smile played at the corner of
+Zoe's lips--nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+
+"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had
+better go.  You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe,
+"that I cannot stay for more than a second."
+
+"Naturally," Bellamy answered.  "If Mademoiselle really has anything
+to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment."
+
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+
+"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared.  "You're
+in the front row, aren't you?  I have seen you in that clever little
+step-dance and song in the second act."
+
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+
+"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully.  "You see, we
+are all so tired of it."
+
+"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared.  "I shall have the
+pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow.
+
+The two men crossed the room.
+
+"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick
+demanded.  "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling
+against hard times?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered.  "And
+as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted
+to.  Her interest in you is rather a curious one.  No time to explain
+it now.  She'll tell you."
+
+Louise smiled as he paused before her.  She was certainly exquisitely
+beautiful.  Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her
+voice, were all perfection.  She gave him the tips of her fingers as
+Bellamy pronounced his name.
+
+"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me.  And
+indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would
+like to say one word with you."
+
+Laverick bowed.
+
+"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which
+procures me such a pleasure."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said.  "But indeed, then, I fear
+you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested.
+I read all your newspapers.  I read of that terrible murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago,--is not that how you
+call the place?"
+
+Laverick was suddenly grave.  What was this that was coming?
+
+"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a
+foreigner.  The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian.  I,
+too, come from that part of Europe--if not from Austria, from a
+country very near--and I am always interested in my country-people.
+A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this
+Crooked Friars' Alley?'  Just then he bowed to you, and he answered
+me, 'It is in the city.  It is within a yard or two of the offices
+of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.'  So I
+looked across at you and I thought that it was strange."
+
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+
+"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has
+told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office.  So far, too,
+the police seem completely at a loss."
+
+"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they
+are not very clever.  It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your
+offices are?"
+
+"Not at all," Laverick replied.  "On the contrary, in the daytime
+it might be called the heart of the city--of the money-making part
+of the city, at any rate.  Only this thing, you see, seems to have
+taken place very late at night."
+
+"When all the offices were closed," she remarked.
+
+"Most of them," Laverick answered.  "Mine, as it happened, was open
+late that night.  I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of
+the time when the murder must have been committed."
+
+"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head.  "Tell me,
+Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show
+me this place,--yes?"
+
+"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but
+there is nothing there.  It is just a passage."
+
+"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will
+come.  You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me.  Well, sometimes
+I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will
+give me your advice.  So!  You have a card!"
+
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it.  She
+thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+
+"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick."
+
+He bowed and recrossed the room.  Bellamy was standing talking to
+Zoe.
+
+"Well," he asked, as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to
+throw yourself beneath the car?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not think so," he answered.  "Our acquaintance promises to be
+a business one.  Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though
+me."
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked.  "Ah, well, you have
+every reason!"
+
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place.
+Laverick looked after him a little compassionately.
+
+"Poor fellow," he said.
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered.
+"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed.  "He is nice.  She must care for some
+one.  Why do you pity him?"
+
+"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick
+continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her.
+She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to
+spare from herself are given to her country."
+
+Zoe shuddered.
+
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women.
+Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all.  To me she seems only very,
+very sad.  Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?"
+
+"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim.  It must have been a
+whim."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+
+
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think
+about.  He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant,
+within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company
+of friends.  Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he
+knew slightly came across the room to him.
+
+"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?"
+
+"He has gone abroad for a few weeks.  As a matter of fact, we shall
+be announcing a change in the firm shortly."
+
+"Queer thing," the broker remarked.  "I was in Liverpool yesterday,
+and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks.  I
+should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful
+about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking
+individual.  I called out to him and he vanished like a streak."
+
+"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said.  "He sailed
+several days ago for New York."
+
+"That settles it," the man declared, passing on.  "All the same,
+it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw."
+
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out
+a marconigram to the Lusitania,
+
+      Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board?  Reply.
+
+He signed his name and paid for an answer.  Then he went back to
+his office.
+
+"Any one to see me?" he inquired.
+
+"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,--"queer
+looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash
+for some railway stock."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I'll see him," he said.  "Anything else?"
+
+"A lady rang up--name sounded like a French one, but we could none
+of us catch what it was--to say that she was coming down to see you."
+
+"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her
+directly she arrives.  How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to
+the waiter as he passed towards his room.  "Come in, will you?
+You've got your certificates all right?"
+
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not
+wholly agreed.  He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his
+little green eyes seemed even more restless.  His attire--a long
+rough overcoat over the livery of his profession--scarcely enhanced
+the dignity of his appearance.
+
+"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+
+"Our bar is being watched," the man declared.  "I don't think it's
+anything to do with the police.  Seems to be a sort of foreign gang.
+They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night.  They've
+pumped everybody."
+
+"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find
+out except from you."
+
+"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued.  "My
+junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room,
+told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten
+and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking.
+They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful."
+
+"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised.  "The inquest's on now and
+you haven't been called.  I don't fancy you're running any sort of
+risk.  Any one may say they believe there were people in the bar
+between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you
+outright.  Besides, you haven't sworn to anything.  You've simply
+said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one."
+
+"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically.
+"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you.  Their eyes
+seem to follow you all over the place."
+
+"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared.
+"I should like to see them.  I might get an idea as to their
+nationality, at any rate."
+
+"Very good, sir.  I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested.  I've
+said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at
+the work, so as to pave the way.  It's a hard job, and no mistake.
+I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed,
+too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to
+serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them.  It's
+more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick."
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"So much the better," he declared.  "All the more excuse for your
+leaving.
+
+"You'll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking
+up his hat.
+
+"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered.
+"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows."
+
+Jim Shepherd departed.  There was a shouting of newspaper boys in
+the street outside.  Laverick sent out for a paper.  The account of
+the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called
+except the men who had found the dead body.  The nature of the
+wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their
+having been self-inflicted.  In the absence of any police evidence
+or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death
+was naturally limited.  The jury contented themselves by bringing
+in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons
+unknown." Laverick laid down the paper.  The completion of the
+inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety.  The
+question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand
+pounds.  He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy.  After all, had
+he paid too great a price?  The millstone was gone from around his
+neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life.
+Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge.
+
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections.
+Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor.  She was
+wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,--a
+white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to
+have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure.  She brought with
+her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes--a
+perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its
+faint suggestion of hothouse flowers.  She held out her hand to
+Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair.
+
+"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle."
+
+She inclined her head graciously.
+
+"You are very kind," said she.  "I know that here in the city you
+are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long.
+Will you buy me some stocks,--some good safe stocks, which will
+bring me in at least four per cent?"
+
+"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered.  "Have you any
+choice?"
+
+"No, I have no choice," Louise told him.  "I bring with me a
+cheque,--see, I give it to you,--it is for six thousand pounds.  I would
+like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I
+may watch them in the paper.  I like to see whether they go up or
+down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much.  It is
+something like gambling but it is no trouble."
+
+"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick
+assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two,
+at any rate, your stocks will go up.  With regard to selling--"
+
+"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what
+you propose."
+
+"We will do our best," Laverick promised.
+
+"It is good," she said.  "Money is a wonderful thing.  Without it
+one can do little.  You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you
+were going to show me this passage?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Come with me now, if you will.  It is only a yard
+or two away."
+
+He took her out into the street.  Every clerk in the office forgot
+his manners and craned his neck.  Outside, Mademoiselle let fall
+her veil and passed unrecognized.  Laverick showed her the entry.
+
+"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on
+the left, that the body was found."
+
+She looked at the place steadily.  Then she looked along the
+passage.
+
+"Where does it lead to--that?" she asked.
+
+"Come and I will show you.  On the left"--as they passed along the
+flagged pavement--"is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard.  On the
+right here there are just offices.  The street in front of us is
+Henschell Street.  All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices."
+
+"And directly opposite," she asked,--"that is a caf�, is it
+not,--a restaurant, as you would call it?"
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"That is so," he agreed.  "One goes in there sometimes for a drink."
+
+"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired.  "It would probably
+be a meeting place.  One might leave there and walk down this
+passage naturally enough."
+
+Laverick inclined his head.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went
+to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night.
+You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock,
+and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+
+"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence.  In
+the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long
+before now.  The guilty person would be in the hands of the law.
+As it is, I suppose that he will go free."
+
+"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered
+Laverick.  "They haven't had much time so far."
+
+"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder--"  She
+hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence.  "Come,"
+she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office!
+This place is not cheerful.  All the time I think of that poor man.
+It does make me frightened."
+
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which
+was waiting before his door.
+
+"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by
+to-night's post," he promised her.  "We shall do our best in your
+interests."
+
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick.  I would like to see you again
+very soon.  You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?"
+
+"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly."
+
+"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House.  I
+leave a box for you at the door.  Send me round a note that you
+are there, and it is possible that I may see you.  It is against
+the rules, but for me there are no rules."
+
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+
+"You are doing something else?" she protested.  "You were, perhaps,
+thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were
+sitting last night?"
+
+"I had half promised--"
+
+"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter.  "She is not for
+you--that child.  She is too young.  She knows nothing.  Better to
+leave her alone.  She is not for a man of the world like you.  Soon
+she would cease to amuse you.  You would be dull and she would still
+care.  Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick--so
+much tragedy for the woman!  It is she always who suffers.  You
+will take my advice.  You will leave that little girl alone."
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly.  You
+see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me.  Perhaps," he added, after a second's
+pause, "I care for her too much."
+
+"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much.
+An Englishman, he cares never enough.  A woman to him is something
+amusing,--his companion for a little of his spare time, something
+to be pleased about, to show off to his friends,--to share, even,
+the passion of the moment.  But an Englishman he does not care too
+much.  He never cares enough.  He does not know what it is to care
+enough."
+
+"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there
+may not.  We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at
+least we are faithful."
+
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+
+"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed.  "Who is there, indeed,
+who wishes that you would be faithful?  How much we poor women do
+suffer from that!  Why can you never understand that a woman would
+be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the
+passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long.  It gets
+weary.  It gets stale.  It is as you say,--the Englishman he cares
+very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be
+an artiste and a woman, she tires.  But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick!
+I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous
+matters.  You come to-night?"
+
+"You are very kind," Laverick said.  "If I may come until eleven
+o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure."
+
+"As you will," she declared.  "We shall see.  I expect you, then.
+You ask for your box."
+
+"If you wish it, certainly."
+
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+
+"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street."
+
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his
+clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle
+Idiale.  He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that
+Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the
+telephone.  He took up the receiver.
+
+"Who is it?" he asked.
+
+"It is Shepherd," was the answer.  "Is that Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd
+continued.  "You had with you a lady--a young, tall lady with a
+veil."
+
+"That's right," Laverick admitted.  "What about her?"
+
+"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in
+the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely.  "He saw her with you and
+I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock.  He
+dropped his glass and his paper.  He watched you every second of
+the time you were there until you had disappeared.  Then he, too,
+put on his hat and went out."
+
+"Anything else?"
+
+"Nothing else," was the reply.  "I thought you might like to know
+this, sir.  The man recognized the lady right enough."
+
+"It seems queer," Laverick admitted.  "Thank you for ringing me up,
+Shepherd.  Good morning!"
+
+Laverick leaned back in his chair.  There was no doubt whatever now
+in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other,
+was interested in this crime.  Her wish to see the place, her
+introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all
+part of a scheme.  He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it.
+As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place
+amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+
+
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green
+Park.  Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand.
+She took his arm in foreign fashion.  They walked together towards
+Buckingham Palace--a strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+
+"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me.  To look at him,
+to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest.  He has just
+those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half
+splendid, of your athletic Englishman.  One would imagine him doing
+a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a
+criminal at all."
+
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path.  His forehead wore a perplexed
+frown.
+
+"He didn't give himself away, then?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?"
+
+"Without an instant's hesitation."
+
+"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make
+love to you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I even gave him an opening," she said.  "Of flirtation he has no
+more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets."
+
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+
+"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that
+he has the money and the portfolio.  I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed
+only a week ago.  They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly
+insolvent.  No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis."
+
+"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired.
+
+"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her.  "He saw Laverick enter
+that passage and come out.  Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way.
+The thing could not have been accidental."
+
+"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested.  "He is, after
+all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be
+very much in your power.  Tell him of the value of that document.
+Tell him that you must have it."
+
+"It could be done," Bellamy admitted.  "I think that one of us must
+talk plainly to him.  Listen, Louise,--are you seeing him again?"
+
+"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night."
+
+"See what you can do," he begged.  "I would rather keep away from
+him myself, if I can.  Have you heard anything of Streuss?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched--even
+my dressing-room at the Opera House.  That man's spies are
+simply wonderful.  He seems able to plant them everywhere.  And,
+David!--"
+
+"Yes, dear?"
+
+"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued.  "I am perfectly
+certain of it."
+
+"Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy
+declared.
+
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone.  "The man
+has all my affairs in his hands.  Up till now, although he is
+uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well."
+
+"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said.  "I am tired."
+
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side.  In full view
+of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying.  She looked
+thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster.
+
+"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked.
+
+"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more.
+
+"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence.  I seem to
+feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk,
+to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who
+throng your streets.  They are a stolid, unbelieving people--these.
+The blow, when it comes, will be the harder."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"You are right," he said.  "When one comes to think of it, it is
+amazing.  How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how
+completely their teachings have been ignored!  The invasion bogey
+has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest.
+Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers."
+
+"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I am," he affirmed.  "I think that if we could read that document
+we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion
+of England.  I think you would find that the blow would be struck
+simultaneously at our Colonies.  We should either have to submit or
+send a considerable fleet away from home waters.  Then, I presume,
+the question of invasion would come again.  All the time, of course,
+the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be
+scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings.  Austria would
+gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere."
+
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+
+"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she
+said, "this decadence of your country.  Once England held the scales
+of justice for the world.  Now she is no longer strong enough, and
+there is none to take her place.  David, even if you know what that
+document contains, even then will it help very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed.  Don't you see that there is one hope left to
+us--one hope--and that is Russia?  The Czar must be made to
+withdraw from that compact.  We want to know his share in it.  When
+we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia.  Germany
+and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world.  With Russia
+behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an
+equal one.  They have to face both directions, they have to face two
+great armies working from the east and from the west."
+
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments.
+Bellamy was thinking deeply.
+
+"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms
+have been searched.  When was this?"
+
+"Only last night," she replied.
+
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is
+not in our possession.  He knows nothing about Laverick.  How are
+we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?"
+
+"You have a plan?" she asked.
+
+"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared.  "I shall
+say that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government.  It will be a bluff, pure and simple.  He may believe
+it or he may not."
+
+"You will break your compact then," she reminded him.
+
+"I shall call myself justified," he continued.  "He has attempted
+to rob us of the document.  You are sure of what you say--that your
+rooms and dressing-room have been searched?"
+
+"Absolutely certain," she declared.
+
+"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided.  "If Streuss comes to
+me, I shall meet him frankly.  I shall tell him that he has tried
+to play the burglar and that it must be war.  I shall tell him that
+the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and
+his spies had better clear out."
+
+She looked at him questioningly.
+
+"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can
+do, and one thing only.  We must send a mission to Russia and another
+to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea
+we must declare war.  It is the only thing left to us--a bold front.
+Without that packet we have no casus belli.  With it, we can strike,
+and strike hard.  I still believe that if we declare war within seven
+days, we shall save ourselves."
+
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across
+the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world
+beyond.  They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh
+floor of one of the great Strand hotels.
+
+"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily.  "We cannot
+doubt it any longer.  I think, Streuss, that the best course you
+and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back.  We do no
+good here.  We only run needless risks."
+
+The face of the other man was dark with anger.  His tone, when he
+spoke, shook with passion.
+
+"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely.  "I tell you
+that we must succeed.  If that document reaches the hands of any one
+in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen
+upon our country since you or I were born.  You don't understand,
+Kahn!  You keep your eyes closed!"
+
+"What men can do we have done," the other answered.  "Von Behrling
+played us false.  He has died a traitor's death, but it is very
+certain that he parted with his document before he received that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared.  "At
+mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were
+unknown to the Ministers of the King here.  Now if Von Behrling
+had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose
+that everything would be known by now?  He did not part with it.
+Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it.
+That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer,
+and it is for us to find him."
+
+Kahn sighed.
+
+"It is outside our sphere--that.  What can we do against the police
+of this country working in their own land?"
+
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing.  The veins
+in his temples were like whipcord.
+
+"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool!  Can't you see what it
+means?  If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose
+will happen?"
+
+"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered.  "They will
+have time to make preparation."
+
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+
+"Worse than that!" he exclaimed.  "They are not all fools, these
+English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches.
+Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches
+Downing Street?  War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon!
+Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working
+night and day?  Don't you know that every nerve is being strained,
+that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our
+new battleships?  There is but one chance for this country, and if
+her statesmen read that document they will know what it is.  It is
+open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves
+secure against attack."
+
+"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared.  "They might
+make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to
+take the initiative--no!  I do not believe it."
+
+"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said.  "He
+may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it.  Kahn, wake up, man!
+You and I together have never known what failure means.  I tell you
+that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must
+find it.  This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called
+at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked
+Friars' Alley.  She was there a long time.  The stockbroker himself
+came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood
+with her there and returned.  What was her interest in him, Kahn?
+His name is Laverick.  Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin.
+To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements.  Why did
+Mademoiselle go to the city to see him?  He was at his office late
+that Tuesday night.  He had a partner who has disappeared."
+
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+
+"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed.
+
+"And more," Streuss declared.  "For twenty-four hours, this man
+Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels."
+
+"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested.  "If he has the
+document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly."
+
+Streuss shook his head.
+
+"You don't know the man.  He is an Englishman, and if he had any
+idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would
+be small indeed.  This is what I think will happen.  Mademoiselle
+will try to obtain it, and try in vain.  Then Bellamy will tell him
+the truth, and he will part with it willingly.  In the meantime, I
+believe that it is in his possession.
+
+"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn.
+
+"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed.  "If it is only a hundred to one
+chance, we have to take it.  I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf,
+and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed."
+
+The telephone bell rang.  Streuss took off the receiver and held it
+to his ear.  The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid
+the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in
+his face.
+
+"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with
+the document to-day.  Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been
+sitting in the Park for an hour.  When they separated, she drove
+home and dropped him at his club.  Up till now, then, they have not
+the document.  We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves
+business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document
+has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his
+office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's--"
+
+"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly.
+
+"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly,
+"there is still a chance for us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+
+
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden
+that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the
+reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become
+her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this
+adventure.  He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no
+interest for her.  In some way or other he had become connected in
+her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of
+his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder
+had become a subject of interest to her.  Either that, or this was
+one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of
+courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary
+visitor.  The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her
+wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no
+person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved
+upon any stage.  It appeared impossible that movement so graceful
+and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless.  There
+seemed to be some strange power inside the woman.  Surely her will
+guided her feet!  The necessity for physical effort never once
+appeared.  Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt
+against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether
+in check.  The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her
+glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience.  He
+clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he
+leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she
+reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips,
+accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the
+packed house.
+
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock
+at his box door.  One of the attendants ushered in a short man of
+somewhat remarkable personality.  He was barely five feet in height,
+and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the
+appearance of a hunchback.  He had black, beady eyes, a black
+moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin.  His white gloves
+had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his
+silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually
+associated with Bond Street.
+
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and
+commenced to speak.  His accent was foreign, but, if not an
+Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence.
+
+"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies.  It was
+Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance.
+My name is Lassen.  I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business
+manager.
+
+"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick.  "Will
+you sit down?"
+
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed
+back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took
+the seat opposite Laverick.  His first question was inevitable.
+
+"What do you think of the opera, sir?"
+
+"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered.  "It
+is above criticism."
+
+"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe
+and her voice is the most wonderful.  It is a great combination,
+this.  I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to
+England most of those whose names are known during the last ten
+years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,--never will
+be."
+
+"I can believe it," Laverick admitted.
+
+"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen.  "Your
+acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest."
+
+"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly.  He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+
+"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded.
+"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance."
+
+"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered.  "As a matter of fact,
+it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist
+upon my coming here to-night.  She did me the honor, as you may
+know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning."
+
+"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared.  "Mademoiselle is a
+great woman of business.  Most of her investments she controls
+herself.  She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict
+her.  She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of
+affairs."
+
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss
+Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger
+should be her manager.  He nodded and took up his programme.  As
+he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act.  Laverick turned
+deliberately towards the stage.  The little man had paid his respects,
+as he put it.  Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation
+with him.  Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that
+his companion's eyes were fixed upon him.  He had an uncomfortable
+sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this
+visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he
+had not declared.
+
+"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter
+remarked, some time afterwards.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her."
+
+"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested.
+"You are here at her invitation.  It is usual, I can assure you."
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said.  "I
+have an engagement immediately after the performance is over."
+
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch,
+and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later.  When
+he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to
+Laverick with an air of triumph.
+
+"It is as I said!" he exclaimed.  "Mademoiselle expects you."
+
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+
+
+  I wish to see you after the performance.  If you cannot come
+  round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant
+  of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup.  Do not fail.
+
+                                                   Louise Idiale.
+
+
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate
+remark.  Later on he turned to his companion.
+
+"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself
+the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant.  I have an
+engagement after the performance which I must keep."
+
+"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously.
+
+"Without a doubt," Laverick promised.
+
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+
+"I will go and tell Mademoiselle.  For some reason or other she
+seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening.  She has
+her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself,
+find it well to keep them gratified.  If I do not see you again,
+sir, permit me to wish you good evening."
+
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and
+Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve.  He was not in the
+least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this
+woman's interest in him.  Her invitation, he knew very well, was
+one which half London would have coveted.  Yet it meant nothing
+personal, he was sure of that.  It simply meant that for some
+mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit
+him in the city he was of interest to her.
+
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove
+to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre.  Zoe came out among the
+first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street
+eagerly.  When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly.
+
+"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab.  "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there
+is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true.
+To-night I was not sure.  You had said nothing about it, and yet I
+could not help believing that you would be here."
+
+"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together.
+Unfortunately, I have an engagement."
+
+"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling.
+
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+
+"It is rather an odd thing," he declared.  "You remember that woman
+at Luigi's last night--Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to
+invest for her.  She made me take her out and show her where the
+murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it.
+Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening,
+and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards.
+I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to
+Luigi's, where she will be."
+
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+
+"Where are we going now, then?" she asked.
+
+"Wherever you like.  I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere."
+
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+
+"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said.  "I have so
+many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home."
+
+"I am sorry.  If I could think of anything or anywhere--"
+
+"No, you must take me home, please," said she.  "It was selfish of
+me.  Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person.  Do you
+think that she will want you every night?"
+
+"Of course not," he laughed.  "Come, I will make an engagement with
+you.  We will have supper together to-morrow evening."
+
+She brightened up at once.
+
+"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you
+heard anything from Arthur?  He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown."
+
+Laverick shook his head.  He said nothing about the marconigram he
+had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that
+there was no such person on board.  It seemed scarcely worth while
+to worry her.
+
+"I have heard nothing," he replied.  "Of course, he must be half-way
+to America by now."
+
+"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked.
+
+"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors.
+The latter I am paying as they come.  But there is one thing you
+ought to do with me.  I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock
+up his papers and letters.  He never even went back, you know, after
+that night."
+
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"When would you like to do this?"
+
+"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until
+Monday afternoon.  Would you go with me then?"
+
+"Of course...  My time is my own.  We have no matinee, and I have
+nothing to do except in the evening."
+
+They had reached her home.  It looked very dark and very uninviting.
+She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was
+carrying.
+
+"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged.  "It
+looks so dreary, doesn't it?"
+
+"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in
+a part like this."
+
+"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered.  "I am only lonely."
+
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit
+the gas jet.  In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting
+for her, and some bread.
+
+"Thank you so much," she said.  "Now I am going to make up the fire
+and read for a short time.  I hope that you will enjoy your supper--well,
+moderately," she added, with a little laugh.
+
+"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than
+last night's or to-morrow night's."
+
+She sighed.
+
+"Poor little me!" she exclaimed.  "It is not fair to have to compete
+with Mademoiselle Idiale.  Good night!"
+
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+
+"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away
+early--would you like me to come in and say good night to you
+later on?"
+
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+
+"Oh, do!" she begged.  "Do!"
+
+He turned away with a smile.
+
+"Very well," he said.  "Don't shut up just yet and I will try."
+
+"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared,--"until
+four, even.  You must come.  Remember, you must come.  See."
+
+She held out to him her key.
+
+"I can knock at the door," he protested.  "You would hear me."
+
+"But I might fall asleep," she answered.  "I am afraid.  If you have
+the key, I am sure that you will come."
+
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+
+"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+
+
+Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to
+twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties
+on their way to a fancy dress ball.  The demand for tables was far
+in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before
+the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once.
+"Will you be so good as to come this way?"
+
+Laverick followed him.  She was sitting at the same table as last
+night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise,
+only for two.
+
+"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to
+a new sensation.  I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of
+an hour--I!  Such a thing has never happened to me before."
+
+"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+
+"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you.  That is what I
+seldom do with any man.  Not that I care for the appearance," she
+added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand.  "Nothing troubles me
+less.  It is simply that one man alone wearies me.  Almost always
+he will make love, and that I do not like.  You, Mr. Laverick, I am
+not afraid of.  I do not think that you will make love to me."
+
+"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I
+forthwith banish.  You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle."
+
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+
+"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said.  "I do not think that
+you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous."
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make
+love to any one.  I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is
+difficult--sometimes it is even embarrassing.  For supper?"
+
+"It is ordered," she declared.  "You are my guest."
+
+"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly.  "I have been your guest
+at the Opera.  You at least owe me the honor of being mine for
+supper."
+
+She frowned a little.  She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+
+"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted.  "No," she
+continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back.  I
+sup with you to-night.  This is an ill omen for our future
+acquaintance.  I have given in to you already--I, who give in to
+no man.  Give me some champagne, please."
+
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the
+sommelier darted forward and served them.
+
+"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,"
+she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast,
+I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is
+consuming you."
+
+"The curiosity?"
+
+"Yes!  You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last
+night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your
+office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with
+you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you
+to supper here and am supping with you alone.  Now confess the
+truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?"
+
+"Frankly, I am."
+
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+
+"I knew it quite well.  You are not conceited.  You do not believe,
+as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you.  You
+think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the
+time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether
+you have any idea."
+
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper.  She looked at him with a
+suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only
+needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something
+almost irresistible.
+
+"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea."
+
+"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked.
+
+"It was about the murder.  You seemed interested in the fact that
+my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred."
+
+"Quite right," she admitted.  "I see that your memory is very good.
+There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you."
+
+Laverick drank his wine slowly.  The woman knew!  Impossible!  Her
+eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely.  What
+could she know?  How could she guess?
+
+"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand.  Your interest in me
+arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that
+murder.  Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?"
+
+"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance
+of mine."
+
+"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed.  "Why, he has not
+been identified.  No one knows who he was."
+
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you
+everything.  I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of
+mine.  Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna
+with him."
+
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+
+"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?"
+
+"Perhaps I could," she answered.  "I can tell you one thing, at any
+rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you.  At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him.  This
+is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press."
+
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his.  He sat
+quite still.  His face exhibited nothing more than the blank
+amazement which he certainly felt.
+
+"This is marvelous," he said.  "Have you told the police?"
+
+"I have not," she answered.  "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling
+the police."
+
+"But the money?  To whom did it belong?"
+
+"Not to the murdered man."
+
+"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired.
+
+"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am
+telling you too much."
+
+"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly.
+
+"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?"
+
+"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed.  "But what can I do?  What do I know
+of these things?"
+
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful
+gold purse set with emeralds.  Carefully opening it, she drew from
+the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great
+uncut emerald set into its centre.  This, too, she opened, and drew
+out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top.
+These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth.
+Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+
+"You may read that," she said.  "It is part of a report which I have
+had in my pos session since Wednesday morning."
+
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular
+characters, very distinct and plain:
+
+          Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down
+          the street but did not glance toward the passage.  The next
+          person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the
+          same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his
+          homeward way.  He glanced up the passage and saw the body
+          lying there.  He disappeared for a moment and struck a match.
+          A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and
+          down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office
+          from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey,
+          and closed the door behind him.  He was there for about ten
+          minutes.  When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street
+          and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him.
+
+          The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was
+          Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+
+"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly.
+
+He handed it back to her.
+
+"It interests me very much," he answered.  "Who was this unseen
+person who wrote from the clouds?"
+
+"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared.
+"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?"
+
+Laverick helped himself to champagne.  He listened for a moment to
+the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that
+beautiful face a few feet away.  Her lips were slightly parted, her
+forehead wrinkled.  There was nothing of the accuser in her
+countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression.
+
+"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It might seem so," she answered.  "Sometimes I think that all the
+time we live two lives,--the life of which the world sees the
+outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows
+anything at all.  Look, for instance, at all these people--these
+chorus girls and young men about town--the older ones, too--all
+hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they
+had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy.
+Have they no shadows, too, no secrets?  They seem so harmless, yet
+if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer
+there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus
+on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor?  But
+those are the things of the other world which we do not see.  The
+men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me.
+The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and
+shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame
+throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very
+few minutes.  But they do not know.  There are the shadows across
+my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours.  What
+do you say, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+He looked at her, curiously moved.  Now at last he began to believe
+that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a
+marvelous woman.  She had a fame which would have contented nine
+hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand.  She had beauty,
+and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are
+irresistible.  She had but to lift a finger and there were few
+who would not kneel to do her bidding.  And yet, behind it all there
+were other things in her life.  Had she sought them, or had they
+come to her?
+
+"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who
+realize the danger of words.  You believe in silence.  Well, silence
+is often good.  You do not choose to admit anything."
+
+"What is there for me to admit?  Do you want to know whether I am
+the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage,
+who reappeared again--"
+
+"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured
+across the flowers.
+
+"At least tell me this?" he demanded.  "Was the money yours?"
+
+"I am not like you," she replied.  "I have talked a great deal and
+I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you."
+
+"But where are we?" he asked.  "Are you seriously accusing me of
+having robbed this murdered man?"
+
+"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having
+murdered him."
+
+"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account
+for my movements that night as against the written word of your
+mysterious informant?  Is it you who are charging me with being a
+thief?  Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself
+or to plead guilty?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No," she answered.  "I have said almost my last word to you upon
+this subject.  All that I have to ask of you is this.  If that
+pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents,
+then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not
+a secret pocket.  If you discover that, I think that you will find
+in it a sealed document.  If you find that document, you must bring
+it to me."
+
+The lights went down.  The voice of the waiter murmured something
+in his ears.
+
+"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not
+wish to disturb us.  Still, perhaps we had better go."
+
+They passed down the room.  To Laverick it was all--like a dream--the
+laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the
+lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to
+have enfolded the place.  In the hall her maid came up.  A small
+motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the
+doorway.  Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand.
+
+"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite
+a success.  We shall before long, I hope, meet again."
+
+He handed her into the carriage.  Her maid walked with them.  The
+footman stood erect by his side.  There were no further words to be
+spoken.  A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood
+bareheaded upon the pavement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+
+
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when
+he stole into that shabby little sitting-room.  Zoe had fallen
+asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the
+window.  Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat
+lay upon the table.  A book was upon her lap as though she had
+started to read only to find it slip through her fingers.  He stood
+with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her.  Her
+eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that
+her eyes were closed.  Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed
+more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of
+ill-health.  The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the
+neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin.
+Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her
+feet and ankles.  Once more he remembered his first simile, his
+first thought of her.  She seemed, indeed, like some dainty
+statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her
+own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the
+struggle.  His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he
+stood and watched her.  Supposing she had been different!  It
+would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way
+through the most difficult of all lives.  Brute!
+
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her
+eyes.  At first she seemed bewildered.  Then she smiled and sat up.
+
+"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed.
+
+"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling.  "I have
+been standing looking at you for five minutes at least."
+
+"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared.  "I don't
+suppose I should ever have heard you.  Now please stand there in
+the light and let me look at you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle
+Idiale."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?"
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so
+beautiful!  If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she
+even looked my way."
+
+"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable."
+
+"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Why should I be?" he laughed.  "She is like a wonderful picture, a
+marvelous statue, if you will.  Everything about her is faultless.
+But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know.  It is life
+which stirs life."
+
+"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked.
+
+"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir
+it."
+
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+
+"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the
+least desire to let you go."
+
+"Incredible!" he declared.
+
+"But it is true," she answered earnestly.  "You would not have me
+talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door.  The men
+to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very
+few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for
+me and I have not cared for them.  I think," she said, disconsolately,
+"I am too small.  Every one to-day seems to like big women.  Cora
+Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every
+night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper."
+
+Laverick looked grave.
+
+"You are not envying her?" he asked.
+
+"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes."
+
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to
+prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+But do you know that it is half past one?  I must not stay here any
+longer."
+
+She sighed once more.
+
+"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely.  I have never
+been here without May and her mother.  I have never slept alone in
+the house before the other night.  If I had known that they were
+going away, I should never have dared to come here."
+
+"It is too bad," he declared.  "Couldn't you get one of the other
+girls to stay with you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but
+they are all living either at home or with relatives.  The others I
+am afraid about.  They seem to like to sit up so late and--"
+
+"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily,--"quite right.  You
+are better alone.  But you ought to have a servant."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked.  "You must remember that
+I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay."
+
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I
+have money which should go to your brother.  Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little?  I cannot bear to think of
+you here all alone."
+
+"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no.
+Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that
+sort of help from you.  If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it
+for a time and I think when you write him--I do not want to seem
+grasping--but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that
+he does give me just a little.  I have never had anything from him
+at all.  Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+
+"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you
+would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to
+you.  I will take the responsibility for it.  It will come from him
+and not from me."
+
+She remained unconvinced.
+
+"I would rather wait," she said.  "If you really want to give me
+something, I will let you--out of my brother's money, of course,
+I mean," she added.  "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't
+have that.  But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and
+hat.  You can tell Arthur directly you write to him.  I don't mind
+that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed--I did the other night to
+have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very
+differently from all of them."
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+"I don't think men notice those things.  To me you seemed just as
+you should seem.  I only know that I was glad enough to be there
+with you."
+
+"Were you?"--rather wistfully.
+
+"Of course I was.  Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget
+Monday afternoon.  We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's
+rooms."
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"Is it really so late?" she asked.
+
+"It is.  Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?"
+
+They stood hand in hand for a moment.  A strange silence seemed to
+have fallen upon the streets.  Laverick was suddenly conscious of
+something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had
+smiled upon him--a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering
+excitement which almost took his breath away.  His eyes were fixed
+upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave
+of feeling in her own expressive face.  Her lips trembled, her eyes
+were deeper and softer than ever.  They seemed to be asking him a
+question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was
+concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at
+arm's length.
+
+"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer,
+so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+
+"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice
+even to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+
+"Run along to bed.  To-morrow night--to-morrow night, then, I will
+fetch you.  Good-bye!"
+
+He let himself out.  He did not even look behind to the spot where
+he had left her.  He closed the front door and walked with swift,
+almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square,
+and into New Oxford Street.  Here he seemed to breathe more freely.
+He called a hansom and drove to his rooms.
+
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was
+no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him.  When he
+entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise.
+Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands
+upon his knees--Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even
+than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of
+unconcealed and unaffected terror.
+
+"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed.  "What the dickens--what do you want
+here, Shepherd?"
+
+"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied,
+"but I'm scared.  I've brought you back the certificates of them
+shares.  I want you to keep them for me.  I'm terrified lest they
+come and search my room.  I am, I tell you fair.  I'm terrified to
+order a pint of beer for myself.  They're watching me all the time."
+
+"Who are?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it.
+I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd
+done and finished with it.  Not a bit of it!  There was another one
+there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of
+the passage and asking me no end of questions.  He wasn't no
+journalist, I'll swear to that.  I asked him about his paper.
+'Half-a-dozen,' he declared.  'They're all glad to have what I send
+them.' Journalist!  Lord knows who the other chap was and what he
+was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight.  Joe
+Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a
+month's notice, and he says to me, 'You see that big chap?'--meaning
+him as had been asking me the questions--and I says 'Yes!' and he
+says, 'That's a 'tee.  I've seed him in a police court, giving
+evidence.'  I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me
+down."
+
+"Come, come!" said Laverick.  "There's no need for you to be feeling
+like this about it.  All that you've done is not to have remembered
+those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night.
+There's nothing criminal in that."
+
+"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds'
+worth of shares in one's pocket--something suspicious, anyway,"
+Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table.  "I ain't giving
+you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me.  I wish I'd never
+given notice.  I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on."
+
+"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?"
+Laverick inquired.
+
+"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up.  "Why, he's
+been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me.
+My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell
+whether he did or not?  Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere.
+Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush
+was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels.  I seed
+him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get
+a drop of something."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you
+are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come
+here!  All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner."
+
+"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared.  "I couldn't, indeed.
+I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one.  And then
+there were these shares.  There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe."
+
+"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about
+nothing.  In any case, there is only one thing for you to do.  Pull
+yourself together and put a bold face upon it.  I'll keep these
+certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come
+to me for it.  Go back to your place, and if your master is willing
+to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for
+another month or so.  But don't let any one see that you're
+frightened.  Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble
+for.  No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked,
+except in a court and under oath.  Stick to your story, and if you
+take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking
+fingers, "you will keep away from the drink."
+
+"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him.  "A drop
+now and then just to keep up one's spirits--nothing that amounts
+to anything."
+
+"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said.  "Remember, I'm back
+of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble.  And don't come here
+again.  Come to my office, if you like--there's nothing in that--but
+don't come here, you understand?"
+
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+
+"I understand, sir.  I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight
+of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers."
+
+"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason," Laverick said,
+showing him out, "but not here again.  Keep your eyes open, and let
+me know if you think you've been followed here."
+
+"There's no more news in the papers, sir?  Nothing turned up?"
+
+"Nothing," replied Laverick.  "If the police have found out anything
+at all, they will keep it until after the inquest."
+
+"And you've heard nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a
+hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?"
+
+"Nothing," Laverick answered.  "Mr. Morrison is abroad."
+
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+
+"Of course!" he muttered.  "A good job, too, for him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+
+
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and
+one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine.  He found
+a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows.
+They stared at him in amazement.  His arrival at such an hour was
+absolutely unprecedented.
+
+"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told
+them.  "I have a few things to attend to at once."
+
+He was accordingly left alone.  He had reckoned upon this as being
+the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being
+disturbed.  Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure
+against any possible intruder.  Then he went to his safe, unlocked
+it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather
+pocket-book.
+
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table.
+Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little
+leap.  It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him.  On one
+side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper.  He opened the
+case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining.
+Very soon he found the opening--it was simply a matter of drawing
+down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge.
+Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope,
+securely sealed.  Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged
+the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again.  Then
+he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document
+which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+
+There was not much to be made of it.  There was no address, but the
+black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms,
+and a motto which to him was indecipherable.  He held it up to the
+light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained
+no idea as to its contents.  He leaned back in his chair for a
+moment, and looked at it.  So this was the document which would
+probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley!
+This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so
+much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of
+bank-notes!  What did it all mean?  Was this man, who had either
+expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance,--was
+he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret
+society, an informer?  Or was he one of the underground criminals
+of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known
+things--a creature of the dark places?  Perhaps during those few
+minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city
+awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than
+ever before exactly how he stood.  Without doubt he was walking on
+the brink of a precipice.  Four days ago there had been nothing for
+him but ruin.  The means of salvation had suddenly presented
+themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without
+hesitation he had embraced them.  What did it all amount to?  How
+far was he guilty, and of what?  Was he a thief?  The law would
+probably call him so.  The law might have even more to say.  It
+would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on
+that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals,--he
+was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge
+of this terrible crime.  Events had followed upon one another so
+rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time
+for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood.  The
+long-expected boom in "Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange
+advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible
+connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her
+apparent knowledge of his share in it,--these things were sufficient,
+indeed, to give him food for thought.  Laverick was not by nature a
+pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without
+doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high
+order.  It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger.
+He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other
+thoughts.  Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business
+of the day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face
+and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was.  How was he
+to find a way out--to set himself right with the law?  What could
+he do with those notes?  They were there untouched.  He had only
+made use of them in an indirect way.  They were there intact, as
+he had picked them up upon that fateful night.  Was there any
+possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and
+restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned?
+His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him.
+Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy.  Should he risk
+everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much
+and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale?  It was a strange
+dilemma for a man to find himself in.
+
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced.  A pile
+of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began
+to ring.  He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of
+his coat and buttoned it up.  There, for the present, it must remain.
+He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make
+the most of this great tide of business.  With set face he closed
+the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which
+were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual
+figure.
+
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him
+that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+
+"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded
+him.  "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her.  They
+must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit.  Perhaps she
+wants to realize."
+
+"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick.
+
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and
+heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat
+severely furnished office.  Her skirts swept his carpet with a
+musical swirl.  She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume
+of violets,--a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a
+famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person
+upon earth.  Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those
+few yards as she walked?
+
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+
+"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely.  "So
+far, we have nothing but good news for you."
+
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk,
+and she waved her hand.
+
+"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments
+are a nuisance, I suppose," she said.  "But indeed I will not keep
+you long.  A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you.  I am
+beginning to find city affairs so interesting."
+
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so
+high that he could see her eyes.  She leaned back in her chair,
+supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right
+hand.  She looked at him thoughtfully.
+
+"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked.
+
+"I have."
+
+"And the document was there?"
+
+"The document was there," he admitted.  "Perhaps you can tell me how
+it would be addressed?"
+
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was
+assumed.  She was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+
+"I imagine that there would be no address," she said.
+
+"You are right.  That document is in my pocket."
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
+
+"What do you advise me to do with it?"
+
+"Give it to me."
+
+"Have you any claim?"
+
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+
+"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"I do not claim them," he replied.  "They are in my safe at this
+moment, untouched.  They are there ready to be returned to their
+proper owner."
+
+"Why do you not find him?"--with a note of incredulity in her tone.
+
+"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"We waste words," she continued coldly.  "I think that if I leave
+you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand
+me that document."
+
+"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted.  "The very fact that
+you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to
+it.  But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?"
+
+"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none."
+
+"But listen," he begged.  "You are the only person with whom I have
+come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair.  I
+should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it.
+Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence?  I want neither
+the twenty thousand pounds nor the document.  I want, to be frank
+with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of
+being half a thief and half a criminal.  Show me some claim to that
+document and you shall have it.  Tell me to whom that money belongs,
+and it shall be restored."
+
+"You are incomprehensible," she declared.  "Are you, by any chance,
+playing a part with me?  Do you think that it is worth while?"
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the
+world is further from my thoughts.  There is very little of the
+conspirator about me.  I am a plain man of business who stumbled in
+upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary
+use of his discovery.  You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid.
+I want to get out.  Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such
+a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents
+anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again."
+
+She listened to him with unchanged face.  Yet for some moments after
+he had finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+
+"You may be speaking the truth," she said.  "If so, I have been
+deceived.  You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were.
+What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true."
+
+"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly.
+
+"Listen," she said, after a brief pause.  "You were at school, were
+you not, with Mr. David Bellamy?  You know well who he is?"
+
+"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You would consider him a person to be trusted?"
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"Very well, then," she declared.  "You shall come to my fiat at five
+o'clock this afternoon and bring that document.  If it is possible,
+David Bellamy shall be there himself.  We will try then and prove
+to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us."
+
+"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must
+tell me where."
+
+"You will put it down, please," she said.  "There must not be any
+mistake.  You must come, and you must come to-day.  I am staying at
+number 15, Dover Street.  I will leave orders that you are shown
+in at once."
+
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her.  On the way
+she hesitated.
+
+"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged.  "There
+are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry
+with you.  You represent to them things beside which life and death
+are trivial happenings."
+
+Laverick laughed shortly.  He was a matter-of-fact man, and there
+seemed something a little absurd in such a warning.
+
+"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear.  London
+is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably
+safe one to live in."
+
+"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your
+guard to-day, for all our sakes."
+
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+
+"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to
+leave as they are.  It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to
+know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a
+thousand pounds."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It was an excuse--that investment," she declared.  "Yet money is
+always good.  Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will.  I
+will trust your judgment.  Buy or sell as you please.  You will let
+nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?"
+
+"Nothing," he promised her.
+
+From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham
+she held out her hand in farewell.
+
+"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do
+beg that you will remember what I say.  Do not be alone to-day more
+than you can help.  Suspect every one who comes near to you.  There
+may be a trap before your feet at any moment.  Be wary always and do
+not forget--at five o'clock I expect you."
+
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+
+"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+
+
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked
+"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick.  He tore it open.
+It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two
+of the partners of which he was on friendly terms.  It ran thus:
+
+  MY DEAR LAVERICK,--I want a chat with you, if you can spare
+  five minutes at lunch time.  Come to Lyons' a little earlier
+  than usual, if you don't mind,--say at a quarter to one.
+
+                                                    J. HENSHAW.
+
+
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first.  He
+had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention
+of starting out, when a thought struck him.  He took it up and read
+it though again.  Then he turned to the telephone.
+
+"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen.  I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly."
+
+Two minutes passed.  Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands
+ready to go out.  Then the telephone bell rang.  He took up the
+receiver.
+
+"Hullo!  Is that Henshaw?"
+
+"I'm Henshaw," was the answer.  "That's Laverick, isn't it?  How
+are you, old fellow?"
+
+"I'm all right," Laverick replied.  "What is it that you want to
+see me about?"
+
+"Nothing particular that I know of.  Who told you that I wanted to?"
+
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat
+down in his chair.
+
+"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago,
+asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons'?"
+
+Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response.
+
+"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,--you know
+that," was the answer, "but some one's been putting up a practical
+joke on you."
+
+"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick
+insisted.
+
+"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply.  "Do you seriously mean that
+you've had one purporting to come from me?"
+
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+
+"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could
+tell what the name really was.  I guessed at you but I seem to have
+guessed wrong.  Good-bye!"
+
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning.
+Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken.  This was a deliberate
+effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices
+at a quarter to one.
+
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked,
+Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of
+his premises.  At the same time his curiosity was excited.  Here,
+perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable
+mystery.
+
+There were thee clerks in the outer office.  He put on his hat and
+despatched two of them on errands in different directions.  The last
+he was obliged to take into his confidence.
+
+"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch.  At least, I wish it
+to be thought that I am going out to lunch.  As a matter of fact, I
+shall return in about ten minutes by the back way.  I do not wish
+you, however, to know this.  I want you to have it in your mind
+that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past
+two.  If there are visitors for me--Inquirers of any sort--act
+exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was
+not in the building."
+
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified.  Laverick took him even
+further into his confidence.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a
+bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him.  Some
+one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour
+or so.  I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible.
+You understand?"
+
+"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully.  "I am not to be
+aware that you have returned, then?"
+
+"Certainly not," Laverick answered.  "Please be quite clear about
+that.  If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in,
+but do not send for the police unless I tell you to.  I wish to
+look into this affair for myself."
+
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+
+"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate
+with the police in the first case?  If this should really turn out
+to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the
+matter to them."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to
+tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter
+personally.  Please do exactly as I say."
+
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of
+the restaurant which he chiefly frequented.  He reached it in a
+moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance.  Within ten
+minutes he was back at his office.
+
+"Has any one been, Halsey?"
+
+"No one, sir," the clerk answered.
+
+"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I
+have returned."
+
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the
+small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands.  He had
+scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside
+hall.  The door of his office was opened.
+
+"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he
+heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+
+"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar
+voice.  "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry.  The matter is of
+some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick."
+
+The visitor was shown in.  Laverick investigated his appearance
+through a crack in the door.  He was a man of medium height,
+well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles.  He
+made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted
+the paper which Halsey offered him.
+
+"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially.  "I have
+been running about all the morning."
+
+"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said.
+"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or
+twenty minutes."
+
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door.  The man in the chair waited
+for a moment.  Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously
+around the room.  Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to
+his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table.  With fingers
+which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he
+swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers.  His
+eyes were everywhere.  Every document seemed to be scanned and as
+rapidly discarded.  At last he found something which interested him.
+He held it up and paused in his search.  Laverick heard a little
+breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the
+paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon
+which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had
+given him.  The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper
+where he had found it.  Evidently he had done with the writing-table.
+He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a
+few seconds.  Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys.  To
+Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door
+of the safe swung open.  He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand
+reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers.
+Then he stood once more quite still, listening.  Satisfied that no
+one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved
+once more to the writing-table.  With marvelous swiftness the notes
+were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down,
+the secret place disclosed--the secret place which was empty.  It
+seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little
+oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips.  The man
+replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated.
+Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly
+out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and
+the door.
+
+"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly.
+
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without
+the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where
+he lay, for a moment, motionless.  Then he slowly picked himself up.
+His spectacles were broken--he blinked as he stood there.
+
+"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said.  "Perhaps if you will kindly
+realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so
+good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your
+intrusion."
+
+The man obeyed.  He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment,
+as though in pain.
+
+"I imagine," he said--and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had
+a slight foreign accent--"I imagine that the motive for my paying
+you this visit is fairly clear to you.  People who have compromising
+possessions may always expect visits of this sort.  You see, one
+runs so little risk."
+
+"So little risk!" Laverick repeated.
+
+"Exactly," the other answered.  "Confess that you are not in the
+least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give
+me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted
+from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of
+England notes."
+
+"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You are a man of common sense," declared the other.  "It would not
+do.  Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you.  There
+was a sealed document in this pocket-book.  Where is it?  What
+have you done with it?"
+
+"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions
+from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
+attempt at burglary?"
+
+The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
+into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+
+"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply.  "Whether
+you've read that document or not, I want it.  If you've read it, you
+know the sort of men you've got to deal with.  If you haven't, take
+my word for it that we waste no time.  The document!  Will you give
+it me?"
+
+"Do I understand that you are threatening me?"  Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+
+"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
+seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered.
+"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last
+movement you'll ever make on earth."
+
+"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick
+said.  "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance
+of getting clear of the building.  My clerks would rush out after
+you into the street.  You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
+business men.  You couldn't make your way through anywhere.  You'd
+be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards.  Put down your revolver.
+We can perhaps settle this little matter without it."
+
+"The document!" the man ordered.  "You've got it!  You must have it!
+You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book
+was the document.  We must have it.  We intend to have it."
+
+"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired.
+
+"If you do not know, what does it matter?  Will you give it to me?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I have no document."
+
+The man in the chair leaned forward.  The muzzle of his revolver was
+very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+
+"Give it to me!" he repeated.  "You ought to know that you are not
+dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death.  You have it about
+you.  Produce it, and I've done with you.  Deny me, and you have not
+time to say your prayers!"
+
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
+His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it.  He held
+it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at
+his visitor.  He followed behind with one desperate spring.  Once,
+twice, the revolver barked out.  Laverick felt the skin of his temple
+burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days.
+Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay
+upon the carpet.
+
+"We'll see about that.  By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the
+life out of you.  That bullet of yours might have been in my temple."
+
+"It was meant to be there," the man gasped.  "Hand over the document,
+you pig-headed fool!  It'll cost you your life--if not to-day,
+to-morrow."
+
+"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely.
+"You assassin!  Scoundrel!  To come here and make a cold-blooded
+effort at murder!  You shall see what you think of the inside of an
+English prison."
+
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+
+"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked.
+
+Laverick was silent.  His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed.  You have twenty
+thousand pounds.  That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty
+thousand for that document unopened."
+
+"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away.  "Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark.  Tell me the real position of the murdered man?  Tell me why he
+was murdered?  Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in
+his possession?  Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you."
+
+"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,"
+his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me.  You do not
+expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded?
+You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that
+sealed envelope?  Bah!  It is a child's game, that, and we play as
+men with men."
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?"
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered.  "The document is worth
+no more than that to you.  How you came into this thing is a mystery,
+but you are in and, what is more, you have possession.  Twenty
+thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick.  It is a large sum of money.  You
+find it interesting?"
+
+"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a
+seller."
+
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes.  His expression was
+full of wonder.
+
+"Consider for a moment," he said.  "While that document remains in
+your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a
+thread.  Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares.
+Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner
+you are out of them the better.  What do you say now to my offer?"
+
+"It is refused," Laverick declared.  "I regret; to add," he
+continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at
+my disposal.  Forgive me."
+
+He pressed a button with his finger.  His visitor rose up in anger.
+
+"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed.  "You are not going to
+send me away without it?  Why, I tell you that there won't be a
+safe corner in the World for you!"
+
+Halsey opened the door.  Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+
+"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered.
+
+Halsey started.  The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been
+muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of
+gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke.  The man rose
+slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+
+"It must be as you will, of course.  I wonder if you would be so
+good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist?  I am,
+unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition."
+
+"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered.  "Put on your
+hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses."
+
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+
+"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered.
+"Do you accept my offer?  Will you give me the document?"
+
+"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied.  "I shall not part with
+anything until I know more than I know at present."
+
+The man stood motionless for a moment.  His fingers seemed to be
+twitching.  Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but
+if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance
+checked them.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly.  "We
+shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date."
+
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room.  Laverick
+went to the window and threw it wide open.  The smoke floated out,
+the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed.  Then he walked
+back to his seat.  Once more he locked up the notes.  The document
+was safe in his pocket.  There was a slight mark by the side of his
+temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding.  He rang the bell
+and Halsey entered.
+
+"Has our friend gone, Halsey?"
+
+"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered.  "He was
+buying some spectacles."
+
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those
+gold-rimmed glasses were scattered.
+
+"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said.  "The
+gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe.  We'll
+have a combination put on."
+
+"Very good, sir," Halsey answered.
+
+"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing,
+for your own sake as well as mine.  If that man presents himself
+again, don't let him come into my room unannounced.  If you can
+help it, don't let him come in at all.  I have an idea that he
+might be dangerous."
+
+The clerk's face was a study.
+
+"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall
+take the liberty of sending for the police."
+
+Laverick made no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
+meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab
+to be summoned.  He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book
+securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and
+directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane.  Here at the headquarters
+of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in
+the strong-room locked up the pocket-book.  There was only now the
+document left.  Stepping once more into the street, he found that
+his taxicab had vanished.  He looked up and down in vain.  The man
+had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his
+departure.  A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and
+addressed him.
+
+"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?" he asked.
+
+"I was," Laverick answered.  "I hadn't paid him and I told him to
+wait."
+
+"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman
+remarked.  "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up
+in a hansom.  They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver,
+who shook his head and pointed to his flag.  The gent then said
+something else to him--can't say as I heard what it was, but it
+was probably offering him double fare.  Anyway, they both got in
+and off went your taxi, sir."
+
+"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully.  "It sounds a little
+perplexing."
+
+He hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit
+in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed.  I have still
+in my pocket a document of great importance.  I have no doubt
+whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is
+to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will
+render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful."
+
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously.
+He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical
+joke.  Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and
+was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle!
+Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous
+order.  Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a
+wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to
+defend himself at any time.  The constable smiled in a non-committal
+manner.
+
+"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think
+this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault."
+
+"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you
+must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice.  I stepped
+from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight
+from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other
+document I am carrying with me.  Why I have taken you into my
+confidence is to ask you this.  Can you walk with me to the corner
+of the street, or until we meet a taxicab?  it sounds cowardly, but,
+as a matter of fact, I am not afraid.  I simply want to make sure
+of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs."
+
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+
+"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further
+on.  I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire
+it.  At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations.
+How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this
+neighborhood for some purpose of your own?"
+
+"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with
+a smile.
+
+"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted.  "Keep by my side, and I
+think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn."
+
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of
+the policeman he seemed short.  Both scanned the faces of the
+passers-by closely--the police-man with mild interest, Laverick
+with almost feverish anxiety.  It was a gray afternoon, pleasant
+but close.  There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the
+feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick.  He
+felt himself in danger--he had no idea how, or in what way--but
+the conviction was there.  He took every step fully alert,
+absolutely on his guard.
+
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the
+bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road.
+Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct
+of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own
+position.  With the constable, however, it was naturally different.
+He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and
+he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he
+was engaged.  A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either
+knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of
+fit.  There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making
+desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.  The constable
+sprang to the rescue.  Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing
+that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.  He
+was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
+been meant for the back of his head.  He was confronted by a man
+dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat,
+a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as
+would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion.
+Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one
+pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking
+life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked
+with chloroform.  Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his
+left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent
+him staggering against the wall.  The handkerchief, with its load
+of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.  The man was obviously
+worsted.  Laverick sprang at him.  They were almost unobserved,
+for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway.
+With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close,
+and tore at his coat.  Laverick struck at him again but met only
+the air.  The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this
+time Laverick made no mistake.  He struck downward so hard that
+with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold.  Before he
+could recover, Laverick had struck him again.  He reeled into the
+crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what
+seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance.
+But there was to be no more fight.  Through the people,
+swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
+find some hidden way.  Laverick glared fiercely around him, but
+the man had gone.  His left hand crept to his chest. The victory
+was with him; the document was still there.
+
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi.  Ignoring
+the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing
+helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd,
+Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside.
+
+"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed.  The
+man obeyed him.  People raced to look through the window at him.
+The other commotion had died away,--the man in the road had got up
+and walked off.  A policeman came hurrying along but he was just
+too late.  Very soon they were on their way down Holborn.  Once
+more Laverick had escaped.
+
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
+High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked
+for Mademoiselle Idiale.  He was shown into one of the most
+delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of.  The walls
+were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle
+so often affected in her clothes.  Laverick, who was something of
+a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort,
+priceless,--French furniture of the best and choicest period, a
+statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene
+from which he had just arrived.  The air in the room seemed as
+though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,--it was fresh
+and sweet yet curiously fragrant.  Laverick sank down into one of
+the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
+that he was out of breath.  Then the door opened silently and
+there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr.
+Lassen.  Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully.  Lassen's
+small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge
+ingratiating smile.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said,--"very glad
+indeed."
+
+"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly.  He had disliked this man from the first moment
+he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should
+conceal his feelings.
+
+"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself
+opposite to Laverick.  "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately
+prevented from seeing you.  She has a severe nervous headache,
+and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly
+undisturbed.  Women of her position, as you may understand, have
+to be exceptionally careful.  It would be a very serious matter
+indeed if she were unable to sing to-night."
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered.  "In that
+case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered."
+
+"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed.  "Many times,
+let us hope.  But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a
+document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle.  She is
+most anxious that you should hand it to me--most anxious.  She
+will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day,
+if she is well enough to receive."
+
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+
+"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering
+the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with
+it even to her.  I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say.
+But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would
+induce me to part with it to any one else."
+
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's
+face.  He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show
+its teeth.  Laverick was suddenly on his guard.  More adventures,
+he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique
+of the other man.  He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a
+small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by
+his side.  If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward
+his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
+
+"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said
+slowly.  "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to
+change your mind.  I can assure you that I have as much right to
+the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest
+wish that you should hand it over to me.  Further, I may inform you
+that the document itself is a most incriminating one.  Its possession
+upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his
+guard, might be a very serious matter indeed."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of
+carrying it about with me.  On the other hand, I shall part with it
+to no one.  I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale
+as soon as she is recovered.  I am not disposed--I mean no offence,
+sir--but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as
+much with you."
+
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving.
+Lassen followed his example and confronted him.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk
+like that,--in your own interests, I say."
+
+"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked
+after by myself than by strangers.  You must forgive my adding,
+Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me."
+
+"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at
+least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered.  "She
+has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration.
+You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you
+bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to
+treat with you.  You must allow me to wish you good afternoon."
+
+Lassen shook his head.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous.  You force me
+to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is
+not a very secure one.  All the police in this capital are searching
+to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was
+found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley.  If they could find the
+man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession
+of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with
+it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think?
+I say nothing of the document."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  He realized, however, that to
+make terms with this man was impossible.  Besides, he did not trust
+him.  He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the
+accredited envoy of Mademoiselle.
+
+"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to
+do with the matter.  Where you got your information from I cannot
+say.  I neither accept nor deny it.  But I can assure you that I
+am not to be intimidated.  This document will remain in my possession
+until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it."
+
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
+his clenched fist.
+
+"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely.  "Man,
+it stares you there in the face!  If you do not part with it, you will
+be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in
+the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling!  That I swear!  That I shall
+see to myself!"
+
+"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the
+hands of the English police."
+
+The shot told.  Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
+upon his listener.  Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered
+curses.  He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick
+bodily.
+
+"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed.  "Why do you
+suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands
+of the English police?"
+
+"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should
+take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do
+not know.  I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen!  I shall be ready
+to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me.  But
+in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he
+added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible
+document in my possession."
+
+He moved to the door.  Already his hand was upon the knob when he
+saw the movement for which he had watched.  Laverick, with a single
+bound, was upon his would-be assailant.  The hand which had already
+closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though
+in a vice.  With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon
+the floor.  Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket
+and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till
+the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were
+changed into moans.  Then he flung him into a corner of the room.
+
+"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed.  "You come of the breed of men
+who shoot from behind.  If ever I lay my hands upon you again,
+you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it."
+
+He left the room and rang for the lift.  He saw no trace of any
+servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving.  From
+Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house.  Keeping the cab
+waiting, he knocked at the door.  She opened it herself at once,
+and her eyes glowed with pleasure.
+
+"How delightful!" she cried.  "Please come in.  Have you come to
+take me to the theatre?"
+
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+
+"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor."
+
+"Me a favor?" she repeated.  "I think you know how happy it will
+make me if there is anything--anything at all in the world that I
+could do."
+
+"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very
+successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
+never came my way.  Since then things have altered.  I have stumbled
+in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever
+became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself.
+The net result, for the moment, is this.  Every one is trying to
+steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket.  I want
+to hide it for the night.  I cannot go to the police, it is too
+late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling
+that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies.  May I hide
+my document in your room?  I do not believe for a moment that any
+one would think of searching here."
+
+"Of course you may," she answered.  "But listen.  Can you see out
+into the street without moving very much?"
+
+He turned his head.  He had been standing with his back to the
+window, and Zoe had been facing it.
+
+"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented.
+
+"Tell me--you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she
+asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked.
+
+"I was at the window, looking out, when you came," she said.  "It
+followed you out from the Square into this street.  Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab.  It
+seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you
+all the time."
+
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+
+"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked.
+
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people
+who live round here.  The people whom I see coming in and out of
+that house are not nice people at all."
+
+"I understand," he said.  "Thank you, Zoe.  You are right.  Whatever
+I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here.  To tell
+you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid
+my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more.  Come
+back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the
+theatre."
+
+She clapped her hands.
+
+"I shall love it," she declared.  "But what shall you do with the
+document?"
+
+"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to
+the cashier.  They have a wonderful safe there.  It is the best
+thing I can think of.  Can you suggest anything?"
+
+She considered for a moment.
+
+"Do you know what is inside?" she asked.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I have no idea.  It is the most mysterious document in the world,
+so far as I am concerned."
+
+"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know
+exactly what it is all about.  You can learn it by heart and tear
+it up."
+
+"I must think that over," he said.  "One second before we go out."
+
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped.  It
+was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged.  He replaced it in
+his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger.
+
+"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along."
+
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
+ordered:
+
+"To the Milan Hotel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+
+
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his
+clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly
+from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number
+15, Dover Street.  Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted
+almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle
+Idiale.
+
+"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+The man's expression was one of sombre regret.
+
+"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir.  Bellamy
+took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+
+"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before."
+
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's
+sleeping apartment.  There was no answer.  He knocked again and
+listened at the key-hole.  There was some movement inside but no
+one spoke.
+
+"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in.  It is I--David."
+
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds.  Almost it seemed
+as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth.
+Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention.  There were
+voices in the small reception room,--the voice of Henri, the butler,
+and another.  Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and
+walked swiftly down the passage.  He entered the reception room and
+looked around him in amazement.  It was still in disorder.  Lassen
+sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side.  Henri
+was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there
+were marks of blood about his shirt.  Bellamy's eyes sparkled.  He
+closed the door behind him.
+
+"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is
+somewhat opportune!"
+
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+
+"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said.  "He has had
+a fit and fallen down."
+
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+
+"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he
+declared.  "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?"
+
+The man glared at him viciously.
+
+"I do not know what you are talking about," he said.  "I do not
+wish to speak to you.  I am ill.  You had better go and persuade
+Mademoiselle to return.  She is at Dover, waiting."
+
+"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered.  "She is in her room now,
+locked up--guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures.  I have been
+half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen.
+You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy."
+
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+
+"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I
+think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor.  He declined to accept you
+as her proxy, I imagine.  Still, one must make sure."
+
+He advanced quickly.  Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly.  "Keep him away from me,
+Henri.  Ring the bell for your other man.  This fellow will do me
+a mischief."
+
+"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully.  "Stay where you are, Henri.
+To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting.  Take off his coat."
+
+"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested.
+
+"I'm d--d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled.
+
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick
+handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain.  On
+the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is
+the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing
+him to do so.  Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks.  The coat
+first, please, Henri.  It is necessary that I search it thoroughly."
+
+There was a brief hesitation.  Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into
+his pocket.
+
+"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry
+firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have
+learned how to use pretty effectively.  Come, you know, it isn't a
+fair fight.  You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't
+the muscle of a chicken."
+
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be
+removed.  Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter
+for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address.
+
+"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile.
+"No, you need not fear, Lassen!  I am not going to read it.  There
+is plenty of proof of your treachery without this."
+
+Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads.  Bellamy
+handed back the coat.
+
+"That's all right," he said.  "Nothing there, I am glad to see--or
+in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it.  "I'll
+trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen."
+
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over.  When he
+had finished, he held in his hand a key.
+
+"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced,
+"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been
+up to."
+
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and
+deliberately cut the telephone wire.  With the instrument under his
+arm, he left the room.  Lassen blundered to his feet as though to
+intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and
+the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head.
+Lassen staggered away.
+
+"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember
+now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper."
+
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little.  With a
+smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the
+gag from her mouth.  Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was
+lying upon the bed, as though asleep.  Bellamy saw with an impulse
+of relief that she was breathing regularly.
+
+"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed.  "What have they
+done to her?"
+
+The maid spoke thickly.  She was very pale, and unsteady upon her
+feet.
+
+"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered.  "I heard Mr.
+Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours.  I
+think--I think that she is waking now."
+
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement.  Bellamy
+sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+
+"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn
+battle, although you got the worst of it."
+
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+
+"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked.
+
+"He has.  Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game.  I
+came here to find you like this and Annette tied up.  Henri is in
+with him.  What has become of your other servants I don't know."
+
+"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks.  "I begin to understand.  But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?"
+
+"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must
+have received him as though with your authority."
+
+"And what then?" she asked quickly.
+
+"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to
+have anything to do with him.  I received a wire from Dover to say
+that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the
+Lord Warden Hotel.  I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent
+telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back.  When I arrived
+here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head.
+Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of
+it.  I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper.  Laverick
+brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again."
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"Go and let Lassen out," she said.  "Tell him he must never come
+here again.  I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night--that is, if I can get there.  I do not know whether I shall
+feel fit to sing."
+
+"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking
+Henri out."
+
+Louise sighed.
+
+"He was such a good servant.  I think it must have cost our friend
+Streuss a good deal to buy Henri.  You will come back to me when
+you have finished with them?"
+
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners.  Lassen was
+surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful.
+Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their
+various missions.  Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down
+again and drinking some tea.  She motioned Bellamy to come over to
+her side.
+
+"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?"
+
+"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered.
+"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but
+after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman.  I am going to tell
+him what that envelope contains--tell him the truth."
+
+"You are right!" she exclaimed.  "Whatever he may have done, if you
+tell him the truth he will give you that document.  I am sure of it.
+Do you know where to find him?"
+
+"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared.  "I must be quick, too,
+for Lassen is free--they will know that he has failed."
+
+"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+
+
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking
+around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did
+not wholly understand.
+
+"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said
+anxiously.  "Tell me what it is.  You don't like this place, perhaps?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted.  "Come, out with it.
+Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?"
+
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks.  Her eyes, raised for a
+moment to his, were almost reproachful.
+
+"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she
+whispered.  "You are too kind to me all the time.  Only," she went
+on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize--can't you see how
+differently most of the girls here are dressed?  I don't mind so
+much for myself--but you--you have so many friends.  You keep on
+seeing people whom you know.  I am afraid they will think that I
+ought not to be here."
+
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction.
+For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her
+clothes.  Everything about her was so neat--pathetically neat, as
+it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization.  The
+white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly
+clean.  The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts.
+Her gloves had been stitched a good many times.  Her gown, although
+it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days.
+He suddenly recognized the effort--the almost despairing effort--which
+her toilette had cost her.
+
+"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply.  "To
+me you look just as you should look--and I wouldn't change places
+with any other man in the room for a great deal."
+
+Her eyes were soft--perilously soft--as she looked at him with
+uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her
+lips.  A wave of tenderness crept into his heart.  What a brave
+little child she was!
+
+"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she
+murmured.
+
+"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel
+like that, you are going to have a new gown--or two--and a new
+hat, and you are going to have them at once.  They are going to be
+bought with your brother's money, mind.  Shall I come shopping with
+you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said.  "It
+would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much
+money.  You really mean it all?"
+
+"Absolutely," he answered.  "I insist upon it."
+
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes.  After all, she was very
+much of a child.  The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted
+herself to think of it, was enthralling.
+
+"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a
+simple white dress.  A black hat would do for both of them, then."
+
+"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared.  "His
+stock is going up all the time."
+
+"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially.
+
+"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he
+replied.
+
+She made a wry face.
+
+"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully.  "It is much
+more economical than anything--"
+
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude
+stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod.  Laverick frowned.
+
+"Who is that fellow?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+
+"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?"
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+
+She caught at his arm in terror.  The man was sitting at the next
+table.
+
+"Don't, please!" she implored.  "He might hear you.  He is just
+behind there."
+
+Laverick half turned in his chair.  She guessed what he was about
+to say, and went on rapidly.
+
+"He has been so foolish," she whispered.  "He has asked me so often
+to go out with him.  And he could get me sent away, if he wanted,
+any time.  He almost threatened it, the last time I refused.  Now
+that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever."
+
+Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes.
+The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+
+"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go
+with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone.  "I can't think
+why he bothers me."
+
+"I can," Laverick muttered.  "Let's forget about the brute."
+
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the
+bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the
+theatre with her.  Her little hand, when she gave it to him at
+parting, was quite cold.
+
+"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed.  "Mr. Heepman will be
+watching all the night for something to find fault with me about."
+
+"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged.
+
+"I won't," she promised.  "Good-bye!  Thanks so much for my dinner."
+
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an
+attempt.  Laverick walked on to his club.  There was no one in the
+dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty.  He played
+one game of billiards, but he played badly.  He was upset.  His
+nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder.  There seemed
+to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and
+walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden.  Outside the Opera House he
+hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of
+which he scarcely recognized.  While he was inquiring about a stall,
+a small printed notice was thrust into his hand.  He read it with
+a slight start.
+
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle
+Idiale will not be able to appear this evening.  The part of Delilah
+will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal
+Opera House, St. Petersburg.
+
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street.
+A strange man-servant answered him.
+
+"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said.
+
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards.
+Laverick, however, retained his.
+
+"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said.  "I
+think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment."
+
+The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility.
+He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over
+the threshold.
+
+"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man
+declared.  "She shall have your card as soon as possible."
+
+"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+
+"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared.  "Mademoiselle
+is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute."
+
+"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick
+remarked.  "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration,
+"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?"
+
+"That is so, sir.  Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one
+has access to Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick
+declared convincingly.  "You can put that note in your pocket.  I
+am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and
+that your master would wish her to do so."
+
+"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have
+received were stringent."
+
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments.  When he came back
+he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously
+a maid.
+
+"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive
+you.  If you will come this way?"
+
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick
+followed her.  The man returned to his place in the hall.
+
+"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said.  "She will be glad
+to see you, but she has been very badly frightened."
+
+Laverick bowed sympathetically.  The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+
+"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a
+great deal of trouble here," she said.  "Madame never trusted him
+and now we have discovered that he is a spy."
+
+The woman seemed to fade away.  The door of the inner room was
+opened and Louise came out.  She was still exceedingly pale, and
+there were dark rims under her eyes.  She came across the room with
+outstretched hands.  There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure.
+
+"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day.  I came to call upon
+you this afternoon."
+
+She wrung her hands.
+
+"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed.  "I did not trust
+Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this.  He is an Austrian.
+Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily
+paid spies.  Streuss got hold of him.  But there, I forgot--you do
+not understand this.  It is enough that he laid a plot to get that
+document from you.  Where is it, Mr. Laverick?  You have brought it
+now?"
+
+"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not."
+
+Her eyes were round with terror.  She held out her hands as though
+to keep away some tormenting thought.
+
+"Where is it?" she cried.  "You have not parted with it?
+
+"I have not," Laverick replied gravely.  "It is in the safe deposit
+of a hotel to which I have moved."
+
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+
+"You are not well," Laverick said.  "Let me help you to a chair."
+
+She sat down wearily.
+
+"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked.
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have
+wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights.  Three times to-day
+attempts have been made to get that document from me by force.  I
+have been followed whereever I went.  I felt that it was not safe
+in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their
+strong-room.  I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I
+can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself
+as to its destination."
+
+Louise sat quite still for several moments.  Then she opened her
+eyes.
+
+"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she
+declared.  "I perceive now that we have made a mistake.  We should
+have told you the whole truth from the first.  This afternoon when
+Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything."
+
+Laverick listened gravely.
+
+"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course.  I haven't
+the least desire to keep the document.  I cannot think why Bellamy
+did not treat me with confidence from the first--"
+
+He stopped short.  Suddenly he understood.  Something in Louise's
+face gave him the hint.
+
+"Of course!" he murmured to himself.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's
+judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only.  There may be some
+explanation.  If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think
+best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter.  It is not our
+business to interfere with the course of justice.  You will run no
+risk in parting with that paper.
+
+"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up
+his hat.
+
+"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered.  "Did you leave
+word there where you had gone?"
+
+"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied.  "I had better try and find
+him, perhaps."
+
+"It is not necessary," she announced.  "No wonder that you feel
+yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick.
+There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere--two sets that
+I know of.  There may be another."
+
+"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked.
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait."
+
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or
+other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man."
+
+Laverick sighed.  He opened his lips but closed them again.
+
+"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply.
+
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel,
+noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially
+to the clerk in charge.  The latter recognized Laverick with obvious
+relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him.  Kahn
+turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling
+towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him.  He
+was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being
+a man of breeding.  He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed,
+but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to
+address him.  The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a
+little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter.  He
+approached Laverick hastily.
+
+"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked.
+
+"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered.  "Why?"
+
+"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with
+his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been
+carrying.
+
+Laverick read quickly,--
+
+          To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,--Deliver to bearer
+          document deposited with you.                  STEPHEN LAVERICK.
+
+"It is not," he declared promptly.  "It is an impudent forgery.
+Good God!  You don't mean to say that you parted with my property
+to--"
+
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+
+"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said.  "I was just
+wondering what to do when you came in.  I'd no reason to believe
+that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it,
+somehow.  We'd better be after him.  Come along, sir."
+
+They hurried outside.  The man was nowhere in sight.  The cashier
+summoned the head porter.
+
+"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed,--"tall and fair, very
+carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass!  Which way did he go?"
+
+"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter
+answered.  "I noticed him particularly.  He spoke to the chauffeur
+in Austrian."
+
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+
+"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly.
+
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+
+"Not the ghost of a chance, sir.  He shot round the corner there as
+though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the
+island.  I heard the police calling to him.  I hope there's nothing
+wrong, Mr. Dean?"
+
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+
+"Nothing much," Laverick answered.  "We should have liked to have
+asked him a question--that is all."
+
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+
+"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly.  "Nothing the matter, I
+hope?"
+
+"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied.
+
+The cashier returned to his duties.  The two men were alone.
+Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under
+his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed
+very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick
+felt himself to have blundered.  He looked down for a moment at the
+tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious
+about the weather.
+
+"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly.
+
+"Delighted!" Laverick assented.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+
+
+The two men stepped back into the hotel.  The cashier had returned
+to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to
+have passed unnoticed.  Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied
+indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he
+endeavored to imitate it.
+
+"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked.  "There's very seldom
+any one there at this time."
+
+"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered.  "It's years since we had a
+drink together."
+
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two
+chairs into the further corner.  Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+
+"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered.  "Now, Laverick,
+listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away.  "We are alone
+for the moment but it won't be for long.  You know very well that
+it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you
+to come in here with me."
+
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+
+"Please go on," he said.  "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp
+this affair properly."
+
+"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for
+the Stock Exchange.  I went first to Magdalen.  Did you ever hear
+what became of me afterwards?"
+
+"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one
+of the Government offices."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy assented.  "I did.  At this moment I have
+the honor to serve His Majesty."
+
+"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed.
+"I know the sort of thing."
+
+"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered.  "I often work twenty
+hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of
+the time I carry my life in my hands.  When I am working--and I
+am working now--I am never sure of the morrow."
+
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+
+"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+"Not by any manner of means.  I have the honor to be a humble member
+of His Majesty's Secret Service."
+
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+
+"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual
+existence except in novels."
+
+"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly.  "Abroad,
+I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one.
+At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service.
+Here come our drinks."
+
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+
+"Here's luck!" he exclaimed.  "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued.
+"The waiter can't overhear."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can
+trust.  As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once.  Now listen to me attentively, Laverick.  I am going to speak
+to you as one man to another."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I am ready," he said.
+
+"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a
+soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night
+in the heart of the city--within one hundred yards of the Stock
+Exchange.  The papers called it a mysterious murder.  No one knows
+who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why.  You and I,
+Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
+"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office."
+
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+
+"Horrible affair it was," he remarked.
+
+Bellamy glanced toward the door,--a man had looked in and departed.
+
+"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said.  "A theft was committed
+from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
+knows nothing.  A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty
+thousand pounds and a sealed document.  As to who murdered the man,
+I want you to understand that that is not my affair.  As to what has
+become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest
+curiosity.  I want the document."
+
+"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied.  "Time is too
+short.  I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what
+that document consists of.  The man's name was Von Behrling, and he
+was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service.  The document
+of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference
+which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany,
+the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia.  It contains the
+details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered
+into by those several Powers.  I want that document, Laverick.  Have
+I established my claim?"
+
+"You have," Laverick answered.  "Why on earth Didn't you come to me
+before?  Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as
+readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the
+truth, Laverick, because the truth is best.  Twenty-two years lie
+between us and the time when we knew anything of one another.  To
+me, therefore, you are a stranger.  I had my spies following Von
+Behrling that night.  I know that you took the pocket-book from his
+dead body.  If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done
+by an accomplice of yours.  How was I to trust you?  We are speaking
+naked words, my friend.  We are dealing with naked truths.  To me
+you were a murderer and a thief.  A word from me and you would have
+realized the value of that document.  I tell you frankly that
+Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day."
+
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden
+weakness.  He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away--wet.
+He struggled desperately for self-control.
+
+"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth.  I am not on my trial
+before you.  Believe me, man, for God's sake!"
+
+"I'll try," Bellamy promised.  "Go on."
+
+"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me
+on the morrow.  I left it meaning to go straight home.  I lit a
+cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was
+throwing it away, I saw the murdered man.  I think for a time I was
+paralyzed.  The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket.
+Why I looked inside it I don't know.  I had some sort of wild idea
+that I must find out who he was.  Mind you, though, I should have
+given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street.
+There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully.
+When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty.  I
+looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the
+possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance.  I saw
+the notes there.  Once more I went out into the street.  I gave no
+alarm,--I am not attempting to explain why.  I was like a man made
+suddenly mad.  I went back to my office and shut myself in."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently.  The waiter came forward
+and refilled them.
+
+"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart,
+and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
+man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition.
+My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored
+and well thought of.  My father followed in his footsteps.  I, too,
+was there.  Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become
+known and respected.  Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken
+life and a broken honor.  I sat in my office and I knew that the use
+of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might
+keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
+jealously, free from shame.  I would have paid any price for the use
+of them.  I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible.
+Think of the risk I ran--the danger I am now in.  I deposited those
+notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my
+engagements.  The crisis is over!  Those notes are in a safe deposit
+vault in Chancery Lane!  I only wish to Heaven that I could find
+the owner!"
+
+"And the document?" Bellamy asked.  "The document?"
+
+"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered.
+
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief.  Then he emptied his tumbler
+and lit a cigarette.
+
+"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you."
+
+"Thank God!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully.  "As to
+who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
+idea.  That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service
+money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was
+murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be
+the document.  He deceived me by making up a false packet.  The real
+one he kept.  He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead."
+
+Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful.
+
+"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed.
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of
+mine--a Cabinet Minister.  You shall tell him the story exactly as
+you've told it to me, and restore the money."
+
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+
+"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like
+you, Bellamy,--used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings.
+I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has
+been like a hateful nightmare to me.  I can't believe that I'm going
+to get rid of it."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you.
+To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck--don't
+misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck--to run such a risk.  Why,
+at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds
+must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out."
+
+"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly.  "I saw
+a chance of salvation and I went for it.  And now about this letter."
+
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+
+"On the King's service!" he whispered softly.
+
+They walked once more to the cashier's desk.  A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+
+"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said.
+"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly."
+
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock.  "I am afraid,
+sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning."
+
+"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning.
+
+"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only
+one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe.  You see, sir," he
+continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did
+not expect that anything would be required from it to-night."
+
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+
+"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better.
+There's no need to get shirty with these fellows.  As a matter of
+fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without
+making some special preparations.  I can get some plain clothes
+men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock."
+
+They strolled back into the hall.
+
+"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged
+my name to the order a few hours ago?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy.  I have been watching him for
+days.  If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but
+it would have been touch and go.  He is a very prince of conspirators,
+that fellow.  To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home."
+
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note
+to Laverick.
+
+"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained.
+
+Laverick tore open the envelope.  The contents consisted of a few
+words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which
+was strange to him.
+
+  "Ring up 1232 Gerrard."
+
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked
+once more at the envelope.  Then he passed it on to his companion.
+
+"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+
+"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically.  "Do you
+know the handwriting?"
+
+"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered.  "What
+should you do about it?"
+
+"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232
+Gerrard."
+
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+
+"1232 Gerrard," he said.
+
+The connection was made almost at once.
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply.  "Are you Mr.
+Laverick?"
+
+"I am," Laverick answered.  "Is Miss Leneveu there?  Can she speak
+to me herself?"
+
+"She is not here," the voice continued.  "She was fetched away in
+a hurry from the theatre--we understood by her brother.  She left
+two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain
+that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street,
+and would you kindly go on there."
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick demanded.
+
+There was no reply.  Laverick remained speechless, listening
+intently.  He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear.  Was
+it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he
+heard in the background?  It was a woman or a child who was
+speaking--he was almost sure that it was Zoe.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked fiercely.  "Miss Leneveu is there with you.
+Why does she not speak for herself?"
+
+"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer.  "I have done what she
+desired.  You can please yourself whether you go or not.  The address
+is 25, Jermyn Street.  Ring off."
+
+The connection was gone.  Laverick laid down the receiver and
+stepped out of the booth.
+
+"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy.  "You'll be round in
+the morning?"
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans.  I shall not
+leave the hotel.  I am going to telephone round to my man to bring
+me some clothes.  By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this
+message which you have just received had anything to do with the
+little affair in which we are interested?"
+
+"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation.
+"The message was from a young lady.  I have to go and meet her."
+
+"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly.
+
+"Implicitly," Laverick assured him.
+
+"She spoke herself?"
+
+"No, she sent a message.  Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I
+must really go."
+
+"By all means," Bellamy answered.
+
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab
+was summoned.  Laverick stepped quickly in.
+
+"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered.
+
+Bellamy watched him drive off.  Then he sighed.
+
+"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need
+some one to look after you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+
+
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's
+room for the coming of Laverick.  There was Lassen--flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes.
+There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan
+Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind
+him.  There was Streuss--stern, and desperate with anxiety.  There
+was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow,
+with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken
+eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual
+criminal.  There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with
+anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled
+eyes.  She, too, like the others, watched the door.  So they waited.
+
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing
+aside the curtains looked down into the street.
+
+"Will he come--this Englishman?" he muttered.  "Has he courage?"
+
+"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly.  "More courage than my poor
+brother, who stands there like a coward!"
+
+"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly.  "There is nothing for
+you to be furious about or frightened.  No one wants to ill-treat
+you.  These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us.  It is
+Laverick they want."
+
+"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk
+into a trap--you let them even use my name to bring him here!
+Arthur, be a man!  Have nothing more to do with them.  Help me to
+get away from this place.  Call out.  Do something instead of
+standing there and wasting the precious minutes."
+
+He came towards her--ugly and threatening.
+
+"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely,--"something
+you won't like, either.  Keep your mouth shut, I tell you.  It's me
+or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!"
+
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+
+"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress
+yourself so.  I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen.
+If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary
+absence.  You shall not be disturbed in any way."
+
+"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen
+growled.  "If any one's in danger, it's he.  He'll be lucky if he
+saves his own skin."
+
+The young man glowered at her.
+
+"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered.  "Keep still, can't
+you?"
+
+Her face was full of defiance.  He came nearer to her and changed
+his tone.
+
+"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand?  If they can't
+get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me.  They're
+desperate, I tell you.  They mean mischief all the time."
+
+"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you
+when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried
+indignantly.
+
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+
+"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for
+himself.  Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know
+now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go--not
+empty-handed, by any manner of means."
+
+"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of
+these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him
+searchingly.
+
+The terror whitened his face once more.  The perspiration stood out
+in beads upon his forehead.
+
+"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously.  "I should
+like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him?  Listen here, my fine young lady.  If I've been mug
+enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking
+advantage of it.  He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you."
+
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across
+the room to them all.
+
+"He is here," he announced.
+
+"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly.
+
+"Alone," Streuss echoed.
+
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room.  Zoe made no attempt
+to cry out.  Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though
+listening.  Her attitude seemed harmless enough.  No one took any
+more notice of her.  They all watched the entrance to the apartment.
+Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs.  She was absorbed in a
+breathless calculation.  Now--now he should be coming quite close.
+Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening.  At
+last she raised her head.  The room resounded with her cries.
+
+"Don't come in!  Don't come in here!" she shrieked.  "Mr. Laverick,
+do you hear?  Go away!  Don't come in here alone!"
+
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth
+brutally.  Her little effort was naturally a failure--defeating,
+in fact, its own object.  Laverick, hearing her cries, simply
+hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock,
+and stepped quickly across the threshold.  He saw a man dressed in
+shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a
+rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling
+across the room.  Then something in the man's cry, a momentary
+glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity.
+
+"Morrison!" he cried.  "Good God, it's Morrison!"
+
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face
+turned upon his aggressor.  Laverick took quick stock of his
+surroundings.  There was the tall, fair young man--Adolf Kahn--whom
+he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago--the man who had
+unsuccessfully forged his name.  There was Lassen, the man who, under
+pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise.  There was
+Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back
+to the door.  There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother.  She held out
+her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+
+"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly.
+"I tried so hard to stop you.  It was not I who sent that message."
+
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+
+"I know it, dear," he murmured.
+
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard.
+Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough
+written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes.  Laverick gave him
+his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor.  He was
+angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual
+pains to secure my presence here!  Tell me now, what can I do for
+you?"
+
+It was Streuss who became spokesman.  He addressed Laverick with
+the consideration of one gentleman addressing another.  His voice
+had many agreeable qualities.  His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a
+little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit.  We
+are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either
+wilfully or accidentally strayed.  An understanding between us has
+become a necessity."
+
+"Go on," Laverick interrupted.  "Tell me exactly who you are and
+what you want."
+
+"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter?  I
+repeat that we are men who are in earnest--let that be enough.  As
+to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every
+claim, and which has come into your possession--I flatter you
+somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Let that go," he said.  "I know all about the document you refer to,
+and the notes.  They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession.  Prove your claim to
+both and you shall have them."
+
+Streuss smiled.
+
+"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he
+asked suavely, "is equal to yours?"
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of
+keeping either the document or the money.  That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title
+is better still."
+
+Streuss frowned.
+
+"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged.  "We are men of peace--when
+peace is possible.  The money of which you spoke you can
+consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention
+to possess ourselves of the document.  It is for that reason that
+we are here in London.  I, personally, am committed to the extent
+of my life and my honor to its recovery."
+
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive.  Laverick
+looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said.
+"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell
+you where it is kept."
+
+"Quite so," Streuss admitted.  "We are not doing you the injustice
+to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself
+anywhere with that document upon your person.  It is in the safe
+at the Milan Hotel.  I may add that probably, if it had not
+occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in
+our possession before now.  We are hoping to persuade you to return
+to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it."
+
+"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible.  The man
+who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty,
+and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning."
+
+"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily.  "His present
+whereabouts and his address are known to us.  He lives with his
+family at Harvard Court, Hampstead.  We shall assist you in making
+it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the
+combination word for the safe."
+
+"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed.
+
+"It is our business.  The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in
+our hands."
+
+"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked.
+
+"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly.  "Your
+partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one.  Your own I will not allude to.  I will simply
+suggest that for both your sakes publicity--any measure of
+publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair--would not be
+desirable."
+
+Laverick hesitated.  He understood all that was implied.  Morrison's
+eyes were fixed upon him--the eyes of a craven coward.  He felt the
+intensity of the moment.  Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+
+"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips.  "They
+cannot hurt you, and it is not true--about Arthur."
+
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick
+knocked him down.  Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was
+changed.  Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from
+different sides.  Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a
+revolver.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with.  Keep
+your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!"
+
+Laverick looked at the revolver--fascinated, for an instant, by
+its unexpected appearance.  The face of the man who held it had
+changed.  There was lightning playing about the room.
+
+"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely,--"for
+you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any
+longer!  One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty.
+Who are you to have scruples--criminals, both of you?  Your place
+is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if
+there are any more evasions.  Now, Laverick, will you fetch that
+document?  It is your last chance."
+
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened--a
+voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite
+inquiry.  Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little
+company.  The curtain separating this from the inner room had been
+drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black
+overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head,
+his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain
+which he had drawn aside.
+
+"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly.
+
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain.
+The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination.
+Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+
+"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably.  "I
+happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with
+him before I left for the Continent."
+
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan!  His revolver had
+disappeared.  The smile upon his lips was both gracious and
+unembarrassed.
+
+"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy
+anywhere--anyhow," he declared.  "If apologies are needed at all," he
+continued, "it is to our friend and host--Mr. Morrison here.
+Permit me--Mr. Arthur Morrison--the Honorable David Bellamy!
+These are Mr. Morrison's rooms."
+
+Morrison could do no more than stare.  Bellamy, on the contrary,
+with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat
+from his head.  Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between
+Bellamy and the heavy curtains.  Adolf Kahn moved as though
+unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were.
+
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+
+"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment.
+I have a car full of friends below--we are on our way, in fact, to
+the Covent Garden Ball--and one or two of them, I fear," he added
+indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which
+such an entertainment in England seems to demand.  They will
+certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer.  There!" he
+ exclaimed, "you hear that?"
+
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below.  Streuss,
+with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind.  There were
+two motor-cars waiting there--large cars with Limousine bodies,
+and apparently full of men.  After all, it was to be expected.
+Bellamy was no fool!
+
+"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with
+a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night.  The little matter
+of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your
+partner."
+
+Laverick turned toward Zoe.  Their eyes met and he read their message
+of terror.
+
+"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said.
+"You must let me offer you my escort."
+
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison
+moved near to them.
+
+"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath,--"if
+you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do?
+They will hand me over to the police--they have sworn it!"
+
+"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared.
+"I tell you they have eyes everywhere.  You cannot move without their
+knowledge.  I had to come.  Now that I am here they have told me
+plainly the price of my freedom.  It is that document.  Laverick, it
+is my life!  You must give in--you must, indeed!  Remember you're
+in it, too."
+
+"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly.
+
+"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely.  "Didn't
+you come into the entry and take the pocket-book?  Heaven knows what
+possessed you to do it!  Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use
+the money!  But you did it, and you are a criminal--a criminal as I
+am.  Don't be a fool, Laverick.  Make terms with these people.  They
+want the document--the document--nothing but the document!  They
+will let us keep the money."
+
+"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe.  "What do you
+say about all this?"
+
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+
+"I trust you," she said.  "I trust you to do what is right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+LAVERICK S ARREST
+
+
+"At last, David!"
+
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which
+Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips.  Then she turned toward the
+third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door--a
+short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped
+black hair, and upturned black moustache.
+
+"You remember Prince Rosmaran?" she said to Bellamy.  "He left
+Servia only the day before yesterday.  He has come to England on a
+special mission to the King."
+
+Bellamy shook hands.
+
+"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before,
+Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago.  It
+was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
+party."
+
+The Prince bowed sadly.
+
+"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to
+my unhappy country."
+
+"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,"
+Bellamy reminded him sympathetically.  "At the same time, we must
+not despair.  Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she
+has not dared to strike."
+
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+
+"As yet, no!" he answered.  "But how long--how long, I wonder--before
+the blow falls?  We in Servia have been blamed for arming
+ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being
+secretly concentrated on the frontier.  Their arsenals are working
+night and day.  Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight
+of Belgrade.  We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know
+that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last
+week."
+
+"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly.  "England has
+been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a
+negligible Power."
+
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+
+"David," she whispered, "the compact!"
+
+He answered her unspoken question.
+
+"It is arranged," he said,--"finished.  To-morrow morning at nine
+o'clock I receive it."
+
+"You are sure?" she begged.  "Why need there be any delay?"
+
+"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk
+who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine.
+Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour.  You were right,
+Louise, as usual.  I should have trusted him from the first."
+
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
+interest.
+
+"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning
+the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince."
+
+"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared.
+"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical.  What you
+suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth.  There is a rumor that the
+Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable
+information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the
+Government here.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  That, I
+know, is one of your own mottoes.  So I am here to know if there is
+anything to be learned."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince.  When did you come?"
+
+"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered.  "Our
+train was an hour late.  I am presenting my credentials early this
+morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon."
+
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+
+"It is true!" he said.  "Between us three there is indeed no need
+for secrecy.  The information you speak of will be in our hands
+within a few hours.  I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister
+will share in it."
+
+"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously.
+
+"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock.  "For my own
+part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another
+and a profounder source of interest in that document.  If, indeed,
+it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli."
+
+"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked.
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I," said he,--"I am not even a politician.  But, you know, the
+lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is
+only one course open for this country,--to work upon Russia so
+that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with
+Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria
+in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare
+war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free
+from danger."
+
+The Prince nodded.
+
+"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more.  Wherever
+one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and
+Austria.  Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed
+rule Europe."
+
+Three o'clock struck.  The Prince rose.
+
+"I go," he announced.
+
+"And I," Bellamy declared.  "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock
+tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news."
+
+Bellamy lingered behind.  For a moment he held Louise in his arms
+and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face.
+
+"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly.
+
+"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him,
+"to feel the mother love?  Who can help it who would not be ignoble?"
+
+"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief.  Even now I am afraid."
+
+"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said.  "David, you are
+sure this time?"
+
+"I am sure," he replied.  "I am going back now to the hotel where
+Laverick is staying.  We are going to sit together and smoke until
+the morning.  Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel.  I
+was with them all only an hour ago,--Streuss, that blackguard
+Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy.  They are beaten men and
+they know it.  They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a
+dramatic entrance and the game was up."
+
+"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,"
+she begged.
+
+"I will," he promised.
+
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand.  The streets were
+almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight.  The air seemed
+curiously keen.  Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement
+was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and
+glanced sharply around.  He reached the Milan Hotel, however,
+without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the
+hall where he had expected to find Laverick.  There was no one
+there!  He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense
+of apprehension.  The place was deserted except for a couple of
+sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their
+machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious
+figures in the dim light.
+
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+
+"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was
+with about an hour ago?" he asked,--"a tall, fair gentleman--Mr.
+Laverick his name was?"
+
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+
+"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air.  "Mr.
+Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago.  Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and
+inquired for him.  They talked for a little time, and finally Mr.
+Laverick went away with them."
+
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+
+"Went away with them?" he repeated.  "I don't understand that,
+Reynolds.  He was to have waited here till I returned."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very
+wishful to go.  It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the
+matter."
+
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+
+"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those
+gentlemen by sight.  He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the
+one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes."
+
+"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed.  "You think, then,--"
+
+"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered.
+"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+
+
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot
+humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre.
+She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual.  All day
+long she had heard nothing of Laverick.  All day long she had sat
+in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her.
+She had tried in vain to sleep,--she had made no effort whatever
+to eat.  She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away.  She knew
+the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out.
+The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison.
+Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle.  All the wonderful
+dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for
+this last week, had faded away.  She was once more a mournful
+little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube.  Boys were
+shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers.  Nearly
+every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets.  She herself
+passed on with unseeing eyes.  News was nothing to her.  Governments
+might rise and fall, war might come and go,--she had still life to
+support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen
+shillings a week.  The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but
+one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+
+              SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN
+              STOCKBROKER.  CHARGE OF MURDER.
+
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse.  Her fingers
+trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement.  The boy picked
+it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in
+her hand.  There it was on the front page--staring her in the face:
+
+           Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of
+           Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was
+           arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned
+           in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley,
+           on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge,
+           was removed to Bow Street Police-Station.  Particulars of his
+           examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4.
+
+There was a dull singing in her ears.  An electric tram, coming up
+from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of
+thunder from an unknown world.  She staggered on, unseeing, gasping
+for breath.  If she could find somewhere to sit down!  If she could
+only rest for a moment!  Then a sudden wave of strength came to her,
+the blood flowed once more in her veins--blood that was hot with
+anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red.  It was the man
+she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely.  It was the fulfilment
+of their threat--a deliberate plot against him.  The murderer of
+Crooked Friars' Alley--she knew who that was!--she knew!  Perhaps
+she might help!
+
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that
+walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of
+the theatre with the paper spread out before her.  She read that
+Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate
+of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having
+been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had
+pleaded "Not Guilty!"  Her eyes glittered as she read that the
+first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the
+accused.  She read his deposition--that he had left Laverick at
+their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they
+were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect
+of meeting their engagements on the morrow.  She read the evidence
+of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had,
+on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the
+engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since
+been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts.
+She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting
+this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the
+vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he
+identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after
+disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter
+the offices from which he had issued.  He explained his presence
+there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the
+Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by.
+Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for.  The
+accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when
+Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill.  After waiting for some
+time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused
+man was removed in custody.
+
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet.  She made her way to
+where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new
+scenery.
+
+"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal!  I have
+to go out."
+
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+
+"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly.  "Shall you be back
+for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?"
+
+His clumsy irony missed its mark.  Her thoughts were too intensely
+focussed upon one thing.
+
+"I am sorry," she replied, turning away.  "I will come back as soon
+as I can."
+
+He called out after her and she paused.
+
+"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the
+other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even
+waiting for permission.  It can't be done, young lady.  You must
+do your playing around some other time.  If you're not here when
+you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again.  Do you
+understand?"
+
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed
+to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+
+"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break
+in her voice,--"as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman."
+
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among
+the hurrying throng of pedestrians.  Several people turned round to
+look at her.  Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost
+unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for
+tragedy.  She herself saw no one.  She would have taken a cab, but
+a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her.  She walked
+steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third
+floor, and knocked at her brother's door.  No one answered her at
+first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty.
+There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she
+called out to him.
+
+"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?"
+
+"Who is it?" he demanded.
+
+"It is I--Zoe!" she exclaimed.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"I want to speak to you, Arthur.  I must speak to you.  Please
+come as quickly as you can."
+
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared.  He was
+wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier
+in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked
+by reason of this resumption of his old attire.  His cheeks were
+hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that
+feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool.
+He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously
+to try and bully her.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said.  "I've
+told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like
+women about the place.  What is it?  What do you want?"
+
+"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part," she answered, looking him in the face.  "I've come now to
+ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick?  What
+were you doing in the court this morning, lying?  What is the
+meaning of it, Arthur?"
+
+"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly,
+"you'd better be off."
+
+"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly.  "I think I can
+understand what it is that has happened.  They have terrified you
+and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing--even
+this.  Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I
+have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation.
+But nothing of that counts.  I want you to realize that I know the
+truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the
+guilty go free."
+
+He moved a step towards her.  They were on opposite sides of the
+small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely.
+
+"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed.  "You came to my rooms a
+week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man.  If ever there was
+guilt in a man's face, it was in yours.  You sent for Laverick.  He
+pitied you and helped you away.  At Liverpool they would not let
+you embark--these men.  They have brought you back here.  You are
+their tool.  But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen
+Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley!  You know very
+well that it was not Stephen Laverick!"
+
+"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely.
+
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice.  Her little white
+hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+
+"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she
+cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall
+go to court myself and tell the truth."
+
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with
+nervously twitching lips and fingers.  But there was murder in his eyes.
+
+"What do you know about this?" he muttered.
+
+"Never mind," she answered.  "I know and I guess quite enough to
+convince me--and I think anybody else--that you are the guilty man.
+I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but
+I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense."
+
+"What is Laverick to you?" he growled.
+
+"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends.  Even
+were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent
+man suffer?"
+
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+
+"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said,--"nonsense!  Even if
+there has been some little mistake, what could I do now?  I have
+given my evidence.  So far as I am concerned, the case is finished.
+I shall not be called again until the trial."
+
+"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and
+take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not,
+I shall be there and I shall tell the truth."
+
+"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high.  This thing has upset me.
+I'm ill.  Can't you see it, Zoe?  Look at me.  I haven't slept for
+weeks.  Night and day I've had the fear--the fear always with me.
+You don't know what it is--you can't imagine.  It's like a terrible
+ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger
+upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to
+drown thought even for a moment.  Don't you try me too far, Zoe.
+I'm not responsible.  Laverick isn't the man you think him to be.
+He isn't the man I believed.  He did have that money--he did,
+indeed."
+
+"That," she said, "is to be explained.  But he is not a murderer."
+
+"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a
+week--somewhere to the seaside.  We will talk about this and think it
+over.  I want to get away from London.  We will go to Brighton, if
+you like.   I must do something for you, Zoe.  I'm afraid I've
+neglected you a good deal.  Perhaps I could get you a better part
+at one of the theatres.  I must make you an allowance.  You ought
+to be wearing better clothes."
+
+She drew a little away.
+
+"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this--that
+you speak the truth."
+
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+
+"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that
+you are asking me?  Do you want me to go into court and say--'That
+isn't the man...  It is I who am the murderer'?  Do you want me to
+feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and
+have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that
+before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope
+around my neck and--"
+
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a
+fit of impotent terror.  But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+
+"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the
+world can alter its punishment.  If it is frightful for you to
+think of this, what must it be for him?  And you are guilty and he
+is not."
+
+"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself.  "Zoe, I
+was mad!  I called there to have a drink.  We were broke,--the firm
+was broke.  I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt
+the next day.  And there, within a few yards of me, was that man,
+with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life.  Five
+hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists.
+Zoe, they fascinated me.  I had two drinks quickly and I followed
+him out.  Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that
+was on the counter.  I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I
+wanted some of those notes!  I was leaving the next day for Africa
+and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start.  I wanted it--my
+God, how I wanted money!"
+
+"It couldn't have been worth--that!" she cried, looking at him
+wonderingly.
+
+"I was mad," he continued.  "I saw the notes and they went to my
+head.  Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for
+love.  I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my
+God, money is like the blood of my body to me!  I saw it, and I
+wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad!  Zoe, you won't give me
+away?  Say you won't!"
+
+"But what am I to do?" she protested.  "He must not suffer."
+
+"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly.  "I tell you he'll
+get off.  He's only to part with the document, which never belonged
+to him, and the charge will be withdrawn.  They know who the
+murdered man was.  They know where the money came from which he was
+carrying.  I tell you he can save himself.  You wouldn't dream of
+sending me to the gallows, Zoe!"
+
+"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people,"
+she declared.  "I am sure of that."
+
+"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered.  "He has the chance,
+anyway."
+
+She turned toward the door.
+
+"I must go away," she said.  "I must go away and think.  It is all
+too horrible."
+
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+
+"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this.  You must tell me
+that you are not going to give me up.  Do you hear?"
+
+"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this--I
+shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead."
+
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what
+it was that he was holding.  Then he struck her down and without a
+backward glance fled out of the place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+
+
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the
+commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Caf�, who
+happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the
+place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an
+unexpected surprise.  A large closed motor-car drove up to the
+front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick
+himself.  He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely
+mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior
+of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked
+for his packet.  The clerk looked up at him in amazement.  He did
+not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately
+behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen.  He had only a
+few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow,
+upon the charge of murder.  His knowledge of English law was by no
+means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance
+outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening.
+
+"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement.  "Why, this is Mr.
+Laverick himself, is it not?"
+
+"Certainly," was the quiet reply.  "I am Stephen Laverick."
+
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as
+though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background
+for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity.  Of
+Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt.  Besides,
+the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat
+reassured them.  The cashier himself came forward.
+
+"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to
+get rid of your packet.  Your instructions were that we should
+disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and
+I may say that they have been strictly adhered to.  We have,
+however, had two applications in your name this morning."
+
+"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared.
+
+The cashier hesitated.  Then he leaned across the broad mahogany
+counter towards Laverick.  One of the men who appeared to form part
+of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few
+steps nearer.
+
+"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+
+"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my
+confidence.  If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr.
+Bellamy also to hear."
+
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place
+by Laverick's side.  The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+
+"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to
+Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a
+small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in
+our document safe.  My assistant had accepted it and was actually
+locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could
+not understand.  The bag was opened and found to contain an
+infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour."
+
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+
+"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly.  "That's
+Kahn's work!"
+
+"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick
+remarked quietly.  "I gather, however, from what you say, that my
+packet is still in your possession?"
+
+"It is, sir," the man assented.  "We have two detectives from
+Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had
+almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security."
+
+"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick
+declared.
+
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office.  At
+their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few
+yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and
+the superintendent.  The safe was opened and the packet placed in
+Laverick's hands.  He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and
+immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men,
+apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel.  They made a slow
+and exceedingly cautious exit.  Once outside, Bellamy turned to
+Laverick with outstretched hand.
+
+"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily.  "I think
+you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning."
+
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade--two
+of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind.  It
+had almost the appearance of a procession.  The whole party stepped
+into a closed motor-car.  Three or four men were lounging on the
+pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually
+interfered.  As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and
+his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in
+which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street.  Very few
+words were exchanged during the short journey.  His solicitor,
+however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing
+was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.
+
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat
+remarkable little gathering took place.  The two men chiefly
+responsible for the destinies of the nation--the Prime Minister
+and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs--sat side by side
+before a small table.  Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in
+front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
+envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of
+the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal.  The
+Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit
+of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the
+presence of big events.
+
+"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to
+stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
+document?"
+
+"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly.
+"That is no copy which you have there.  On the contrary, the
+handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself."
+
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague.  The
+latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words,
+looked up.
+
+"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in
+my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
+One moment, if you please."
+
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from
+an adjoining room.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company
+at Paddington.  Ask for the station master in my name, and see that
+a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour.
+Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up,
+but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged."
+
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+
+"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on,
+"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem.
+We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail
+his visit--why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks
+everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time.
+His health is all right.  He has had a hint from Vienna that there
+has been a leakage.  His special mission only reached Paris this
+morning.  The President is in the country and their audience is not
+fixed until to-morrow.  Rawson will go over with a copy of these
+papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train.
+It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as
+this."
+
+He drew his chief a few steps away.  They whispered together for
+several moments.  When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang
+the bell again for his secretary.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few
+minutes for Windsor.  Go round yourself to General Hamilton,
+telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the
+Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison.  Tell them all to be here
+at ten o'clock tonight.  If I am not back, they must wait.  If
+either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the
+word 'Finisterre.'  They will understand."
+
+The young man once more withdrew.  The Prime Minister turned
+back to the papers.
+
+"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile,
+"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this."
+
+"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman
+answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview
+which will follow.  A month ago, the thought that war might come
+under our administration was a continual terror to me.  To-day
+things are entirely different.  To-day it really seems that if
+war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England
+of this century.  You saw the last report from Kiel?"
+
+Sir James nodded.
+
+"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly.
+"They are cooped up--safe enough, they think--under the shelter
+of their fortifications.  Hamilton has another idea.  Between you
+and me, Sir James, so have I.  I tell you," he went on, in a
+deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a
+terrible nightmare--this.  We have had ten years of panic, of
+nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you
+and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears.  It
+will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter
+differently."
+
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone
+interview with the superintendent at Paddington.  The two great
+men rose.  The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+
+"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service.
+There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've
+earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate.  There is nothing more
+we can do?"
+
+"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy
+answered.  "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the
+man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick."
+
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+
+"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said.  "You are asking a
+great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the
+slightest manner with the course of justice.  You are absolutely
+convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do
+with the murder?"
+
+"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied.
+
+"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir
+James remarked.  "Who was he?"
+
+"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was
+actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary.  I
+have told you the history, sir, of those papers.  It was Von
+Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist
+and secured them.  It was he who insisted upon coming to London
+instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the
+most obvious course for him to have adopted.  He was a pauper, and
+desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout
+this matter.  He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand
+pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the
+same night.  I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in
+the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the
+false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir.  As a matter
+of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now
+will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed
+to have bought in his possession, and also the money.  Within five
+minutes he was murdered.  Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom,
+but it was not by Stephen Laverick.  Laverick's share in the whole
+thing was nothing but this--that he found the pocket-book, and that
+he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to
+save himself from ruin.  That was unjustifiable, of course.  He has
+made atonement.  The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit
+vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came.
+I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron
+de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter."
+
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully.  He stooped down and scrawled a few
+lines on half a sheet of note-paper.
+
+"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell
+him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the
+nature of the papers.  The thing must be arranged, of course."
+
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that
+the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were
+going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even
+they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were
+really transpiring.  They knew nothing of the interview between the
+Czar and his August host--an interview which in itself was a
+chapter in the history of these times.  They knew nothing of the
+reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit
+instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the
+President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before
+the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves.
+The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant
+enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that
+night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg.
+At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from
+Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned.  The
+Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under
+pretence of a command from his royal master.  The happiest man in
+London was Prince Rosmaran.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+
+
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the
+dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company
+with his friends left the court."  The proceedings altogether took
+scarcely more than half-an-hour.  Laverick's solicitor first put
+Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to
+the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife
+which he had seen him snatch up.  Cross-examined as to why he had
+kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer
+and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which
+would cost a man his life.  Directly, however, another man had been
+accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different.  He
+had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to
+offer his evidence.
+
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's
+solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu.  A little murmur of interest ran
+though the court.  Laverick himself started.  Zoe stepped into the
+witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the
+upper part of her head.  She admitted that she was the half-sister
+of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship.  She
+described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder,
+and his state of great alarm.  She declared that he had confessed
+to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the
+murder in question.
+
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David
+Bellamy.  He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his,
+and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently
+possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business.
+The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until
+negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt
+uncertain how to make use of the money.  But he assured the court
+that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in
+question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use
+to which Laverick had put it.
+
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Morrison.  Laverick found
+Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor.
+
+"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word!  That
+dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any
+case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the
+matter.  The magistrate had received a communication direct from
+the Home Secretary concerning your case."
+
+"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared.  "I tell you I
+think I am very lucky.  I wish I knew what had become of Miss
+Leneveu.  The usher told me she left the court before we came out."
+
+"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said.  "You
+must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in
+a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street.  I was having
+Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his
+rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was
+there who appeared to be seriously injured."
+
+"D--d scamp!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued.  "I fetched her at
+once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some
+one to look after her.  The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow
+must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such
+a child.  I wonder whether he'll get away."
+
+"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked.  "He hasn't the nerve.
+He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out.  He's a
+broken-spirited cur, after all."
+
+"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu."
+
+"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will."
+
+
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little
+house for nearly half-an-hour.  He had found the door closed and
+locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had
+gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not
+returned.  Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited.  Presently
+a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of
+her house.  Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out.  She was
+as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking
+anxious.
+
+"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands.
+
+"Quite," he answered.  "You dear little girl!"
+
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor.
+Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago
+had come to see Arthur Morrison.
+
+"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous
+system is very much run down.  There is nothing serious.  She
+seems to have just escaped concussion.  The nurse had better stay
+with her for another day, at any rate."
+
+"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly.
+
+"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly.  "I see worse
+wounds every day of my life.  I'll come again to-morrow, if you like,
+but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot."
+
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which
+Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more
+encouraging words.  Laverick stayed and talked for a short time
+with the nurse.
+
+"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced.  "There
+isn't anything to worry about.  She seems as though she had been
+having a hard time, though.  There was scarcely a thing in the house
+but half a packet of tea--and these."
+
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+
+"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said.  "I had to look
+round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house."
+
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his
+eyes.
+
+"Poor little woman!" he murmured.  "I think she'd sooner have starved
+than ask for help."
+
+The nurse smiled.
+
+"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she
+remarked.  "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new
+hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing
+to the sofa.
+
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+
+"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she
+wants.  I shall be here again later in the day.  There is not the
+slightest need for all this.  She will be quite well off for the rest
+of her life.  Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to
+come in until she is able to be moved?"
+
+"I'll look after her," the nurse promised.
+
+Laverick went reluctantly away.  The events of the last few days were
+becoming more and more like a dream to him.  He went to his club
+almost from habit.  Presently the excitement which all London seemed
+to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the
+background.  The air was full of rumors.  The Prime Minister and the
+Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes.  Nothing
+was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence
+that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her
+existence as a great Power.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE PLOT THAT FAILED
+
+
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion
+House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord
+Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely
+inexplicable to the general public.  It was known that affairs in
+Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was
+felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had
+brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications
+that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country
+was now actually at hand.  There was in the Press a curious
+reticence with regard to the development of the political situation.
+One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm--that at
+any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling
+stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied.  The
+circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little
+peculiar.  On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of
+health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be
+cut down to two days.  No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however,
+than a change was announced.  The Czar had so far recovered as to
+be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit.
+Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full
+of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable.
+The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany.
+That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement
+there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt.
+
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go
+by.  Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but
+he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning.  Afterwards
+they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had
+thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants.
+
+"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise.  Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true.  The humor of the
+whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who
+pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of
+exciting suspicion.  That, of course, was when there seemed to be
+no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out.  They
+would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the
+Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in
+the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor."
+
+"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed.  "The
+special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on.  "Any morning you
+may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an
+ultimatum."
+
+"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss."
+
+"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy
+answered.  "There's always plenty of work for spies."
+
+"Don't use that word," she begged.
+
+He made a little grimace.
+
+"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?" he asked.  "Well, that counts for nothing now.  I hope I may
+still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different
+way."
+
+"What do you mean?" she demanded.
+
+"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued,
+"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months.
+When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords.
+It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I
+suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up.  I have done
+my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Your share, indeed," she murmured.  "Remember that but for that
+document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have
+gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the
+second-class Powers.  There may be war now, it is true, but it
+will be a glorious war."
+
+"Louise, very soon we shall know.  Until then I will say nothing.
+But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been
+something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these
+last few years."
+
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft.  She looked across towards him
+wistfully.
+
+"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now.  I am
+not fit to be the wife of an English peer--I am not noble."
+
+He laughed.
+
+"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think
+you one of the noblest women on earth.  Why should I not?  Your
+life itself has been a study in devotion.  The modern virtues seem
+almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a
+splendid thing.  But don't you think, Louise, that we have done
+our work that it is time to think of ourselves?"
+
+She gave him her hand.
+
+"Let us see," she said.  "Let us wait for a little time and see what
+comes."
+
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely
+spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places.  Louise
+was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose
+trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after
+a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress.  For a
+short time the costume was not recognized.  Then the music--the
+national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage,
+brought the thing home to the audience.  They did not even wait for
+her to finish.  In the middle of her song the applause broke like a
+crash of thunder.  From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered
+her wildly, madly.  A dozen times she came before the curtain.  It
+seemed impossible that they would ever let her go.  Directly she
+turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again.  The manager
+at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words.  She
+stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the
+previous applause had been unanimous.  Her voice reached easily to
+every place in the House.
+
+"I thank you all very much," she said.  "I am very happy indeed to
+be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous
+country in the world--the country that is always ready to protect
+and help her weaker neighbors.  I am a Servian, and I love my
+country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her
+voice,--"therefore I love you all."
+
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the
+streets of London had not been so impassable for years.  Crowds
+made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War
+Office, where men were working late.  Everything seemed to denote
+that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning
+made immense capital of the incident, and for the following
+twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at
+fever height.  It was known that the Cabinet Council had been
+sitting for six hours.  It was known, too, that without the least
+commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be
+called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the
+world had ever known was assembling off Dover.  The stock markets
+were wildly excited.  Laverick, back again in his office, found
+that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any
+comment.  More startling events were shaping themselves.  His own
+remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed.
+
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding
+the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in
+Theobald Square.  Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but
+eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer
+suffering.
+
+"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse
+here.  Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me.  I
+should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use."
+
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which
+contained her somewhat curt dismissal.  He laughed as he tore it
+into pieces.
+
+"Are you so sorry, Zoe?  Is the stage so wonderful a place that
+you could not bear to think of leaving it?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is not that," she whispered.  "You know that it is not that."
+
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+
+"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said.
+"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days.  A
+bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying
+sort of person."
+
+She shrank away a little.
+
+"You don't mean it," she murmured.
+
+"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her.  "I
+think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were
+doomed to become my wife."
+
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes.  For the moment she
+had forgotten everything.  She was absolutely and completely happy.
+
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards,
+as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+
+"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened.  You
+will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know.  Remember the
+alternative--and read that."
+
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur
+Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square.  The police had apparently
+tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment.  The
+details of his last few hours were indescribable.  Zoe shuddered,
+and her eyes filled with tears.  She smiled bravely in his face,
+however.
+
+"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no
+relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury.  When
+I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry."
+
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded
+up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct
+of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard,
+merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened.
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this
+excitement is about."
+
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and
+white.  An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna.
+Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's
+action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain.  It was
+demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops
+upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate
+over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon,
+from that time forward, to guarantee.  It was further announced that
+England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete
+concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured.  Further, it
+was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea
+with sealed orders.
+
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms.
+Bellamy greeted him heartily.  He was on the point of going out,
+and the two men drove off together in the latter's car.
+
+"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come
+from small means!  The document which you preserved for us, and
+for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this."
+
+"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured.
+
+"It is very simple," Bellamy declared.  "That meeting in Vienna was
+meant to force our hands.  It is all a question of the balance of
+strength.  Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,--even
+with Russia neutral,--could have defied Europe.  Germany could
+have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her
+prey.  It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the
+Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers
+with a revelation of the whole affair.  At Windsor the thing seemed
+different to him.  The French Government behaved splendidly, and the
+Czar behaved like a man.  Germany and Austria are left plante la.
+If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair.  They have no
+fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time.  They
+have no means of landing an army here.  Austria, perhaps, can hold
+Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for
+years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with
+ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme
+proved abortive.  Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick.
+To-day great things have happened to me."
+
+"And to me," Laverick interposed.
+
+"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs.  "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to
+be my wife."
+
+Laverick held out his hand.
+
+"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed.  "I have been an
+engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever
+may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy
+remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper.  "For the
+first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers
+of equal standing.  We were always rather good at bullying smaller
+countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have
+made our late Premier go lightheaded."
+
+"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him.
+
+"Absolutely," he affirmed.  "To-day's news makes peace a certainty.
+If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal
+welcome next month."
+
+"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked.
+
+"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon
+the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't
+been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your
+people."
+
+"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured.
+"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?"
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a
+silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious
+reputation in foreign countries.  I am Lord Denchester of
+Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon.
+By the way, I hope you like the title."
+
+"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared.  "To be an
+English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to
+go on singing at Covent Garden."
+
+"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her.  "I have asked
+Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with
+me.  Afterwards we must all have supper together."
+
+"How nice of you!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling.  "I really like
+Laverick.  He is a decent fellow and a good sort.  Incidentally, he
+was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it.  He
+interests me, too, in another way.  He is a man who, face to face
+with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!"
+
+"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked.
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out.  "He had no right
+to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station.  If he had done so--that is to say, if he had
+waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that
+pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one
+that there would have been another tragedy that night.  At any
+rate, the document would never have come to us."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that
+Laverick's decision brought us the document."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face
+with ruin.  The use of that money for a few hours did no one any
+harm, and saved him.  I say that such a deed is always a matter of
+calculation, and in this case that he was justified."
+
+"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked.
+
+"Perhaps I'll ask him."
+
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe,
+he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he
+had loved so long.  She moved about the stage that night as though
+her feet indeed fell upon the air.  She appeared to be singing
+always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a
+quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience
+thrilled.  Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance.
+Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning
+Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous
+love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled
+more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened.  Zoe
+found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement.
+Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut
+face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond.  Yet, as
+he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft.  The song grew
+and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite
+and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice.  The last note
+came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged
+for an extraordinary period.  When it died away, its passing seemed
+something almost unrealizable.  It quivered away into a silence
+which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause
+swept the house.  And in those last few seconds she had turned and
+faced Bellamy.  Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from
+his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat.  It was her
+good-bye.  She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into
+the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love
+itself.  Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked
+up to a state of frenzied excitement.  Bellamy was recognized, and
+the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the
+house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in
+the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again.
+But the three in the box were silent.  Bellamy stood back in the
+shadows.  Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in
+themselves.  Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed
+outside.
+
+"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly.  "You will excuse me
+for a few minutes?  I am going to Louise."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
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+<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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+<TITLE>
+The Project Gutenberg E-text of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
+</TITLE>
+
+<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
+BODY { color: Black;
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
+
+
+Title: Havoc
+
+Author: E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287]
+Release Date: August, 2000
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML
+version by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+Havoc
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+by
+</H3>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+E. Philips Oppenheim
+</H2>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%">
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">CROWNED HEADS MEET</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">ROBBING THE DEAD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">VON BEHRLING'S FATE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap17">THE PRICE OF SILENCE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap18">THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap19">MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap20">LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap21">MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap22">ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap23">LAVERICK AT THE OPERA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap24">A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap25">JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap26">THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap27">PENETRATING A MYSTERY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap28">LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap29">LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap30">THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap31">MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap32">MORRISON IS DESPERATE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap33">LAVERICK'S ARREST</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap34">MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap35">BELLAMY'S SUCCESS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap36">LAVERICK ACQUITTED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap37">THE PLOT TEAT FAILED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap38">A FAREWELL APPEARANCE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+HAVOC
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CROWNED HEADS MEET
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their
+spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath.
+Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure.  Bellamy's
+face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous.
+Failure was a new thing to him&mdash;a thing which those behind the
+great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he.
+Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours
+broke into a tumult of welcoming voices.  Down their thickly-packed
+lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first,
+swelling and growing to a thunderous roar.  Myriads of hats were
+suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs
+waved from every window.  It was a wonderful greeting, this.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery&mdash;guardsmen
+of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white
+uniforms, their flashing helmets.  The small brougham with its
+great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked steel.
+Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust
+out his under-lip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices,
+muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre
+which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Emperor," declared Bellamy.  "He goes to the West station."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The commotion had passed.  The crowds in the street below were on
+the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a
+murmur of voices.  The two men turned from their window back into
+the room.  Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained,
+nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with
+a gesture of depression.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to
+himself, half to Dorward.  "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Long enough," Bellamy answered.  "That little room in the Palace,
+my friend, may yet become famous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally
+shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I
+think.  I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable
+even a hundred words of their conversation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no
+price sufficient.  We made our effort in different directions, both
+of us.  With infinite pains I planted&mdash;I may tell you this now that
+the thing is over&mdash;seven spies in the Palace.  They have been of
+as much use as rabbits.  I don't believe that a single one of them
+got any further than the kitchens."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked.
+"There wasn't a secretary in the room.  Carstairs was nearly thrown
+out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace.  The great staircase
+was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the
+corridors."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months
+older, Dorward," he declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly.  "You believe that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked.  "When
+Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you
+believe it is across the North Sea that they point?  Things have
+been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared
+impatiently.  "I'd just like to know what they said about America."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said.  "He can
+scarcely do more to show his regard for your country.  He is giving
+you a special interview&mdash;you alone out of about two hundred
+journalists.  Very likely he will give you an exact account of
+everything that transpired.  First of all, he will assure you that
+this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace.  He
+will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in
+the thoughts of his master.  He will assure you&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly.  "I
+wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the
+Chancellor, eh?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for
+it.  For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing.
+Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward?  You know the man&mdash;false
+as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent.  He will grasp your
+hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great
+Anglo-Saxon races&mdash;to England and to his dear friends the Americans.
+He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself
+candidly and openly.  Peace is to be the watchword of the future.
+The white doves have hovered over the Palace.  The rulers of the
+earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this
+terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up.
+They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this
+object,&mdash;Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army
+still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the
+nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the
+seaboard&mdash;Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her
+existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in
+letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her
+rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor.  Colonies!  Expansion!
+Empire!  Whose colonies, I wonder?  Whose empire?  Will he tell you
+that, my friend Dorward?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he
+answered indifferently.  "It's all part of the game, of course.  I
+am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth.  All the same,
+my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately
+after this wonderful meeting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our
+eyes and yours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the
+copy.  It's good-bye, I suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said.  "I can do
+no more good here.  And you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any
+rate," Dorward answered.  "I hear the women are forming rifle
+clubs all through Servia."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said.  "All Vienna
+raves about her.  They throng the Opera House every night to hear
+her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been
+known here.  Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief
+of the Committee for National Defence.  The jewels that are sent her
+anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these
+people who worship her.  I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to
+his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people
+is something we colder races scarcely understand.  Perhaps it is
+because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror.  If
+ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which
+she enters,&mdash;it will be a carnage, an extermination!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting.  Good-bye,
+and cheer up, Bellamy!  Your old country isn't going to turn up
+her heels yet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Out he went&mdash;long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face&mdash;a strange figure but yet a power.
+Bellamy remained.  For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the
+time.  He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of
+the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose
+movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been
+in the service.  He had still a military bearing,&mdash;tall, and with
+complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes,
+a silent mouth,&mdash;a man of many reserves.  Even his intimates knew
+little of him.  Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted
+well his profession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters.  He had just
+finished when there came a sharp tap at the door.  Before he could
+open his lips some one had entered.  He heard the soft swirl of
+draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and
+held out both his hands.  There was expression in his face now&mdash;as
+much as he ever suffered to appear there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise!" he exclaimed.  "What good fortune!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a
+more than common intimacy.  Then she threw herself into an
+easy-chair and raised her thick veil.  Bellamy looked at her for a
+moment in sorrowful silence.  There were violet lines underneath
+her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color.  There
+was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him.
+She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was
+dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting.  The word has
+been spoken."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He came and stood by her side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head mournfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed.  "For myself, I feel it in the air!
+I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city!  I can
+hear it in the peals of those awful bells!  You know nothing?  You
+have heard nothing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice.
+"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity.  I
+filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance.  There
+wasn't even a secretary present.  The Czar, the two Emperors and the
+Chancellor,&mdash;not another soul was in the room."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed.  "He was there
+in reserve, I know, as stenographer.  I have but to lift my hand
+and it is enough.  I would have had the truth from him, whatever it
+cost me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully.  It was not for nothing that
+the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful
+woman in the world.  He frowned slightly at her last words, for he
+loved her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said
+sharply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She moved her head and looked up at him.  She was leaning a little
+forward now, her chin resting upon her hands.  Something about the
+lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal
+crouching for a spring.  She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving,
+and he could guess at the passion within.  With purpose he spoke to
+set it loose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You sing to-night?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice.  "I sing no more in this accursed city!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked.  "I see that the
+whole city is placarded with notices.  It is to be a gala night at
+the Opera.  The royal party is to be present."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do I care&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;for their gala night!  If I were like
+Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and
+bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear Louise, it is useless, this.  You do everything that can be
+done for your country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand.  None of you
+English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of
+this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know
+that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be
+shed, and shed in vain.  To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it
+is worse, this, than murder,&mdash;a worse crime than his who stains
+the soul of a poor innocent girl!  It is a sin against nature
+herself!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought.  I have borne up
+against this thing so long.  I can do no more good here.  I come
+to tell you that I go away till the time comes.  I go to your
+London.  They want me to sing for them there.  I shall do it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will break your engagement?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am Idiale," she declared.  "I keep no engagement if I do not
+choose.  I will sing no more to this people whom I hate.  My friend
+David, I have suffered enough.  Their applause I loathe&mdash;their
+covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage&mdash;oh, I could
+strike them all dead!  They come to me, these young Austrian
+noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race.  I keep
+their diamonds but I destroy their messages.  Their jewels go to
+my chorus girls or to arm my people.  But no one of them has had a
+kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained.
+Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises.  No Austrian shall
+ever touch my lips&mdash;I have sworn it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital!  Even
+in the Palace&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held out her hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is finished!" she declared.  "I sing no more.  I have sent word
+to the Opera House.  I came here to be in hiding for a while.  They
+will search for me everywhere.  To-night or to-morrow I leave for
+England."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not sure that you are wise," he said.  "You take it too much
+for granted that the end has come."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded.  He hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Proof!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sat upright in her chair.  Her hands thrust him from her, her
+bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Proof!" she cried.  "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves
+have plotted for?  What else do you suppose could be Austria's share
+of the feast?  Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their
+voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity?  We
+are doomed&mdash;betrayed!  You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
+a blood-stained page of history for all time.  The world would tell
+you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings.  It is
+not true.  My friend David, it is not true.  It is a more terrible
+thing, this which is coming.  Body and soul we are to perish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on
+hers.  It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he
+loved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless.  There may
+yet be compromises."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not
+pass out of her face or tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Compromises!" she repeated.  "Do you believe, then, that we are
+like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror
+because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered
+themselves passively to be led into captivity?  My country can be
+conquered in one way, and one way only,&mdash;not until her sons, ay,
+and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule.  They
+will come to an empty and a stricken country&mdash;a country red with
+blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities.  The
+horror of it!  Think, my friend David, the horror of it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You take too much for granted," he declared.  "England, at any
+rate, is not yet a conquered race.  And there is France&mdash;Italy,
+too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient
+enemy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured.
+"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless.
+Already it has been proved.  Last year you declared yourself our
+friend&mdash;you and even Russia.  Of what avail was it?  Word came
+from Berlin and you were powerless."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man
+demented.  For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but
+this man was surely a stranger!  He was hatless, dishevelled, wild.
+A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes
+were on fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy!" he cried.  "Bellamy!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Words failed him suddenly.  He leaned against the table, breathless,
+panting heavily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began,&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Alone!" Dorward interrupted.  "I must see you alone!  I have news!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose.  She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered.  "So?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure
+of his fingers.  Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a
+siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers.  He
+tossed it off before he spoke a word.  Then he turned around and
+faced his companion.  "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy obeyed.  He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his
+head in the Chancellor's presence&mdash;had made some absurd attempt to
+gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little
+out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was
+ever dealt out to a human being.  If only I can get safe out of
+this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man
+ever handled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't mean that&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but
+I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Got what?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,"
+Dorward replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed.  "You may have
+something&mdash;just what the Chancellor wants you to print.  You're
+not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a
+conqueror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting.  I tell you I've got the original
+verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this
+afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and
+the Emperor of Germany.  I've got it word for word as the Chancellor
+took it down.  I've got their decision.  I've got their several
+undertakings."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb.  He looked toward the door
+and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph.  Then his power
+of speech returned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean to say that you stole it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not I!  I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to
+me with his own hands, willingly,&mdash;pressed it upon me.  No, don't
+scoff!" he went on quickly.  "Listen!  This is a genuine thing.
+The Chancellor's mad.  He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace.
+It will be in all the evening papers.  You will hear the boys
+shouting it in the streets within a few minutes.  Don't interrupt
+and I'll tell you the whole truth.  You can believe me or not, as
+you like.  It makes no odds.  I arrived punctually and was shown up
+into the anteroom.  Even from there I could hear loud voices in the
+inner chamber and I knew that something was up.  Presently a little
+fellow came out to me&mdash;a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses.
+He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician,
+regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see
+no one,&mdash;the excitement and hard work of the last few days had
+knocked him out.  Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I
+could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room
+was thrown open.  The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold.
+There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as
+parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled
+as though he had been standing upon his head.  He began to talk to
+the physician in German.  I didn't understand him until he began to
+swear,&mdash;then it was wonderful!  In the end he brushed them all
+away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room.
+For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I
+was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the
+things I wanted to know about.  Then, all of a sudden, he turned to
+me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted.  'Ah!' he
+said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now.
+Lock the door.'  I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they
+were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing
+us every moment.  'Come and sit down,' he ordered.  I did so at
+once.  'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared.  'To-day every one
+is worrying me.  They think that I am not well.  It is foolish.  I
+am quite well.  Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I
+told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and
+he nodded and seemed pleased.  'You have come to hear the truth
+about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of
+Germany?' he asked.  'That's so,' I told him.  'America's more
+than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what
+to tell her.'  Then he leaned across the table.  'My young friend,'
+he said, 'I like you.  You are straightforward.  You speak plainly
+and you do not worry me.  It is good.  You shall tell your country
+what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are
+coming.  Yours is a great and wise country.  When they know the
+truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that
+the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.'
+'You are right,' I assured him,&mdash;'dead right.  Treat us openly,
+that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he
+answered.  'Now look, I give you this.'  He fumbled through all his
+pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends
+with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two
+tigers facing each other.  He looked toward the door cautiously, and
+there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have.
+'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand.  This will
+tell you exactly what passed this afternoon.  It will tell you our
+plans.  It will tell you of the share which my master and the other
+two are taking.  Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you
+do, do not let them know outside that you have got it.  Between
+you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems
+to have happened to them all to-day.  There's my old doctor there.
+He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well.  I can see
+it whenever he comes near me.'  I nodded as though I understood and
+the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned.  Then I got up as
+casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let
+me go.  We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces
+of burning coal.  Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the
+door.  Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a
+paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't
+follow him.  I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there.
+I contrived to look as frightened as possible.  'His Highness is not
+well enough to talk to me,' I whispered.  'You had better look after
+him.'  I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall.  Then I closed the
+door and slipped away as quietly as I could&mdash;and here I am."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered.  "How long is it
+since you left the Palace?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They'll find it out at once," declared the other.  "They'll miss
+the paper.  Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to
+you.  Don't let us run any risks, Dorward.  Tear it open.  Let us
+know the truth, at any rate.  If you have to part with the document,
+we can remember its contents.  Out with it, man, quick!  They may
+be here at any moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward drew a few steps back.  Then he shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess not," he said firmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" he exclaimed.  "You're not going to keep it to
+yourself?  You know what it means to me&mdash;to England?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward
+declared.  "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance.  I am not here
+as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to
+nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly.  "I tell you
+I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared.  "I shall
+head for England.  Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will
+be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his
+hand.  We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet&mdash;too quiet to be altogether
+natural.  His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the
+door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing
+is new to you.  You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive
+with that in your pocket.  If you trust yourself in the Orient
+Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier.
+By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too,
+that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor
+has told them the truth or not.  Open it at once so that we get some
+good out of it.  Then we'll go round to the Embassy.  We can slip
+out by the back way, perhaps.  Remember I have spent my life in the
+service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city
+where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy
+or mine.  Open the packet, man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think not," Dorward answered firmly.  "I am an American citizen.
+I have broken no laws and done no one any harm.  If there's any
+slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward....  Don't be a fool, man!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took a quick step backward,&mdash;he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy's revolver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it!  Yours is only
+a personal ambition&mdash;I stand for my country.  Share the knowledge
+of that packet with me or I shall shoot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then shoot and be d&mdash;d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely.  "This
+is my show, not yours.  You and your country can go to&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He broke off without finishing his sentence.  There was a thunderous
+knocking at the door.  The two men looked at one another for a
+moment, speechless.  Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced
+the revolver in his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The knocking was repeated.  When Bellamy with a shrug of the
+shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered.
+They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed.
+"He was here but a moment ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door.  He had had too much experience
+in such matters to attempt any prevarication.  The three men crossed
+the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear.  He heard a cry
+of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door.  The inner
+room was empty!
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is news!" she exclaimed.  "I can see it in your face."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news!  That is why I have come.
+Where can we talk?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She rose to her feet.  Before them the open French windows led on
+to a smooth green lawn.  She took his arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come outside with me," she said.  "I am shut up here because I
+will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera
+House.  An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean to keep your word, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have I ever broken it?  Never again will I sing in this City.  It
+is so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked around.  The garden of the villa was enclosed by
+high gray stone walls.  They were secure here, at least, from
+eavesdroppers.  She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding
+up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course," she assented.  "You told me that the Chancellor had
+promised him an interview for to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.".
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose.  The
+latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is quite true," Bellamy declared.  "What I am going to tell you
+is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself.  When he reached
+the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane.  His doctors were
+trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard
+Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him.  The man was mad&mdash;on
+the verge of a collapse&mdash;and he handed over to Dorward his notes,
+and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him incredulously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear David!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth.  I know it for
+a fact.  The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what
+he was doing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is it?" she asked quickly.  "You have seen it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly.  "While we argued
+in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived.  Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs.  He spoke of trying
+to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever
+let him leave the city."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly.  "What are you going
+to do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other.  I would have
+killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe
+that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us
+from disaster.  To know how far each is pledged, and from which
+direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to
+share his knowledge with you.  He is an American&mdash;it is almost the
+same thing as being an Englishman.  And you are friends,&mdash;I am
+sure that you have helped him often."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a matter of vanity&mdash;simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered.
+"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern
+times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his
+paper.  He fights for his own hand alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you?" she whispered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared.  "I know that he
+is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be
+at his heels."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I, too," she announced.  "I come with you, my friend.  I do no
+more good here, and they worry my life out all the time.  I come to
+sing in London at Covent Garden.  I have agreements there which only
+await my signature.  We will go together; is it not so?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must
+depend very largely upon Dorward's.  The train leaves at eight
+o'clock, station time.  I have already a coupe reserved."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I come with you," she murmured.  "I am very weary of this city."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They walked on for a few paces in silence.  Bellamy looked around
+the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with
+here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst
+the wealth of foliage.  The villa had once belonged to a royal
+favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory.  They reached
+a sheltered seat and sat down.  A few yards away a tiny waterfall
+came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool.  They were hidden
+from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut
+tree.  Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it.  She had returned his
+kiss, but she drew a little further away from him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+"courtship is scarcely the word, is it?  For you and me there is
+nothing to hope for, nothing beyond."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leaned towards her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never believe that," he begged.  "These days are dark enough,
+Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal.  Even our
+turn may come."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed
+to make a different woman of her.  Bellamy saw it, and hardened
+though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses.  He
+kissed her hand passionately and she shivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must not talk of these things," she said.  "We must not think
+of them.  At least our friendship has been wonderful.  Now I must
+go in.  I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment.  Though her
+lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve
+with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful,
+too.  They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked
+a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible.
+Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He raised her fingers to his lips.  It was not often that they
+lapsed into sentiment.  When she spoke again it was finished.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate.  There
+are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I
+are not seen too much together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at
+the station early.  If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna.
+If he goes, it may be an eventful journey."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe
+rolling innumerable cigarettes.  He was a man of unbounded courage
+and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as
+to the sanctity of an American citizen.  He had served his
+apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a
+household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent
+in the Russo-Japanese War.  His experience of European countries,
+however, was limited.  After the more obvious dangers with which
+he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous
+career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler
+perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted.  He had made
+his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and
+since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions,
+he had remained unmolested.  From his own point of view, therefore,
+it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any
+misgiving as to his personal safety.  ARREST as a thief was the
+worst which he had feared.  Even that he seemed now to have evaded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a
+somewhat exciting day.  He lit a cigarette and stretched himself
+out with a murmur of immense satisfaction.  He was close upon the
+great triumph of his life.  He was perfectly content to lie there
+and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were
+now fast descending.  He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured
+himself.  Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he
+started almost like a guilty man.  The relief in his face as he
+recognized his visitor was obvious.  It was Bellamy who entered
+and dropped into a seat by his side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to
+the growing heap of cigarettes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered.  "I can smoke this lot before
+we reach London."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't think that you will," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed.  "Personally, I
+do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching
+London at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And why not?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders.  Dorward seemed to find the
+gesture irritating.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared
+dryly.  "I suppose it's the result of your profession.  I may not
+know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think
+that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train
+like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a
+scrap by way of taking care of himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't see any pluck about it.  In Vienna, I must admit, I
+shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort
+of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't.  Guess they'd find
+it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said.
+"You really believe what you say?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your
+experience should talk and behave like a baby.  You've taken some
+notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly.  "What about
+them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my
+certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of
+Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of
+their subordinates somewhere on board the train."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his
+friend keenly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave.  There had come into his face an
+utterly altered expression.  His tone, when he spoke, was almost
+solemn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have
+told you is the truth.  I cannot seem to make you realize the
+seriousness of your position.  When you left the Palace with that
+paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a
+doomed man.  Your passport and your American citizenship count for
+absolutely nothing.  I have come in to warn you that if you have
+any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed
+contemptuously.  "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you
+want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said.  "If the seal were
+broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help
+the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my
+forehead on the railway track."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered.  "As a
+matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer.  I am sorry,
+old man.  You can't say that I didn't give you good advice.  I am
+bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I
+get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some
+regrettable accident has happened to you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed.
+"I've had about enough of it.  I am not denying anything you say,
+but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice
+before they meddle with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the
+trouble to think at all.  Their minds are perfectly made up as to
+what they are going to do.  However, that's finished.  I have
+nothing more to say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing
+I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let
+you read it over with me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed.  "You would simply
+write my death-warrant.  Don't allude to that matter again.  I
+have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!"  Dorward said
+irritably.  "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk.  In
+an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep.  We'll
+breakfast together in the morning, if you like."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy said nothing.  The steward had brought them the whiskies
+and sodas which Dorward had ordered.  Bellamy raised his tumbler
+to his lips and set it down again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp.  Almost immediately he closed his
+eyes.  Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him
+alone.  As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the
+corridor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered.  She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said.  "I invited him
+to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed.  It is his companions
+who watch him all the time.  He has promised to talk with me later."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy
+bending over her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession
+of the packet.  They have been discussing whether it will not be
+safer to go on to London instead of doubling back.  See Von Behrling
+again.  Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,&mdash;all you
+can, Louise, remember."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So!" she whispered.  "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in
+the corridor.  It is hot here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him.  The train
+was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night.
+For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening.  The voices
+whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but
+once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry.
+In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have
+disappeared.  The man within him was hard to subdue.  He longed to
+make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly
+unequal struggle, yet he made no movement.  Dorward was a man and a
+friend, but what was a life more or less?  It was to a greater cause
+that he was pledged.  Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed
+and slept....
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight.  The
+man's hands were trembling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered.  "Monsieur noticed,
+perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I sleep soundly," he said.  "I heard nothing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There has been an accident," the man declared.  "An American
+gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and
+became very drunk.  In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shuddered a little.  He had been prepared, but none the
+less it was an awful thing, this.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was very sure indeed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said.  "He
+examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes.
+The next move was for him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he
+came to the coup� which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale.
+Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of
+the door and entered.  Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown,
+drinking her coffee.  He held up his finger and she greeted him
+only with a nod.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was
+obliged to see you at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is of no consequence," she said.  "One is always prepared here.
+The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs&mdash;they all enter.
+Is anything wrong?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It has happened," he answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor fellow!" she murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone.  "He would not be warned.  I could
+have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued.  "Now listen to me,
+Louise.  I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I
+feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London,
+all three of them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is there on the train?" she demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and
+Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered.  "Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling
+separately.  Von Behrling has the packet.  The others form a sort
+of cordon around him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London?  Why not return to
+Vienna?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For one thing," Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are
+afraid of me.  Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward
+will be talked about.  They do not want to seem in any way
+implicated.  To return from any one of these stations down the line
+would create suspicion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued.  "I
+find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin.  From
+there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can.  You know the
+address of my rooms?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"15, Fitzroy Street."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I
+can see you.  While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling
+almost inaccessible.  Directly I have gone it will be different.
+Play with him carefully.  He should not be difficult.  To tell you
+the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a
+mission like this.  He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short
+while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to
+attend the conference.  The others will watch him closely, but
+they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two.  Von
+Behrling is a poor man.  You will know how to make him wish he were
+rich."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up.  She looked at him doubtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked.  "Von Behrling is a
+little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with
+me, but I do not think that he would sell his country.  Then, too,
+see how he will be watched.  I do not suppose that they will leave
+us alone for a moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural
+force.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von
+Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength.  You
+know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know
+what that means.  I have heard men talk about you till one would
+think that they were children.  You have something of that art or
+guile&mdash;call it what you will&mdash;which passes from you through a
+man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven&mdash;but
+carries him there mad.  Louise, don't be angry with me for what I
+say.  Remember that I know my sex.  I know you, too, and I trust
+you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into
+what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your
+fingers.  Von Behrling has that packet in his possession.  When I
+come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds
+in Bank of England notes.  With that Von Behrling might fancy
+himself on his way to America&mdash;with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She closed her eyes for a moment.  Perhaps she wished to keep hidden
+from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain.
+He wished to make use of her&mdash;of her, the woman whom he loved.
+Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the
+anger passed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach
+London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether
+he is in heaven or upon earth.  It will not be opened in London.
+He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which
+he robbed Dorward.  Oh!  it is a difficult game, I know, but it is
+worth playing.  Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators.
+It is your country's very existence that is threatened.  It is for
+her sake as well as for England."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face.  "Oh,
+you may be sure that I shall do my best!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away.  The electric
+lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light
+dim.  Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to
+leave at Munich.  Then he rang for the porter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a Frenchman?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is so, Monsieur!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if
+I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians
+you would tell me the truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's gesture was inimitable.  Englishmen to him were obviously
+the salt of the earth.  Germans and Austrians&mdash;why, they existed
+as the cattle in the fields&mdash;nothing more.  Bellamy gave him a
+sovereign.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said.  "They
+are in numbers ten and eleven."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented.  "As yet I think they are
+fast asleep.  Not one of them has rung for his coffee."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are they booked for?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For London, Monsieur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say
+anything about leaving the train before then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen
+have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover.  They were very
+anxious to travel by a turbine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you very much.  You will be so discreet as to forget that I
+have asked you any questions concerning them.  As for me, if one
+would know, I am on my way to Berlin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bell rang.  The man looked outside and put his head once more
+in Bellamy's coupe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared.  "If
+anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once
+to Monsieur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will do well," Bellamy answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in
+their pyjamas.  They have ordered their breakfast to be served after
+we leave Munich."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of
+them asked me whether the English gentleman&mdash;meaning you&mdash;was
+going through to London or not.  I told them that you were getting
+out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite right," Bellamy said.  "If they ask any more questions, let
+me know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were
+traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective
+toilette.  At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked
+down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with
+his companions in one of the compartments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He rose to his feet and came out.  Tall, with a fair moustache and
+blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to
+be proud of the fact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excellently," replied Louise.  "Will you not take me in to luncheon?
+The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone.  It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am honored," he declared.  "Will you permit me for one moment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned and spoke to his companions.  Louise saw at once that they
+were protesting vigorously.  She saw, too, that Von Behrling only
+became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry.  She moved
+a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the
+window.  He joined her almost immediately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes.
+We will go and take a good place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your
+leaving them.  They are not very gallant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache.  "Streuss there is an old fool.  He has always some
+fancy in his brain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are your own master, I suppose," she said.  "The Baron is
+used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets.  There are
+many people who find him too autocratic."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He means well," Von Behrling asserted.  "It is his manner only
+which is against him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across
+the white cloth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant
+than lunching alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous
+twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Always gallant," she murmured.  "Tell me, is it true of you&mdash;the
+news which I heard just before I left Vienna?  Have you really
+resigned your post with the Chancellor?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You heard that?" he asked slowly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hesitated for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I heard something of the sort," she admitted.  "To be quite candid
+with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a
+change on his own account."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So that is what they say, is it?  What do they know about it&mdash;these
+gossipers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!  well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape,
+"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me
+wild.  I should not have been content until I had learned somehow
+or other what had transpired.  Lately, I am afraid, my interest in
+my country seems to have grown a trifle cold.  Perhaps because I
+have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your
+point of view.  Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own
+little careers are, after all, the most important part of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling eyed her Curiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!  I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still
+hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with
+me, I must admit.  If we had two lives, I would give one to my
+country and keep one for myself.  Since we have only one, I am
+afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its
+pleasures."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily.
+"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered.  "One needs many
+things to get the best out of life.  One needs wealth and one needs
+love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is true," Von Behrling admitted,&mdash;"quite true."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by.
+They can never come again.  If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom.  He was twenty-five years
+old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms.  Of late, this
+fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this.  You have
+the world at your feet, Mademoiselle.  You have only to throw the
+handkerchief."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile.  The bluest eyes in the world
+grew softer as they looked into his.  Von Behrling felt his cheeks
+burn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured.  "Tell me," she
+continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence.  Is
+it because you are poor?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am a beggar,"&mdash;bitterly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought,
+"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you
+have compensations."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I have none!" he declared.  "You should know that&mdash;you,
+Mademoiselle.  Life for me means one thing and one thing only!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth.  Von
+Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file
+in to take their places.  "After luncheon we will take our coffee
+in my coupe.  Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters.  I
+have a headache.  Will you order me some champagne?  It is a terrible
+thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels,
+what can one do?  Here come your bodyguard.  They look at me as
+though I had stolen you away.  Remember we take our coffee together
+afterwards.  I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you
+to amuse me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts.
+The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself
+to have transported him into a seventh heaven.  On the other hand,
+he had trouble with his friends.  Streuss drew him on one side at
+Ostend, and talked to him plainly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and
+myself.  Wine and women and pleasure are good things.  We two, we
+love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for
+them, and it is not now.  Our mission is too serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this?
+What do I do wrong?  What have you to say against me?  If I talk
+with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for
+me to do.  Would you have us three&mdash;you and Kahn and myself&mdash;travel
+arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers?  Would
+you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret
+mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already
+committed a crime?  These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss.  It
+is better that we behave like ordinary mortals.  You talk foolishly,
+Streuss!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will
+not have it!  Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot.  She
+is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman.  She and he were
+together last night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested.  "He
+went north to Berlin.  That itself is the proof that they know
+nothing.  If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that
+he would have stayed with us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered.  "There are too many of
+us to deal with,&mdash;he knew that.  Mademoiselle Idiale is clever,
+too.  Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through
+false women.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling drew himself up.  After all, it was he who was noble;
+Streuss was little more than a policeman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I refuse!" he exclaimed.  "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am
+in charge of this expedition.  It was I who planned it.  It was I"&mdash;he
+dropped his voice and touched his chest&mdash;"who struck the
+first blow for its success.  I think that we need talk no more," he
+went on.  "I welcome your companionship.  It makes for strength
+that we travel together.  But for the rest, the enterprise has been
+mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it
+shall be mine.  Watch me, if you like.  Stay with me and see that
+I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of
+myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly.  The siren was already blowing
+from the steamer.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth.  Louise,
+wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left
+the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck.  Von Behrling
+found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across.
+She beckoned him to her side.  Her eyes glowed at him through the
+darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared.  "By myself
+I had to find this place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling was ruffled.  He was also humbly apologetic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is those idiots who are with me," he said.  "All the time they
+worry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know what it is," she said.  "You have secrets which you are
+taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian.
+Tell me, is it not so?  Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling hesitated.  She drew him closer towards her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail.
+You are too big to talk to up there.  So!  Now you can come
+underneath my rug.  Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it without reason?" he asked.  "Would not any one be afraid of
+you&mdash;if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets?
+I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed at him softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, no!" she said.  "Men are not like that, nowadays.  They talk
+and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do, indeed.  One reads love-stories&mdash;no, I do not mean romances,
+but memoirs&mdash;memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts&mdash;memoirs,
+even, written by Englishmen.  Men were different a generation ago.
+Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet
+there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these
+things for the love of a woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there
+are very few."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized
+his state of excitement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a
+laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna.  I&mdash;the poverty-stricken,
+who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you&mdash;have dared
+to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart
+above all the women on earth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very nice of you," she murmured.  "Why do you tell me this
+now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, indeed?" he answered.  "What have I to hope for?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked along the deck.  Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends
+burned red through the gloom.  She knew very well that those cigar
+ends belonged to Streuss and his friend.  She laughed softly and
+once more she bent her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How they watch you, those men!" she said.  "Listen, my friend
+Rudolph.  Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really
+a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else
+you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing
+you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt
+it?  The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret
+Service Department, is he not?  To me he seems the most obvious
+policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't mean it!" he muttered.  "You can't mean what you said
+just now!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was silent for a few moments.  Some one passing struck a match,
+and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by
+her side&mdash;strained now and curiously intense.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Supposing I did!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must be mad!" he declared.  "You must not talk to me like this,
+Mademoiselle.  I have no secret.  It is your humor, I know, but it
+is dangerous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone.  I say again,
+Rudolph, supposing this were true?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His hand passed across his forehead.  She fancied that he made a
+motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stay here," she whispered.  "No, I do not wish to drive you away.
+Now you are here you shall listen to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered.  "Don't tell me that you
+are in earnest.  It is treason.  I am Rudolph Von Behrling,
+Secretary to the Chancellor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are
+indeed the Chancellor's secretary.  What do you gain from it?  A
+pittance!  Many hours work a day and a pittance.  What have you to
+look forward to?  A little official life, a stupid official position.
+Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world.  Do I not represent
+other things?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God knows you do!" he muttered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I, too, am weary of singing.  I want a long rest&mdash;a long rest and
+a better name than my own.  Don't shrink away from me.  It isn't so
+wonderful, after all.  Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few
+hours ago.  He was Dorward's friend.  He knew well what Dorward
+carried.  It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from
+him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared.  "You must stop!  I must
+not listen to this!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet
+in your pocket.  Think of that, my friend.  It would be a start in
+life, would it not?  I am an extravagant woman.  Even if I would, I
+dared not think of a poor man.  But twenty thousand pounds is
+sufficient.  When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has
+been waiting for me for weeks&mdash;15, Dover Street.  If you bring that
+packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there
+will be twenty thousand pounds and&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her fingers suddenly held his.  She could almost hear his heart
+beating.  Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the
+tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face.
+She whispered a warning under her breath.  The two cigar ends had
+moved nearer.  The forms of the two men were now distinct.  One was
+leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side.  The other
+stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover.  Von Behrling
+staggered to his feet.  He said something in an angry undertone to
+Streuss.  Louise rose and shook out her furs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can
+spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids?  You will find
+them both in my cabin, number three.  I wish to walk for a few
+moments before we arrive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream.  Mademoiselle Idiale
+followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully
+planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram
+announcing her journey to London.  There was an engaged carriage at
+Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the
+Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her.
+Von Behrling seemed to be missing.  She had seen nothing of him
+since he had descended to summon her maids.  But just as the train
+was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment
+later his white face was pressed through the open window of the
+carriage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire!  I cannot talk to you!  I fear
+that they suspect something.  They have told me that if I travel
+with you they will force their way in.  Even now, Streuss comes.
+Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can.  I must
+think&mdash;I must think!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two
+o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of
+correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he
+knew well.  He tore open the envelope.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="letter">
+DAVID DEAR,&mdash;I have just arrived and I am sending you these few
+lines at once.  As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for
+certain, but there is a chance.  You had better get the money ready
+and come to me here.  If R. could only escape from Streuss and
+those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they
+are suspicious.  What may happen I cannot tell.  I do my best and
+I have hated it.  Get the money ready and come to me.
+<BR><BR>
+                                                           LOUISE.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces.  Then
+he rang for his servant.  "A bath and some clean clothes quickly,"
+he ordered.  "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see
+if Sir James is there.  If not, find out exactly where he is.  I
+must see him within half an hour.  Afterwards, get me a taxicab."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained
+servant.  In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy
+had left his rooms.  Before four o'clock he had arrived at the
+address which Louise had given him.  A commissionaire telephoned his
+name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced
+French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to
+Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first
+floor.  He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with
+roses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is
+engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to
+receive Monsieur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at
+her service.  My time is of no consequence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man bowed and withdrew.  Louise came to him almost directly from
+an inner chamber.  She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of
+her journey seemed already to have passed away.  Her eyes were
+bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment.  Then she walked
+to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood
+there listening for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I
+cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England.  I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any
+of the servants he has engaged for me.  You got my note?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he answered, "I had your note&mdash;and I am here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The restraint of his manner was obvious.  He was standing a little
+away from her.  She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon
+his shoulders, her face was upturned to his.  Even then he made no
+motion to embrace her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing&mdash;what I have done&mdash;was
+at your suggestion.  I do it for you, I do it for my country,
+I do it against every natural feeling I possess.  I hate and loathe
+the lies I tell.  Are you remembering that?  Is it in your heart at
+this moment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stooped and kissed her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human.
+We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon
+my lips.  What I have promised goes for nothing.  What he has
+promised is this&mdash;the papers to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unopened?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unopened," she repeated, softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked.  "He must have arrived
+in London when you did last night.  How is it they are not already
+at the Embassy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained.  "He cannot
+be back until late to-night.  No one else has a key to the treaty
+safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one
+save the Ambassador himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What about Streuss?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said.  "Yet, after
+all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side.  His
+orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the
+safe by the Ambassador himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be
+in your hands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How is it to be done?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap.
+They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's
+crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest.
+He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and
+signed it with his seal.  It is this which he will hand over to the
+Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly.  The real one he has
+concealed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered.  "My dear David, what are you
+thinking of?  He is not here and he dare not come here.  You are to
+go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between
+five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the
+telephone.  A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night.
+You must take the money there and receive the packet.  Von Behrling
+will be disguised and prepared for flight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy's eyes glowed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You believe this?" he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe it," she replied.  "He is going to do it.  After he has
+seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth.  I have promised&mdash;don't
+look at me, David&mdash;I have promised to join him there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There will be trouble," he said.  "He will come back.  He will want
+to shoot you.  He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is
+passionate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh.  "Have I ever
+shown fear of my life?  No, David!  It is not that of which I am
+afraid.  It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which
+was in your face when you came into the room.  These are the things
+I fear&mdash;not death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me," he begged.  "At such times a man is a weak thing&mdash;a
+weak and selfish thing.  I am ashamed of myself.  I should have
+known better than to have doubted you for a moment.  I know you so
+well, Louise.  I know what you are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy.  And now you must go away.
+Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude.  Over here I
+am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden.  See my
+roses.  There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in
+the place now.  The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and
+two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new
+manager of mine in the dining-room.  Between five and six o'clock
+this afternoon you will get the message.  It is somewhere, I think,
+in the city that you will have to go.  There will be no trouble
+about the money?  Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have it in my pocket," he answered.  "I have it in notes, but he
+need never fear that they will be traced.  The numbers of notes
+given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's
+memory."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She drew a little sigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a great sum," she said.  "After all, he should be grateful
+to me.  If only he would be sensible and get away to the United
+States or to South America!  He could live there like a prince,
+poor fellow.  He would be far happier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed.  "There is one thing
+to be remembered.  If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four
+hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you
+harm.  The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at
+trifles.  Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of
+spies at their bidding here.  If they find out that he has tricked
+them, they will hunt him down, and before long."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise shivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away!  He is a traitor,
+of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all,
+I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it.
+That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint
+smile.  "Ah!  well, you see, for five years so many have been trying
+to turn my head.  No wonder if I begin to believe some of their
+stories.  David, I must go.  I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting
+any longer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come.  I am afraid
+I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is my signal," she declared smiling.  "De. Henschell was
+almost beside himself that I came away.  I come, Doctor," she called
+out.  "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands.  "Now
+go, dear."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but
+somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in
+appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never
+been more strongly evident.  They were partners in business and face
+to face with ruin.  Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm,
+although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut,
+powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that
+dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served
+him well along the road to fortune.  Arthur Morrison, the man who
+sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips
+notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with
+tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale
+face.  Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream.  He
+floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child.  The hand
+of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw
+him as he really was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't stand it, Laverick,&mdash;I couldn't face them all.  It's too
+cruel&mdash;too horrible!  Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week,
+forty thousand in a month!  Forty thousand pounds!  Oh, my God!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He writhed in agony.  The man on the other side of the table said
+nothing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we could only have held on a little longer!  'Unions' must turn!
+They will turn!  Laverick, have you tried all your friends?  Think!
+Have you tried them all?  Twenty thousand pounds would see us through
+it.  We should get our own money back&mdash;I am sure of it.  There's
+Rendell, Laverick.  He'd do anything for you.  You're always shooting
+or playing cricket with him.  Have you asked him, Laverick?  He'd
+never miss the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered.
+"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately.  "Every
+one does it sometimes.  He'd be glad to help you.  I know he would.
+Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be
+hammered?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have," Laverick admitted wearily.  "God knows it seems as
+terrible a thing to me as it can to you!  But if we go down, we
+must go down with clean hands.  I've no faith in your infernal
+market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Jew's face was almost piteous.  He stretched himself across the
+table.  There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong.  I know you think I've
+been led away.  I've taken you out of our depth, but the only
+trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing.
+Those who stand up will win.  They will make money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up.  Please
+understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way.
+I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend.  I have asked
+the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors.
+To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they
+are concerned.  As you know, they have refused.  If you see any hope
+in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends?  For
+every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom
+friends with at least twenty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison groaned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered.  "They will
+drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but
+they do not lend money.  If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking?  Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us
+the money.  I would even kiss his feet.  I cannot bear it, Laverick!
+I cannot!  I cannot!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick said nothing.  Words were useless things, wasted upon such
+a creature.  He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no
+pains to conceal.  This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended
+to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young
+men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a
+money-maker if ever there was one!  Laverick thought of him as he
+appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed,
+with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny,
+hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the
+real thing.  What a collapse!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly," Laverick answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't!  I can't!" he moaned.  "I couldn't bear seeing all the
+fellows, hearing them whisper things&mdash;oh, Lord!  Oh, Lord!...
+Laverick, we've a few hundreds left.  Give me something and let me
+out of it.  You're a stronger sort of man than I am.  You can face
+it,&mdash;I can't!  Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I
+do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  His companion watched his face
+eagerly.  After all, why not let him go?  He was no help, no comfort.
+The very sight of him was contemptible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said
+slowly.  "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious
+that they guessed how things were."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly.
+"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft.  How much have
+we got in the safe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques.
+You can count the proceeds for yourself.  There are, I think, eleven
+hundred pounds.  You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take
+them with you&mdash;to any place you like."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man was already at the safe.  The notes were between them,
+on the table.  He counted quickly with the fingers of a born
+manipulator of money.  When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty
+pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No more," he ordered sternly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred
+is five hundred and fifty.  Why should we not go halves?  That is
+only fair, Laverick.  It is little enough.  We ought to have had a
+great deal more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder
+of the notes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,"
+he said, "for various reasons.  For one, I can bear this thing
+better alone.  As for the rest of the money, it remains there for
+the accountant who liquidates our affairs.  I do not propose to
+touch a penny of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh.
+Such ways were not his ways.  They were not, indeed, within the
+limit of his understanding.  But of his partner he had learned one
+thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth.
+He shambled toward the door.  On the whole, he was lucky to have
+got the two hundred and fifty pounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So long, Laverick," he said from the door.  "I'm&mdash;I'm sorry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his
+hand.  Laverick nodded, not unkindly.  After all, this young man was
+as he had been made.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said.  "Try South Africa."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ROBBING THE DEAD
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The roar of the day was long since over.  The rattle of vehicles,
+the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars
+and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away.
+Outside, the streets were almost deserted.  An occasional wayfarer
+passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps.  Here and
+there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger
+blocks of offices.  The bustle of the day was finished.  There is
+no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares
+of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little
+snap and leaned back in his chair.  After all, save that he had got
+rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening.  Not even he, whose
+financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from
+those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable
+one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking
+by his side for the last thirty-six hours.  One by one during the
+evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his
+wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably
+inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how
+things were.  Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison
+was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow
+twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at
+their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last,
+turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into
+the silent street.  Instinctively he turned his steps westwards.
+This might well be the last night on which he would care to show
+himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could
+mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of
+consciousness which follows upon disaster.  Already there was little
+enough left of it.  It was too late to change and go to his club.
+The places of amusement were already closed.  To-morrow night, both
+club and theatres would lie outside his world.  He walked slowly,
+yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a
+purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to
+light a cigarette.  It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few
+yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old
+churchyard&mdash;strange survival in such a part&mdash;and on the other
+the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker,
+an actuary.  It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance
+up the entry before he blew out the match.  Then he gave a quick
+start and became for a moment paralyzed.  Within a few feet of him
+something was lying on the ground&mdash;a dark mass, black and soft&mdash;the
+body of a man, perhaps.  Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed
+at him through the semi-darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy.  It might be a tramp
+or a drunkard, perhaps,&mdash;a fight, or a man taken ill.  Then
+something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his
+heart beating faster.  He struck another match with firm fingers,
+and bent forward.  What he saw upon the ground made him feel a
+little sick.  What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him
+to swift pursuit.  Down the arched court into the open space he ran,
+himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike
+form which he pursued.  At the end was another street&mdash;empty.  He
+looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life.  There
+was nothing to tell him which way to turn.  Opposite was a very
+labyrinth of courts and turnings.  There was not even the sound of
+a footfall to guide him.  Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another
+match, and leaned over the prostrate figure.  Then he knew that it
+was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means.
+These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself.
+Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed.
+A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt
+through the heart of the murdered man.  There had been other blows,
+notably about the head.  There was not much blood, but the position
+of the knife alone told its ugly story.  Laverick, though his nerves
+were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked.  He rose to
+his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping.  The
+street was no longer empty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in
+the middle of the road.  The light from the lamp-post escaped his
+face.  Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height,
+dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his
+overcoat.  To all appearance, he was watching the entry.  Laverick
+took a step towards him&mdash;the man as deliberately took a step further
+away.  Laverick held up his hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The person addressed took no notice.  Laverick advanced another two
+or three steps&mdash;the man retreated a similar distance.  Laverick
+changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward.  The man
+hesitated no longer&mdash;he turned and ran as though for his life.  In
+a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight.
+Laverick returned slowly to the entry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A distant clock struck midnight.  A couple of clerks came along the
+pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters.
+Laverick hesitated.  He was never afterwards able to account for the
+impulse which prevented his calling out to them.  Instead he lurked
+in the shadows and watched them go by.  When he was sure that they
+had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered
+man.  Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a
+nameless and terrible fascination for him.  His first feelings of
+horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity.  What manner
+of man was he?  He was tall and strongly built; fair&mdash;of almost
+florid complexion.  His clothes were very shabby and apparently
+ready-made.  His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed
+closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen.  Laverick stooped
+lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees.  There
+was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been
+half snatched out&mdash;a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the
+size of a satchel.  Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand
+whilst with firm fingers he struck another match.  Then, for the
+first time, a little cry broke from his lips.  Both sides of the
+pocket-book were filled with bank-notes.  As his match flickered
+out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner&mdash;500
+pounds!&mdash;great rolls of them!  Laverick rose gasping to his
+feet.  It was a new Arabian Nights, this!&mdash;a dream!&mdash;a continuation
+of the nightmare which had threatened him all day!  Or was it,
+perhaps, the madness coming&mdash;the madness which he had begun only
+an hour or so ago to fear!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down.  The
+mysterious stranger had vanished.  There was not a soul in sight.
+He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the
+pavement with his heels.  There was no doubt about it&mdash;everything
+around him was real.  Most real of all was the fact that within a
+few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that
+brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents.  For the
+last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up
+shape.  One by one he went through the other pockets.  There was a
+packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver,
+and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained
+with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings.
+There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification
+of any sort.  Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the
+thoughts that went tearing through his brain.  The pocket-book began
+to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon
+his forehead.  Yet he never hesitated.  He walked like a man in a
+dream, but his footsteps were steady and short.  Deliberately, and
+without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices.  If
+a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided
+to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened.  It was the
+one chance he held against himself,&mdash;the gambler's method of
+decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at.  As it turned out, there
+was still not a soul in sight.  Laverick opened the outer door with
+his latchkey, let himself in and closed it.  Then he groped his way
+through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the
+electric light and once more sat down before his desk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with
+a nervousness wholly unfamiliar.  Then he opened the pocket-book,
+drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them.  It was curious
+that he felt no surprise at their value.  Bank-notes for five
+hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with
+his task without the slightest instinct of surprise.  Then he leaned
+back in his chair.  Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes!
+There they lay on the table before him.  A man had died for their
+sake,&mdash;another must go through all the days with the price of blood
+upon his head&mdash;a murderer&mdash;a haunted creature for the rest of his
+life.  And there on the table were the spoils.  Laverick tried to
+think the matter out dispassionately.  He was a man of average moral
+fibre&mdash;that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other
+men because his father and his grandfather before him had been
+honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful.  Here,
+however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem.
+These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man.  Save for
+his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his
+murderer.  The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm.
+Such risk as there was he took himself.  That it was a risk he knew
+and fully realized.  Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his
+partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery.  Yet of the two
+men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position
+the more keenly.  He was a man of some social standing, with a
+large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests
+outside the daily routine of his city life.  To him failure meant
+more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life
+worth having.  The days to come had been emptied of all promise.
+He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had
+strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities
+and humiliation to come.  And here before him was possible salvation.
+There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making
+use even for an hour of this money.  Yet from the first he had known
+that he meant to do it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book
+into one of the drawers, and locked it up.  Then he lit a cigarette,
+finally shut up the office and walked down the street.  As he passed
+the entry he turned his head slowly.  Apparently no one had been
+there, nothing had been disturbed.  Straining his eyes through the
+darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up
+on the ground.  Then he walked on.  He had burned his boats now and
+was prepared for all emergencies.  At the corner he met a policeman,
+to whom he wished a cheery good-night.  He told himself that the
+thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself.
+He owed it to those who had trusted him.  After all, it was the
+chief part of his life&mdash;his city career.  It was here that his
+friends lived.  It was here that his ambitions flourished.  Disgrace
+here was eternal disgrace.  His father and his grandfather before
+him had been men honored and respected in this same circle.  Disgrace
+to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a
+few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection
+upon their memories.  The names upon the brass plates to right and
+to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he
+desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth
+living or the reverse.  It was worth a great risk&mdash;this effort of
+his to keep his place.  His one mistake&mdash;this association with
+Morrison&mdash;had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck.  He
+was rid of the fellow now.  For the future there should be no more
+partners.  He had his life to live.  It was not reasonable that he
+should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a
+creature.  He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria
+Street, and hailed it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Whitehall Court," he told the driver.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life
+it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien.  But this
+was disaster too appalling even for his self-control.  He felt his
+knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which
+he was standing.  There was no possible doubt about it, he had been
+tricked.  Von Behrling, after all,&mdash;Von Behrling, whom he had
+looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell
+his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man who sat at the head of the table&mdash;the only other occupant
+of the room&mdash;was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat.
+He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's
+message had summoned him.  Before him on the table was an envelope,
+hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper.  It was upon
+these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled
+horror and amazement.  The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them
+away with a little gesture of contempt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious
+an error.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered.  "I&mdash;yes, I have been deceived."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is to be done?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together.  He caught up the
+envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper
+to the lamp and laid them down.  Then with clenched fists he walked
+to the other side of the room and returned.  He was himself again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry.
+Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the
+city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without
+opening the envelope."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy admitted it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are
+almost inevitable.  I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd
+risk.  To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience
+in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the
+money.  Von Behrling was there in disguise.  The men with whom he
+came to this country are furious with him.  To all appearance, he
+seemed to have broken with them absolutely.  Even now&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall
+of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in
+his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake.  An
+envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others
+or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency.  He had it
+with him in his pocket-book.  He even told me so.  God in Heaven,
+he gave me the wrong one!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy
+to-night, especially if he was in disguise.  You may still be able
+to find him and repair the error.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will try," answered Bellamy.  "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a
+sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his
+footsteps.  I can find out before morning where he went when he
+left our rendezvous.  There is another way, too.  Mademoiselle&mdash;this
+man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country
+with him.  She was to have had a message within the next few hours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often.  The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above
+supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to
+have paid for this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger.  Bellamy's
+teeth were clenched.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The money shall be returned, sir.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more
+kindly.  "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was
+destined to purchase, is nothing.  We might even count it a fair
+risk if it was lost."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised.  "If Von Behrling has
+played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country.  In
+that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt.  If, on
+the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country,
+as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let us hope not," Sir James declared.  "Bellamy," he continued, a
+note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I
+am sure, how important this matter is.  You work like a mole in the
+dark, yet you have brains,&mdash;you understand.  Let me tell you how
+things are with us.  A certain amount of confidence is due to you,
+if to any one.  I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a
+very serious tone prevailed.  We do not understand in the least the
+attitude of several of the European Powers.  It can be understood
+only under certain assumptions.  A note of ours sent through the
+Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days.  The
+German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent
+business.  We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from
+Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris.  Side by side with
+all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his
+promised visit here.  The note we have received speaks of his
+health.  Well, we know all about that.  We know, I may tell you,
+that his health has never been better than at the present moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed.  "In
+Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile.  Even
+the man in the street seems to know what is coming."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat.  His hands were tightly
+clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes.  Those
+who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during
+the last few weeks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in
+my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the
+Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe
+to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An army," murmured Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated
+of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with
+their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us.  Secretly we are
+mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little
+sigh.  "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful.  Even
+if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things
+on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else
+suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known.  If we
+could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at
+those empty sheets of paper.  "It is this darkness which is so
+alarming!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street.  It was half-past one, but
+he had no fear of not being admitted.  Louise's French maid answered
+the bell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile.  "It
+is only a few minutes ago that she has returned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room.  She was gorgeous in blue
+satin and pearls.  Her other maid was taking off her jewels.  She
+dismissed both the women abruptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out
+her hands.  "You expected that, of course.  You were not at the
+Opera House?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle.  It
+was securely closed.  He came back slowly to her side.  Her eyes
+were questioning him fiercely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?" she exclaimed.  "Well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you heard from Von Behrling?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," she answered.  "He knew that I must sing to-night.  I have
+been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home.  You
+have seen him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted.  "Either he has deceived us
+both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened.
+Listen.  I met him where he appointed.  He was there, disguised,
+almost unrecognizable.  He was nervous and desperate; he had the air
+of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world.  I gave him the
+money,&mdash;twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,&mdash;and
+he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers.
+He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a
+little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to
+Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the
+hotel there later on.  You have not heard yet, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There has been no message, but go on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He gave me the wrong document&mdash;the wrong envelope," continued
+Bellamy.  "When I took it to&mdash;to Downing Street, it was full of
+blank paper."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The color slowly left her cheeks.  She looked at him with horror in
+her face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered.  "My own impression is that he
+did not.  We must find out at once what has become of him.  He might
+even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has,
+believing it to be the duplicate.  He is sure to telephone you.  The
+moment you hear you must let me know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better stay here," she declared.  "There are plenty of
+rooms.  You will be on the spot then."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go.
+That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere.  That is one reason why
+I believe that Von Behrling was serious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are sure?" Bellamy asked.  "You have never had even any doubt
+about him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never," she answered firmly.  "David, I had not meant to tell you
+this.  You know that I saw him for a moment this morning.  He was
+in deadly earnest.  He gave me a ring&mdash;a trifle&mdash;but it had
+belonged to his mother.  He would not have done this if he had been
+playing us false."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed.  "I shall go back to my rooms
+at once.  Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there
+may be a report for me.  If anything comes here, you will telephone
+at once?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course," she assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would
+attempt to see you here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait.  Dear," he added, in
+an altered tone, "how splendid you look!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her face suddenly softened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a
+moment&mdash;it makes everything seem so different!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of
+satisfaction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able
+to give up this life of anxiety and terrors.  But it cannot be
+yet&mdash;not for your country's sake or mine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She kissed him fondly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So long as there is hope!" she whispered.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when
+the more confidential of her maids&mdash;Annette, the Frenchwoman&mdash;woke
+her with a light touch of the arm.  She sat up in bed sleepily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it, Annette?" she asked.  "Surely it is not mid-day yet?
+Why do you disturb me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur
+Bellamy&mdash;Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever
+he came.  He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did he send any message?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise sighed,&mdash;she was really very sleepy.  Then, as the thoughts
+began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember.  Some
+part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered.  "Tell Monsieur
+Bellamy that I hurry.  I will be with him in twenty minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory.  She came
+at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she
+herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"David!" she cried,&mdash;"my dear David&mdash;!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then she broke off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely.  "Von Behrling was true, after
+all,&mdash;at least, it seems so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What has happened?" she demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips.  She sat down
+suddenly.  The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her
+bath was rapidly fading away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"David," she murmured, "is this true?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her.  "Not only that, but there is
+no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder.  It must
+have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got
+away with the pocket-book and the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can we do?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly.  "We are
+defeated.  The thing is quite apparent.  Von Behrling never
+succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who
+were watching him.  They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited
+about while I met him.  Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow
+passage.  It was there that he was found murdered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, David, I don't understand!  Why did they wait until after he
+had seen you?  How did they know that he had not parted with the
+paper in the restaurant?  To all intents and purposes he ought to
+have done so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted.  "In fact, it
+is inexplicable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report.  Then, "You
+are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling?  He is
+quite unidentified, you see."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared.  "I have been to
+the Mortuary.  It is certainly he.  All our work has been in
+vain&mdash;just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him compassionately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted.  "You are tired, too.  You
+look as though you had been up all night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair.  "I am worse
+than tired.  This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I
+am afraid that it is the end of everything.  I have lost twenty
+thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance
+which might have saved England.  They will never trust me again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm
+of his chair.  "You did your best, David."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his&mdash;smooth
+and cold&mdash;exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous.
+Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others.  What do you
+think?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do?  Could
+we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were
+coming to pass?  Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were
+being butchered out of existence?&mdash;  And you&mdash;you are not the sort
+of man to be content with an ignoble peace.  No, it isn't possible.
+Our work may not be over yet&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many
+apologies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur
+also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is
+of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once.  I
+have done all that I can, but he will not go away.  He knows that
+Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and
+he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers.  He read
+out the name in blank amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Baron de Streuss!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a moment's silence.  Louise and he exchanged wondering
+glances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Heaven knows!" he answered.  "Let us see him together.  After
+all&mdash;after all&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come
+to us?  It is not like these men to be vindictive.  Diplomacy to
+them is nothing&mdash;a game of chess.  I do not understand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The door opened.  Annette announced their visitor.  Streuss bowed
+low to Louise&mdash;he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I need not introduce myself," he said.  "With Mr. Bellamy I have
+the honor to be well acquainted.  Madame is known to all the world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,"
+she said.  "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I
+owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be.  I know that
+it is an impossible hour.  I know, too, that to have forced my
+presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous.  Yet the
+urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow
+of thanks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste
+words.  We have played a game of chess together.  You, Mademoiselle,
+and Mr. Bellamy on the one side&mdash;I and my friends upon the other.
+The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought.
+The victory remains with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy never moved a muscle.  Louise, on the contrary, could not
+help a slight start.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the
+struggle was uneven.  I do myself the justice to remember that from
+the first I realized that we played a losing game.  Mademoiselle,"
+he added, "from the days of Cleopatra&mdash;ay, and throughout those
+shadowy days which lie beyond&mdash;the diplomats of the world have been
+powerless when matched against your sex.  Rudolph Von Behrling was
+an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes.  Mademoiselle,
+you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a
+stronger man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of
+her lips.  Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly.  She did
+not understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth.  This plain talking
+is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it.
+That time, I think, is now.  Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice,
+but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me
+in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you,
+Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here.  We followed a man who, by
+some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap,
+the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and
+priceless to yours.  The subsequent history of those papers should
+have been automatic.  The first step was fulfilled readily enough.
+The man disappeared&mdash;the papers were ours.  Von Behrling was the
+man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them.
+If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have
+ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to
+Vienna.  The others thought differently.  They ruled that we should
+come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here.
+In a weak moment I consented.  It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle,
+an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This time Louise held herself with composure.  Bellamy's brain was
+in a whirl but he remained silent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open.  I
+come&mdash;I make no secret of it&mdash;I come to make terms.  But first of
+all I must know whether I am in time.  There is one question which
+I must ask.  I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to
+Bellamy.  "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the
+papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief.  Though he had maintained
+his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played
+with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, then, I am in time.  Will you see my hand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to
+listen to anything you may have to say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have
+come to say, yet I want you to remember this.  I do not come to
+bribe you in any ordinary manner.  The things which are to come will
+happen; they must happen, if not this year, next,&mdash;if not next year,
+within half a decade of years.  History is an absolute science.  The
+future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs.
+The thing which has been resolved upon is certain.  The knowledge
+of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the
+final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more.  In the
+long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every
+way, that the end come soon.  Therefore, I ask you to perform no
+traitorous deed.  I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable
+for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us.
+restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government,
+and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Bellamy repeated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a brief, intense pause.  Louise waited, warned by the
+expression in Bellamy's face.  Silence, she felt, was safest, and it
+was Bellamy who spoke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little
+amazing.  Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most certainly," the Baron agreed.  "I go away and leave you&mdash;out
+of the room, if you will."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied.  "Louise!"  The Baron
+withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest
+corner of the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can it mean?" he whispered.  "What do you suppose has happened?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot imagine.  My brain is in a whirl."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must
+have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary.  If so, there is a
+chance.  Louise, say nothing; leave this to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you will," she assented.  "I have no wish to interfere.  I only
+hope that he does not ask me any questions."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron
+turned to meet them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little
+upset this morning.  She knows, of course, as I know and you know,
+that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried
+his life in his hands.  Yet his death has been a shock&mdash;has been a
+shock, I may say, to both of us.  From your point of view," Bellamy
+went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted.
+"I do not understand at all!  You speak of Von Behrling's death!
+What do you mean?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no
+need for you to play a part.  Von Behrling knew that you were
+watching him.  Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me.
+He knew that he was running terrible risks.  He was not unprepared
+and he has paid.  It is not for us&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted
+once more.  "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's
+death?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth.  He leaned forward
+with his hands resting upon the table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean to say that you do not know?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers.  His face now
+was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and
+read the paragraph word by word.
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+                     TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+
+        Early this morning the body of a man was discovered
+        in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to
+        Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little
+        doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play.
+        The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had
+        received several severe blows about the head.  He was
+        shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and
+        he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found.
+
+                            LATER
+
+        There appears to be no further doubt but that the man
+        found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been
+        the victim of a particularly murderous assault.  Neither
+        his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which
+        he could be identified.  The body has been removed to the
+        nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise
+was apparent.  He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion.
+While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts
+were forming in his mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered.  "But who&mdash;who could have done
+this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter
+concerning which we had any doubt.  The only wonder to us was that
+it should have been done too late."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had
+completed his bargain with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it
+was done afterwards?  You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to
+think?  Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed.  How about
+yours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We do not fight that way," he replied.  "I had bought Von Behrling.
+He was of no further interest to me.  I did not care whether he
+lived or died."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said.  "If
+neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That I can't tell you.  Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from
+the police.  It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain
+long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in
+bank-notes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets
+from one another.  I will ask you one last question.  Where is that
+packet at the present moment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me
+to answer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will put it another way," Streuss continued.  "Supposing you
+decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can
+be placed in my hands?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why
+there should be any delay at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss was silent for several moments.  His hands were thrust deep
+down into the pockets of his overcoat.  With eyes fixed upon the
+tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised
+his head and looked steadily at Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you?  You are sure
+that you have that identical packet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss
+begged.  "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake
+to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within
+twenty-four hours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure,"
+he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is little fear of that," he said.  "The papers are of no
+use except to us and to England.  To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the
+eventful result would be the same.  It is for that reason that I am
+here, for that reason that I have made you this offer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared.  "It is not
+a matter to be decided upon off-hand.  Remember that it is not only
+the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my
+honor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly.  "From your own
+side you get nothing&mdash;nothing but your beggarly salary and an
+occasional reprimand.  One hundred thousand pounds is not immense
+wealth, but it is something."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt
+about that.  On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration.  It is a big thing for us, remember.  I have worked
+very hard for the contents of that packet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity.  After all,
+was this Englishman playing with him?  So he asked: "You are quite
+sure that you have it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use.
+You must be content with my word.  I have the packet.  I paid Von
+Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must accept your word," Streuss declared.  "I give you three days
+for reflection.  Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer
+once more to this,"&mdash;touching the newspaper which still lay upon
+the table.  "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked
+man.  Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels.  Yet
+in the end some third person seems to have intervened.  Are you
+quite sure that you know nothing of this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest
+information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read
+there.  It was as great a surprise to me as to you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone
+must have seen him with those notes.  There were people moving about
+in the little restaurant where we met.  The rustle of bank-notes has
+cost more than one man his life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so.
+Listen to me, both of you.  You will be wiser if you do not delay.
+You are young people, and the world is before you.  With money one
+can do everything.  Without it, life is but a slavery.  The world
+is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means
+to choose.  Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this
+transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to
+Louise, "I go.  I must try and understand for myself the meaning of
+this thing which has happened to Von Behrling."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we
+are equally interested."...
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They heard him go out.  Bellamy purposely held the door open until
+he saw the lift descend.  Then he closed it firmly and came back
+into the room.  Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full
+of anxious questioning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What does it mean?" Louise cried.  "What can it mean?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered.  "There is not a gleam of
+daylight.  My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling.  If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his
+people are in the same position.  Who, then, in the name of all that
+is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In London, too," Louise murmured.  "It is not Vienna, this, or
+Belgrade."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right," Bellamy agreed.  "London is one of the most
+law-abiding cities in Europe.  Besides, the quarter where the murder
+occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes.  It is
+simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?" Louise asked,&mdash;"some one else who has been watching Von
+Behrling?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How can that be?  Besides, if any one else were really on his track,
+they must have believed that he had parted with it to me.  I shall
+go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of
+Scotland Yard.  If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed
+again.  These days are too strenuous for me.  Won't you stay and take
+your coffee with me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what
+a maze this is into which we have wandered.  Von Behrling has been
+murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty
+thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine.  I must
+trace them if I can, Louise.  It is a poor chance, but I must do
+my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered
+for the money, and for the money only.  If so, that packet may be
+in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it.
+They may even destroy it.  If Streuss returns and you are forced to
+see him, be careful.  Remember, we have the document&mdash;we are
+hesitating.  So long as he believes that it is in our possession,
+he will not look elsewhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck.
+"And, dear, take care.  When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling,
+I tremble, also, for you.  It seems to me that your danger is no
+less than his."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,"
+with a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is
+pledged to recover.  Be careful that they do not lead you into a
+trap.  They are not above anything, these men.  I heard once of a
+Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured&mdash;tortured almost to death&mdash;before
+he spoke.  Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum.  Remember,
+dear, they have no consciences and no pity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are in London," he reminded her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly,&mdash;"not only in London
+but in a safe part of London.  Yet he is dead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was not their doing," he declared.  "In their own country, they
+have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their
+backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts.  Here they must needs
+go cautiously.  I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling,
+as he opened the door.  "I think I can promise you that if you will
+do me the honor we will sup together to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted.  "It is
+a bargain.  I have suffered enough neglect at your hands.  One thing,
+David,&mdash;where do you go first from here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von
+Behrling when he left me.  If any man in England knows anything of
+the murder, it must be he.  He should be at my rooms by now."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor&mdash;his friends called him an
+incorrigible one.  He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of
+rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river.  His habits
+were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning
+following his late night in the city was no exception to the
+general rule.  At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite
+knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready.  He
+awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the
+events of the preceding evening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of
+memory.  He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and
+by no means of an adventurous turn of mind.  He sought naturally
+for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which
+no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory.  It was a dream,
+of course.  But the dream did not fade.  Slowly it spread itself out
+so that he could no longer doubt.  He knew very well as he sat there
+on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth.  He, Stephen
+Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of
+which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked
+into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty
+thousand pounds of someone else's money.  Morally, at any
+rate,&mdash;probably legally as well,&mdash;he was a thief.  A glimpse inside his
+safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him
+under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper
+dye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher.  In
+the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath,
+this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible.
+Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action.  The
+thing was done; he must make the best of it.  Behaving in every way
+like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search
+hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his
+bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down
+to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper.  The item for
+which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as
+he had expected.  It appeared under one of the leading headlines,
+but it consisted of only a few words.  He read them with interest
+but without emotion.  Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange
+quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed
+his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal
+Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices.  A little
+crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from
+Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked
+curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain.
+It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind
+now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream
+of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway.  In his early morning
+mood the thing was impossible.  In a moment or two he paid his driver
+and dismissed him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when
+he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office.  He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which
+was brought in to him by his head-clerk.  Afterwards, as soon as he
+was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner
+drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and
+gloves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out.
+"I shall be back in half-an-hour&mdash;perhaps less."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, sir," the man answered.  "Will Mr. Morrison be here this
+morning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an
+interview with the manager was immediately granted.  The latter
+received him kindly but with a certain restraint.  There are not
+many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular
+mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely
+commented upon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not sure," answered Laverick.  "To tell you the truth, I am
+in a somewhat singular position."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The banker nodded.  He had not a doubt but that he understood
+exactly what that position was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late
+partner, Mr. Morrison,&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Late partner?" the manager interrupted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison
+left the office with an understanding between us that he should not
+return.  You will receive a formal intimation of that during the
+course of the next day or so.  We will revert to the matter
+presently, if you wish.  My immediate business with you is to
+discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty
+thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock
+which Morrison has made."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail
+to do so?" the manager remarked gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally," Laverick answered.  "I am quite aware of the fact that
+Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for
+his transactions.  He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great
+deal more deeply than our capital warranted.  I may add that I had
+not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money,
+Mr. Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted.  "I am here to
+ask you to lend it to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued.  The bank manager
+was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to
+escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance.  It was entirely contrary
+to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of
+emotion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unimpeachable security," he repeated.  "Of course, if you have that
+to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly.  "I have
+bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action.  He
+whistled softly under his breath.  A very respectable client he
+had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly
+never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence
+of means.  Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the
+table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when
+one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a
+confessional.  I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will
+be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your
+own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between
+you and me.  I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most certainly," the banker agreed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this
+money is not mine.  I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it
+without any conditions.  I have power to make what use I wish of
+it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf.  Whether I am
+justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns
+this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably.
+I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to
+credit me with twenty thousand pounds.  I ask you to allow me to
+deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft.
+You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of
+to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one.
+They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted.
+"At the same time, there the money is.  You can run no risk.  If I
+am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I
+who will have to pay.  Will you do as I ask?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The banker hesitated.  The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one,
+but on the face of it there could be no possible risk.  At the same
+time, there was something about it which he could not understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully,
+"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In a sense, that is so," he assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit
+them to your account in the usual way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling
+about it.  I prefer to keep the notes intact.  If you cannot follow
+out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once.  This isn't a
+threat, Mr. Fenwick,&mdash;you will understand that, I am sure.  It is
+simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations
+I have no time for arguments.  I am quite satisfied to remain in
+your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated,
+and I cannot change.  If you are to retain my account, my
+engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have
+pointed out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments.
+When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who
+is giving in to an unreasonable client.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced.  "The notes
+are placed upon deposit.  Your engagements to-day up to twenty
+thousand pounds shall be duly honored."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about
+indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office.  He had
+rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living,
+somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him.  He was doing the
+impossible.  He knew very well that his name was in every one's
+mouth.  People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how
+he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an
+irresponsible speculator.  No one ever imagined that he would be
+able to keep his engagements.  And he had done it.  The price
+might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay.  At any moment
+the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole
+world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds.
+So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the
+shape of direct apprehensions.  Already, however, the shadow was
+beginning to fall.  Even as he entered his office, the sight of a
+stranger offering office files for sale made him start.  He half
+expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in
+his ear.  He set his teeth tight.  This was his risk and he must
+take it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme
+for the redirection of its policy.  With the absence of Morrison,
+too, there were other changes to be made,&mdash;changes in the nature
+of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed.
+It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the
+simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry
+of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was
+going on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in
+an excited tone.  "They sagged a little this morning, but since
+eleven they have been going steadily up.  Just now there seems to
+be a boom.  Listen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded.  He
+was prepared to be surprised at nothing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked.  "Morrison
+wasn't an absolute idiot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The luncheon hour passed.  The excitement in the city grew.  By
+three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of
+Laverick's engagements.  Just before closing-time, it was even
+doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without
+security at all.  He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of
+course.  He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every
+man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him.  He
+escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a
+taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open.  It was
+a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time
+during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions.
+He turned them over now with firm fingers.  There was absolutely no
+fresh news.  No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the
+identity of the murdered man.  All day long the body had lain in
+the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but
+presumably unrecognized.  Laverick could scarcely believe the words
+he read.  The thing seemed ludicrously impossible.  The twenty
+thousand pounds must have come from some one.  Why did they keep
+silence?  What was the mystery about it?  Could it be that they were
+not in a position to disclose the fact?  Curiously enough, this
+unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was
+almost fear.  He had taken his risks boldly enough.  Now that Fate
+was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a
+growing nervousness.  Who could he have been, this man?  Whence
+could he have derived this great sum?  One person at least must
+know that he had been robbed&mdash;the man who murdered him must know
+it.  A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought.
+Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood,
+a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his
+spoil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going
+to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a
+little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there,
+however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand.  It
+was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly
+concealed.  There was something ominous to him in those printed
+characters.  Its contents, however, were short enough.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+DEAR LAVERICK,
+I must see you.  Come the moment you get this.  Come without fail,
+for your own sake and mine.  A.  M.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked at the boy.  His fingers were trembling, but it
+was with relief.  The note was from Morrison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no address here," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it far?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared.  "Not more nor five
+minutes in one of them taxicabs.  The gent said we was to take
+one.  He is in a great hurry to see you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called
+them a taxicab.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What address?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said.  Laverick nodded and
+repeated the address to the driver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory
+neighborhood.  Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat
+extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.
+The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young
+lady who was obviously expecting him.  Before he could open his lips
+to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat,
+and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain
+undeniable traces of some cultured presence.  The girl who had
+followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath.
+Laverick contemplated her in surprise.  She was under medium height,
+with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes.  Her brown hair was
+parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking
+into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a
+child.  When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she
+was afraid.  Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a
+woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted.  "I understood that I
+should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you.  The note was from him.
+He is here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She made no movement to summon him.  She still stood, in fact, with
+her back to the door.  Laverick was distinctly puzzled.  He felt
+himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her
+terrified face and beautiful eyes.  He had never heard Morrison
+speak of having any relations.  His presence in such a locality,
+indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.
+Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with
+a "W" rather than Heaven E. C.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you
+are afraid of me.  I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he
+added smiling.  "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter?
+Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," she answered, "he is.  As for me, I am terrified."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She came a little away from the door.  Laverick was a man who
+inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind.  He had the
+protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested.  "I expected to hear
+that he had gone abroad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously.  "I was
+hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered.  "We certainly had
+a terribly anxious time yesterday.  Our business has been most
+unfortunate&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted.  "Please go on.  There have been
+business troubles, then."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rather," Laverick continued.  "Last night they reached such a
+pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he
+should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else.  I quite
+understood that he was going abroad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was something, then," she said, half to herself.  "There was
+something.  Oh, I am glad of that!  You were angry with him, perhaps,
+Mr. Laverick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his
+hands behind him&mdash;a commanding figure in the tiny room full of
+feminine trifles.  He looked a great deal more at his ease than
+he really was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted.  "You
+see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was
+going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control.
+He had entered into certain speculations which I considered
+unjustifiable.  To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn
+for the better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded.  Morrison, of course, would be
+triumphant.  Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated.  For
+many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and
+why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why
+is he here instead of in his own rooms?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will explain," she began softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly.  "And don't
+look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh.  "I can assure
+you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort.  You
+make me feel quite uncomfortable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had
+never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features.  The
+strained rigidity passed away.  An altogether softer light gleamed
+in her wonderful eyes.  She was certainly by far the prettiest child
+he had ever seen.  As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.
+Besides, this meant that she must be of his race.  There was nothing
+in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that
+nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which
+belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews.  It was not a quality,
+Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's
+sister.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brother, in a way," she resumed.  "Arthur's father was a widower
+and my mother was a widow when they were married.  You are surprised?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved
+at her last statement.  "Your brother and I have been connected in
+business for some years.  We have seen very little of one another
+outside."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends
+would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same
+sort of things.  You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and
+as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would
+come to see me very often.  Last night, though, quite late&mdash;long
+after I had gone to bed&mdash;he rang the bell here.  I was frightened,
+for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the
+morning.  So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the
+pavement, huddled up against the door.  I hurried down and let him
+in.  Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him,
+"I have never seen any one look like it.  He was terrified to death.
+Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him
+even the power of speech.  He pushed past me into this room, threw
+himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and
+he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a
+woman in a fit of hysterics.  His clothes were all untidy, he was
+as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready
+to start out of his head."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Frightened!  I shall never forget it!  I did not sleep all night.
+He would tell me nothing&mdash;he has scarcely spoken a sensible word.
+Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him
+lie down.  He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist,
+but he has not slept.  Every now and then he tries to get up, but
+in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides
+his face.  If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks.  If he hears a
+footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me.  Mr. Laverick, I
+have never been so frightened in my life.  I didn't know whom to
+send for or what to do.  When he wrote that note to you I was so
+relieved.  You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy.  One could see that the
+scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes.  She was
+shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more.  He moved
+over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it
+afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said.  "I will talk to
+your brother.  We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there
+wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this
+way.  Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have
+improved a great deal to-day.  Let me go upstairs and I'll try and
+pump some courage into him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very
+kind.  Will you come, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and
+into a tiny bedroom.  Laverick had no time to look around, but it
+seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very
+ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity
+pervaded this little apartment as the one below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is my room," she said shyly.  "There is no other properly
+furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang
+into a sitting posture.  Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock.
+It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the
+office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished.  His
+black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all
+disordered.  Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one
+sees seldom in life,&mdash;an expression of real and mortal terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable.
+"Who is that?  What do you want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is I&mdash;Laverick," Laverick answered.  "What on earth is the
+matter with you, man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison drew a quick breath.  Some part of the terror seemed to
+leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object.
+Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's
+shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you leave us alone?" he asked.  "I will come and talk to
+you afterwards, if I may."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out.  Laverick closed the
+door and came up to the bedside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said.
+"Are you ill, or what is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison opened his lips&mdash;opened them twice&mdash;without any sort of
+sound issuing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly.  "I have been
+feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing
+one's money, after all.  As a matter of fact, things are altogether
+better in the city to-day.  You made a big mistake in taking us out
+of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all.  'Unions'
+have been going up all day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner.  He made no
+reference, however, to Laverick's words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at
+once.  Try and pull yourself together.  Sit up and tell me what you
+are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison groaned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms.
+I was afraid!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't know!" Morrison faltered.  "You don't know!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the
+financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had
+reduced his late partner to this hopeless state.  He looked at him
+narrowly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nowhere," Morrison gasped.  "I came here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat
+down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you mean
+to tell me everything.  Have you been getting yourself into any
+trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection
+with them which I don't know?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other,
+he remained speechless.  Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick.
+There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself
+terrifying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever
+it is.  I will help you if I can."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison shook his head.  There was a glass of water by his side.
+He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips.  They
+were dry, almost cracking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown&mdash;that's what's the
+matter with me.  My nerves were never good.  I'm afraid of going
+mad.  The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me.
+I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to
+manage it.  I can't think.  Directly I try to think my head goes
+round."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick
+answered.  "It is the simplest matter possible.  Even if we had gone
+under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you
+chose to go.  Ruin, even if it had been ruin,&mdash;and I told you just
+now that business was better,&mdash;is not a crime.  Pull yourself
+together, for Heaven's sake, man!  You should be ashamed to come
+here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison gripped his partner's arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely.  "It doesn't matter
+about prices being better.  I want to get away.  You must help me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked at him steadily.  Morrison was an ordinary young
+man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a
+coward.  But this was no ordinary fear&mdash;not even the ordinary fear
+of a coward.  Laverick's face became graver.  There was something
+else, then!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he.  "There is
+no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something
+from me.  You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South
+Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't
+you better tell me exactly what happened last night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words.
+Then a feeble moan escaped him.  He threw up his hands and his head
+fell back.  The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips,
+and he sank back among the pillows.  Laverick strode across the
+room to the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you anywhere about?" he called out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has
+fainted.  Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think
+that you had better run out and get a doctor.  I will stay with him.
+I know exactly what to do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was
+standing, and ran downstairs without a word.  Laverick mixed some
+of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes
+to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted.  He
+felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed
+Laverick down into the sitting room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced.  "The
+patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately.  He will be
+all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I
+will call again to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took
+his departure.  Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had
+followed them downstairs.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not his health which frightens me.  I am sure&mdash;I am quite
+sure that he has something upon his mind.  Did he tell you nothing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness.  "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are
+right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night.  He
+was just about to tell me something when he fainted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning.  The girl listened with
+pitiful face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What am I to do?" she asked.  "I cannot leave him like this, and
+if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The theatre?" Laverick repeated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am on the stage," she said,&mdash;"only a chorus girl at the
+Universal, worse luck.  Still, they don't allow us to stay away,
+and I can't afford to lose my place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?"
+Laverick asked bluntly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course," she answered.  "I do not like to be a burden on any
+one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at
+all.  He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had
+been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a
+year, but he checked himself.  It was not his business to interfere.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for
+you.  He could have done so with very little effort."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But what am I to do now?" she asked him.  "If I am absent, I shall
+lose my place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that
+make any difference?  I could stay until you came back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly.  "It would be so kind of you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not at all," he answered.  "Perhaps you would be good enough to
+bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms.  Take
+one from here, if you can find it.  There are always some at the
+corner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'd love to," she answered.  "I must run upstairs and get my hat
+and coat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother.
+Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure.
+Not a board creaked.  She seemed to float down to him in a most
+becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose
+deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware.  Her lips were parted once
+more in a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced.
+"It is nice of you to stay."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you any idea how old I am?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered.
+"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen.  Later on, it seemed
+to me possible that you were eighteen.  I am absolutely certain
+that you are not more than nineteen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That shows how little you know about it.  I am twenty, and I am
+quite used to going about alone.  Will you sit upstairs or here?
+I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thanks, I need nothing.  I think I will sit upstairs in case he
+wakes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly.
+Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight,
+moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible
+swiftness.  When she had turned the corner, he went slowly
+upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep.  He
+drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the
+evening paper.  The events of the last hour or so had completely
+blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition
+into the world of tragical happenings.  He glanced at the sleeping
+man, then opened his paper.  There was very little fresh news
+except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body
+of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first
+supposed.  It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after
+all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in
+a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals.  There
+was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black
+Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the
+murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago.  But apart from
+this there was nothing fresh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair.  The
+strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon
+his robust constitution.  The atmosphere of the room, too, was close.
+He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary.  Perhaps he
+dozed.  At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization
+of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a
+sudden start.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his
+lips were parted.  His manner was quieter, but there were black
+lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone
+something of that haunting fear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling&mdash;better.  How did you come here?
+I can't remember anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You sent for me," Laverick answered.  "I arrived to find you
+pretty well in a state of collapse.  Your sister has gone round to
+the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued.  "Tell me,
+has any one been around at the office asking after me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one particular," Laverick answered,&mdash;"no one at all that I can
+think of.  There were one or two inquiries through the telephone,
+but they were all ordinary business matters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh
+of relief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving
+way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to
+death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We talked&mdash;some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away.
+You promised that you would help me.  You said that I could get
+off to Africa or America to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered.  "There
+are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind&mdash;don't take this unkindly but the truth is best&mdash;I will not
+have you back again.  There may have to be a more definite
+readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished
+with."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured.  "I have had enough
+of the city for the rest of my life.  I'd rather get away somewhere
+and make a fresh start.  You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good
+for me.  It was a rotten partnership for you.  We could never have
+pulled together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let that go," Laverick interrupted.  "If you really mean getting
+away, that simplifies matters, of course.  Have you made any plans
+at all?  Where do you want to go?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best.
+There is money to be made there if one has something to make a
+start with."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered,
+"probably a great deal more.  I shall place our affairs in the hands
+of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday.
+You shall have every penny that is due to you.  You have quite
+enough, however, to get there with.  I will see to your ticket
+to-night, if possible.  When you've arrived you can cable me your
+address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave,
+and I will send you a further remittance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued,
+"and I will go back and put together some of your things.  I suppose
+you will not want much to go away with.  The rest can be sent on
+afterwards.  And what about your letters?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the
+bed.  He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged.  "Promise me that you
+won't!  I don't want any letters!  I don't want any of my things!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean you want to go away without&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically.
+"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they
+will find out where I am.  I should be there now but for that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  The matter was becoming serious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say.  I will not go near
+your rooms.  I will get you a few things somewhere to start with."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you.  I wish&mdash;I wish&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His voice seemed to die away.  Laverick glanced towards him,
+wondering at the unfinished sentence.  Once again the man's face
+seemed to be convulsed with horror.  He flung himself face downward
+upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly.  "If you've anything on
+your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what
+I can to help you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison made no reply.  He was sobbing now like a child.  Laverick
+rose to his feet and went to the window.  What was to be done with
+such a creature!  When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once
+more into a sitting posture.  His appearance was absolutely spectral.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot
+tell you&mdash;I cannot tell any one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered.  "I am simply
+anxious to help you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly.  "You
+must promise me something&mdash;promise that if any one asks for me
+to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am.
+Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into
+the country for a few days.  Say that you are expecting me back.
+Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely
+away.  And then don't tell a soul where I have gone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked
+sternly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I haven't&mdash;I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared.  "It's
+something quite outside business&mdash;quite outside business altogether."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked,
+then.  Listen&mdash;here is your sister back again," he added, as he
+heard the taxicab stop outside.  "Pull yourself together and don't
+frighten her so much.  I am going down to meet her.  I shall tell
+her that you are better.  Try and buck up when she comes in to see
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly.  "If you knew!  If you
+only knew!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He began to sob again.  Laverick left the room and, descending the
+stairs, met the girl in the hall.  Her white face questioned him
+before her lips had time to frame the speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said.  "I am sure that
+you need not be anxious about him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am so glad," she murmured.  "They let me off but I had to pay a
+fine.  I had no idea before that I was so important.  Shall I go to
+him now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room.  "Miss Morrison," he went on,&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I beg your pardon.  Your brother evidently has something on his
+mind apart from business.  I am afraid that he has been getting
+into some sort of trouble.  I don't think there is any object in
+bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will help?" she begged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered.  "I have promised to.
+You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock
+to-morrow morning.  He wants to go to New York, and the special
+to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight
+to eight-thirty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But his clothes!" she cried.  "How can he be ready by then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or
+to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed.  "Do you mean to say, then,
+that he is going without anything?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for
+granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable
+business or other.  He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts
+an entire secret.  He has been asking me whether any one has been
+to the office to inquire for him.  Under the circumstances, I think
+the best thing we can do is to humor him.  I shall buy him before
+to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of
+clothes, and a few things for the voyage.  Then I shall send a cab
+for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are very kind," she murmured.  "What should I have done without
+you?  Oh, I cannot think!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong.  Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire
+to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the
+tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes.  He reminded himself
+that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion,
+that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an
+impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be
+no possible excuse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He moved away towards the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother.  You
+see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been
+partners in business."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for
+me to do anything to relieve your anxiety."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord.  The gratitude which
+shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which
+was almost invitation.  Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet.
+Something had come into his life&mdash;something absurd, uncounted upon,
+incomprehensible.  The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified.
+In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had
+told himself would be the action of a cad.  He had taken her,
+unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips.  Afterwards,
+he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it
+seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without
+hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a
+natural consolation in a time of trouble.  But Laverick was conscious
+of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab
+and was driven swiftly away.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases
+as he could on Morrison's behalf.  Then, with the bag ready packed,
+he returned to his rooms.  Time had passed quickly during the last
+three hours.  It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the
+lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the
+latchkey which hung from his chain.  He began to change his clothes
+mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell
+upon his table rang.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer.  "Person here wishes to see you
+particularly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A person!" Laverick repeated.  "Man or woman?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Man, sir.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Better send him up," Laverick ordered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him
+that I scarcely thought you'd see him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind," Laverick answered.  "I can soon get rid of the fellow
+if he's cadging."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie.  His own
+affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the
+announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his
+mind with a rush.  Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers
+shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the
+passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later.  A
+man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face
+somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment,
+place it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare
+me just a moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door
+and preceding the way into the sitting-room.  At any rate, there
+was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor&mdash;nor
+anything official.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to
+ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief.  What he felt he
+succeeded in keeping to himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean Morrison&mdash;my partner, I suppose?" he answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you please, sir," the man admitted.  "I wanted a word or two
+with him most particular.  I found out his address from the
+caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to
+his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked.  "Where do you
+come from?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,'&mdash;little bar and
+restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir,
+at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley.  You've been in once or
+twice, Mr. Laverick, I think.  Mr. Morrison's a regular customer.
+He comes in for a drink most mornings."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said.  "What do you want
+with Mr. Morrison?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was silent.  He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr.
+Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally.  "If you could put me
+in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad.  I may say that it would be
+to his advantage, too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained.  "Mr.
+Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night.  I
+undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared,
+and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once.  We
+parted&mdash;well, not exactly the best of friends.  I am afraid I
+cannot give you any information."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly.  His visitor was not in
+the least convinced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said.
+"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here.  I'm not wishing him
+any harm at all.  On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his
+advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with
+me.  Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the
+country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man looked doubtful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't
+like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself.
+It's&mdash;it's a bit serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's face gave weight to his words.  Curiously enough, the
+gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded
+him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely
+an hour ago.  To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took
+a cigarette from a box and lit it.  A conviction was forming
+itself in his mind.  There was something definite behind these
+hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this
+man had an inkling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think
+you had better be frank with me.  I must know more than I know at
+present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be
+found.  We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend
+enough&mdash;for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation,
+"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may
+have stumbled into.  So you see that so far as anything you may have
+to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly,
+"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided.  "Even if I knew exactly where
+he was&mdash;and I'm not admitting that&mdash;I couldn't put you in touch
+with him unless I knew what your business was."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's eyes gleamed.  He was a typical waiter&mdash;pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking&mdash;but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and
+they were expressive.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr.
+Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered.  "You must either go
+away&mdash;it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet&mdash;or
+you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put
+myself out about this at all.  The only thing is&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison&mdash;knowing, as I
+well do, sir, the sort of gent he is&mdash;would be more likely to talk
+common sense with me about this matter than you, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling,
+"especially as I'm acting for him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man looked around the room.  The door behind had been left ajar.
+He stepped backward and closed it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious
+matter I'm going to speak about.  I'll just tell you a little thing
+and you can form your own conclusions.  Last night we was open late
+at the 'Black Post.'  We keep open, sir, as you know, when you
+gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy.  About nine o'clock there
+was a strange customer came in.  He had two drinks and he sat as
+though he were waiting.  In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in,
+and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort
+of business.  Anyways, there was papers passed between them.  I was
+fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in
+the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed
+the dark gentleman leave.  The others went out a few minutes
+afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place.
+He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before
+him.  I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink,
+and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes.  He sat there
+just like a man extra deep in thought.  Just after eleven, in came
+Mr. Morrison.  I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white,
+and shaking all over.  'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said,&mdash;'a big
+brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself.  Laverick
+was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his
+pulses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on," he said.  "That was after he left me.  Go on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter
+continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other.  All of a sudden
+I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap
+as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn.  I leaned
+over the counter and had a look, too.  There he sat&mdash;this tall,
+fair chap who had been in the place so long&mdash;with his big
+pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was
+I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out
+from it.  All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison
+a-watching him and me from behind the counter.  Back he whisks the
+pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two
+mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered&mdash;paused
+and looked nervously around the room.  His voice shook.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the
+'Black Post' last night, sir," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you know?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to
+the Mortuary.  There was no doubt about it.  There he was&mdash;same
+chap, same clothes.  I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon
+I'll have to at the inquest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers.  It seemed to
+him that he was no longer in the room.  He was listening to Big
+Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom
+with its spotless sheets and lace curtains.  The man on the bed was
+looking at him.  Laverick remembered the look and shivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half
+terrified way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper,
+"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds.  A sort of
+queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying
+me.  I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on,
+"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being
+found on the man as was murdered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away.  He walked to
+the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor.
+His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the
+Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other
+side of the river.  He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor.
+Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror?  He wondered no
+longer at his collapse.  The terror was upon him, too.  He felt his
+forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet.  It was not
+Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's
+knowledge.  The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a
+nightmare.  He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the
+missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager
+reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes
+deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy...
+Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant
+though it had been, passed.  This was no new thing with which he
+was confronted.  All the time he had known that the probabilities
+were in favor of such a discovery.  He set his teeth and turned to
+face his visitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said.
+"Have you spoken about it to any one else?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not a soul, sir," the man answered.  "I thought it best to have a
+word or two first with Mr. Morrison."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said
+thoughtfully.  "The police would thank you for your evidence, and
+there, I suppose, the matter would end."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted.  "There the matter
+would end."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were
+not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being
+a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison
+called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you
+dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take
+its own course,&mdash;Laverick paused.  His visitor scratched the side
+of his chin and nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an
+understandable, straightforward way.  I'm a poor man&mdash;I've been a
+poor man all my life&mdash;and I've never seed a chance before of
+getting away from it.  I see one now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You want to do the best you can for yourself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me
+and in telling me about this affair.  The idea of connecting Mr.
+Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on
+the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his
+name mentioned in connection with it.  You have behaved discreetly,
+and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out.
+You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I
+suggested with regard to the inquest.  What do you consider that
+service is worth?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr.
+Morrison values his life!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap17"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The man's manner was expressive.  Laverick repeated his phrase,
+frowning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His life!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing.  I
+have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say,
+that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in
+connection with this affair.  But because he left your bar a few
+minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that
+therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death.  I cannot
+conceive anything more unlikely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man smiled&mdash;a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth
+less than anything in the world.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked,&mdash;"one in especial."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?" Laverick inquired.  "Let's have it.  You had better tell me
+everything that is in your mind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper.  "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to
+where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent.  What was there to be said?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years
+without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there anything more?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply.  "You know that, sir.
+So do I.  There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send
+Mr. Morrison to the gallows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will waive that point," Laverick declared.  "The jury sometimes
+are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone.  However,
+as I have said, let us waive that point.  Your position is clear
+enough.  You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get
+nothing.  You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life.
+The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good.  Now
+take my advice.  Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous.
+It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this
+affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in
+your place.  I am here to act for Mr. Morrison.  What is it that you
+want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said,&mdash;"like a sensible
+gent, too.  I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into
+a bit of money,&mdash;just at present, at any rate.  I could easy find
+an excuse for changing my job&mdash;perhaps get away from London
+altogether.  I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to
+open a banking account.  A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in
+the way of doing it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to
+commence with?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered,&mdash;"generally called Jim,
+sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is,
+in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where
+the thing will end.  A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but
+in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could
+be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case.  Two
+hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have
+saved or got together.  After that your investments would be my
+lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven
+hundred and fifty pounds.  But what security have I&mdash;has Mr.
+Morrison, let us say&mdash;that you will be content with this sum?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once.  "He couldn't have
+any.  I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting
+around that I'm independent all of a sudden.  That wouldn't do
+nohow.  A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a
+week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my
+health being none too good.  I've no wife or children, sir.  I was
+thinking of an annuity.  With two pounds a week I'd have no cause
+to trouble any one again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick considered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It shall be done," he said.  "To-morrow I shall buy shares for
+you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds.  They will be
+deposited in a bank.  Some day you can look in and see me, and I
+will take you round there.  You are my client who has speculated
+under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name
+and become a customer.  After that, you will speculate again.
+When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to
+buy an annuity.  Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be
+the luckiest night of your life.  Do you drink?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess
+I'd go off my chump."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop
+too much when I'm by myself.  Then I tumbles off to sleep and
+that's the end of it.  I've no fancy for company at such times."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into
+his pocket.  "Here's a five-pound note on account.  I daresay you
+can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate.  That's all, isn't
+it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as
+to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before
+he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed.
+"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing
+the door softly behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry.
+He was faced now with a new tragedy.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap18"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train.
+The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious
+of a sense of immense relief.  Morrison had been at the station
+some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a
+physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all
+the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on
+the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a
+criminal expecting apprehension at any moment.  The whistle of the
+train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out.
+"Good luck, Morrison!  Pull yourself together and make a fresh
+start."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod.  Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands.  He felt himself at the last moment,
+stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all
+this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately.
+His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger.  He
+would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down
+to hers and whispered a reassuring little message.  Laverick turned
+away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering.
+Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly
+difficult.  The train was off at last, however, and they were alone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of
+relief.  They turned silently toward the exit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," she answered listlessly.  "There is nothing else to do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the first time," she said.  "Another girl and her mother
+have lived with me always.  They started off last week, touring.
+They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go
+into rooms.  As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the
+world like this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an
+effort at lightness.  "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going.
+His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that
+he would do what he could.  I didn't see much of him, but one felt
+always that there was somebody.  It's different now.  It makes
+one feel very lonely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a
+lonely person.  You must let me see something of you now and then."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked up at him quickly.  Her gaze was altogether disingenuous,
+but her eyes&mdash;those wonderful eyes&mdash;spoke volumes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling.  "I cannot ask
+you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have
+dinner together quite early.  Then I would take you to the theatre
+and meet you afterwards, if you liked."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I liked!" she whispered.  "Oh, how good you are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not at all sure about that.  Now I'll put you in this taxi
+and send you home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mustn't do anything so extravagant.  I can get a 'bus just
+outside.  I never have taxicabs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you
+for his fare.  You must let me, please.  Remember that there's a
+large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you
+needn't mind these trifles.  Till this evening, then.  Shall I
+fetch you or will you come to me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said.  "It isn't nice for you to
+come down to where I live.  It's such a horrid part."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just as you like," he answered.  "I'd be very glad to fetch you
+if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came.  Shall
+we say seven o'clock?  I've written the address down on this card
+so that you can make no mistake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed gayly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating
+me as though I were a baby.  I'll be there punctually, and I don't
+think I need tie the card around my neck."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cab glided off.  Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face
+with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she
+leaned out for a moment to say good-bye.  Then he went back to his
+rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder
+in Crooked Friars' Alley.  Evidently what information the police
+had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the
+moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think
+of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come.  The long-predicted
+boom had arrived at last.  Without lunch, he and all his clerks
+worked until after six o'clock.  Even then Laverick found it hard
+to leave.  During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask
+for Morrison.  To all of them he had given the same reply,&mdash;Morrison
+had gone abroad on private business for the firm.  Very few were
+deceived by Laverick's dry statement.  He was quite aware that he
+was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as
+a financier of consummate skill.  The failure of Laverick & Morrison
+had been looked upon as a certainty.  How they had tided over that
+twenty-four hours had been known to no one&mdash;to no one but Laverick
+himself and the manager of his bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment," his head-clerk announced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick.  Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick!
+Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day.  What is it?  The
+account is all right, isn't it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer.  "At the same time,
+if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you
+concerning the deposit you made yesterday."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised.  "This afternoon it
+is quite out of the question.  I have a crowd of people waiting to
+see me, and several important engagements for which I am late
+already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a time this last message troubled him.  As soon as the day's
+work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed
+it entirely from his thoughts.  It was curious how, notwithstanding
+this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding
+that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice,
+he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a
+pleasure which he had not felt for many months.  The whirl of the
+day faded easily from his mind.  He lived no more in an atmosphere
+of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety.  How
+empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so
+much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child!  It was hard to think
+of her otherwise&mdash;impossible.  A strange heritage, this, to have
+been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison.  How in the world,
+he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was a little shy when she arrived.  Laverick had left special
+orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room
+immediately.  She was very quietly dressed except for her hat,
+which was large and wavy.  He found it becoming, but he knew enough
+to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive,
+and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire,
+"that we must go somewhere very quiet.  You see, I have only one
+evening gown and I couldn't wear that.  There wouldn't be time to
+change afterwards.  Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about
+in the dressing-rooms."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly.
+"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on
+to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other
+smart young ladies in the same position.  I had to change because I
+have taken a stall to see your performance.  Tell me, how are you
+feeling now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace.
+"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly.  "I
+don't now, of course.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down
+in the lift.  "Haven't you any friends?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked.  "The girls in the
+chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many
+people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something
+of the sort."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said.
+"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder why?" he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily.  "You see, I think the
+men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to
+be allowed to make love to them.  At any rate, they behaved like
+that.  Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't
+like it a bit.  So they left me alone afterwards.  The girl I lived
+with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we
+go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays.  It's dull, though, very
+dull, especially now they're away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he
+asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What could one do?" she answered.  "My mother's money died with
+her&mdash;she had only an annuity&mdash;and my stepfather, who had promised
+to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly.  Arthur
+was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything.  My only
+friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was
+director of the orchestra at the Universal.  All he could do for me
+was to get me a place in the chorus.  I have been there ever since.
+They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it.  It's
+always like that in theatres.  You have to be a favorite of the
+manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance
+unless you are unusually lucky."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted.  "I am afraid I am
+rather a stupid person.  When I can get away from work I go into
+the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going.
+When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few
+friends, or playing bridge at the club.  I never have been a
+theatre-goer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round
+table in the restaurant which he had chosen,&mdash;"I wonder why every
+now and then you look so serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I didn't know that I did," he answered.  "We've had thundering
+hard times lately in business, though.  I suppose that makes a man
+look thoughtful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly.  "Are things any better
+now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Much better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She leaned across the table.  In the shaded light, her oval face
+with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though
+it might have belonged to some old miniature.  She was delightful,
+like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain&mdash;delightful
+when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the
+corner of her lips.  Just now, however, she became very much in
+earnest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said.  "I cannot
+help worrying still about Arthur.  You know you admitted last
+night that he had done something.  You saw how terribly frightened
+he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though
+he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid.
+Oh!  I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so
+terrified sometimes.  I feel that he must have done something&mdash;bad.
+It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of
+him so completely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was not," Laverick admitted at once.  "He has done something, I
+believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange,
+and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did not," he answered.  "I told him nothing.  For many reasons
+it was better to keep him ignorant.  He and I might not have seen
+things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the
+best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any
+more.  Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in
+New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will
+never come to anything serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly.  "From what
+he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed,
+you and he are so different."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so
+much trouble for his sake alone.  You see," he continued, smiling,
+"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very
+anxious, weren't you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her hand came across the table&mdash;an impulsive little gesture,
+which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful.  He
+took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips
+but for the waiters who were hovering around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate.  I think that
+I wanted a friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did.  You are
+not drinking your wine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mind?" she asked.  "A very little gets into my head
+because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes
+the least bit of a mistake.  Besides, I do not think that I like
+to drink wine.  If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse
+for never having anything when the girls ask you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded sympathetically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any
+rate.  Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival
+in New York.  Are you ready?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She glanced at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and
+fetch my ticket."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he
+took an evening paper from the stall.  A brief paragraph at once
+attracted his attention.
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+     Murder in the City.&mdash;We understand that very important
+     information has come into the hands of the police.  An
+     ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side.  It was
+the usual sort of thing.  There was nothing they could have found
+out&mdash;nothing, he told himself.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap19"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning,
+Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went
+round to his bank.  Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely.  He was feeling
+keenly the responsibilities of his position.  Just how much to say
+and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full
+measure of diplomacy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you
+with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.  It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued.
+"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an
+urgent one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning.  "What is
+it you wish me to do?  Withdraw my account?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on.
+"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate.  I could quite understand that you needed security to
+go on making the necessary payments on my behalf.  To-day, things
+are entirely different.  I am twenty thousand pounds better off,
+and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of
+my overdraft within half-an-hour.  That I do not do so is simply a
+matter of policy and prices."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager
+declared.  "The position is simply this.  We have had a most unusual
+and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge
+to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes
+has been passed through our account during the last few days."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have.  I can tell you no more.  The source of the inquiry was,
+in a sense, amazing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I ask what your reply was?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had
+passed through our account.  We asked them, however, without giving
+any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time.  Our
+reply was perfectly truthful.  Owing to your peculiar stipulations,
+we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security
+chamber.  We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little
+doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of
+this inquiry.  I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to
+open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the
+usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in
+the first instance to this inquiry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I
+absolutely decline to take.  It is not for me to tell you the nature
+of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client.
+All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and
+must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must
+be treated entirely as a confidential one.  If you decline to do
+this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course,
+take the packet away with me.  To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick,"
+he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never
+intended to do so.  I simply deposited them as security until the
+turn in price of 'Unions' came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked.
+"I should consider that you had already made use of them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied.  "There is only one
+inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested.  It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette
+would have intervened at all.  I should have felt it my duty to
+have revealed at once the fact of your deposit.  At the same time,
+the inquiry comes from an even more important source,&mdash;a source
+which cannot be ignored."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared.  "By
+four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits.
+You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold
+on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you
+would take it with you.  It means, I think, a matter of six or
+seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary
+thing we will pass that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly.  "The charge of those
+documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself.  I have no
+doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place
+elsewhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank
+with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket.
+Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe
+and proceeded with the usual business of the day.  Even with an
+added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar.  Laverick
+threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to
+escape from these unpleasant memories.  He succeeded perfectly.  It
+was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment.  His
+head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man
+outside&mdash;Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe&mdash;said he had a small
+investment to make which you promised to look after personally.  He
+would insist on seeing you&mdash;said he was a waiter at a restaurant
+which you visited sometimes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all right," Laverick declared.  "You can show him in.  We'll
+probably give him American rails."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked.
+"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after
+it myself.  Send him in, Scropes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced.
+Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned
+cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked.  "We're having a bit of a
+rush."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had
+in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting
+and talking.  They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's
+some of them can shift the drink."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked,
+"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth.  If you'll just approve that
+list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across,
+"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates.  I shall tell
+them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if
+any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said.  "To tell you the
+truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I sit down, sir?  I'm a bit worn out.  I've been on the go
+since half-past ten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair.  Shepherd brought it up to
+the side of the table and leaned forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions.  They
+wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and
+could I describe them.  Was there any one I recognized, and so on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What did you say?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I declared I couldn't remember any one.  To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o'clock.  I wouldn't say for certain&mdash;it looked as though I might
+have had a reason."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And were they satisfied?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted.  "Not altogether,
+that is to say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick&mdash;"Morrison's, for
+instance?  Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but
+they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients.  Fortunate
+like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not
+paying any too much attention to them.  It was all I could do to
+keep on getting orders attended to."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked.  "Do you think that
+they came from the police?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell,
+and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so
+sometimes on purpose to deceive.  I should have said that these two
+were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered.
+I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a
+shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man
+who was murdered and the little dark fellow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very
+sagacious person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added,
+"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries.  My
+nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he
+remarked,&mdash;"no one who could contradict you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued.  "You see, you've been
+wise.  You haven't given yourself away altogether.  You've simply
+said that you don't recollect any one coming in.  Why should you
+recollect?  At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice
+every stray customer.  Stick to it, and, if you take my advice,
+don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in
+for another week or so.  Pave the way for it a bit.  Ask the governor
+for a rise&mdash;say you're not making a living out of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head.  "I'm on to it,
+sir.  I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in.
+You're not obliged to remember anything.  No one can ever prove that
+you remembered anything.  Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if
+these fellows turn up again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared.  "They sat
+about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I
+hopped out the back way.  They'll be there again to-night, sure
+enough."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his
+voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking
+rapidly.  "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great
+pocketful of notes.  But my! there was a sight of money there,
+sir!  He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted.  "It isn't a
+pleasant thing to think about or talk about.  We won't know anything,
+Shepherd.  We shall be better off."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced.
+Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before
+eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way.
+When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the
+sofa and lit a cigar.  Once more the evening papers had no
+particular news.  This time, however, one of them had a leading
+article upon the English police system.  The fact that an undetected
+murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the
+slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself
+alarming.  Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make
+little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known.
+At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a
+considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the
+vicinity of the tragedy.  It was rumored that some mysterious
+inquiries were being circulated around London banks.  It was
+possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the
+crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined.  The whole interest
+of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity.
+As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might
+be expected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick threw the paper away.  He tried to rest upon the sofa, but
+tried in vain.  He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-night," he muttered to himself,&mdash;"no, I will not go to-night!
+It is not fair to the child.  It is absurd.  Why, she would think
+that I was&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stopped short.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll change and go to the club," he decided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He rose to his feet.  Just then there was a ring at his bell.  He
+opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening
+his wallet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick held out his hand.  The boy gave him a large square
+envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre."
+Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously
+pleased.  He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope,
+and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate
+handwriting.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="letter">
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night?  Don't let me be a nuisance,
+but do come if you have nothing to do.  I have something to tell
+you.
+<BR><BR>
+                                                        ZOE.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot
+that he was tired.  He changed his clothes, whistling softly to
+himself all the time.  At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door
+of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap20"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the
+stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a
+waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier.  Laverick stood
+back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to
+himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening.
+Zoe was among the last to appear.  She came up to him with a
+delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter
+of course as he led her across to the waiting cab.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared.
+"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.  "Delightful!  Two
+nights following, too!  I did love last night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If only you meant it!" she sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes.
+Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat
+Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the
+moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a
+question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged.  "You said that
+you had some information for me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted.  "I found
+out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about
+me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur
+Morrison, the stockbroker."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know who it was?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The man left no name at all.  I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell
+me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to
+that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have
+found you out.  You were so seldom with Morrison.  I dare say," he
+added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small
+sum of money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very likely," she answered.  "But I was going to tell you.  He came
+again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round.
+I have brought it for you to see."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The note&mdash;it was really little more than a message&mdash;was written
+on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently
+borrowed from the box-office.  It read as follows:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="letter">
+DEAR MISS LENEVEU,
+<BR><BR>
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I
+am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his.  Could
+you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of
+this evening?  If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps
+allow me to give you some supper.
+<BR><BR>
+                                               Sincerely,<BR>
+                                               PHILIP E. MILES.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the
+programme.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man
+who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was
+or had been a friend of Morrison's."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious
+of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me
+know.  You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so
+summarily."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation
+of her speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For instance?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"First of all, then, how old are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made a grimace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thirty-eight&mdash;thirty-nine my next birthday.  Doesn't that seem
+grandfatherly to you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed.  "It is not even
+middle-aged.  Now tell me&mdash;how do you spend your time generally?
+Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most
+evenings?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have no sisters?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am quite content," he answered.  "Go ahead, but remember, though,
+that I am a very dull person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You look so young for your years," she declared.  "I wonder, have
+you ever been in love?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed heartily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"About a dozen times, I suppose.  Why?  Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly.  "You don't seem to me
+as though you cared to make friends very easily.  I just felt I
+wanted to ask you.  Have you ever been engaged?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never," he assured her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a
+little for any one?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her
+glass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said.
+"You are quite right to make fun of me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the contrary," he insisted.  "I am very much in earnest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall
+be in love with me.  You shall take me about, give me supper every
+night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre&mdash;oh, and
+there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!"
+she wound up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove
+it with pleasure.  Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the
+stage-door."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed.  "It's a horrid little
+life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hate it, but I must do something.  I could not live on charity.
+If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but
+there is no other way.  I tried once to give music lessons.  I had
+a few pupils, but they never paid&mdash;they never do pay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully.
+"Of course, it is occupation you want.  So far as regards the
+monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no!" she declared.  "I have never complained about Arthur.
+Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not
+wish to take any of his money&mdash;or of anybody else's," she added.
+"I want always to earn my own living."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully
+independent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?" she answered softly.  "It is years since I had any one
+to do very much for me.  Necessity teaches us a good many things.
+Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little
+sigh.  "I got over it.  We all do.  Tell me&mdash;who is that woman,
+and why does she stare so at you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked across the room.  Louise and Bellamy were sitting
+at the opposite table.  The former was strikingly handsome and very
+wonderfully dressed.  Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open
+in front, displayed her marvelous figure.  She wore long pearl
+earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair
+hair.  Laverick recognized her at once.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano
+in the world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not know her," he said.  "I know who she is, of course,&mdash;every
+one does.  She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her
+country.  She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago,
+and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again
+before the enemies of her country.  She had been engaged a long time
+to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really
+come.  She breaks her engagements just when she chooses.  In fact,
+she is a very wonderful person altogether."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered.  "And how
+lovely she is!  I do not understand, though, why she is so
+interested in you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It certainly seemed probable.  Even at that moment she touched
+her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at
+Laverick.  It was obvious that he was the subject of her
+conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know the man," Laverick said.  "He was at Harrow with me, and I
+have played cricket with him since.  But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale.  One does not forget that sort of person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully.  "Do you like
+tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed.  "We came
+together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are making me young again," he declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him.  "To tell you
+the truth, I am jealous.  Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the
+time.  Look at her now.  Is she not beautiful?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her&mdash;and she was by far the most interesting person in the room&mdash;thought
+her a little sad.  Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to
+be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over
+his head and out of the room.  Wherever her thoughts were, one could
+be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under
+discussion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked.  "She has none
+of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen.  Yet there was never anything
+so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would
+die for."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one
+whom you preferred to live for.  Do you know, you are rather a
+morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, I like that!" she declared.  "I will not be called Miss Leneveu
+any more by you.  You must call me Miss Zoe, please,&mdash;Zoe, if you
+like."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zoe, by all means.  Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then.
+I was reading about her only the other day.  They say that so many
+men fall in love with her&mdash;so many men to whom she gives no
+encouragement at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked into his companion's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won.  I can assure you
+that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star.
+Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week,
+and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire
+income?  Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman.  See, your
+friend is coming to speak to you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room.  He nodded to Laverick and
+bowed to his companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said.  "You do remember me, I
+hope?  Bellamy, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I remember you quite well.  We used to play together at Lord's,
+even after we left school."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is so," he answered.  "I see by the papers that you have kept
+up your cricket.  Mine, alas! has had to go.  I have been too much
+of a rolling stone lately.  Do you know that I have come to ask you
+a favor?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go ahead," Laverick interposed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained.
+"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims
+she is.  If you won't come across and be introduced like a good
+fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time,
+go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick laughed heartily.  A little smile played at the corner of
+Zoe's lips&mdash;nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had
+better go.  You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe,
+"that I cannot stay for more than a second."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naturally," Bellamy answered.  "If Mademoiselle really has anything
+to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared.  "You're
+in the front row, aren't you?  I have seen you in that clever little
+step-dance and song in the second act."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully.  "You see, we
+are all so tired of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared.  "I shall have the
+pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two men crossed the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick
+demanded.  "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling
+against hard times?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered.  "And
+as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted
+to.  Her interest in you is rather a curious one.  No time to explain
+it now.  She'll tell you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise smiled as he paused before her.  She was certainly exquisitely
+beautiful.  Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her
+voice, were all perfection.  She gave him the tips of her fingers as
+Bellamy pronounced his name.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me.  And
+indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would
+like to say one word with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick bowed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which
+procures me such a pleasure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said.  "But indeed, then, I fear
+you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested.
+I read all your newspapers.  I read of that terrible murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago,&mdash;is not that how you
+call the place?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was suddenly grave.  What was this that was coming?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a
+foreigner.  The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian.  I,
+too, come from that part of Europe&mdash;if not from Austria, from a
+country very near&mdash;and I am always interested in my country-people.
+A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this
+Crooked Friars' Alley?'  Just then he bowed to you, and he answered
+me, 'It is in the city.  It is within a yard or two of the offices
+of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.'  So I
+looked across at you and I thought that it was strange."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has
+told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office.  So far, too,
+the police seem completely at a loss."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they
+are not very clever.  It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your
+offices are?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not at all," Laverick replied.  "On the contrary, in the daytime
+it might be called the heart of the city&mdash;of the money-making part
+of the city, at any rate.  Only this thing, you see, seems to have
+taken place very late at night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When all the offices were closed," she remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most of them," Laverick answered.  "Mine, as it happened, was open
+late that night.  I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of
+the time when the murder must have been committed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head.  "Tell me,
+Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show
+me this place,&mdash;yes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but
+there is nothing there.  It is just a passage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will
+come.  You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me.  Well, sometimes
+I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will
+give me your advice.  So!  You have a card!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it.  She
+thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed and recrossed the room.  Bellamy was standing talking to
+Zoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," he asked, as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to
+throw yourself beneath the car?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not think so," he answered.  "Our acquaintance promises to be
+a business one.  Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though
+me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked.  "Ah, well, you have
+every reason!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place.
+Laverick looked after him a little compassionately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor fellow," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is he?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered.
+"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed.  "He is nice.  She must care for some
+one.  Why do you pity him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick
+continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her.
+She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to
+spare from herself are given to her country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Zoe shuddered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women.
+Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all.  To me she seems only very,
+very sad.  Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim.  It must have been a
+whim."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap21"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think
+about.  He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant,
+within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company
+of friends.  Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he
+knew slightly came across the room to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has gone abroad for a few weeks.  As a matter of fact, we shall
+be announcing a change in the firm shortly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Queer thing," the broker remarked.  "I was in Liverpool yesterday,
+and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks.  I
+should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful
+about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking
+individual.  I called out to him and he vanished like a streak."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said.  "He sailed
+several days ago for New York."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That settles it," the man declared, passing on.  "All the same,
+it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out
+a marconigram to the Lusitania,
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+      Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board?  Reply.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+He signed his name and paid for an answer.  Then he went back to
+his office.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Any one to see me?" he inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,&mdash;"queer
+looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash
+for some railway stock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll see him," he said.  "Anything else?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A lady rang up&mdash;name sounded like a French one, but we could none
+of us catch what it was&mdash;to say that she was coming down to see you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her
+directly she arrives.  How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to
+the waiter as he passed towards his room.  "Come in, will you?
+You've got your certificates all right?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not
+wholly agreed.  He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his
+little green eyes seemed even more restless.  His attire&mdash;a long
+rough overcoat over the livery of his profession&mdash;scarcely enhanced
+the dignity of his appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our bar is being watched," the man declared.  "I don't think it's
+anything to do with the police.  Seems to be a sort of foreign gang.
+They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night.  They've
+pumped everybody."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find
+out except from you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued.  "My
+junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room,
+told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten
+and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking.
+They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised.  "The inquest's on now and
+you haven't been called.  I don't fancy you're running any sort of
+risk.  Any one may say they believe there were people in the bar
+between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you
+outright.  Besides, you haven't sworn to anything.  You've simply
+said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically.
+"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you.  Their eyes
+seem to follow you all over the place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared.
+"I should like to see them.  I might get an idea as to their
+nationality, at any rate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, sir.  I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested.  I've
+said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at
+the work, so as to pave the way.  It's a hard job, and no mistake.
+I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed,
+too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to
+serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them.  It's
+more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So much the better," he declared.  "All the more excuse for your
+leaving.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking
+up his hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered.
+"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Jim Shepherd departed.  There was a shouting of newspaper boys in
+the street outside.  Laverick sent out for a paper.  The account of
+the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called
+except the men who had found the dead body.  The nature of the
+wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their
+having been self-inflicted.  In the absence of any police evidence
+or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death
+was naturally limited.  The jury contented themselves by bringing
+in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons
+unknown." Laverick laid down the paper.  The completion of the
+inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety.  The
+question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand
+pounds.  He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy.  After all, had
+he paid too great a price?  The millstone was gone from around his
+neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life.
+Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections.
+Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor.  She was
+wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,&mdash;a
+white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to
+have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure.  She brought with
+her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes&mdash;a
+perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its
+faint suggestion of hothouse flowers.  She held out her hand to
+Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She inclined her head graciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are very kind," said she.  "I know that here in the city you
+are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long.
+Will you buy me some stocks,&mdash;some good safe stocks, which will
+bring me in at least four per cent?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered.  "Have you any
+choice?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I have no choice," Louise told him.  "I bring with me a
+cheque,&mdash;see, I give it to you,&mdash;it is for six thousand pounds.  I would
+like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I
+may watch them in the paper.  I like to see whether they go up or
+down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much.  It is
+something like gambling but it is no trouble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick
+assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two,
+at any rate, your stocks will go up.  With regard to selling&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what
+you propose."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will do our best," Laverick promised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is good," she said.  "Money is a wonderful thing.  Without it
+one can do little.  You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you
+were going to show me this passage?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly not.  Come with me now, if you will.  It is only a yard
+or two away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took her out into the street.  Every clerk in the office forgot
+his manners and craned his neck.  Outside, Mademoiselle let fall
+her veil and passed unrecognized.  Laverick showed her the entry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on
+the left, that the body was found."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at the place steadily.  Then she looked along the
+passage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where does it lead to&mdash;that?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come and I will show you.  On the left"&mdash;as they passed along the
+flagged pavement&mdash;"is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard.  On the
+right here there are just offices.  The street in front of us is
+Henschell Street.  All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And directly opposite," she asked,&mdash;"that is a caf�, is it
+not,&mdash;a restaurant, as you would call it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is so," he agreed.  "One goes in there sometimes for a drink."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired.  "It would probably
+be a meeting place.  One might leave there and walk down this
+passage naturally enough."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick inclined his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went
+to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night.
+You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock,
+and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence.  In
+the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long
+before now.  The guilty person would be in the hands of the law.
+As it is, I suppose that he will go free."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered
+Laverick.  "They haven't had much time so far."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder&mdash;"  She
+hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence.  "Come,"
+she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office!
+This place is not cheerful.  All the time I think of that poor man.
+It does make me frightened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which
+was waiting before his door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by
+to-night's post," he promised her.  "We shall do our best in your
+interests."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick.  I would like to see you again
+very soon.  You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House.  I
+leave a box for you at the door.  Send me round a note that you
+are there, and it is possible that I may see you.  It is against
+the rules, but for me there are no rules."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are doing something else?" she protested.  "You were, perhaps,
+thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were
+sitting last night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had half promised&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter.  "She is not for
+you&mdash;that child.  She is too young.  She knows nothing.  Better to
+leave her alone.  She is not for a man of the world like you.  Soon
+she would cease to amuse you.  You would be dull and she would still
+care.  Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick&mdash;so
+much tragedy for the woman!  It is she always who suffers.  You
+will take my advice.  You will leave that little girl alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly.  You
+see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me.  Perhaps," he added, after a second's
+pause, "I care for her too much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much.
+An Englishman, he cares never enough.  A woman to him is something
+amusing,&mdash;his companion for a little of his spare time, something
+to be pleased about, to show off to his friends,&mdash;to share, even,
+the passion of the moment.  But an Englishman he does not care too
+much.  He never cares enough.  He does not know what it is to care
+enough."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there
+may not.  We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at
+least we are faithful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed.  "Who is there, indeed,
+who wishes that you would be faithful?  How much we poor women do
+suffer from that!  Why can you never understand that a woman would
+be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the
+passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long.  It gets
+weary.  It gets stale.  It is as you say,&mdash;the Englishman he cares
+very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be
+an artiste and a woman, she tires.  But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick!
+I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous
+matters.  You come to-night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are very kind," Laverick said.  "If I may come until eleven
+o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you will," she declared.  "We shall see.  I expect you, then.
+You ask for your box."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you wish it, certainly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his
+clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle
+Idiale.  He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that
+Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the
+telephone.  He took up the receiver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is it?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Shepherd," was the answer.  "Is that Mr. Laverick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd
+continued.  "You had with you a lady&mdash;a young, tall lady with a
+veil."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's right," Laverick admitted.  "What about her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in
+the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely.  "He saw her with you and
+I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock.  He
+dropped his glass and his paper.  He watched you every second of
+the time you were there until you had disappeared.  Then he, too,
+put on his hat and went out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anything else?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing else," was the reply.  "I thought you might like to know
+this, sir.  The man recognized the lady right enough."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It seems queer," Laverick admitted.  "Thank you for ringing me up,
+Shepherd.  Good morning!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick leaned back in his chair.  There was no doubt whatever now
+in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other,
+was interested in this crime.  Her wish to see the place, her
+introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all
+part of a scheme.  He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it.
+As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place
+amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap22"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green
+Park.  Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand.
+She took his arm in foreign fashion.  They walked together towards
+Buckingham Palace&mdash;a strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me.  To look at him,
+to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest.  He has just
+those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half
+splendid, of your athletic Englishman.  One would imagine him doing
+a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a
+criminal at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path.  His forehead wore a perplexed
+frown.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He didn't give himself away, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not in the least."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Without an instant's hesitation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make
+love to you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I even gave him an opening," she said.  "Of flirtation he has no
+more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that
+he has the money and the portfolio.  I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed
+only a week ago.  They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly
+insolvent.  No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her.  "He saw Laverick enter
+that passage and come out.  Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way.
+The thing could not have been accidental."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested.  "He is, after
+all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be
+very much in your power.  Tell him of the value of that document.
+Tell him that you must have it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It could be done," Bellamy admitted.  "I think that one of us must
+talk plainly to him.  Listen, Louise,&mdash;are you seeing him again?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See what you can do," he begged.  "I would rather keep away from
+him myself, if I can.  Have you heard anything of Streuss?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched&mdash;even
+my dressing-room at the Opera House.  That man's spies are
+simply wonderful.  He seems able to plant them everywhere.  And,
+David!&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, dear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued.  "I am perfectly
+certain of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy
+declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone.  "The man
+has all my affairs in his hands.  Up till now, although he is
+uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said.  "I am tired."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side.  In full view
+of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying.  She looked
+thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence.  I seem to
+feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk,
+to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who
+throng your streets.  They are a stolid, unbelieving people&mdash;these.
+The blow, when it comes, will be the harder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right," he said.  "When one comes to think of it, it is
+amazing.  How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how
+completely their teachings have been ignored!  The invasion bogey
+has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest.
+Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am," he affirmed.  "I think that if we could read that document
+we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion
+of England.  I think you would find that the blow would be struck
+simultaneously at our Colonies.  We should either have to submit or
+send a considerable fleet away from home waters.  Then, I presume,
+the question of invasion would come again.  All the time, of course,
+the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be
+scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings.  Austria would
+gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she
+said, "this decadence of your country.  Once England held the scales
+of justice for the world.  Now she is no longer strong enough, and
+there is none to take her place.  David, even if you know what that
+document contains, even then will it help very much?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very much indeed.  Don't you see that there is one hope left to
+us&mdash;one hope&mdash;and that is Russia?  The Czar must be made to
+withdraw from that compact.  We want to know his share in it.  When
+we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia.  Germany
+and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world.  With Russia
+behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an
+equal one.  They have to face both directions, they have to face two
+great armies working from the east and from the west."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments.
+Bellamy was thinking deeply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms
+have been searched.  When was this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only last night," she replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is
+not in our possession.  He knows nothing about Laverick.  How are
+we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have a plan?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared.  "I shall
+say that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government.  It will be a bluff, pure and simple.  He may believe
+it or he may not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will break your compact then," she reminded him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall call myself justified," he continued.  "He has attempted
+to rob us of the document.  You are sure of what you say&mdash;that your
+rooms and dressing-room have been searched?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Absolutely certain," she declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided.  "If Streuss comes to
+me, I shall meet him frankly.  I shall tell him that he has tried
+to play the burglar and that it must be war.  I shall tell him that
+the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and
+his spies had better clear out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him questioningly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can
+do, and one thing only.  We must send a mission to Russia and another
+to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea
+we must declare war.  It is the only thing left to us&mdash;a bold front.
+Without that packet we have no casus belli.  With it, we can strike,
+and strike hard.  I still believe that if we declare war within seven
+days, we shall save ourselves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across
+the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world
+beyond.  They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh
+floor of one of the great Strand hotels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily.  "We cannot
+doubt it any longer.  I think, Streuss, that the best course you
+and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back.  We do no
+good here.  We only run needless risks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The face of the other man was dark with anger.  His tone, when he
+spoke, shook with passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely.  "I tell you
+that we must succeed.  If that document reaches the hands of any one
+in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen
+upon our country since you or I were born.  You don't understand,
+Kahn!  You keep your eyes closed!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What men can do we have done," the other answered.  "Von Behrling
+played us false.  He has died a traitor's death, but it is very
+certain that he parted with his document before he received that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared.  "At
+mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were
+unknown to the Ministers of the King here.  Now if Von Behrling
+had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose
+that everything would be known by now?  He did not part with it.
+Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it.
+That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer,
+and it is for us to find him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kahn sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is outside our sphere&mdash;that.  What can we do against the police
+of this country working in their own land?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing.  The veins
+in his temples were like whipcord.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool!  Can't you see what it
+means?  If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose
+will happen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered.  "They will
+have time to make preparation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Worse than that!" he exclaimed.  "They are not all fools, these
+English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches.
+Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches
+Downing Street?  War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon!
+Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working
+night and day?  Don't you know that every nerve is being strained,
+that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our
+new battleships?  There is but one chance for this country, and if
+her statesmen read that document they will know what it is.  It is
+open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves
+secure against attack."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared.  "They might
+make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to
+take the initiative&mdash;no!  I do not believe it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said.  "He
+may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it.  Kahn, wake up, man!
+You and I together have never known what failure means.  I tell you
+that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must
+find it.  This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called
+at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked
+Friars' Alley.  She was there a long time.  The stockbroker himself
+came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood
+with her there and returned.  What was her interest in him, Kahn?
+His name is Laverick.  Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin.
+To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements.  Why did
+Mademoiselle go to the city to see him?  He was at his office late
+that Tuesday night.  He had a partner who has disappeared."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And more," Streuss declared.  "For twenty-four hours, this man
+Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested.  "If he has the
+document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't know the man.  He is an Englishman, and if he had any
+idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would
+be small indeed.  This is what I think will happen.  Mademoiselle
+will try to obtain it, and try in vain.  Then Bellamy will tell him
+the truth, and he will part with it willingly.  In the meantime, I
+believe that it is in his possession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed.  "If it is only a hundred to one
+chance, we have to take it.  I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf,
+and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The telephone bell rang.  Streuss took off the receiver and held it
+to his ear.  The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid
+the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in
+his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with
+the document to-day.  Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been
+sitting in the Park for an hour.  When they separated, she drove
+home and dropped him at his club.  Up till now, then, they have not
+the document.  We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves
+business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document
+has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his
+office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly,
+"there is still a chance for us!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap23"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden
+that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the
+reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become
+her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this
+adventure.  He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no
+interest for her.  In some way or other he had become connected in
+her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of
+his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder
+had become a subject of interest to her.  Either that, or this was
+one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of
+courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary
+visitor.  The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her
+wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no
+person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved
+upon any stage.  It appeared impossible that movement so graceful
+and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless.  There
+seemed to be some strange power inside the woman.  Surely her will
+guided her feet!  The necessity for physical effort never once
+appeared.  Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt
+against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether
+in check.  The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her
+glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience.  He
+clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he
+leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she
+reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips,
+accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the
+packed house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock
+at his box door.  One of the attendants ushered in a short man of
+somewhat remarkable personality.  He was barely five feet in height,
+and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the
+appearance of a hunchback.  He had black, beady eyes, a black
+moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin.  His white gloves
+had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his
+silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually
+associated with Bond Street.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and
+commenced to speak.  His accent was foreign, but, if not an
+Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies.  It was
+Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance.
+My name is Lassen.  I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business
+manager.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick.  "Will
+you sit down?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed
+back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took
+the seat opposite Laverick.  His first question was inevitable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you think of the opera, sir?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered.  "It
+is above criticism."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe
+and her voice is the most wonderful.  It is a great combination,
+this.  I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to
+England most of those whose names are known during the last ten
+years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,&mdash;never will
+be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can believe it," Laverick admitted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen.  "Your
+acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly.  He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded.
+"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered.  "As a matter of fact,
+it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist
+upon my coming here to-night.  She did me the honor, as you may
+know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared.  "Mademoiselle is a
+great woman of business.  Most of her investments she controls
+herself.  She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict
+her.  She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of
+affairs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss
+Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger
+should be her manager.  He nodded and took up his programme.  As
+he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act.  Laverick turned
+deliberately towards the stage.  The little man had paid his respects,
+as he put it.  Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation
+with him.  Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that
+his companion's eyes were fixed upon him.  He had an uncomfortable
+sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this
+visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he
+had not declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter
+remarked, some time afterwards.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested.
+"You are here at her invitation.  It is usual, I can assure you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said.  "I
+have an engagement immediately after the performance is over."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch,
+and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later.  When
+he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to
+Laverick with an air of triumph.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is as I said!" he exclaimed.  "Mademoiselle expects you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="letter">
+  I wish to see you after the performance.  If you cannot come
+  round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant
+  of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup.  Do not fail.
+<BR><BR>
+                                                   Louise Idiale.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate
+remark.  Later on he turned to his companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself
+the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant.  I have an
+engagement after the performance which I must keep."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Without a doubt," Laverick promised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will go and tell Mademoiselle.  For some reason or other she
+seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening.  She has
+her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself,
+find it well to keep them gratified.  If I do not see you again,
+sir, permit me to wish you good evening."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and
+Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve.  He was not in the
+least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this
+woman's interest in him.  Her invitation, he knew very well, was
+one which half London would have coveted.  Yet it meant nothing
+personal, he was sure of that.  It simply meant that for some
+mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit
+him in the city he was of interest to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove
+to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre.  Zoe came out among the
+first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street
+eagerly.  When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab.  "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there
+is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true.
+To-night I was not sure.  You had said nothing about it, and yet I
+could not help believing that you would be here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together.
+Unfortunately, I have an engagement."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is rather an odd thing," he declared.  "You remember that woman
+at Luigi's last night&mdash;Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to
+invest for her.  She made me take her out and show her where the
+murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it.
+Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening,
+and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards.
+I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to
+Luigi's, where she will be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are we going now, then?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wherever you like.  I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said.  "I have so
+many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry.  If I could think of anything or anywhere&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, you must take me home, please," said she.  "It was selfish of
+me.  Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person.  Do you
+think that she will want you every night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course not," he laughed.  "Come, I will make an engagement with
+you.  We will have supper together to-morrow evening."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She brightened up at once.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you
+heard anything from Arthur?  He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.  He said nothing about the marconigram he
+had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that
+there was no such person on board.  It seemed scarcely worth while
+to worry her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have heard nothing," he replied.  "Of course, he must be half-way
+to America by now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors.
+The latter I am paying as they come.  But there is one thing you
+ought to do with me.  I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock
+up his papers and letters.  He never even went back, you know, after
+that night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When would you like to do this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until
+Monday afternoon.  Would you go with me then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course...  My time is my own.  We have no matinee, and I have
+nothing to do except in the evening."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had reached her home.  It looked very dark and very uninviting.
+She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was
+carrying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged.  "It
+looks so dreary, doesn't it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in
+a part like this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered.  "I am only lonely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit
+the gas jet.  In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting
+for her, and some bread.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you so much," she said.  "Now I am going to make up the fire
+and read for a short time.  I hope that you will enjoy your supper&mdash;well,
+moderately," she added, with a little laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than
+last night's or to-morrow night's."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor little me!" she exclaimed.  "It is not fair to have to compete
+with Mademoiselle Idiale.  Good night!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away
+early&mdash;would you like me to come in and say good night to you
+later on?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, do!" she begged.  "Do!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned away with a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," he said.  "Don't shut up just yet and I will try."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared,&mdash;"until
+four, even.  You must come.  Remember, you must come.  See."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held out to him her key.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can knock at the door," he protested.  "You would hear me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I might fall asleep," she answered.  "I am afraid.  If you have
+the key, I am sure that you will come."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap24"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to
+twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties
+on their way to a fancy dress ball.  The demand for tables was far
+in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before
+the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once.
+"Will you be so good as to come this way?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick followed him.  She was sitting at the same table as last
+night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise,
+only for two.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to
+a new sensation.  I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of
+an hour&mdash;I!  Such a thing has never happened to me before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you.  That is what I
+seldom do with any man.  Not that I care for the appearance," she
+added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand.  "Nothing troubles me
+less.  It is simply that one man alone wearies me.  Almost always
+he will make love, and that I do not like.  You, Mr. Laverick, I am
+not afraid of.  I do not think that you will make love to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I
+forthwith banish.  You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said.  "I do not think that
+you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make
+love to any one.  I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is
+difficult&mdash;sometimes it is even embarrassing.  For supper?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is ordered," she declared.  "You are my guest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly.  "I have been your guest
+at the Opera.  You at least owe me the honor of being mine for
+supper."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She frowned a little.  She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted.  "No," she
+continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back.  I
+sup with you to-night.  This is an ill omen for our future
+acquaintance.  I have given in to you already&mdash;I, who give in to
+no man.  Give me some champagne, please."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the
+sommelier darted forward and served them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,"
+she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast,
+I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is
+consuming you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The curiosity?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes!  You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last
+night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your
+office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with
+you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you
+to supper here and am supping with you alone.  Now confess the
+truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Frankly, I am."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I knew it quite well.  You are not conceited.  You do not believe,
+as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you.  You
+think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the
+time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether
+you have any idea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper.  She looked at him with a
+suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only
+needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something
+almost irresistible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was about the murder.  You seemed interested in the fact that
+my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite right," she admitted.  "I see that your memory is very good.
+There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick drank his wine slowly.  The woman knew!  Impossible!  Her
+eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely.  What
+could she know?  How could she guess?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand.  Your interest in me
+arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that
+murder.  Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance
+of mine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed.  "Why, he has not
+been identified.  No one knows who he was."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you
+everything.  I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of
+mine.  Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna
+with him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I could," she answered.  "I can tell you one thing, at any
+rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you.  At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him.  This
+is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his.  He sat
+quite still.  His face exhibited nothing more than the blank
+amazement which he certainly felt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is marvelous," he said.  "Have you told the police?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have not," she answered.  "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling
+the police."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the money?  To whom did it belong?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not to the murdered man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am
+telling you too much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed.  "But what can I do?  What do I know
+of these things?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful
+gold purse set with emeralds.  Carefully opening it, she drew from
+the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great
+uncut emerald set into its centre.  This, too, she opened, and drew
+out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top.
+These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth.
+Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may read that," she said.  "It is part of a report which I have
+had in my pos session since Wednesday morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular
+characters, very distinct and plain:
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+          Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down
+          the street but did not glance toward the passage.  The next
+          person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the
+          same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his
+          homeward way.  He glanced up the passage and saw the body
+          lying there.  He disappeared for a moment and struck a match.
+          A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and
+          down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office
+          from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey,
+          and closed the door behind him.  He was there for about ten
+          minutes.  When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street
+          and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him.
+
+          The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was
+          Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He handed it back to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It interests me very much," he answered.  "Who was this unseen
+person who wrote from the clouds?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared.
+"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick helped himself to champagne.  He listened for a moment to
+the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that
+beautiful face a few feet away.  Her lips were slightly parted, her
+forehead wrinkled.  There was nothing of the accuser in her
+countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It might seem so," she answered.  "Sometimes I think that all the
+time we live two lives,&mdash;the life of which the world sees the
+outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows
+anything at all.  Look, for instance, at all these people&mdash;these
+chorus girls and young men about town&mdash;the older ones, too&mdash;all
+hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they
+had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy.
+Have they no shadows, too, no secrets?  They seem so harmless, yet
+if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer
+there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus
+on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor?  But
+those are the things of the other world which we do not see.  The
+men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me.
+The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and
+shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame
+throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very
+few minutes.  But they do not know.  There are the shadows across
+my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours.  What
+do you say, Mr. Laverick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked at her, curiously moved.  Now at last he began to believe
+that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a
+marvelous woman.  She had a fame which would have contented nine
+hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand.  She had beauty,
+and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are
+irresistible.  She had but to lift a finger and there were few
+who would not kneel to do her bidding.  And yet, behind it all there
+were other things in her life.  Had she sought them, or had they
+come to her?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who
+realize the danger of words.  You believe in silence.  Well, silence
+is often good.  You do not choose to admit anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is there for me to admit?  Do you want to know whether I am
+the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage,
+who reappeared again&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured
+across the flowers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At least tell me this?" he demanded.  "Was the money yours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not like you," she replied.  "I have talked a great deal and
+I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But where are we?" he asked.  "Are you seriously accusing me of
+having robbed this murdered man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having
+murdered him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account
+for my movements that night as against the written word of your
+mysterious informant?  Is it you who are charging me with being a
+thief?  Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself
+or to plead guilty?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," she answered.  "I have said almost my last word to you upon
+this subject.  All that I have to ask of you is this.  If that
+pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents,
+then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not
+a secret pocket.  If you discover that, I think that you will find
+in it a sealed document.  If you find that document, you must bring
+it to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The lights went down.  The voice of the waiter murmured something
+in his ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not
+wish to disturb us.  Still, perhaps we had better go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They passed down the room.  To Laverick it was all&mdash;like a dream&mdash;the
+laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the
+lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to
+have enfolded the place.  In the hall her maid came up.  A small
+motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the
+doorway.  Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite
+a success.  We shall before long, I hope, meet again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He handed her into the carriage.  Her maid walked with them.  The
+footman stood erect by his side.  There were no further words to be
+spoken.  A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood
+bareheaded upon the pavement.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap25"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when
+he stole into that shabby little sitting-room.  Zoe had fallen
+asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the
+window.  Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat
+lay upon the table.  A book was upon her lap as though she had
+started to read only to find it slip through her fingers.  He stood
+with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her.  Her
+eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that
+her eyes were closed.  Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed
+more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of
+ill-health.  The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the
+neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin.
+Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her
+feet and ankles.  Once more he remembered his first simile, his
+first thought of her.  She seemed, indeed, like some dainty
+statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her
+own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the
+struggle.  His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he
+stood and watched her.  Supposing she had been different!  It
+would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way
+through the most difficult of all lives.  Brute!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her
+eyes.  At first she seemed bewildered.  Then she smiled and sat up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling.  "I have
+been standing looking at you for five minutes at least."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared.  "I don't
+suppose I should ever have heard you.  Now please stand there in
+the light and let me look at you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle
+Idiale."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so
+beautiful!  If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she
+even looked my way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why should I be?" he laughed.  "She is like a wonderful picture, a
+marvelous statue, if you will.  Everything about her is faultless.
+But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know.  It is life
+which stirs life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the
+least desire to let you go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Incredible!" he declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But it is true," she answered earnestly.  "You would not have me
+talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door.  The men
+to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very
+few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for
+me and I have not cared for them.  I think," she said, disconsolately,
+"I am too small.  Every one to-day seems to like big women.  Cora
+Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every
+night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not envying her?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to
+prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+But do you know that it is half past one?  I must not stay here any
+longer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sighed once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely.  I have never
+been here without May and her mother.  I have never slept alone in
+the house before the other night.  If I had known that they were
+going away, I should never have dared to come here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is too bad," he declared.  "Couldn't you get one of the other
+girls to stay with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but
+they are all living either at home or with relatives.  The others I
+am afraid about.  They seem to like to sit up so late and&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily,&mdash;"quite right.  You
+are better alone.  But you ought to have a servant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked.  "You must remember that
+I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I
+have money which should go to your brother.  Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little?  I cannot bear to think of
+you here all alone."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no.
+Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that
+sort of help from you.  If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it
+for a time and I think when you write him&mdash;I do not want to seem
+grasping&mdash;but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that
+he does give me just a little.  I have never had anything from him
+at all.  Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you
+would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to
+you.  I will take the responsibility for it.  It will come from him
+and not from me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She remained unconvinced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would rather wait," she said.  "If you really want to give me
+something, I will let you&mdash;out of my brother's money, of course,
+I mean," she added.  "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't
+have that.  But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and
+hat.  You can tell Arthur directly you write to him.  I don't mind
+that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed&mdash;I did the other night to
+have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very
+differently from all of them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed reassuringly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't think men notice those things.  To me you seemed just as
+you should seem.  I only know that I was glad enough to be there
+with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were you?"&mdash;rather wistfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I was.  Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget
+Monday afternoon.  We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's
+rooms."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She glanced at the clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it really so late?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is.  Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They stood hand in hand for a moment.  A strange silence seemed to
+have fallen upon the streets.  Laverick was suddenly conscious of
+something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had
+smiled upon him&mdash;a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering
+excitement which almost took his breath away.  His eyes were fixed
+upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave
+of feeling in her own expressive face.  Her lips trembled, her eyes
+were deeper and softer than ever.  They seemed to be asking him a
+question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was
+concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at
+arm's length.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer,
+so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice
+even to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Run along to bed.  To-morrow night&mdash;to-morrow night, then, I will
+fetch you.  Good-bye!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He let himself out.  He did not even look behind to the spot where
+he had left her.  He closed the front door and walked with swift,
+almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square,
+and into New Oxford Street.  Here he seemed to breathe more freely.
+He called a hansom and drove to his rooms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was
+no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him.  When he
+entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise.
+Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands
+upon his knees&mdash;Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even
+than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of
+unconcealed and unaffected terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed.  "What the dickens&mdash;what do you want
+here, Shepherd?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied,
+"but I'm scared.  I've brought you back the certificates of them
+shares.  I want you to keep them for me.  I'm terrified lest they
+come and search my room.  I am, I tell you fair.  I'm terrified to
+order a pint of beer for myself.  They're watching me all the time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are?" Laverick demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it.
+I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd
+done and finished with it.  Not a bit of it!  There was another one
+there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of
+the passage and asking me no end of questions.  He wasn't no
+journalist, I'll swear to that.  I asked him about his paper.
+'Half-a-dozen,' he declared.  'They're all glad to have what I send
+them.' Journalist!  Lord knows who the other chap was and what he
+was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight.  Joe
+Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a
+month's notice, and he says to me, 'You see that big chap?'&mdash;meaning
+him as had been asking me the questions&mdash;and I says 'Yes!' and he
+says, 'That's a 'tee.  I've seed him in a police court, giving
+evidence.'  I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me
+down."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, come!" said Laverick.  "There's no need for you to be feeling
+like this about it.  All that you've done is not to have remembered
+those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night.
+There's nothing criminal in that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds'
+worth of shares in one's pocket&mdash;something suspicious, anyway,"
+Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table.  "I ain't giving
+you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me.  I wish I'd never
+given notice.  I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?"
+Laverick inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up.  "Why, he's
+been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me.
+My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell
+whether he did or not?  Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere.
+Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush
+was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels.  I seed
+him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get
+a drop of something."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick frowned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you
+are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come
+here!  All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared.  "I couldn't, indeed.
+I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one.  And then
+there were these shares.  There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about
+nothing.  In any case, there is only one thing for you to do.  Pull
+yourself together and put a bold face upon it.  I'll keep these
+certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come
+to me for it.  Go back to your place, and if your master is willing
+to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for
+another month or so.  But don't let any one see that you're
+frightened.  Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble
+for.  No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked,
+except in a court and under oath.  Stick to your story, and if you
+take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking
+fingers, "you will keep away from the drink."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him.  "A drop
+now and then just to keep up one's spirits&mdash;nothing that amounts
+to anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said.  "Remember, I'm back
+of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble.  And don't come here
+again.  Come to my office, if you like&mdash;there's nothing in that&mdash;but
+don't come here, you understand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I understand, sir.  I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight
+of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason," Laverick said,
+showing him out, "but not here again.  Keep your eyes open, and let
+me know if you think you've been followed here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no more news in the papers, sir?  Nothing turned up?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," replied Laverick.  "If the police have found out anything
+at all, they will keep it until after the inquest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you've heard nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a
+hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," Laverick answered.  "Mr. Morrison is abroad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course!" he muttered.  "A good job, too, for him!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap26"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and
+one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine.  He found
+a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows.
+They stared at him in amazement.  His arrival at such an hour was
+absolutely unprecedented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told
+them.  "I have a few things to attend to at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was accordingly left alone.  He had reckoned upon this as being
+the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being
+disturbed.  Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure
+against any possible intruder.  Then he went to his safe, unlocked
+it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather
+pocket-book.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table.
+Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little
+leap.  It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him.  On one
+side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper.  He opened the
+case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining.
+Very soon he found the opening&mdash;it was simply a matter of drawing
+down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge.
+Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope,
+securely sealed.  Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged
+the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again.  Then
+he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document
+which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was not much to be made of it.  There was no address, but the
+black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms,
+and a motto which to him was indecipherable.  He held it up to the
+light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained
+no idea as to its contents.  He leaned back in his chair for a
+moment, and looked at it.  So this was the document which would
+probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley!
+This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so
+much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of
+bank-notes!  What did it all mean?  Was this man, who had either
+expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance,&mdash;was
+he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret
+society, an informer?  Or was he one of the underground criminals
+of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known
+things&mdash;a creature of the dark places?  Perhaps during those few
+minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city
+awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than
+ever before exactly how he stood.  Without doubt he was walking on
+the brink of a precipice.  Four days ago there had been nothing for
+him but ruin.  The means of salvation had suddenly presented
+themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without
+hesitation he had embraced them.  What did it all amount to?  How
+far was he guilty, and of what?  Was he a thief?  The law would
+probably call him so.  The law might have even more to say.  It
+would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on
+that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals,&mdash;he
+was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge
+of this terrible crime.  Events had followed upon one another so
+rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time
+for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood.  The
+long-expected boom in "Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange
+advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible
+connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her
+apparent knowledge of his share in it,&mdash;these things were sufficient,
+indeed, to give him food for thought.  Laverick was not by nature a
+pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without
+doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high
+order.  It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger.
+He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other
+thoughts.  Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business
+of the day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face
+and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was.  How was he
+to find a way out&mdash;to set himself right with the law?  What could
+he do with those notes?  They were there untouched.  He had only
+made use of them in an indirect way.  They were there intact, as
+he had picked them up upon that fateful night.  Was there any
+possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and
+restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned?
+His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him.
+Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy.  Should he risk
+everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much
+and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale?  It was a strange
+dilemma for a man to find himself in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced.  A pile
+of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began
+to ring.  He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of
+his coat and buttoned it up.  There, for the present, it must remain.
+He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make
+the most of this great tide of business.  With set face he closed
+the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which
+were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual
+figure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him
+that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded
+him.  "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her.  They
+must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit.  Perhaps she
+wants to realize."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and
+heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat
+severely furnished office.  Her skirts swept his carpet with a
+musical swirl.  She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume
+of violets,&mdash;a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a
+famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person
+upon earth.  Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those
+few yards as she walked?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely.  "So
+far, we have nothing but good news for you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk,
+and she waved her hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments
+are a nuisance, I suppose," she said.  "But indeed I will not keep
+you long.  A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you.  I am
+beginning to find city affairs so interesting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so
+high that he could see her eyes.  She leaned back in her chair,
+supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right
+hand.  She looked at him thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the document was there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The document was there," he admitted.  "Perhaps you can tell me how
+it would be addressed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was
+assumed.  She was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I imagine that there would be no address," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right.  That document is in my pocket."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you advise me to do with it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give it to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you any claim?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not claim them," he replied.  "They are in my safe at this
+moment, untouched.  They are there ready to be returned to their
+proper owner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you not find him?"&mdash;with a note of incredulity in her tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We waste words," she continued coldly.  "I think that if I leave
+you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand
+me that document."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted.  "The very fact that
+you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to
+it.  But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But listen," he begged.  "You are the only person with whom I have
+come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair.  I
+should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it.
+Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence?  I want neither
+the twenty thousand pounds nor the document.  I want, to be frank
+with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of
+being half a thief and half a criminal.  Show me some claim to that
+document and you shall have it.  Tell me to whom that money belongs,
+and it shall be restored."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are incomprehensible," she declared.  "Are you, by any chance,
+playing a part with me?  Do you think that it is worth while?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the
+world is further from my thoughts.  There is very little of the
+conspirator about me.  I am a plain man of business who stumbled in
+upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary
+use of his discovery.  You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid.
+I want to get out.  Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such
+a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents
+anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She listened to him with unchanged face.  Yet for some moments after
+he had finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may be speaking the truth," she said.  "If so, I have been
+deceived.  You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were.
+What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Listen," she said, after a brief pause.  "You were at school, were
+you not, with Mr. David Bellamy?  You know well who he is?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You would consider him a person to be trusted?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Absolutely."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, then," she declared.  "You shall come to my fiat at five
+o'clock this afternoon and bring that document.  If it is possible,
+David Bellamy shall be there himself.  We will try then and prove
+to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must
+tell me where."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will put it down, please," she said.  "There must not be any
+mistake.  You must come, and you must come to-day.  I am staying at
+number 15, Dover Street.  I will leave orders that you are shown
+in at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her.  On the way
+she hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged.  "There
+are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry
+with you.  You represent to them things beside which life and death
+are trivial happenings."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick laughed shortly.  He was a matter-of-fact man, and there
+seemed something a little absurd in such a warning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear.  London
+is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably
+safe one to live in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your
+guard to-day, for all our sakes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to
+leave as they are.  It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to
+know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a
+thousand pounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was an excuse&mdash;that investment," she declared.  "Yet money is
+always good.  Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will.  I
+will trust your judgment.  Buy or sell as you please.  You will let
+nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," he promised her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham
+she held out her hand in farewell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do
+beg that you will remember what I say.  Do not be alone to-day more
+than you can help.  Suspect every one who comes near to you.  There
+may be a trap before your feet at any moment.  Be wary always and do
+not forget&mdash;at five o'clock I expect you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap27"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked
+"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick.  He tore it open.
+It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two
+of the partners of which he was on friendly terms.  It ran thus:
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="letter">
+  MY DEAR LAVERICK,&mdash;I want a chat with you, if you can spare
+  five minutes at lunch time.  Come to Lyons' a little earlier
+  than usual, if you don't mind,&mdash;say at a quarter to one.
+<BR><BR>
+                                                    J. HENSHAW.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first.  He
+had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention
+of starting out, when a thought struck him.  He took it up and read
+it though again.  Then he turned to the telephone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen.  I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two minutes passed.  Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands
+ready to go out.  Then the telephone bell rang.  He took up the
+receiver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hullo!  Is that Henshaw?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm Henshaw," was the answer.  "That's Laverick, isn't it?  How
+are you, old fellow?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm all right," Laverick replied.  "What is it that you want to
+see me about?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing particular that I know of.  Who told you that I wanted to?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat
+down in his chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago,
+asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons'?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,&mdash;you know
+that," was the answer, "but some one's been putting up a practical
+joke on you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick
+insisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply.  "Do you seriously mean that
+you've had one purporting to come from me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could
+tell what the name really was.  I guessed at you but I seem to have
+guessed wrong.  Good-bye!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning.
+Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken.  This was a deliberate
+effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices
+at a quarter to one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked,
+Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of
+his premises.  At the same time his curiosity was excited.  Here,
+perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable
+mystery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were thee clerks in the outer office.  He put on his hat and
+despatched two of them on errands in different directions.  The last
+he was obliged to take into his confidence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch.  At least, I wish it
+to be thought that I am going out to lunch.  As a matter of fact, I
+shall return in about ten minutes by the back way.  I do not wish
+you, however, to know this.  I want you to have it in your mind
+that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past
+two.  If there are visitors for me&mdash;Inquirers of any sort&mdash;act
+exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was
+not in the building."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified.  Laverick took him even
+further into his confidence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a
+bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him.  Some
+one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour
+or so.  I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible.
+You understand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully.  "I am not to be
+aware that you have returned, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly not," Laverick answered.  "Please be quite clear about
+that.  If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in,
+but do not send for the police unless I tell you to.  I wish to
+look into this affair for myself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate
+with the police in the first case?  If this should really turn out
+to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the
+matter to them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick frowned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to
+tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter
+personally.  Please do exactly as I say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of
+the restaurant which he chiefly frequented.  He reached it in a
+moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance.  Within ten
+minutes he was back at his office.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Has any one been, Halsey?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one, sir," the clerk answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I
+have returned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the
+small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands.  He had
+scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside
+hall.  The door of his office was opened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he
+heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar
+voice.  "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry.  The matter is of
+some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The visitor was shown in.  Laverick investigated his appearance
+through a crack in the door.  He was a man of medium height,
+well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles.  He
+made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted
+the paper which Halsey offered him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially.  "I have
+been running about all the morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said.
+"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or
+twenty minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door.  The man in the chair waited
+for a moment.  Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously
+around the room.  Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to
+his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table.  With fingers
+which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he
+swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers.  His
+eyes were everywhere.  Every document seemed to be scanned and as
+rapidly discarded.  At last he found something which interested him.
+He held it up and paused in his search.  Laverick heard a little
+breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the
+paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon
+which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had
+given him.  The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper
+where he had found it.  Evidently he had done with the writing-table.
+He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a
+few seconds.  Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys.  To
+Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door
+of the safe swung open.  He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand
+reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers.
+Then he stood once more quite still, listening.  Satisfied that no
+one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved
+once more to the writing-table.  With marvelous swiftness the notes
+were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down,
+the secret place disclosed&mdash;the secret place which was empty.  It
+seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little
+oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips.  The man
+replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated.
+Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly
+out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and
+the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without
+the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where
+he lay, for a moment, motionless.  Then he slowly picked himself up.
+His spectacles were broken&mdash;he blinked as he stood there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said.  "Perhaps if you will kindly
+realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so
+good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your
+intrusion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man obeyed.  He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment,
+as though in pain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I imagine," he said&mdash;and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had
+a slight foreign accent&mdash;"I imagine that the motive for my paying
+you this visit is fairly clear to you.  People who have compromising
+possessions may always expect visits of this sort.  You see, one
+runs so little risk."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So little risk!" Laverick repeated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Exactly," the other answered.  "Confess that you are not in the
+least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give
+me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted
+from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of
+England notes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a man of common sense," declared the other.  "It would not
+do.  Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you.  There
+was a sealed document in this pocket-book.  Where is it?  What
+have you done with it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions
+from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
+attempt at burglary?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
+into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply.  "Whether
+you've read that document or not, I want it.  If you've read it, you
+know the sort of men you've got to deal with.  If you haven't, take
+my word for it that we waste no time.  The document!  Will you give
+it me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do I understand that you are threatening me?"  Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
+seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered.
+"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last
+movement you'll ever make on earth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick
+said.  "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance
+of getting clear of the building.  My clerks would rush out after
+you into the street.  You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
+business men.  You couldn't make your way through anywhere.  You'd
+be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards.  Put down your revolver.
+We can perhaps settle this little matter without it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The document!" the man ordered.  "You've got it!  You must have it!
+You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book
+was the document.  We must have it.  We intend to have it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you do not know, what does it matter?  Will you give it to me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have no document."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man in the chair leaned forward.  The muzzle of his revolver was
+very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give it to me!" he repeated.  "You ought to know that you are not
+dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death.  You have it about
+you.  Produce it, and I've done with you.  Deny me, and you have not
+time to say your prayers!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
+His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it.  He held
+it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at
+his visitor.  He followed behind with one desperate spring.  Once,
+twice, the revolver barked out.  Laverick felt the skin of his temple
+burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days.
+Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay
+upon the carpet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We'll see about that.  By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the
+life out of you.  That bullet of yours might have been in my temple."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was meant to be there," the man gasped.  "Hand over the document,
+you pig-headed fool!  It'll cost you your life&mdash;if not to-day,
+to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely.
+"You assassin!  Scoundrel!  To come here and make a cold-blooded
+effort at murder!  You shall see what you think of the inside of an
+English prison."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent.  His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed.  You have twenty
+thousand pounds.  That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty
+thousand for that document unopened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away.  "Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark.  Tell me the real position of the murdered man?  Tell me why he
+was murdered?  Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in
+his possession?  Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,"
+his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me.  You do not
+expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded?
+You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that
+sealed envelope?  Bah!  It is a child's game, that, and we play as
+men with men."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered.  "The document is worth
+no more than that to you.  How you came into this thing is a mystery,
+but you are in and, what is more, you have possession.  Twenty
+thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick.  It is a large sum of money.  You
+find it interesting?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a
+seller."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes.  His expression was
+full of wonder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Consider for a moment," he said.  "While that document remains in
+your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a
+thread.  Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares.
+Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner
+you are out of them the better.  What do you say now to my offer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is refused," Laverick declared.  "I regret; to add," he
+continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at
+my disposal.  Forgive me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He pressed a button with his finger.  His visitor rose up in anger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed.  "You are not going to
+send me away without it?  Why, I tell you that there won't be a
+safe corner in the World for you!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Halsey opened the door.  Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Halsey started.  The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been
+muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of
+gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke.  The man rose
+slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It must be as you will, of course.  I wonder if you would be so
+good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist?  I am,
+unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered.  "Put on your
+hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered.
+"Do you accept my offer?  Will you give me the document?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied.  "I shall not part with
+anything until I know more than I know at present."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man stood motionless for a moment.  His fingers seemed to be
+twitching.  Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but
+if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance
+checked them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly.  "We
+shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room.  Laverick
+went to the window and threw it wide open.  The smoke floated out,
+the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed.  Then he walked
+back to his seat.  Once more he locked up the notes.  The document
+was safe in his pocket.  There was a slight mark by the side of his
+temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding.  He rang the bell
+and Halsey entered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Has our friend gone, Halsey?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered.  "He was
+buying some spectacles."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those
+gold-rimmed glasses were scattered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said.  "The
+gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe.  We'll
+have a combination put on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, sir," Halsey answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing,
+for your own sake as well as mine.  If that man presents himself
+again, don't let him come into my room unannounced.  If you can
+help it, don't let him come in at all.  I have an idea that he
+might be dangerous."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The clerk's face was a study.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall
+take the liberty of sending for the police."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick made no reply.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap28"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
+meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab
+to be summoned.  He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book
+securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and
+directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane.  Here at the headquarters
+of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in
+the strong-room locked up the pocket-book.  There was only now the
+document left.  Stepping once more into the street, he found that
+his taxicab had vanished.  He looked up and down in vain.  The man
+had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his
+departure.  A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and
+addressed him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was," Laverick answered.  "I hadn't paid him and I told him to
+wait."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman
+remarked.  "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up
+in a hansom.  They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver,
+who shook his head and pointed to his flag.  The gent then said
+something else to him&mdash;can't say as I heard what it was, but it
+was probably offering him double fare.  Anyway, they both got in
+and off went your taxi, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully.  "It sounds a little
+perplexing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He hesitated for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit
+in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed.  I have still
+in my pocket a document of great importance.  I have no doubt
+whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is
+to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will
+render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously.
+He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical
+joke.  Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and
+was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle!
+Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous
+order.  Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a
+wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to
+defend himself at any time.  The constable smiled in a non-committal
+manner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think
+this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you
+must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice.  I stepped
+from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight
+from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other
+document I am carrying with me.  Why I have taken you into my
+confidence is to ask you this.  Can you walk with me to the corner
+of the street, or until we meet a taxicab?  it sounds cowardly, but,
+as a matter of fact, I am not afraid.  I simply want to make sure
+of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further
+on.  I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire
+it.  At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations.
+How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this
+neighborhood for some purpose of your own?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with
+a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted.  "Keep by my side, and I
+think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of
+the policeman he seemed short.  Both scanned the faces of the
+passers-by closely&mdash;the police-man with mild interest, Laverick
+with almost feverish anxiety.  It was a gray afternoon, pleasant
+but close.  There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the
+feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick.  He
+felt himself in danger&mdash;he had no idea how, or in what way&mdash;but
+the conviction was there.  He took every step fully alert,
+absolutely on his guard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the
+bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road.
+Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct
+of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own
+position.  With the constable, however, it was naturally different.
+He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and
+he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he
+was engaged.  A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either
+knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of
+fit.  There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making
+desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.  The constable
+sprang to the rescue.  Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing
+that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.  He
+was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
+been meant for the back of his head.  He was confronted by a man
+dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat,
+a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as
+would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion.
+Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one
+pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking
+life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked
+with chloroform.  Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his
+left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent
+him staggering against the wall.  The handkerchief, with its load
+of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.  The man was obviously
+worsted.  Laverick sprang at him.  They were almost unobserved,
+for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway.
+With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close,
+and tore at his coat.  Laverick struck at him again but met only
+the air.  The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this
+time Laverick made no mistake.  He struck downward so hard that
+with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold.  Before he
+could recover, Laverick had struck him again.  He reeled into the
+crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what
+seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance.
+But there was to be no more fight.  Through the people,
+swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
+find some hidden way.  Laverick glared fiercely around him, but
+the man had gone.  His left hand crept to his chest. The victory
+was with him; the document was still there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi.  Ignoring
+the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing
+helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd,
+Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed.  The
+man obeyed him.  People raced to look through the window at him.
+The other commotion had died away,&mdash;the man in the road had got up
+and walked off.  A policeman came hurrying along but he was just
+too late.  Very soon they were on their way down Holborn.  Once
+more Laverick had escaped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
+High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked
+for Mademoiselle Idiale.  He was shown into one of the most
+delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of.  The walls
+were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle
+so often affected in her clothes.  Laverick, who was something of
+a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort,
+priceless,&mdash;French furniture of the best and choicest period, a
+statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene
+from which he had just arrived.  The air in the room seemed as
+though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,&mdash;it was fresh
+and sweet yet curiously fragrant.  Laverick sank down into one of
+the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
+that he was out of breath.  Then the door opened silently and
+there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr.
+Lassen.  Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully.  Lassen's
+small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge
+ingratiating smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said,&mdash;"very glad
+indeed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly.  He had disliked this man from the first moment
+he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should
+conceal his feelings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself
+opposite to Laverick.  "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately
+prevented from seeing you.  She has a severe nervous headache,
+and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly
+undisturbed.  Women of her position, as you may understand, have
+to be exceptionally careful.  It would be a very serious matter
+indeed if she were unable to sing to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered.  "In that
+case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed.  "Many times,
+let us hope.  But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a
+document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle.  She is
+most anxious that you should hand it to me&mdash;most anxious.  She
+will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day,
+if she is well enough to receive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering
+the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with
+it even to her.  I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say.
+But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would
+induce me to part with it to any one else."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's
+face.  He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show
+its teeth.  Laverick was suddenly on his guard.  More adventures,
+he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique
+of the other man.  He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a
+small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by
+his side.  If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward
+his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said
+slowly.  "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to
+change your mind.  I can assure you that I have as much right to
+the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest
+wish that you should hand it over to me.  Further, I may inform you
+that the document itself is a most incriminating one.  Its possession
+upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his
+guard, might be a very serious matter indeed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of
+carrying it about with me.  On the other hand, I shall part with it
+to no one.  I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale
+as soon as she is recovered.  I am not disposed&mdash;I mean no offence,
+sir&mdash;but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as
+much with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving.
+Lassen followed his example and confronted him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk
+like that,&mdash;in your own interests, I say."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked
+after by myself than by strangers.  You must forgive my adding,
+Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at
+least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered.  "She
+has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration.
+You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you
+bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to
+treat with you.  You must allow me to wish you good afternoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lassen shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous.  You force me
+to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is
+not a very secure one.  All the police in this capital are searching
+to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was
+found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley.  If they could find the
+man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession
+of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with
+it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think?
+I say nothing of the document."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  He realized, however, that to
+make terms with this man was impossible.  Besides, he did not trust
+him.  He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the
+accredited envoy of Mademoiselle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to
+do with the matter.  Where you got your information from I cannot
+say.  I neither accept nor deny it.  But I can assure you that I
+am not to be intimidated.  This document will remain in my possession
+until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
+his clenched fist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely.  "Man,
+it stares you there in the face!  If you do not part with it, you will
+be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in
+the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling!  That I swear!  That I shall
+see to myself!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the
+hands of the English police."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The shot told.  Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
+upon his listener.  Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered
+curses.  He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick
+bodily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed.  "Why do you
+suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands
+of the English police?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should
+take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do
+not know.  I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen!  I shall be ready
+to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me.  But
+in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he
+added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible
+document in my possession."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He moved to the door.  Already his hand was upon the knob when he
+saw the movement for which he had watched.  Laverick, with a single
+bound, was upon his would-be assailant.  The hand which had already
+closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though
+in a vice.  With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon
+the floor.  Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket
+and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till
+the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were
+changed into moans.  Then he flung him into a corner of the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed.  "You come of the breed of men
+who shoot from behind.  If ever I lay my hands upon you again,
+you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He left the room and rang for the lift.  He saw no trace of any
+servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving.  From
+Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house.  Keeping the cab
+waiting, he knocked at the door.  She opened it herself at once,
+and her eyes glowed with pleasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How delightful!" she cried.  "Please come in.  Have you come to
+take me to the theatre?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Me a favor?" she repeated.  "I think you know how happy it will
+make me if there is anything&mdash;anything at all in the world that I
+could do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very
+successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
+never came my way.  Since then things have altered.  I have stumbled
+in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever
+became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself.
+The net result, for the moment, is this.  Every one is trying to
+steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket.  I want
+to hide it for the night.  I cannot go to the police, it is too
+late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling
+that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies.  May I hide
+my document in your room?  I do not believe for a moment that any
+one would think of searching here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course you may," she answered.  "But listen.  Can you see out
+into the street without moving very much?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned his head.  He had been standing with his back to the
+window, and Zoe had been facing it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me&mdash;you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she
+asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was at the window, looking out, when you came," she said.  "It
+followed you out from the Square into this street.  Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab.  It
+seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you
+all the time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people
+who live round here.  The people whom I see coming in and out of
+that house are not nice people at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I understand," he said.  "Thank you, Zoe.  You are right.  Whatever
+I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here.  To tell
+you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid
+my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more.  Come
+back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the
+theatre."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She clapped her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall love it," she declared.  "But what shall you do with the
+document?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to
+the cashier.  They have a wonderful safe there.  It is the best
+thing I can think of.  Can you suggest anything?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She considered for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know what is inside?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have no idea.  It is the most mysterious document in the world,
+so far as I am concerned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know
+exactly what it is all about.  You can learn it by heart and tear
+it up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must think that over," he said.  "One second before we go out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped.  It
+was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged.  He replaced it in
+his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
+ordered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To the Milan Hotel."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap29"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his
+clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly
+from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number
+15, Dover Street.  Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted
+almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle
+Idiale.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's expression was one of sombre regret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir.  Bellamy
+took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's
+sleeping apartment.  There was no answer.  He knocked again and
+listened at the key-hole.  There was some movement inside but no
+one spoke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in.  It is I&mdash;David."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds.  Almost it seemed
+as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth.
+Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention.  There were
+voices in the small reception room,&mdash;the voice of Henri, the butler,
+and another.  Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and
+walked swiftly down the passage.  He entered the reception room and
+looked around him in amazement.  It was still in disorder.  Lassen
+sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side.  Henri
+was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there
+were marks of blood about his shirt.  Bellamy's eyes sparkled.  He
+closed the door behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is
+somewhat opportune!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said.  "He has had
+a fit and fallen down."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he
+declared.  "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man glared at him viciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not know what you are talking about," he said.  "I do not
+wish to speak to you.  I am ill.  You had better go and persuade
+Mademoiselle to return.  She is at Dover, waiting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered.  "She is in her room now,
+locked up&mdash;guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures.  I have been
+half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen.
+You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I
+think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor.  He declined to accept you
+as her proxy, I imagine.  Still, one must make sure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He advanced quickly.  Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly.  "Keep him away from me,
+Henri.  Ring the bell for your other man.  This fellow will do me
+a mischief."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully.  "Stay where you are, Henri.
+To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting.  Take off his coat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm d&mdash;d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick
+handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain.  On
+the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is
+the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing
+him to do so.  Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks.  The coat
+first, please, Henri.  It is necessary that I search it thoroughly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a brief hesitation.  Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into
+his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry
+firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have
+learned how to use pretty effectively.  Come, you know, it isn't a
+fair fight.  You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't
+the muscle of a chicken."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be
+removed.  Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter
+for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile.
+"No, you need not fear, Lassen!  I am not going to read it.  There
+is plenty of proof of your treachery without this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads.  Bellamy
+handed back the coat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all right," he said.  "Nothing there, I am glad to see&mdash;or
+in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it.  "I'll
+trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over.  When he
+had finished, he held in his hand a key.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced,
+"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been
+up to."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and
+deliberately cut the telephone wire.  With the instrument under his
+arm, he left the room.  Lassen blundered to his feet as though to
+intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and
+the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head.
+Lassen staggered away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember
+now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little.  With a
+smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the
+gag from her mouth.  Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was
+lying upon the bed, as though asleep.  Bellamy saw with an impulse
+of relief that she was breathing regularly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed.  "What have they
+done to her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The maid spoke thickly.  She was very pale, and unsteady upon her
+feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered.  "I heard Mr.
+Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours.  I
+think&mdash;I think that she is waking now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement.  Bellamy
+sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn
+battle, although you got the worst of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has.  Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game.  I
+came here to find you like this and Annette tied up.  Henri is in
+with him.  What has become of your other servants I don't know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks.  "I begin to understand.  But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must
+have received him as though with your authority."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what then?" she asked quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to
+have anything to do with him.  I received a wire from Dover to say
+that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the
+Lord Warden Hotel.  I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent
+telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back.  When I arrived
+here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head.
+Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of
+it.  I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper.  Laverick
+brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She rose to her feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go and let Lassen out," she said.  "Tell him he must never come
+here again.  I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night&mdash;that is, if I can get there.  I do not know whether I shall
+feel fit to sing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking
+Henri out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was such a good servant.  I think it must have cost our friend
+Streuss a good deal to buy Henri.  You will come back to me when
+you have finished with them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners.  Lassen was
+surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful.
+Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their
+various missions.  Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down
+again and drinking some tea.  She motioned Bellamy to come over to
+her side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered.
+"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but
+after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman.  I am going to tell
+him what that envelope contains&mdash;tell him the truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right!" she exclaimed.  "Whatever he may have done, if you
+tell him the truth he will give you that document.  I am sure of it.
+Do you know where to find him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared.  "I must be quick, too,
+for Lassen is free&mdash;they will know that he has failed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap30"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking
+around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did
+not wholly understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said
+anxiously.  "Tell me what it is.  You don't like this place, perhaps?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted.  "Come, out with it.
+Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks.  Her eyes, raised for a
+moment to his, were almost reproachful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she
+whispered.  "You are too kind to me all the time.  Only," she went
+on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize&mdash;can't you see how
+differently most of the girls here are dressed?  I don't mind so
+much for myself&mdash;but you&mdash;you have so many friends.  You keep on
+seeing people whom you know.  I am afraid they will think that I
+ought not to be here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction.
+For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her
+clothes.  Everything about her was so neat&mdash;pathetically neat, as
+it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization.  The
+white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly
+clean.  The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts.
+Her gloves had been stitched a good many times.  Her gown, although
+it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days.
+He suddenly recognized the effort&mdash;the almost despairing effort&mdash;which
+her toilette had cost her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply.  "To
+me you look just as you should look&mdash;and I wouldn't change places
+with any other man in the room for a great deal."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes were soft&mdash;perilously soft&mdash;as she looked at him with
+uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her
+lips.  A wave of tenderness crept into his heart.  What a brave
+little child she was!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she
+murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel
+like that, you are going to have a new gown&mdash;or two&mdash;and a new
+hat, and you are going to have them at once.  They are going to be
+bought with your brother's money, mind.  Shall I come shopping with
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said.  "It
+would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much
+money.  You really mean it all?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Absolutely," he answered.  "I insist upon it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes.  After all, she was very
+much of a child.  The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted
+herself to think of it, was enthralling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a
+simple white dress.  A black hat would do for both of them, then."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared.  "His
+stock is going up all the time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he
+replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She made a wry face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully.  "It is much
+more economical than anything&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude
+stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod.  Laverick frowned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is that fellow?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?"
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She caught at his arm in terror.  The man was sitting at the next
+table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't, please!" she implored.  "He might hear you.  He is just
+behind there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick half turned in his chair.  She guessed what he was about
+to say, and went on rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He has been so foolish," she whispered.  "He has asked me so often
+to go out with him.  And he could get me sent away, if he wanted,
+any time.  He almost threatened it, the last time I refused.  Now
+that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes.
+The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go
+with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone.  "I can't think
+why he bothers me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can," Laverick muttered.  "Let's forget about the brute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the
+bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the
+theatre with her.  Her little hand, when she gave it to him at
+parting, was quite cold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed.  "Mr. Heepman will be
+watching all the night for something to find fault with me about."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I won't," she promised.  "Good-bye!  Thanks so much for my dinner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an
+attempt.  Laverick walked on to his club.  There was no one in the
+dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty.  He played
+one game of billiards, but he played badly.  He was upset.  His
+nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder.  There seemed
+to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and
+walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden.  Outside the Opera House he
+hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of
+which he scarcely recognized.  While he was inquiring about a stall,
+a small printed notice was thrust into his hand.  He read it with
+a slight start.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle
+Idiale will not be able to appear this evening.  The part of Delilah
+will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal
+Opera House, St. Petersburg.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street.
+A strange man-servant answered him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards.
+Laverick, however, retained his.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said.  "I
+think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility.
+He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over
+the threshold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man
+declared.  "She shall have your card as soon as possible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared.  "Mademoiselle
+is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick
+remarked.  "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration,
+"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is so, sir.  Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one
+has access to Mademoiselle Idiale."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick
+declared convincingly.  "You can put that note in your pocket.  I
+am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and
+that your master would wish her to do so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have
+received were stringent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments.  When he came back
+he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously
+a maid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive
+you.  If you will come this way?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick
+followed her.  The man returned to his place in the hall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said.  "She will be glad
+to see you, but she has been very badly frightened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick bowed sympathetically.  The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a
+great deal of trouble here," she said.  "Madame never trusted him
+and now we have discovered that he is a spy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The woman seemed to fade away.  The door of the inner room was
+opened and Louise came out.  She was still exceedingly pale, and
+there were dark rims under her eyes.  She came across the room with
+outstretched hands.  There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day.  I came to call upon
+you this afternoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She wrung her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed.  "I did not trust
+Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this.  He is an Austrian.
+Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily
+paid spies.  Streuss got hold of him.  But there, I forgot&mdash;you do
+not understand this.  It is enough that he laid a plot to get that
+document from you.  Where is it, Mr. Laverick?  You have brought it
+now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes were round with terror.  She held out her hands as though
+to keep away some tormenting thought.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is it?" she cried.  "You have not parted with it?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have not," Laverick replied gravely.  "It is in the safe deposit
+of a hotel to which I have moved."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not well," Laverick said.  "Let me help you to a chair."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sat down wearily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have
+wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights.  Three times to-day
+attempts have been made to get that document from me by force.  I
+have been followed whereever I went.  I felt that it was not safe
+in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their
+strong-room.  I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I
+can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself
+as to its destination."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise sat quite still for several moments.  Then she opened her
+eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she
+declared.  "I perceive now that we have made a mistake.  We should
+have told you the whole truth from the first.  This afternoon when
+Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick listened gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course.  I haven't
+the least desire to keep the document.  I cannot think why Bellamy
+did not treat me with confidence from the first&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stopped short.  Suddenly he understood.  Something in Louise's
+face gave him the hint.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course!" he murmured to himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's
+judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only.  There may be some
+explanation.  If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think
+best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter.  It is not our
+business to interfere with the course of justice.  You will run no
+risk in parting with that paper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up
+his hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered.  "Did you leave
+word there where you had gone?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied.  "I had better try and find
+him, perhaps."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not necessary," she announced.  "No wonder that you feel
+yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick.
+There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere&mdash;two sets that
+I know of.  There may be another."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or
+other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick sighed.  He opened his lips but closed them again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel,
+noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially
+to the clerk in charge.  The latter recognized Laverick with obvious
+relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him.  Kahn
+turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling
+towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him.  He
+was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being
+a man of breeding.  He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed,
+but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to
+address him.  The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a
+little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter.  He
+approached Laverick hastily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered.  "Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with
+his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been
+carrying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick read quickly,&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+          To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,&mdash;Deliver to bearer
+          document deposited with you.                  STEPHEN LAVERICK.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+"It is not," he declared promptly.  "It is an impudent forgery.
+Good God!  You don't mean to say that you parted with my property
+to&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said.  "I was just
+wondering what to do when you came in.  I'd no reason to believe
+that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it,
+somehow.  We'd better be after him.  Come along, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They hurried outside.  The man was nowhere in sight.  The cashier
+summoned the head porter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed,&mdash;"tall and fair, very
+carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass!  Which way did he go?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter
+answered.  "I noticed him particularly.  He spoke to the chauffeur
+in Austrian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not the ghost of a chance, sir.  He shot round the corner there as
+though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the
+island.  I heard the police calling to him.  I hope there's nothing
+wrong, Mr. Dean?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing much," Laverick answered.  "We should have liked to have
+asked him a question&mdash;that is all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly.  "Nothing the matter, I
+hope?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cashier returned to his duties.  The two men were alone.
+Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under
+his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed
+very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick
+felt himself to have blundered.  He looked down for a moment at the
+tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious
+about the weather.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Delighted!" Laverick assented.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap31"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The two men stepped back into the hotel.  The cashier had returned
+to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to
+have passed unnoticed.  Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied
+indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he
+endeavored to imitate it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked.  "There's very seldom
+any one there at this time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered.  "It's years since we had a
+drink together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two
+chairs into the further corner.  Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered.  "Now, Laverick,
+listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away.  "We are alone
+for the moment but it won't be for long.  You know very well that
+it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you
+to come in here with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please go on," he said.  "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp
+this affair properly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for
+the Stock Exchange.  I went first to Magdalen.  Did you ever hear
+what became of me afterwards?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one
+of the Government offices."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite right," Bellamy assented.  "I did.  At this moment I have
+the honor to serve His Majesty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed.
+"I know the sort of thing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered.  "I often work twenty
+hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of
+the time I carry my life in my hands.  When I am working&mdash;and I
+am working now&mdash;I am never sure of the morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not by any manner of means.  I have the honor to be a humble member
+of His Majesty's Secret Service."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual
+existence except in novels."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly.  "Abroad,
+I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one.
+At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service.
+Here come our drinks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here's luck!" he exclaimed.  "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued.
+"The waiter can't overhear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can
+trust.  As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once.  Now listen to me attentively, Laverick.  I am going to speak
+to you as one man to another."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am ready," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a
+soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night
+in the heart of the city&mdash;within one hundred yards of the Stock
+Exchange.  The papers called it a mysterious murder.  No one knows
+who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why.  You and I,
+Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
+"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Horrible affair it was," he remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy glanced toward the door,&mdash;a man had looked in and departed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said.  "A theft was committed
+from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
+knows nothing.  A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty
+thousand pounds and a sealed document.  As to who murdered the man,
+I want you to understand that that is not my affair.  As to what has
+become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest
+curiosity.  I want the document."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied.  "Time is too
+short.  I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what
+that document consists of.  The man's name was Von Behrling, and he
+was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service.  The document
+of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference
+which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany,
+the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia.  It contains the
+details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered
+into by those several Powers.  I want that document, Laverick.  Have
+I established my claim?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have," Laverick answered.  "Why on earth Didn't you come to me
+before?  Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as
+readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the
+truth, Laverick, because the truth is best.  Twenty-two years lie
+between us and the time when we knew anything of one another.  To
+me, therefore, you are a stranger.  I had my spies following Von
+Behrling that night.  I know that you took the pocket-book from his
+dead body.  If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done
+by an accomplice of yours.  How was I to trust you?  We are speaking
+naked words, my friend.  We are dealing with naked truths.  To me
+you were a murderer and a thief.  A word from me and you would have
+realized the value of that document.  I tell you frankly that
+Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden
+weakness.  He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away&mdash;wet.
+He struggled desperately for self-control.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth.  I am not on my trial
+before you.  Believe me, man, for God's sake!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll try," Bellamy promised.  "Go on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me
+on the morrow.  I left it meaning to go straight home.  I lit a
+cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was
+throwing it away, I saw the murdered man.  I think for a time I was
+paralyzed.  The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket.
+Why I looked inside it I don't know.  I had some sort of wild idea
+that I must find out who he was.  Mind you, though, I should have
+given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street.
+There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully.
+When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty.  I
+looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the
+possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance.  I saw
+the notes there.  Once more I went out into the street.  I gave no
+alarm,&mdash;I am not attempting to explain why.  I was like a man made
+suddenly mad.  I went back to my office and shut myself in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently.  The waiter came forward
+and refilled them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart,
+and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
+man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition.
+My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored
+and well thought of.  My father followed in his footsteps.  I, too,
+was there.  Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become
+known and respected.  Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken
+life and a broken honor.  I sat in my office and I knew that the use
+of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might
+keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
+jealously, free from shame.  I would have paid any price for the use
+of them.  I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible.
+Think of the risk I ran&mdash;the danger I am now in.  I deposited those
+notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my
+engagements.  The crisis is over!  Those notes are in a safe deposit
+vault in Chancery Lane!  I only wish to Heaven that I could find
+the owner!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the document?" Bellamy asked.  "The document?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief.  Then he emptied his tumbler
+and lit a cigarette.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank God!" Laverick muttered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully.  "As to
+who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
+idea.  That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service
+money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was
+murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be
+the document.  He deceived me by making up a false packet.  The real
+one he kept.  He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of
+mine&mdash;a Cabinet Minister.  You shall tell him the story exactly as
+you've told it to me, and restore the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like
+you, Bellamy,&mdash;used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings.
+I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has
+been like a hateful nightmare to me.  I can't believe that I'm going
+to get rid of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you.
+To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck&mdash;don't
+misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck&mdash;to run such a risk.  Why,
+at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds
+must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly.  "I saw
+a chance of salvation and I went for it.  And now about this letter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the King's service!" he whispered softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They walked once more to the cashier's desk.  A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said.
+"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock.  "I am afraid,
+sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only
+one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe.  You see, sir," he
+continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did
+not expect that anything would be required from it to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better.
+There's no need to get shirty with these fellows.  As a matter of
+fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without
+making some special preparations.  I can get some plain clothes
+men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They strolled back into the hall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged
+my name to the order a few hours ago?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy.  I have been watching him for
+days.  If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but
+it would have been touch and go.  He is a very prince of conspirators,
+that fellow.  To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note
+to Laverick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick tore open the envelope.  The contents consisted of a few
+words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which
+was strange to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+  "Ring up 1232 Gerrard."<BR>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked
+once more at the envelope.  Then he passed it on to his companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically.  "Do you
+know the handwriting?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered.  "What
+should you do about it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232
+Gerrard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"1232 Gerrard," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The connection was made almost at once.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply.  "Are you Mr.
+Laverick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am," Laverick answered.  "Is Miss Leneveu there?  Can she speak
+to me herself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She is not here," the voice continued.  "She was fetched away in
+a hurry from the theatre&mdash;we understood by her brother.  She left
+two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain
+that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street,
+and would you kindly go on there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you?" Laverick demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no reply.  Laverick remained speechless, listening
+intently.  He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear.  Was
+it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he
+heard in the background?  It was a woman or a child who was
+speaking&mdash;he was almost sure that it was Zoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you?" he asked fiercely.  "Miss Leneveu is there with you.
+Why does she not speak for herself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer.  "I have done what she
+desired.  You can please yourself whether you go or not.  The address
+is 25, Jermyn Street.  Ring off."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The connection was gone.  Laverick laid down the receiver and
+stepped out of the booth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy.  "You'll be round in
+the morning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans.  I shall not
+leave the hotel.  I am going to telephone round to my man to bring
+me some clothes.  By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this
+message which you have just received had anything to do with the
+little affair in which we are interested?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation.
+"The message was from a young lady.  I have to go and meet her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Implicitly," Laverick assured him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She spoke herself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, she sent a message.  Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I
+must really go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By all means," Bellamy answered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab
+was summoned.  Laverick stepped quickly in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy watched him drive off.  Then he sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need
+some one to look after you to-night."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap32"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's
+room for the coming of Laverick.  There was Lassen&mdash;flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes.
+There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan
+Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind
+him.  There was Streuss&mdash;stern, and desperate with anxiety.  There
+was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow,
+with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken
+eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual
+criminal.  There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with
+anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled
+eyes.  She, too, like the others, watched the door.  So they waited.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing
+aside the curtains looked down into the street.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will he come&mdash;this Englishman?" he muttered.  "Has he courage?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly.  "More courage than my poor
+brother, who stands there like a coward!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly.  "There is nothing for
+you to be furious about or frightened.  No one wants to ill-treat
+you.  These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us.  It is
+Laverick they want."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk
+into a trap&mdash;you let them even use my name to bring him here!
+Arthur, be a man!  Have nothing more to do with them.  Help me to
+get away from this place.  Call out.  Do something instead of
+standing there and wasting the precious minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He came towards her&mdash;ugly and threatening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely,&mdash;"something
+you won't like, either.  Keep your mouth shut, I tell you.  It's me
+or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress
+yourself so.  I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen.
+If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary
+absence.  You shall not be disturbed in any way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen
+growled.  "If any one's in danger, it's he.  He'll be lucky if he
+saves his own skin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man glowered at her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered.  "Keep still, can't
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her face was full of defiance.  He came nearer to her and changed
+his tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand?  If they can't
+get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me.  They're
+desperate, I tell you.  They mean mischief all the time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you
+when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried
+indignantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for
+himself.  Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know
+now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go&mdash;not
+empty-handed, by any manner of means."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of
+these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him
+searchingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The terror whitened his face once more.  The perspiration stood out
+in beads upon his forehead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously.  "I should
+like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him?  Listen here, my fine young lady.  If I've been mug
+enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking
+advantage of it.  He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across
+the room to them all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is here," he announced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Alone," Streuss echoed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room.  Zoe made no attempt
+to cry out.  Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though
+listening.  Her attitude seemed harmless enough.  No one took any
+more notice of her.  They all watched the entrance to the apartment.
+Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs.  She was absorbed in a
+breathless calculation.  Now&mdash;now he should be coming quite close.
+Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening.  At
+last she raised her head.  The room resounded with her cries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't come in!  Don't come in here!" she shrieked.  "Mr. Laverick,
+do you hear?  Go away!  Don't come in here alone!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth
+brutally.  Her little effort was naturally a failure&mdash;defeating,
+in fact, its own object.  Laverick, hearing her cries, simply
+hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock,
+and stepped quickly across the threshold.  He saw a man dressed in
+shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a
+rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling
+across the room.  Then something in the man's cry, a momentary
+glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Morrison!" he cried.  "Good God, it's Morrison!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face
+turned upon his aggressor.  Laverick took quick stock of his
+surroundings.  There was the tall, fair young man&mdash;Adolf Kahn&mdash;whom
+he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago&mdash;the man who had
+unsuccessfully forged his name.  There was Lassen, the man who, under
+pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise.  There was
+Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back
+to the door.  There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother.  She held out
+her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly.
+"I tried so hard to stop you.  It was not I who sent that message."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know it, dear," he murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard.
+Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough
+written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes.  Laverick gave him
+his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor.  He was
+angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual
+pains to secure my presence here!  Tell me now, what can I do for
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was Streuss who became spokesman.  He addressed Laverick with
+the consideration of one gentleman addressing another.  His voice
+had many agreeable qualities.  His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a
+little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit.  We
+are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either
+wilfully or accidentally strayed.  An understanding between us has
+become a necessity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on," Laverick interrupted.  "Tell me exactly who you are and
+what you want."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter?  I
+repeat that we are men who are in earnest&mdash;let that be enough.  As
+to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every
+claim, and which has come into your possession&mdash;I flatter you
+somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let that go," he said.  "I know all about the document you refer to,
+and the notes.  They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession.  Prove your claim to
+both and you shall have them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he
+asked suavely, "is equal to yours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of
+keeping either the document or the money.  That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title
+is better still."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss frowned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged.  "We are men of peace&mdash;when
+peace is possible.  The money of which you spoke you can
+consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention
+to possess ourselves of the document.  It is for that reason that
+we are here in London.  I, personally, am committed to the extent
+of my life and my honor to its recovery."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive.  Laverick
+looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said.
+"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell
+you where it is kept."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite so," Streuss admitted.  "We are not doing you the injustice
+to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself
+anywhere with that document upon your person.  It is in the safe
+at the Milan Hotel.  I may add that probably, if it had not
+occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in
+our possession before now.  We are hoping to persuade you to return
+to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible.  The man
+who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty,
+and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily.  "His present
+whereabouts and his address are known to us.  He lives with his
+family at Harvard Court, Hampstead.  We shall assist you in making
+it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the
+combination word for the safe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is our business.  The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in
+our hands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly.  "Your
+partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one.  Your own I will not allude to.  I will simply
+suggest that for both your sakes publicity&mdash;any measure of
+publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair&mdash;would not be
+desirable."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick hesitated.  He understood all that was implied.  Morrison's
+eyes were fixed upon him&mdash;the eyes of a craven coward.  He felt the
+intensity of the moment.  Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips.  "They
+cannot hurt you, and it is not true&mdash;about Arthur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick
+knocked him down.  Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was
+changed.  Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from
+different sides.  Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a
+revolver.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with.  Keep
+your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick looked at the revolver&mdash;fascinated, for an instant, by
+its unexpected appearance.  The face of the man who held it had
+changed.  There was lightning playing about the room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely,&mdash;"for
+you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any
+longer!  One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty.
+Who are you to have scruples&mdash;criminals, both of you?  Your place
+is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if
+there are any more evasions.  Now, Laverick, will you fetch that
+document?  It is your last chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened&mdash;a
+voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite
+inquiry.  Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little
+company.  The curtain separating this from the inner room had been
+drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black
+overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head,
+his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain
+which he had drawn aside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain.
+The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination.
+Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably.  "I
+happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with
+him before I left for the Continent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan!  His revolver had
+disappeared.  The smile upon his lips was both gracious and
+unembarrassed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy
+anywhere&mdash;anyhow," he declared.  "If apologies are needed at all," he
+continued, "it is to our friend and host&mdash;Mr. Morrison here.
+Permit me&mdash;Mr. Arthur Morrison&mdash;the Honorable David Bellamy!
+These are Mr. Morrison's rooms."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Morrison could do no more than stare.  Bellamy, on the contrary,
+with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat
+from his head.  Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between
+Bellamy and the heavy curtains.  Adolf Kahn moved as though
+unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment.
+I have a car full of friends below&mdash;we are on our way, in fact, to
+the Covent Garden Ball&mdash;and one or two of them, I fear," he added
+indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which
+such an entertainment in England seems to demand.  They will
+certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer.  There!" he
+ exclaimed, "you hear that?"<BR>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below.  Streuss,
+with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind.  There were
+two motor-cars waiting there&mdash;large cars with Limousine bodies,
+and apparently full of men.  After all, it was to be expected.
+Bellamy was no fool!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with
+a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night.  The little matter
+of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your
+partner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick turned toward Zoe.  Their eyes met and he read their message
+of terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said.
+"You must let me offer you my escort."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison
+moved near to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath,&mdash;"if
+you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do?
+They will hand me over to the police&mdash;they have sworn it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared.
+"I tell you they have eyes everywhere.  You cannot move without their
+knowledge.  I had to come.  Now that I am here they have told me
+plainly the price of my freedom.  It is that document.  Laverick, it
+is my life!  You must give in&mdash;you must, indeed!  Remember you're
+in it, too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely.  "Didn't
+you come into the entry and take the pocket-book?  Heaven knows what
+possessed you to do it!  Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use
+the money!  But you did it, and you are a criminal&mdash;a criminal as I
+am.  Don't be a fool, Laverick.  Make terms with these people.  They
+want the document&mdash;the document&mdash;nothing but the document!  They
+will let us keep the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe.  "What do you
+say about all this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I trust you," she said.  "I trust you to do what is right."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap33"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK S ARREST
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"At last, David!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which
+Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips.  Then she turned toward the
+third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door&mdash;a
+short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped
+black hair, and upturned black moustache.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You remember Prince Rosmaran?" she said to Bellamy.  "He left
+Servia only the day before yesterday.  He has come to England on a
+special mission to the King."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shook hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before,
+Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago.  It
+was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
+party."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Prince bowed sadly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to
+my unhappy country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,"
+Bellamy reminded him sympathetically.  "At the same time, we must
+not despair.  Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she
+has not dared to strike."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As yet, no!" he answered.  "But how long&mdash;how long, I wonder&mdash;before
+the blow falls?  We in Servia have been blamed for arming
+ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being
+secretly concentrated on the frontier.  Their arsenals are working
+night and day.  Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight
+of Belgrade.  We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know
+that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last
+week."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly.  "England has
+been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a
+negligible Power."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"David," she whispered, "the compact!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He answered her unspoken question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is arranged," he said,&mdash;"finished.  To-morrow morning at nine
+o'clock I receive it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are sure?" she begged.  "Why need there be any delay?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk
+who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine.
+Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour.  You were right,
+Louise, as usual.  I should have trusted him from the first."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
+interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning
+the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared.
+"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical.  What you
+suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth.  There is a rumor that the
+Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable
+information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the
+Government here.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  That, I
+know, is one of your own mottoes.  So I am here to know if there is
+anything to be learned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince.  When did you come?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered.  "Our
+train was an hour late.  I am presenting my credentials early this
+morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is true!" he said.  "Between us three there is indeed no need
+for secrecy.  The information you speak of will be in our hands
+within a few hours.  I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister
+will share in it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock.  "For my own
+part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another
+and a profounder source of interest in that document.  If, indeed,
+it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I," said he,&mdash;"I am not even a politician.  But, you know, the
+lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is
+only one course open for this country,&mdash;to work upon Russia so
+that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with
+Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria
+in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare
+war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free
+from danger."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Prince nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more.  Wherever
+one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and
+Austria.  Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed
+rule Europe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three o'clock struck.  The Prince rose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I go," he announced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I," Bellamy declared.  "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock
+tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy lingered behind.  For a moment he held Louise in his arms
+and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him,
+"to feel the mother love?  Who can help it who would not be ignoble?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief.  Even now I am afraid."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said.  "David, you are
+sure this time?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sure," he replied.  "I am going back now to the hotel where
+Laverick is staying.  We are going to sit together and smoke until
+the morning.  Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel.  I
+was with them all only an hour ago,&mdash;Streuss, that blackguard
+Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy.  They are beaten men and
+they know it.  They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a
+dramatic entrance and the game was up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,"
+she begged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will," he promised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand.  The streets were
+almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight.  The air seemed
+curiously keen.  Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement
+was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and
+glanced sharply around.  He reached the Milan Hotel, however,
+without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the
+hall where he had expected to find Laverick.  There was no one
+there!  He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense
+of apprehension.  The place was deserted except for a couple of
+sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their
+machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious
+figures in the dim light.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was
+with about an hour ago?" he asked,&mdash;"a tall, fair gentleman&mdash;Mr.
+Laverick his name was?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air.  "Mr.
+Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago.  Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and
+inquired for him.  They talked for a little time, and finally Mr.
+Laverick went away with them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Went away with them?" he repeated.  "I don't understand that,
+Reynolds.  He was to have waited here till I returned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very
+wishful to go.  It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the
+matter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those
+gentlemen by sight.  He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the
+one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed.  "You think, then,&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered.
+"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap34"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot
+humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre.
+She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual.  All day
+long she had heard nothing of Laverick.  All day long she had sat
+in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her.
+She had tried in vain to sleep,&mdash;she had made no effort whatever
+to eat.  She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away.  She knew
+the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out.
+The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison.
+Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle.  All the wonderful
+dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for
+this last week, had faded away.  She was once more a mournful
+little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube.  Boys were
+shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers.  Nearly
+every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets.  She herself
+passed on with unseeing eyes.  News was nothing to her.  Governments
+might rise and fall, war might come and go,&mdash;she had still life to
+support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen
+shillings a week.  The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but
+one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+</P>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+              SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN<BR>
+              STOCKBROKER.  CHARGE OF MURDER.<BR>
+</H4>
+
+<P>
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse.  Her fingers
+trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement.  The boy picked
+it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in
+her hand.  There it was on the front page&mdash;staring her in the face:
+</P>
+
+<PRE>
+           Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of
+           Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was
+           arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned
+           in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley,
+           on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge,
+           was removed to Bow Street Police-Station.  Particulars of his
+           examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4.
+</PRE>
+
+<P>
+There was a dull singing in her ears.  An electric tram, coming up
+from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of
+thunder from an unknown world.  She staggered on, unseeing, gasping
+for breath.  If she could find somewhere to sit down!  If she could
+only rest for a moment!  Then a sudden wave of strength came to her,
+the blood flowed once more in her veins&mdash;blood that was hot with
+anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red.  It was the man
+she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely.  It was the fulfilment
+of their threat&mdash;a deliberate plot against him.  The murderer of
+Crooked Friars' Alley&mdash;she knew who that was!&mdash;she knew!  Perhaps
+she might help!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that
+walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of
+the theatre with the paper spread out before her.  She read that
+Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate
+of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having
+been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had
+pleaded "Not Guilty!"  Her eyes glittered as she read that the
+first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the
+accused.  She read his deposition&mdash;that he had left Laverick at
+their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they
+were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect
+of meeting their engagements on the morrow.  She read the evidence
+of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had,
+on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the
+engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since
+been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts.
+She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting
+this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the
+vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he
+identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after
+disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter
+the offices from which he had issued.  He explained his presence
+there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the
+Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by.
+Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for.  The
+accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when
+Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill.  After waiting for some
+time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused
+man was removed in custody.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet.  She made her way to
+where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new
+scenery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal!  I have
+to go out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly.  "Shall you be back
+for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His clumsy irony missed its mark.  Her thoughts were too intensely
+focussed upon one thing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am sorry," she replied, turning away.  "I will come back as soon
+as I can."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He called out after her and she paused.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the
+other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even
+waiting for permission.  It can't be done, young lady.  You must
+do your playing around some other time.  If you're not here when
+you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again.  Do you
+understand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed
+to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break
+in her voice,&mdash;"as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among
+the hurrying throng of pedestrians.  Several people turned round to
+look at her.  Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost
+unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for
+tragedy.  She herself saw no one.  She would have taken a cab, but
+a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her.  She walked
+steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third
+floor, and knocked at her brother's door.  No one answered her at
+first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty.
+There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she
+called out to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is it?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is I&mdash;Zoe!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want to speak to you, Arthur.  I must speak to you.  Please
+come as quickly as you can."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared.  He was
+wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier
+in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked
+by reason of this resumption of his old attire.  His cheeks were
+hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that
+feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool.
+He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously
+to try and bully her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said.  "I've
+told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like
+women about the place.  What is it?  What do you want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part," she answered, looking him in the face.  "I've come now to
+ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick?  What
+were you doing in the court this morning, lying?  What is the
+meaning of it, Arthur?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly,
+"you'd better be off."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly.  "I think I can
+understand what it is that has happened.  They have terrified you
+and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing&mdash;even
+this.  Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I
+have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation.
+But nothing of that counts.  I want you to realize that I know the
+truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the
+guilty go free."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He moved a step towards her.  They were on opposite sides of the
+small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed.  "You came to my rooms a
+week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man.  If ever there was
+guilt in a man's face, it was in yours.  You sent for Laverick.  He
+pitied you and helped you away.  At Liverpool they would not let
+you embark&mdash;these men.  They have brought you back here.  You are
+their tool.  But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen
+Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley!  You know very
+well that it was not Stephen Laverick!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice.  Her little white
+hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she
+cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall
+go to court myself and tell the truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with
+nervously twitching lips and fingers.  But there was murder in his eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you know about this?" he muttered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind," she answered.  "I know and I guess quite enough to
+convince me&mdash;and I think anybody else&mdash;that you are the guilty man.
+I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but
+I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is Laverick to you?" he growled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends.  Even
+were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent
+man suffer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said,&mdash;"nonsense!  Even if
+there has been some little mistake, what could I do now?  I have
+given my evidence.  So far as I am concerned, the case is finished.
+I shall not be called again until the trial."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and
+take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not,
+I shall be there and I shall tell the truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high.  This thing has upset me.
+I'm ill.  Can't you see it, Zoe?  Look at me.  I haven't slept for
+weeks.  Night and day I've had the fear&mdash;the fear always with me.
+You don't know what it is&mdash;you can't imagine.  It's like a terrible
+ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger
+upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to
+drown thought even for a moment.  Don't you try me too far, Zoe.
+I'm not responsible.  Laverick isn't the man you think him to be.
+He isn't the man I believed.  He did have that money&mdash;he did,
+indeed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That," she said, "is to be explained.  But he is not a murderer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a
+week&mdash;somewhere to the seaside.  We will talk about this and think it
+over.  I want to get away from London.  We will go to Brighton, if
+you like.   I must do something for you, Zoe.  I'm afraid I've
+neglected you a good deal.  Perhaps I could get you a better part
+at one of the theatres.  I must make you an allowance.  You ought
+to be wearing better clothes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She drew a little away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this&mdash;that
+you speak the truth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that
+you are asking me?  Do you want me to go into court and say&mdash;'That
+isn't the man...  It is I who am the murderer'?  Do you want me to
+feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and
+have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that
+before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope
+around my neck and&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a
+fit of impotent terror.  But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the
+world can alter its punishment.  If it is frightful for you to
+think of this, what must it be for him?  And you are guilty and he
+is not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself.  "Zoe, I
+was mad!  I called there to have a drink.  We were broke,&mdash;the firm
+was broke.  I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt
+the next day.  And there, within a few yards of me, was that man,
+with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life.  Five
+hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists.
+Zoe, they fascinated me.  I had two drinks quickly and I followed
+him out.  Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that
+was on the counter.  I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I
+wanted some of those notes!  I was leaving the next day for Africa
+and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start.  I wanted it&mdash;my
+God, how I wanted money!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It couldn't have been worth&mdash;that!" she cried, looking at him
+wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was mad," he continued.  "I saw the notes and they went to my
+head.  Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for
+love.  I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my
+God, money is like the blood of my body to me!  I saw it, and I
+wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad!  Zoe, you won't give me
+away?  Say you won't!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But what am I to do?" she protested.  "He must not suffer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly.  "I tell you he'll
+get off.  He's only to part with the document, which never belonged
+to him, and the charge will be withdrawn.  They know who the
+murdered man was.  They know where the money came from which he was
+carrying.  I tell you he can save himself.  You wouldn't dream of
+sending me to the gallows, Zoe!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people,"
+she declared.  "I am sure of that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered.  "He has the chance,
+anyway."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned toward the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must go away," she said.  "I must go away and think.  It is all
+too horrible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this.  You must tell me
+that you are not going to give me up.  Do you hear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this&mdash;I
+shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what
+it was that he was holding.  Then he struck her down and without a
+backward glance fled out of the place.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap35"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the
+commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Caf�, who
+happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the
+place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an
+unexpected surprise.  A large closed motor-car drove up to the
+front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick
+himself.  He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely
+mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior
+of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked
+for his packet.  The clerk looked up at him in amazement.  He did
+not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately
+behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen.  He had only a
+few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow,
+upon the charge of murder.  His knowledge of English law was by no
+means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance
+outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement.  "Why, this is Mr.
+Laverick himself, is it not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly," was the quiet reply.  "I am Stephen Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as
+though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background
+for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity.  Of
+Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt.  Besides,
+the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat
+reassured them.  The cashier himself came forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to
+get rid of your packet.  Your instructions were that we should
+disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and
+I may say that they have been strictly adhered to.  We have,
+however, had two applications in your name this morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cashier hesitated.  Then he leaned across the broad mahogany
+counter towards Laverick.  One of the men who appeared to form part
+of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few
+steps nearer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my
+confidence.  If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr.
+Bellamy also to hear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place
+by Laverick's side.  The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to
+Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a
+small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in
+our document safe.  My assistant had accepted it and was actually
+locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could
+not understand.  The bag was opened and found to contain an
+infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly.  "That's
+Kahn's work!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick
+remarked quietly.  "I gather, however, from what you say, that my
+packet is still in your possession?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is, sir," the man assented.  "We have two detectives from
+Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had
+almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick
+declared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office.  At
+their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few
+yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and
+the superintendent.  The safe was opened and the packet placed in
+Laverick's hands.  He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and
+immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men,
+apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel.  They made a slow
+and exceedingly cautious exit.  Once outside, Bellamy turned to
+Laverick with outstretched hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily.  "I think
+you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade&mdash;two
+of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind.  It
+had almost the appearance of a procession.  The whole party stepped
+into a closed motor-car.  Three or four men were lounging on the
+pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually
+interfered.  As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and
+his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in
+which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street.  Very few
+words were exchanged during the short journey.  His solicitor,
+however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing
+was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat
+remarkable little gathering took place.  The two men chiefly
+responsible for the destinies of the nation&mdash;the Prime Minister
+and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs&mdash;sat side by side
+before a small table.  Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in
+front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
+envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of
+the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal.  The
+Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit
+of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the
+presence of big events.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to
+stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
+document?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly.
+"That is no copy which you have there.  On the contrary, the
+handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague.  The
+latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words,
+looked up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in
+my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
+One moment, if you please."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from
+an adjoining room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company
+at Paddington.  Ask for the station master in my name, and see that
+a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour.
+Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up,
+but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on,
+"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem.
+We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail
+his visit&mdash;why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks
+everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time.
+His health is all right.  He has had a hint from Vienna that there
+has been a leakage.  His special mission only reached Paris this
+morning.  The President is in the country and their audience is not
+fixed until to-morrow.  Rawson will go over with a copy of these
+papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train.
+It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as
+this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He drew his chief a few steps away.  They whispered together for
+several moments.  When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang
+the bell again for his secretary.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few
+minutes for Windsor.  Go round yourself to General Hamilton,
+telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the
+Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison.  Tell them all to be here
+at ten o'clock tonight.  If I am not back, they must wait.  If
+either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the
+word 'Finisterre.'  They will understand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young man once more withdrew.  The Prime Minister turned
+back to the papers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile,
+"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman
+answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview
+which will follow.  A month ago, the thought that war might come
+under our administration was a continual terror to me.  To-day
+things are entirely different.  To-day it really seems that if
+war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England
+of this century.  You saw the last report from Kiel?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir James nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly.
+"They are cooped up&mdash;safe enough, they think&mdash;under the shelter
+of their fortifications.  Hamilton has another idea.  Between you
+and me, Sir James, so have I.  I tell you," he went on, in a
+deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a
+terrible nightmare&mdash;this.  We have had ten years of panic, of
+nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you
+and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears.  It
+will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter
+differently."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone
+interview with the superintendent at Paddington.  The two great
+men rose.  The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service.
+There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've
+earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate.  There is nothing more
+we can do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy
+answered.  "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the
+man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said.  "You are asking a
+great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the
+slightest manner with the course of justice.  You are absolutely
+convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do
+with the murder?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir
+James remarked.  "Who was he?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was
+actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary.  I
+have told you the history, sir, of those papers.  It was Von
+Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist
+and secured them.  It was he who insisted upon coming to London
+instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the
+most obvious course for him to have adopted.  He was a pauper, and
+desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout
+this matter.  He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand
+pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the
+same night.  I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in
+the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the
+false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir.  As a matter
+of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now
+will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed
+to have bought in his possession, and also the money.  Within five
+minutes he was murdered.  Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom,
+but it was not by Stephen Laverick.  Laverick's share in the whole
+thing was nothing but this&mdash;that he found the pocket-book, and that
+he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to
+save himself from ruin.  That was unjustifiable, of course.  He has
+made atonement.  The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit
+vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came.
+I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron
+de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully.  He stooped down and scrawled a few
+lines on half a sheet of note-paper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell
+him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the
+nature of the papers.  The thing must be arranged, of course."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that
+the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were
+going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even
+they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were
+really transpiring.  They knew nothing of the interview between the
+Czar and his August host&mdash;an interview which in itself was a
+chapter in the history of these times.  They knew nothing of the
+reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit
+instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the
+President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before
+the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves.
+The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant
+enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that
+night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg.
+At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from
+Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned.  The
+Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under
+pretence of a command from his royal master.  The happiest man in
+London was Prince Rosmaran.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap36"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the
+dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company
+with his friends left the court."  The proceedings altogether took
+scarcely more than half-an-hour.  Laverick's solicitor first put
+Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to
+the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife
+which he had seen him snatch up.  Cross-examined as to why he had
+kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer
+and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which
+would cost a man his life.  Directly, however, another man had been
+accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different.  He
+had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to
+offer his evidence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's
+solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu.  A little murmur of interest ran
+though the court.  Laverick himself started.  Zoe stepped into the
+witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the
+upper part of her head.  She admitted that she was the half-sister
+of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship.  She
+described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder,
+and his state of great alarm.  She declared that he had confessed
+to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the
+murder in question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David
+Bellamy.  He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his,
+and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently
+possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business.
+The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until
+negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt
+uncertain how to make use of the money.  But he assured the court
+that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in
+question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use
+to which Laverick had put it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Morrison.  Laverick found
+Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word!  That
+dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any
+case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the
+matter.  The magistrate had received a communication direct from
+the Home Secretary concerning your case."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared.  "I tell you I
+think I am very lucky.  I wish I knew what had become of Miss
+Leneveu.  The usher told me she left the court before we came out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said.  "You
+must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in
+a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street.  I was having
+Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his
+rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was
+there who appeared to be seriously injured."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"D&mdash;d scamp!" Laverick muttered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued.  "I fetched her at
+once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some
+one to look after her.  The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow
+must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such
+a child.  I wonder whether he'll get away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked.  "He hasn't the nerve.
+He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out.  He's a
+broken-spirited cur, after all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little
+house for nearly half-an-hour.  He had found the door closed and
+locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had
+gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not
+returned.  Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited.  Presently
+a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of
+her house.  Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out.  She was
+as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking
+anxious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite," he answered.  "You dear little girl!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor.
+Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago
+had come to see Arthur Morrison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous
+system is very much run down.  There is nothing serious.  She
+seems to have just escaped concussion.  The nurse had better stay
+with her for another day, at any rate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly.  "I see worse
+wounds every day of my life.  I'll come again to-morrow, if you like,
+but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which
+Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more
+encouraging words.  Laverick stayed and talked for a short time
+with the nurse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced.  "There
+isn't anything to worry about.  She seems as though she had been
+having a hard time, though.  There was scarcely a thing in the house
+but half a packet of tea&mdash;and these."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said.  "I had to look
+round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his
+eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor little woman!" he murmured.  "I think she'd sooner have starved
+than ask for help."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The nurse smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she
+remarked.  "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new
+hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing
+to the sofa.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she
+wants.  I shall be here again later in the day.  There is not the
+slightest need for all this.  She will be quite well off for the rest
+of her life.  Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to
+come in until she is able to be moved?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll look after her," the nurse promised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick went reluctantly away.  The events of the last few days were
+becoming more and more like a dream to him.  He went to his club
+almost from habit.  Presently the excitement which all London seemed
+to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the
+background.  The air was full of rumors.  The Prime Minister and the
+Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes.  Nothing
+was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence
+that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her
+existence as a great Power.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap37"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE PLOT THAT FAILED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion
+House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord
+Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely
+inexplicable to the general public.  It was known that affairs in
+Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was
+felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had
+brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications
+that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country
+was now actually at hand.  There was in the Press a curious
+reticence with regard to the development of the political situation.
+One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm&mdash;that at
+any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling
+stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied.  The
+circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little
+peculiar.  On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of
+health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be
+cut down to two days.  No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however,
+than a change was announced.  The Czar had so far recovered as to
+be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit.
+Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full
+of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable.
+The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany.
+That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement
+there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go
+by.  Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but
+he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning.  Afterwards
+they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had
+thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise.  Bellamy nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true.  The humor of the
+whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who
+pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of
+exciting suspicion.  That, of course, was when there seemed to be
+no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out.  They
+would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the
+Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in
+the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed.  "The
+special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on.  "Any morning you
+may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an
+ultimatum."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy
+answered.  "There's always plenty of work for spies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't use that word," she begged.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made a little grimace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?" he asked.  "Well, that counts for nothing now.  I hope I may
+still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different
+way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" she demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued,
+"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months.
+When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords.
+It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I
+suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up.  I have done
+my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded,
+thoughtfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your share, indeed," she murmured.  "Remember that but for that
+document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have
+gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the
+second-class Powers.  There may be war now, it is true, but it
+will be a glorious war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Louise, very soon we shall know.  Until then I will say nothing.
+But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been
+something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these
+last few years."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft.  She looked across towards him
+wistfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now.  I am
+not fit to be the wife of an English peer&mdash;I am not noble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think
+you one of the noblest women on earth.  Why should I not?  Your
+life itself has been a study in devotion.  The modern virtues seem
+almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a
+splendid thing.  But don't you think, Louise, that we have done
+our work that it is time to think of ourselves?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She gave him her hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let us see," she said.  "Let us wait for a little time and see what
+comes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely
+spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places.  Louise
+was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose
+trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after
+a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress.  For a
+short time the costume was not recognized.  Then the music&mdash;the
+national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage,
+brought the thing home to the audience.  They did not even wait for
+her to finish.  In the middle of her song the applause broke like a
+crash of thunder.  From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered
+her wildly, madly.  A dozen times she came before the curtain.  It
+seemed impossible that they would ever let her go.  Directly she
+turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again.  The manager
+at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words.  She
+stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the
+previous applause had been unanimous.  Her voice reached easily to
+every place in the House.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank you all very much," she said.  "I am very happy indeed to
+be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous
+country in the world&mdash;the country that is always ready to protect
+and help her weaker neighbors.  I am a Servian, and I love my
+country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her
+voice,&mdash;"therefore I love you all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the
+streets of London had not been so impassable for years.  Crowds
+made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War
+Office, where men were working late.  Everything seemed to denote
+that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning
+made immense capital of the incident, and for the following
+twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at
+fever height.  It was known that the Cabinet Council had been
+sitting for six hours.  It was known, too, that without the least
+commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be
+called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the
+world had ever known was assembling off Dover.  The stock markets
+were wildly excited.  Laverick, back again in his office, found
+that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any
+comment.  More startling events were shaping themselves.  His own
+remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding
+the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in
+Theobald Square.  Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but
+eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer
+suffering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse
+here.  Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me.  I
+should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which
+contained her somewhat curt dismissal.  He laughed as he tore it
+into pieces.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you so sorry, Zoe?  Is the stage so wonderful a place that
+you could not bear to think of leaving it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not that," she whispered.  "You know that it is not that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said.
+"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days.  A
+bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying
+sort of person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shrank away a little.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You don't mean it," she murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her.  "I
+think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were
+doomed to become my wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes.  For the moment she
+had forgotten everything.  She was absolutely and completely happy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards,
+as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened.  You
+will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know.  Remember the
+alternative&mdash;and read that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur
+Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square.  The police had apparently
+tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment.  The
+details of his last few hours were indescribable.  Zoe shuddered,
+and her eyes filled with tears.  She smiled bravely in his face,
+however.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no
+relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury.  When
+I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded
+up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct
+of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard,
+merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this
+excitement is about."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and
+white.  An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna.
+Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's
+action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain.  It was
+demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops
+upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate
+over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon,
+from that time forward, to guarantee.  It was further announced that
+England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete
+concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured.  Further, it
+was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea
+with sealed orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms.
+Bellamy greeted him heartily.  He was on the point of going out,
+and the two men drove off together in the latter's car.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come
+from small means!  The document which you preserved for us, and
+for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is very simple," Bellamy declared.  "That meeting in Vienna was
+meant to force our hands.  It is all a question of the balance of
+strength.  Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,&mdash;even
+with Russia neutral,&mdash;could have defied Europe.  Germany could
+have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her
+prey.  It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the
+Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers
+with a revelation of the whole affair.  At Windsor the thing seemed
+different to him.  The French Government behaved splendidly, and the
+Czar behaved like a man.  Germany and Austria are left plante la.
+If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair.  They have no
+fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time.  They
+have no means of landing an army here.  Austria, perhaps, can hold
+Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for
+years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with
+ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme
+proved abortive.  Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick.
+To-day great things have happened to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And to me," Laverick interposed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs.  "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to
+be my wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Laverick held out his hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed.  "I have been an
+engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap38"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever
+may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy
+remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper.  "For the
+first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers
+of equal standing.  We were always rather good at bullying smaller
+countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have
+made our late Premier go lightheaded."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Absolutely," he affirmed.  "To-day's news makes peace a certainty.
+If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal
+welcome next month."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon
+the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't
+been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your
+people."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured.
+"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a
+silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious
+reputation in foreign countries.  I am Lord Denchester of
+Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon.
+By the way, I hope you like the title."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared.  "To be an
+English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to
+go on singing at Covent Garden."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her.  "I have asked
+Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with
+me.  Afterwards we must all have supper together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How nice of you!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling.  "I really like
+Laverick.  He is a decent fellow and a good sort.  Incidentally, he
+was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it.  He
+interests me, too, in another way.  He is a man who, face to face
+with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bellamy assented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out.  "He had no right
+to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station.  If he had done so&mdash;that is to say, if he had
+waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that
+pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one
+that there would have been another tragedy that night.  At any
+rate, the document would never have come to us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that
+Laverick's decision brought us the document."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face
+with ruin.  The use of that money for a few hours did no one any
+harm, and saved him.  I say that such a deed is always a matter of
+calculation, and in this case that he was justified."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps I'll ask him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe,
+he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he
+had loved so long.  She moved about the stage that night as though
+her feet indeed fell upon the air.  She appeared to be singing
+always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a
+quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience
+thrilled.  Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance.
+Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning
+Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous
+love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled
+more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened.  Zoe
+found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement.
+Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut
+face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond.  Yet, as
+he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft.  The song grew
+and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite
+and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice.  The last note
+came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged
+for an extraordinary period.  When it died away, its passing seemed
+something almost unrealizable.  It quivered away into a silence
+which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause
+swept the house.  And in those last few seconds she had turned and
+faced Bellamy.  Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from
+his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat.  It was her
+good-bye.  She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into
+the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love
+itself.  Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked
+up to a state of frenzied excitement.  Bellamy was recognized, and
+the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the
+house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in
+the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again.
+But the three in the box were silent.  Bellamy stood back in the
+shadows.  Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in
+themselves.  Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed
+outside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly.  "You will excuse me
+for a few minutes?  I am going to Louise."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
+
+
+Title: Havoc
+
+Author: E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287]
+Release Date: August, 2000
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML
+version by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Havoc
+
+
+by
+
+E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+       I  CROWNED HEADS MEET
+      II  ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+     III  "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+      IV  THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+       V  "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+      VI  VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+     VII  "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES
+    VIII  THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+      IX  ROBBING THE DEAD
+       X  BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+      XI  VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+     XII  BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+    XIII  STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+     XIV  ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+      XV  LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES
+     XVI  THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST
+    XVII  THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+   XVIII  THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+     XIX  MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+      XX  LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED
+     XXI  MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+    XXII  ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+   XXIII  LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+    XXIV  A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+     XXV  JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+    XXVI  THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+   XXVII  PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+  XXVIII  LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+    XXIX  LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+     XXX  THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+    XXXI  MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+   XXXII  MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+  XXXIII  LAVERICK'S ARREST
+   XXXIV  MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+    XXXV  BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+   XXXVI  LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+  XXXVII  THE PLOT TEAT FAILED
+ XXXVIII  A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+
+
+HAVOC
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CROWNED HEADS MEET
+
+
+Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their
+spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath.
+Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure.  Bellamy's
+face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous.
+Failure was a new thing to him--a thing which those behind the
+great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he.
+Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart.
+
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours
+broke into a tumult of welcoming voices.  Down their thickly-packed
+lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first,
+swelling and growing to a thunderous roar.  Myriads of hats were
+suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs
+waved from every window.  It was a wonderful greeting, this.
+
+"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked.
+
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery--guardsmen
+of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white
+uniforms, their flashing helmets.  The small brougham with its
+great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked steel.
+Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust
+out his under-lip.
+
+"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered.
+
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices,
+muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre
+which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude.
+
+"The Emperor," declared Bellamy.  "He goes to the West station."
+
+The commotion had passed.  The crowds in the street below were on
+the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a
+murmur of voices.  The two men turned from their window back into
+the room.  Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained,
+nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with
+a gesture of depression.
+
+"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to
+himself, half to Dorward.  "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder."
+
+"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured.
+
+"Long enough," Bellamy answered.  "That little room in the Palace,
+my friend, may yet become famous."
+
+"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally
+shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I
+think.  I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable
+even a hundred words of their conversation."
+
+"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no
+price sufficient.  We made our effort in different directions, both
+of us.  With infinite pains I planted--I may tell you this now that
+the thing is over--seven spies in the Palace.  They have been of
+as much use as rabbits.  I don't believe that a single one of them
+got any further than the kitchens."
+
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+
+"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked.
+"There wasn't a secretary in the room.  Carstairs was nearly thrown
+out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace.  The great staircase
+was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the
+corridors."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months
+older, Dorward," he declared.
+
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly.  "You believe that?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked.  "When
+Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you
+believe it is across the North Sea that they point?  Things have
+been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe."
+
+"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared
+impatiently.  "I'd just like to know what they said about America."
+
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+
+"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said.  "He can
+scarcely do more to show his regard for your country.  He is giving
+you a special interview--you alone out of about two hundred
+journalists.  Very likely he will give you an exact account of
+everything that transpired.  First of all, he will assure you that
+this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace.  He
+will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in
+the thoughts of his master.  He will assure you--"
+
+"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly.  "I
+wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the
+Chancellor, eh?"
+
+"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for
+it.  For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing.
+Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward?  You know the man--false
+as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent.  He will grasp your
+hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great
+Anglo-Saxon races--to England and to his dear friends the Americans.
+He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself
+candidly and openly.  Peace is to be the watchword of the future.
+The white doves have hovered over the Palace.  The rulers of the
+earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this
+terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up.
+They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this
+object,--Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army
+still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the
+nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the
+seaboard--Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her
+existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in
+letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her
+rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor.  Colonies!  Expansion!
+Empire!  Whose colonies, I wonder?  Whose empire?  Will he tell you
+that, my friend Dorward?"
+
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+
+"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he
+answered indifferently.  "It's all part of the game, of course.  I
+am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth.  All the same,
+my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately
+after this wonderful meeting."
+
+"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our
+eyes and yours."
+
+"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the
+copy.  It's good-bye, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said.  "I can do
+no more good here.  And you?"
+
+"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any
+rate," Dorward answered.  "I hear the women are forming rifle
+clubs all through Servia."
+
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+
+"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said.  "All Vienna
+raves about her.  They throng the Opera House every night to hear
+her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been
+known here.  Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief
+of the Committee for National Defence.  The jewels that are sent her
+anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these
+people who worship her.  I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to
+his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people
+is something we colder races scarcely understand.  Perhaps it is
+because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror.  If
+ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which
+she enters,--it will be a carnage, an extermination!"
+
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting.  Good-bye,
+and cheer up, Bellamy!  Your old country isn't going to turn up
+her heels yet."
+
+Out he went--long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face--a strange figure but yet a power.
+Bellamy remained.  For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the
+time.  He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of
+the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose
+movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been
+in the service.  He had still a military bearing,--tall, and with
+complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes,
+a silent mouth,--a man of many reserves.  Even his intimates knew
+little of him.  Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted
+well his profession.
+
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters.  He had just
+finished when there came a sharp tap at the door.  Before he could
+open his lips some one had entered.  He heard the soft swirl of
+draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and
+held out both his hands.  There was expression in his face now--as
+much as he ever suffered to appear there.
+
+"Louise!" he exclaimed.  "What good fortune!"
+
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a
+more than common intimacy.  Then she threw herself into an
+easy-chair and raised her thick veil.  Bellamy looked at her for a
+moment in sorrowful silence.  There were violet lines underneath
+her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color.  There
+was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him.
+She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was
+dead.
+
+"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting.  The word has
+been spoken."
+
+He came and stood by her side.
+
+"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be."
+
+She shook her head mournfully.
+
+"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed.  "For myself, I feel it in the air!
+I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city!  I can
+hear it in the peals of those awful bells!  You know nothing?  You
+have heard nothing?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice.
+"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity.  I
+filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance.  There
+wasn't even a secretary present.  The Czar, the two Emperors and the
+Chancellor,--not another soul was in the room."
+
+"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed.  "He was there
+in reserve, I know, as stenographer.  I have but to lift my hand
+and it is enough.  I would have had the truth from him, whatever it
+cost me."
+
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully.  It was not for nothing that
+the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful
+woman in the world.  He frowned slightly at her last words, for he
+loved her.
+
+"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said
+sharply.
+
+She moved her head and looked up at him.  She was leaning a little
+forward now, her chin resting upon her hands.  Something about the
+lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal
+crouching for a spring.  She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving,
+and he could guess at the passion within.  With purpose he spoke to
+set it loose.
+
+"You sing to-night?" he asked.
+
+"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice.  "I sing no more in this accursed city!"
+
+"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked.  "I see that the
+whole city is placarded with notices.  It is to be a gala night at
+the Opera.  The royal party is to be present."
+
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+
+"What do I care--I--I--for their gala night!  If I were like
+Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and
+bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!"
+
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+
+"Dear Louise, it is useless, this.  You do everything that can be
+done for your country."
+
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+
+"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand.  None of you
+English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of
+this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know
+that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be
+shed, and shed in vain.  To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it
+is worse, this, than murder,--a worse crime than his who stains
+the soul of a poor innocent girl!  It is a sin against nature
+herself!"
+
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+
+"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought.  I have borne up
+against this thing so long.  I can do no more good here.  I come
+to tell you that I go away till the time comes.  I go to your
+London.  They want me to sing for them there.  I shall do it."
+
+"You will break your engagement?"
+
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+
+"I am Idiale," she declared.  "I keep no engagement if I do not
+choose.  I will sing no more to this people whom I hate.  My friend
+David, I have suffered enough.  Their applause I loathe--their
+covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage--oh, I could
+strike them all dead!  They come to me, these young Austrian
+noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race.  I keep
+their diamonds but I destroy their messages.  Their jewels go to
+my chorus girls or to arm my people.  But no one of them has had a
+kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained.
+Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises.  No Austrian shall
+ever touch my lips--I have sworn it!"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital!  Even
+in the Palace--"
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"It is finished!" she declared.  "I sing no more.  I have sent word
+to the Opera House.  I came here to be in hiding for a while.  They
+will search for me everywhere.  To-night or to-morrow I leave for
+England."
+
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+
+"I am not sure that you are wise," he said.  "You take it too much
+for granted that the end has come."
+
+"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded.  He hesitated.
+
+"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her.
+
+"Proof!"
+
+She sat upright in her chair.  Her hands thrust him from her, her
+bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+
+"Proof!" she cried.  "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves
+have plotted for?  What else do you suppose could be Austria's share
+of the feast?  Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their
+voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity?  We
+are doomed--betrayed!  You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
+a blood-stained page of history for all time.  The world would tell
+you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings.  It is
+not true.  My friend David, it is not true.  It is a more terrible
+thing, this which is coming.  Body and soul we are to perish."
+
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on
+hers.  It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he
+loved.
+
+"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless.  There may
+yet be compromises."
+
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not
+pass out of her face or tone.
+
+"Compromises!" she repeated.  "Do you believe, then, that we are
+like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror
+because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered
+themselves passively to be led into captivity?  My country can be
+conquered in one way, and one way only,--not until her sons, ay,
+and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule.  They
+will come to an empty and a stricken country--a country red with
+blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities.  The
+horror of it!  Think, my friend David, the horror of it!"
+
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+
+"You take too much for granted," he declared.  "England, at any
+rate, is not yet a conquered race.  And there is France--Italy,
+too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient
+enemy."
+
+"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured.
+"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless.
+Already it has been proved.  Last year you declared yourself our
+friend--you and even Russia.  Of what avail was it?  Word came
+from Berlin and you were powerless."
+
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man
+demented.  For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but
+this man was surely a stranger!  He was hatless, dishevelled, wild.
+A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes
+were on fire.
+
+"Bellamy!" he cried.  "Bellamy!"
+
+Words failed him suddenly.  He leaned against the table, breathless,
+panting heavily.
+
+"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began,--
+
+"Alone!" Dorward interrupted.  "I must see you alone!  I have news!"
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose.  She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+
+"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered.  "So?"
+
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure
+of his fingers.  Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+
+
+"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a
+siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers.  He
+tossed it off before he spoke a word.  Then he turned around and
+faced his companion.  "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door."
+
+Bellamy obeyed.  He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his
+head in the Chancellor's presence--had made some absurd attempt to
+gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+
+"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little
+out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was
+ever dealt out to a human being.  If only I can get safe out of
+this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man
+ever handled."
+
+"You don't mean that--"
+
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+
+"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but
+I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting."
+
+"Got what?"
+
+"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,"
+Dorward replied.
+
+Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+
+"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed.  "You may have
+something--just what the Chancellor wants you to print.  You're
+not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?"
+
+Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a
+conqueror.
+
+"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting.  I tell you I've got the original
+verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this
+afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and
+the Emperor of Germany.  I've got it word for word as the Chancellor
+took it down.  I've got their decision.  I've got their several
+undertakings."
+
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb.  He looked toward the door
+and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph.  Then his power
+of speech returned.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you stole it?"
+
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+
+"Not I!  I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to
+me with his own hands, willingly,--pressed it upon me.  No, don't
+scoff!" he went on quickly.  "Listen!  This is a genuine thing.
+The Chancellor's mad.  He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace.
+It will be in all the evening papers.  You will hear the boys
+shouting it in the streets within a few minutes.  Don't interrupt
+and I'll tell you the whole truth.  You can believe me or not, as
+you like.  It makes no odds.  I arrived punctually and was shown up
+into the anteroom.  Even from there I could hear loud voices in the
+inner chamber and I knew that something was up.  Presently a little
+fellow came out to me--a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses.
+He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician,
+regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see
+no one,--the excitement and hard work of the last few days had
+knocked him out.  Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I
+could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room
+was thrown open.  The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold.
+There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as
+parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled
+as though he had been standing upon his head.  He began to talk to
+the physician in German.  I didn't understand him until he began to
+swear,--then it was wonderful!  In the end he brushed them all
+away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room.
+For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I
+was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the
+things I wanted to know about.  Then, all of a sudden, he turned to
+me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted.  'Ah!' he
+said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now.
+Lock the door.'  I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they
+were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing
+us every moment.  'Come and sit down,' he ordered.  I did so at
+once.  'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared.  'To-day every one
+is worrying me.  They think that I am not well.  It is foolish.  I
+am quite well.  Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I
+told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and
+he nodded and seemed pleased.  'You have come to hear the truth
+about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of
+Germany?' he asked.  'That's so,' I told him.  'America's more
+than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what
+to tell her.'  Then he leaned across the table.  'My young friend,'
+he said, 'I like you.  You are straightforward.  You speak plainly
+and you do not worry me.  It is good.  You shall tell your country
+what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are
+coming.  Yours is a great and wise country.  When they know the
+truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that
+the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.'
+'You are right,' I assured him,--'dead right.  Treat us openly,
+that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he
+answered.  'Now look, I give you this.'  He fumbled through all his
+pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends
+with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two
+tigers facing each other.  He looked toward the door cautiously, and
+there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have.
+'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand.  This will
+tell you exactly what passed this afternoon.  It will tell you our
+plans.  It will tell you of the share which my master and the other
+two are taking.  Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you
+do, do not let them know outside that you have got it.  Between
+you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems
+to have happened to them all to-day.  There's my old doctor there.
+He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well.  I can see
+it whenever he comes near me.'  I nodded as though I understood and
+the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned.  Then I got up as
+casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let
+me go.  We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces
+of burning coal.  Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the
+door.  Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a
+paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't
+follow him.  I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there.
+I contrived to look as frightened as possible.  'His Highness is not
+well enough to talk to me,' I whispered.  'You had better look after
+him.'  I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall.  Then I closed the
+door and slipped away as quietly as I could--and here I am."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+
+"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered.  "How long is it
+since you left the Palace?"
+
+"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered.
+
+"They'll find it out at once," declared the other.  "They'll miss
+the paper.  Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to
+you.  Don't let us run any risks, Dorward.  Tear it open.  Let us
+know the truth, at any rate.  If you have to part with the document,
+we can remember its contents.  Out with it, man, quick!  They may
+be here at any moment."
+
+Dorward drew a few steps back.  Then he shook his head.
+
+"I guess not," he said firmly.
+
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+
+"What do you mean?" he exclaimed.  "You're not going to keep it to
+yourself?  You know what it means to me--to England?"
+
+"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward
+declared.  "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance.  I am not here
+as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to
+nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands."
+
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly.  "I tell you
+I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared.  "I shall
+head for England.  Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will
+be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his
+hand.  We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too."
+
+Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet--too quiet to be altogether
+natural.  His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+
+"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the
+door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing
+is new to you.  You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive
+with that in your pocket.  If you trust yourself in the Orient
+Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier.
+By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too,
+that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor
+has told them the truth or not.  Open it at once so that we get some
+good out of it.  Then we'll go round to the Embassy.  We can slip
+out by the back way, perhaps.  Remember I have spent my life in the
+service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city
+where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy
+or mine.  Open the packet, man."
+
+"I think not," Dorward answered firmly.  "I am an American citizen.
+I have broken no laws and done no one any harm.  If there's any
+slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward....  Don't be a fool, man!"
+
+He took a quick step backward,--he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy's revolver.
+
+"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it!  Yours is only
+a personal ambition--I stand for my country.  Share the knowledge
+of that packet with me or I shall shoot."
+
+"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely.  "This
+is my show, not yours.  You and your country can go to--"
+
+He broke off without finishing his sentence.  There was a thunderous
+knocking at the door.  The two men looked at one another for a
+moment, speechless.  Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced
+the revolver in his pocket.
+
+"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly.
+
+The knocking was repeated.  When Bellamy with a shrug of the
+shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered.
+They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room.
+
+"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed.
+"He was here but a moment ago."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door.  He had had too much experience
+in such matters to attempt any prevarication.  The three men crossed
+the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear.  He heard a cry
+of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door.  The inner
+room was empty!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+
+
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+
+"There is news!" she exclaimed.  "I can see it in your face."
+
+"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news!  That is why I have come.
+Where can we talk?"
+
+She rose to her feet.  Before them the open French windows led on
+to a smooth green lawn.  She took his arm.
+
+"Come outside with me," she said.  "I am shut up here because I
+will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera
+House.  An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away."
+
+"You mean to keep your word, then?"
+
+"Have I ever broken it?  Never again will I sing in this City.  It
+is so."
+
+Bellamy looked around.  The garden of the villa was enclosed by
+high gray stone walls.  They were secure here, at least, from
+eavesdroppers.  She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding
+up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand.
+
+"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Of course," she assented.  "You told me that the Chancellor had
+promised him an interview for to-day."
+
+"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.".
+
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+
+"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose.  The
+latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill."
+
+"It is quite true," Bellamy declared.  "What I am going to tell you
+is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself.  When he reached
+the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane.  His doctors were
+trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard
+Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him.  The man was mad--on
+the verge of a collapse--and he handed over to Dorward his notes,
+and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning."
+
+She looked at him incredulously.
+
+"My dear David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth.  I know it for
+a fact.  The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what
+he was doing."
+
+"Where is it?" she asked quickly.  "You have seen it?"
+
+"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly.  "While we argued
+in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived.  Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs.  He spoke of trying
+to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever
+let him leave the city."
+
+"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly.  "What are you going
+to do?"
+
+"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other.  I would have
+killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe
+that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us
+from disaster.  To know how far each is pledged, and from which
+direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation."
+
+"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to
+share his knowledge with you.  He is an American--it is almost the
+same thing as being an Englishman.  And you are friends,--I am
+sure that you have helped him often."
+
+"It was a matter of vanity--simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered.
+"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern
+times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his
+paper.  He fights for his own hand alone."
+
+"And you?" she whispered.
+
+"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared.  "I know that he
+is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be
+at his heels."
+
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+
+"I, too," she announced.  "I come with you, my friend.  I do no
+more good here, and they worry my life out all the time.  I come to
+sing in London at Covent Garden.  I have agreements there which only
+await my signature.  We will go together; is it not so?"
+
+"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must
+depend very largely upon Dorward's.  The train leaves at eight
+o'clock, station time.  I have already a coupe reserved."
+
+"I come with you," she murmured.  "I am very weary of this city."
+
+They walked on for a few paces in silence.  Bellamy looked around
+the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with
+here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst
+the wealth of foliage.  The villa had once belonged to a royal
+favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory.  They reached
+a sheltered seat and sat down.  A few yards away a tiny waterfall
+came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool.  They were hidden
+from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut
+tree.  Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips.
+
+"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly.
+
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it.  She had returned his
+kiss, but she drew a little further away from him.
+
+"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+"courtship is scarcely the word, is it?  For you and me there is
+nothing to hope for, nothing beyond."
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+"Never believe that," he begged.  "These days are dark enough,
+Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal.  Even our
+turn may come."
+
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed
+to make a different woman of her.  Bellamy saw it, and hardened
+though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses.  He
+kissed her hand passionately and she shivered.
+
+"We must not talk of these things," she said.  "We must not think
+of them.  At least our friendship has been wonderful.  Now I must
+go in.  I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night."
+
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment.  Though her
+lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve
+with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful,
+too.  They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked
+a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.
+
+"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible.
+Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together."
+
+He raised her fingers to his lips.  It was not often that they
+lapsed into sentiment.  When she spoke again it was finished.
+
+"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate.  There
+are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I
+are not seen too much together."
+
+"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at
+the station early.  If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna.
+If he goes, it may be an eventful journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+
+
+Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe
+rolling innumerable cigarettes.  He was a man of unbounded courage
+and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as
+to the sanctity of an American citizen.  He had served his
+apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a
+household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent
+in the Russo-Japanese War.  His experience of European countries,
+however, was limited.  After the more obvious dangers with which
+he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous
+career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler
+perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted.  He had made
+his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and
+since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions,
+he had remained unmolested.  From his own point of view, therefore,
+it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any
+misgiving as to his personal safety.  ARREST as a thief was the
+worst which he had feared.  Even that he seemed now to have evaded.
+
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a
+somewhat exciting day.  He lit a cigarette and stretched himself
+out with a murmur of immense satisfaction.  He was close upon the
+great triumph of his life.  He was perfectly content to lie there
+and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were
+now fast descending.  He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured
+himself.  Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he
+started almost like a guilty man.  The relief in his face as he
+recognized his visitor was obvious.  It was Bellamy who entered
+and dropped into a seat by his side.
+
+"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to
+the growing heap of cigarettes.
+
+"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered.  "I can smoke this lot before
+we reach London."
+
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+
+"I don't think that you will," he said.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed.  "Personally, I
+do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching
+London at all."
+
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+
+"And why not?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders.  Dorward seemed to find the
+gesture irritating.
+
+"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared
+dryly.  "I suppose it's the result of your profession.  I may not
+know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think
+that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train
+like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a
+scrap by way of taking care of himself."
+
+"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy.
+
+"I don't see any pluck about it.  In Vienna, I must admit, I
+shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort
+of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't.  Guess they'd find
+it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen."
+
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+
+"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said.
+"You really believe what you say?"
+
+"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked.
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your
+experience should talk and behave like a baby.  You've taken some
+notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?"
+
+"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly.  "What about
+them?"
+
+"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my
+certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of
+Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of
+their subordinates somewhere on board the train."
+
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his
+friend keenly.
+
+"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked.
+
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave.  There had come into his face an
+utterly altered expression.  His tone, when he spoke, was almost
+solemn.
+
+"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have
+told you is the truth.  I cannot seem to make you realize the
+seriousness of your position.  When you left the Palace with that
+paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a
+doomed man.  Your passport and your American citizenship count for
+absolutely nothing.  I have come in to warn you that if you have
+any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now."
+
+"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed
+contemptuously.  "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you
+want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said.  "If the seal were
+broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help
+the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my
+forehead on the railway track."
+
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+
+"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked.
+
+"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered.  "As a
+matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer.  I am sorry,
+old man.  You can't say that I didn't give you good advice.  I am
+bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I
+get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some
+regrettable accident has happened to you."
+
+"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed.
+"I've had about enough of it.  I am not denying anything you say,
+but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice
+before they meddle with me."
+
+"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the
+trouble to think at all.  Their minds are perfectly made up as to
+what they are going to do.  However, that's finished.  I have
+nothing more to say."
+
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+
+"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing
+I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let
+you read it over with me?"
+
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+
+"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed.  "You would simply
+write my death-warrant.  Don't allude to that matter again.  I
+have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!"  Dorward said
+irritably.  "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk.  In
+an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep.  We'll
+breakfast together in the morning, if you like."
+
+Bellamy said nothing.  The steward had brought them the whiskies
+and sodas which Dorward had ordered.  Bellamy raised his tumbler
+to his lips and set it down again.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty."
+
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp.  Almost immediately he closed his
+eyes.  Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him
+alone.  As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the
+corridor.
+
+"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered.  She nodded.
+
+"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said.  "I invited him
+to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed.  It is his companions
+who watch him all the time.  He has promised to talk with me later."
+
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy
+bending over her.
+
+"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession
+of the packet.  They have been discussing whether it will not be
+safer to go on to London instead of doubling back.  See Von Behrling
+again.  Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,--all you
+can, Louise, remember."
+
+"So!" she whispered.  "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in
+the corridor.  It is hot here."
+
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him.  The train
+was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night.
+For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening.  The voices
+whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but
+once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry.
+In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have
+disappeared.  The man within him was hard to subdue.  He longed to
+make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly
+unequal struggle, yet he made no movement.  Dorward was a man and a
+friend, but what was a life more or less?  It was to a greater cause
+that he was pledged.  Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed
+and slept....
+
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight.  The
+man's hands were trembling.
+
+"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily.
+
+"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered.  "Monsieur noticed,
+perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I sleep soundly," he said.  "I heard nothing."
+
+"There has been an accident," the man declared.  "An American
+gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and
+became very drunk.  In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line."
+
+Bellamy shuddered a little.  He had been prepared, but none the
+less it was an awful thing, this.
+
+"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked.
+
+The man was very sure indeed.
+
+"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said.  "He
+examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes.
+The next move was for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+
+
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he
+came to the coupe which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale.
+Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of
+the door and entered.  Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown,
+drinking her coffee.  He held up his finger and she greeted him
+only with a nod.
+
+"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was
+obliged to see you at once."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"It is of no consequence," she said.  "One is always prepared here.
+The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs--they all enter.
+Is anything wrong?"
+
+"It has happened," he answered.
+
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+
+"Poor fellow!" she murmured.
+
+"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone.  "He would not be warned.  I could
+have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason."
+
+"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked.
+
+"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued.  "Now listen to me,
+Louise.  I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I
+feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London,
+all three of them."
+
+"Who is there on the train?" she demanded.
+
+"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and
+Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered.  "Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling
+separately.  Von Behrling has the packet.  The others form a sort
+of cordon around him."
+
+"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London?  Why not return to
+Vienna?"
+
+"For one thing," Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are
+afraid of me.  Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward
+will be talked about.  They do not want to seem in any way
+implicated.  To return from any one of these stations down the line
+would create suspicion."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued.  "I
+find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin.  From
+there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can.  You know the
+address of my rooms?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"15, Fitzroy Street."
+
+"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I
+can see you.  While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling
+almost inaccessible.  Directly I have gone it will be different.
+Play with him carefully.  He should not be difficult.  To tell you
+the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a
+mission like this.  He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short
+while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to
+attend the conference.  The others will watch him closely, but
+they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two.  Von
+Behrling is a poor man.  You will know how to make him wish he were
+rich."
+
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up.  She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked.  "Von Behrling is a
+little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with
+me, but I do not think that he would sell his country.  Then, too,
+see how he will be watched.  I do not suppose that they will leave
+us alone for a moment."
+
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural
+force.
+
+"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von
+Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength.  You
+know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know
+what that means.  I have heard men talk about you till one would
+think that they were children.  You have something of that art or
+guile--call it what you will--which passes from you through a
+man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven--but
+carries him there mad.  Louise, don't be angry with me for what I
+say.  Remember that I know my sex.  I know you, too, and I trust
+you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into
+what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your
+fingers.  Von Behrling has that packet in his possession.  When I
+come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds
+in Bank of England notes.  With that Von Behrling might fancy
+himself on his way to America--with you."
+
+She closed her eyes for a moment.  Perhaps she wished to keep hidden
+from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain.
+He wished to make use of her--of her, the woman whom he loved.
+Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the
+anger passed.
+
+"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach
+London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy."
+
+"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether
+he is in heaven or upon earth.  It will not be opened in London.
+He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which
+he robbed Dorward.  Oh!  it is a difficult game, I know, but it is
+worth playing.  Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators.
+It is your country's very existence that is threatened.  It is for
+her sake as well as for England."
+
+"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face.  "Oh,
+you may be sure that I shall do my best!"
+
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away.  The electric
+lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light
+dim.  Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to
+leave at Munich.  Then he rang for the porter.
+
+"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced.
+
+"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered.
+
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+
+"You are a Frenchman?"
+
+"It is so, Monsieur!"
+
+"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if
+I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians
+you would tell me the truth."
+
+The man's gesture was inimitable.  Englishmen to him were obviously
+the salt of the earth.  Germans and Austrians--why, they existed
+as the cattle in the fields--nothing more.  Bellamy gave him a
+sovereign.
+
+"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said.  "They
+are in numbers ten and eleven."
+
+"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented.  "As yet I think they are
+fast asleep.  Not one of them has rung for his coffee."
+
+"Where are they booked for?"
+
+"For London, Monsieur."
+
+"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say
+anything about leaving the train before then?"
+
+"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen
+have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover.  They were very
+anxious to travel by a turbine."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Thank you very much.  You will be so discreet as to forget that I
+have asked you any questions concerning them.  As for me, if one
+would know, I am on my way to Berlin."
+
+The bell rang.  The man looked outside and put his head once more
+in Bellamy's coupe.
+
+"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared.  "If
+anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once
+to Monsieur."
+
+"You will do well," Bellamy answered.
+
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+
+"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in
+their pyjamas.  They have ordered their breakfast to be served after
+we leave Munich."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of
+them asked me whether the English gentleman--meaning you--was
+going through to London or not.  I told them that you were getting
+out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy said.  "If they ask any more questions, let
+me know."
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were
+traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective
+toilette.  At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked
+down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with
+his companions in one of the compartments.
+
+"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+
+He rose to his feet and came out.  Tall, with a fair moustache and
+blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to
+be proud of the fact.
+
+"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+
+"Excellently," replied Louise.  "Will you not take me in to luncheon?
+The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone.  It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids."
+
+"I am honored," he declared.  "Will you permit me for one moment?"
+
+He turned and spoke to his companions.  Louise saw at once that they
+were protesting vigorously.  She saw, too, that Von Behrling only
+became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry.  She moved
+a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the
+window.  He joined her almost immediately.
+
+"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes.
+We will go and take a good place."
+
+"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your
+leaving them.  They are not very gallant."
+
+"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache.  "Streuss there is an old fool.  He has always some
+fancy in his brain."
+
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+
+"You are your own master, I suppose," she said.  "The Baron is
+used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets.  There are
+many people who find him too autocratic."
+
+"He means well," Von Behrling asserted.  "It is his manner only
+which is against him."
+
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across
+the white cloth.
+
+"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant
+than lunching alone."
+
+"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous
+twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so."
+
+"Always gallant," she murmured.  "Tell me, is it true of you--the
+news which I heard just before I left Vienna?  Have you really
+resigned your post with the Chancellor?"
+
+"You heard that?" he asked slowly.
+
+She hesitated for a moment.
+
+"I heard something of the sort," she admitted.  "To be quite candid
+with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a
+change on his own account."
+
+"So that is what they say, is it?  What do they know about it--these
+gossipers?"
+
+"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked.
+
+"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing."
+
+"Ah!  well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape,
+"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me
+wild.  I should not have been content until I had learned somehow
+or other what had transpired.  Lately, I am afraid, my interest in
+my country seems to have grown a trifle cold.  Perhaps because I
+have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your
+point of view.  Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own
+little careers are, after all, the most important part of it."
+
+Von Behrling eyed her Curiously.
+
+"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked.
+
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+
+"Oh!  I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still
+hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with
+me, I must admit.  If we had two lives, I would give one to my
+country and keep one for myself.  Since we have only one, I am
+afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its
+pleasures."
+
+"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily.
+"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!"
+
+"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered.  "One needs many
+things to get the best out of life.  One needs wealth and one needs
+love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy."
+
+"It is true," Von Behrling admitted,--"quite true."
+
+"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by.
+They can never come again.  If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance."
+
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom.  He was twenty-five years
+old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms.  Of late, this
+fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments.
+
+"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this.  You have
+the world at your feet, Mademoiselle.  You have only to throw the
+handkerchief."
+
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile.  The bluest eyes in the world
+grew softer as they looked into his.  Von Behrling felt his cheeks
+burn.
+
+"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured.  "Tell me," she
+continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence.  Is
+it because you are poor?"
+
+"I am a beggar,"--bitterly.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought,
+"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you
+have compensations."
+
+"But I have none!" he declared.  "You should know that--you,
+Mademoiselle.  Life for me means one thing and one thing only!"
+
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth.  Von
+Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+
+"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file
+in to take their places.  "After luncheon we will take our coffee
+in my coupe.  Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters.  I
+have a headache.  Will you order me some champagne?  It is a terrible
+thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels,
+what can one do?  Here come your bodyguard.  They look at me as
+though I had stolen you away.  Remember we take our coffee together
+afterwards.  I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you
+to amuse me."
+
+Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts.
+The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself
+to have transported him into a seventh heaven.  On the other hand,
+he had trouble with his friends.  Streuss drew him on one side at
+Ostend, and talked to him plainly.
+
+"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and
+myself.  Wine and women and pleasure are good things.  We two, we
+love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for
+them, and it is not now.  Our mission is too serious."
+
+"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this?
+What do I do wrong?  What have you to say against me?  If I talk
+with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for
+me to do.  Would you have us three--you and Kahn and myself--travel
+arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers?  Would
+you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret
+mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already
+committed a crime?  These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss.  It
+is better that we behave like ordinary mortals.  You talk foolishly,
+Streuss!"
+
+"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will
+not have it!  Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot.  She
+is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman.  She and he were
+together last night."
+
+"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested.  "He
+went north to Berlin.  That itself is the proof that they know
+nothing.  If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that
+he would have stayed with us?"
+
+"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered.  "There are too many of
+us to deal with,--he knew that.  Mademoiselle Idiale is clever,
+too.  Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through
+false women.
+
+"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded.
+
+"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle."
+
+Von Behrling drew himself up.  After all, it was he who was noble;
+Streuss was little more than a policeman.
+
+"I refuse!" he exclaimed.  "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am
+in charge of this expedition.  It was I who planned it.  It was I"--he
+dropped his voice and touched his chest--"who struck the
+first blow for its success.  I think that we need talk no more," he
+went on.  "I welcome your companionship.  It makes for strength
+that we travel together.  But for the rest, the enterprise has been
+mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it
+shall be mine.  Watch me, if you like.  Stay with me and see that
+I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of
+myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot."
+
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly.  The siren was already blowing
+from the steamer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+
+
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth.  Louise,
+wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left
+the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck.  Von Behrling
+found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across.
+She beckoned him to her side.  Her eyes glowed at him through the
+darkness.
+
+"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared.  "By myself
+I had to find this place."
+
+Von Behrling was ruffled.  He was also humbly apologetic.
+
+"It is those idiots who are with me," he said.  "All the time they
+worry."
+
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+
+"I know what it is," she said.  "You have secrets which you are
+taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian.
+Tell me, is it not so?  Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy."
+
+Von Behrling hesitated.  She drew him closer towards her.
+
+"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail.
+You are too big to talk to up there.  So!  Now you can come
+underneath my rug.  Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?"
+
+"Is it without reason?" he asked.  "Would not any one be afraid of
+you--if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets?
+I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger."
+
+She laughed at him softly.
+
+"Ah, no!" she said.  "Men are not like that, nowadays.  They talk
+and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake."
+
+"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone.
+
+"I do, indeed.  One reads love-stories--no, I do not mean romances,
+but memoirs--memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts--memoirs,
+even, written by Englishmen.  Men were different a generation ago.
+Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet
+there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these
+things for the love of a woman.
+
+"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely.
+
+"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there
+are very few."
+
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized
+his state of excitement.
+
+"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a
+laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna.  I--the poverty-stricken,
+who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you--have dared
+to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart
+above all the women on earth."
+
+"It is very nice of you," she murmured.  "Why do you tell me this
+now?"
+
+"Why, indeed?" he answered.  "What have I to hope for?"
+
+She looked along the deck.  Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends
+burned red through the gloom.  She knew very well that those cigar
+ends belonged to Streuss and his friend.  She laughed softly and
+once more she bent her head.
+
+"How they watch you, those men!" she said.  "Listen, my friend
+Rudolph.  Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really
+a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else
+you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!"
+
+"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+She laughed.
+
+"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing
+you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt
+it?  The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret
+Service Department, is he not?  To me he seems the most obvious
+policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman."
+
+"You don't mean it!" he muttered.  "You can't mean what you said
+just now!"
+
+She was silent for a few moments.  Some one passing struck a match,
+and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by
+her side--strained now and curiously intense.
+
+"Supposing I did!"
+
+"You must be mad!" he declared.  "You must not talk to me like this,
+Mademoiselle.  I have no secret.  It is your humor, I know, but it
+is dangerous."
+
+"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone.  I say again,
+Rudolph, supposing this were true?"
+
+His hand passed across his forehead.  She fancied that he made a
+motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+
+"Stay here," she whispered.  "No, I do not wish to drive you away.
+Now you are here you shall listen to me."
+
+"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered.  "Don't tell me that you
+are in earnest.  It is treason.  I am Rudolph Von Behrling,
+Secretary to the Chancellor."
+
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+
+"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are
+indeed the Chancellor's secretary.  What do you gain from it?  A
+pittance!  Many hours work a day and a pittance.  What have you to
+look forward to?  A little official life, a stupid official position.
+Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world.  Do I not represent
+other things?"
+
+"God knows you do!" he muttered.
+
+"I, too, am weary of singing.  I want a long rest--a long rest and
+a better name than my own.  Don't shrink away from me.  It isn't so
+wonderful, after all.  Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few
+hours ago.  He was Dorward's friend.  He knew well what Dorward
+carried.  It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from
+him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends."
+
+"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared.  "You must stop!  I must
+not listen to this!"
+
+"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet
+in your pocket.  Think of that, my friend.  It would be a start in
+life, would it not?  I am an extravagant woman.  Even if I would, I
+dared not think of a poor man.  But twenty thousand pounds is
+sufficient.  When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has
+been waiting for me for weeks--15, Dover Street.  If you bring that
+packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there
+will be twenty thousand pounds and--"
+
+Her fingers suddenly held his.  She could almost hear his heart
+beating.  Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the
+tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face.
+She whispered a warning under her breath.  The two cigar ends had
+moved nearer.  The forms of the two men were now distinct.  One was
+leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side.  The other
+stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover.  Von Behrling
+staggered to his feet.  He said something in an angry undertone to
+Streuss.  Louise rose and shook out her furs.
+
+"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can
+spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids?  You will find
+them both in my cabin, number three.  I wish to walk for a few
+moments before we arrive."
+
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream.  Mademoiselle Idiale
+followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions.
+
+
+The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully
+planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram
+announcing her journey to London.  There was an engaged carriage at
+Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the
+Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her.
+Von Behrling seemed to be missing.  She had seen nothing of him
+since he had descended to summon her maids.  But just as the train
+was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment
+later his white face was pressed through the open window of the
+carriage.
+
+"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire!  I cannot talk to you!  I fear
+that they suspect something.  They have told me that if I travel
+with you they will force their way in.  Even now, Streuss comes.
+Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can.  I must
+think--I must think!"
+
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES"
+
+
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two
+o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of
+correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he
+knew well.  He tore open the envelope.
+
+
+DAVID DEAR,--I have just arrived and I am sending you these few
+lines at once.  As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for
+certain, but there is a chance.  You had better get the money ready
+and come to me here.  If R. could only escape from Streuss and
+those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they
+are suspicious.  What may happen I cannot tell.  I do my best and
+I have hated it.  Get the money ready and come to me.
+
+                                                           LOUISE.
+
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces.  Then
+he rang for his servant.  "A bath and some clean clothes quickly,"
+he ordered.  "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see
+if Sir James is there.  If not, find out exactly where he is.  I
+must see him within half an hour.  Afterwards, get me a taxicab."
+
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained
+servant.  In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy
+had left his rooms.  Before four o'clock he had arrived at the
+address which Louise had given him.  A commissionaire telephoned his
+name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced
+French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to
+Bellamy.
+
+"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed.
+
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first
+floor.  He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with
+roses.
+
+"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is
+engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to
+receive Monsieur."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at
+her service.  My time is of no consequence."
+
+The man bowed and withdrew.  Louise came to him almost directly from
+an inner chamber.  She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of
+her journey seemed already to have passed away.  Her eyes were
+bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks.
+
+"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!"
+
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment.  Then she walked
+to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood
+there listening for a moment.
+
+"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I
+cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England.  I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any
+of the servants he has engaged for me.  You got my note?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, "I had your note--and I am here."
+
+The restraint of his manner was obvious.  He was standing a little
+away from her.  She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon
+his shoulders, her face was upturned to his.  Even then he made no
+motion to embrace her.
+
+"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing--what I have done--was
+at your suggestion.  I do it for you, I do it for my country,
+I do it against every natural feeling I possess.  I hate and loathe
+the lies I tell.  Are you remembering that?  Is it in your heart at
+this moment?"
+
+He stooped and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human.
+We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets."
+
+"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon
+my lips.  What I have promised goes for nothing.  What he has
+promised is this--the papers to-night."
+
+"Unopened?"
+
+"Unopened," she repeated, softly.
+
+"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked.  "He must have arrived
+in London when you did last night.  How is it they are not already
+at the Embassy?"
+
+"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained.  "He cannot
+be back until late to-night.  No one else has a key to the treaty
+safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one
+save the Ambassador himself."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"What about Streuss?"
+
+"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said.  "Yet, after
+all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side.  His
+orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the
+safe by the Ambassador himself."
+
+"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be
+in your hands."
+
+"How is it to be done?"
+
+"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap.
+They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's
+crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest.
+He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and
+signed it with his seal.  It is this which he will hand over to the
+Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly.  The real one he has
+concealed."
+
+"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered.  "My dear David, what are you
+thinking of?  He is not here and he dare not come here.  You are to
+go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between
+five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the
+telephone.  A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night.
+You must take the money there and receive the packet.  Von Behrling
+will be disguised and prepared for flight."
+
+Bellamy's eyes glowed.
+
+"You believe this?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I believe it," she replied.  "He is going to do it.  After he has
+seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth.  I have promised--don't
+look at me, David--I have promised to join him there."
+
+Bellamy was grave.
+
+"There will be trouble," he said.  "He will come back.  He will want
+to shoot you.  He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is
+passionate."
+
+"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh.  "Have I ever
+shown fear of my life?  No, David!  It is not that of which I am
+afraid.  It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which
+was in your face when you came into the room.  These are the things
+I fear--not death."
+
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he begged.  "At such times a man is a weak thing--a
+weak and selfish thing.  I am ashamed of myself.  I should have
+known better than to have doubted you for a moment.  I know you so
+well, Louise.  I know what you are."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy.  And now you must go away.
+Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude.  Over here I
+am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden.  See my
+roses.  There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in
+the place now.  The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and
+two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new
+manager of mine in the dining-room.  Between five and six o'clock
+this afternoon you will get the message.  It is somewhere, I think,
+in the city that you will have to go.  There will be no trouble
+about the money?  Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use."
+
+"I have it in my pocket," he answered.  "I have it in notes, but he
+need never fear that they will be traced.  The numbers of notes
+given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's
+memory."
+
+She drew a little sigh.
+
+"It is a great sum," she said.  "After all, he should be grateful
+to me.  If only he would be sensible and get away to the United
+States or to South America!  He could live there like a prince,
+poor fellow.  He would be far happier."
+
+"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed.  "There is one thing
+to be remembered.  If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four
+hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you
+harm.  The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at
+trifles.  Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of
+spies at their bidding here.  If they find out that he has tricked
+them, they will hunt him down, and before long."
+
+Louise shivered.
+
+"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away!  He is a traitor,
+of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all,
+I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it.
+That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint
+smile.  "Ah!  well, you see, for five years so many have been trying
+to turn my head.  No wonder if I begin to believe some of their
+stories.  David, I must go.  I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting
+any longer."
+
+"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come.  I am afraid
+I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise."
+
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+
+"That is my signal," she declared smiling.  "De. Henschell was
+almost beside himself that I came away.  I come, Doctor," she called
+out.  "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands.  "Now
+go, dear."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+
+
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but
+somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in
+appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never
+been more strongly evident.  They were partners in business and face
+to face with ruin.  Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm,
+although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut,
+powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that
+dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served
+him well along the road to fortune.  Arthur Morrison, the man who
+sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips
+notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with
+tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale
+face.  Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream.  He
+floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child.  The hand
+of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw
+him as he really was.
+
+"I can't stand it, Laverick,--I couldn't face them all.  It's too
+cruel--too horrible!  Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week,
+forty thousand in a month!  Forty thousand pounds!  Oh, my God!"
+
+He writhed in agony.  The man on the other side of the table said
+nothing.
+
+"If we could only have held on a little longer!  'Unions' must turn!
+They will turn!  Laverick, have you tried all your friends?  Think!
+Have you tried them all?  Twenty thousand pounds would see us through
+it.  We should get our own money back--I am sure of it.  There's
+Rendell, Laverick.  He'd do anything for you.  You're always shooting
+or playing cricket with him.  Have you asked him, Laverick?  He'd
+never miss the money."
+
+"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered.
+"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend."
+
+"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately.  "Every
+one does it sometimes.  He'd be glad to help you.  I know he would.
+Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be
+hammered?"
+
+"I have," Laverick admitted wearily.  "God knows it seems as
+terrible a thing to me as it can to you!  But if we go down, we
+must go down with clean hands.  I've no faith in your infernal
+market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend."
+
+The Jew's face was almost piteous.  He stretched himself across the
+table.  There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+
+"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong.  I know you think I've
+been led away.  I've taken you out of our depth, but the only
+trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing.
+Those who stand up will win.  They will make money."
+
+"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up.  Please
+understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way.
+I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend.  I have asked
+the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors.
+To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they
+are concerned.  As you know, they have refused.  If you see any hope
+in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends?  For
+every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom
+friends with at least twenty."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered.  "They will
+drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but
+they do not lend money.  If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking?  Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us
+the money.  I would even kiss his feet.  I cannot bear it, Laverick!
+I cannot!  I cannot!"
+
+Laverick said nothing.  Words were useless things, wasted upon such
+a creature.  He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no
+pains to conceal.  This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended
+to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young
+men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a
+money-maker if ever there was one!  Laverick thought of him as he
+appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed,
+with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny,
+hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the
+real thing.  What a collapse!
+
+"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table.
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered.
+
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+
+"I can't!  I can't!" he moaned.  "I couldn't bear seeing all the
+fellows, hearing them whisper things--oh, Lord!  Oh, Lord!...
+Laverick, we've a few hundreds left.  Give me something and let me
+out of it.  You're a stronger sort of man than I am.  You can face
+it,--I can't!  Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I
+do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  His companion watched his face
+eagerly.  After all, why not let him go?  He was no help, no comfort.
+The very sight of him was contemptible.
+
+"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said
+slowly.  "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious
+that they guessed how things were."
+
+"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly.
+"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft.  How much have
+we got in the safe?"
+
+"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques.
+You can count the proceeds for yourself.  There are, I think, eleven
+hundred pounds.  You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take
+them with you--to any place you like."
+
+The young man was already at the safe.  The notes were between them,
+on the table.  He counted quickly with the fingers of a born
+manipulator of money.  When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty
+pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his.
+
+"No more," he ordered sternly.
+
+"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred
+is five hundred and fifty.  Why should we not go halves?  That is
+only fair, Laverick.  It is little enough.  We ought to have had a
+great deal more."
+
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder
+of the notes.
+
+"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,"
+he said, "for various reasons.  For one, I can bear this thing
+better alone.  As for the rest of the money, it remains there for
+the accountant who liquidates our affairs.  I do not propose to
+touch a penny of it."
+
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh.
+Such ways were not his ways.  They were not, indeed, within the
+limit of his understanding.  But of his partner he had learned one
+thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth.
+He shambled toward the door.  On the whole, he was lucky to have
+got the two hundred and fifty pounds.
+
+"So long, Laverick," he said from the door.  "I'm--I'm sorry."
+
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his
+hand.  Laverick nodded, not unkindly.  After all, this young man was
+as he had been made.
+
+"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said.  "Try South Africa."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ROBBING THE DEAD
+
+
+The roar of the day was long since over.  The rattle of vehicles,
+the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars
+and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away.
+Outside, the streets were almost deserted.  An occasional wayfarer
+passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps.  Here and
+there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger
+blocks of offices.  The bustle of the day was finished.  There is
+no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares
+of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight.
+
+Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little
+snap and leaned back in his chair.  After all, save that he had got
+rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening.  Not even he, whose
+financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from
+those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable
+one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking
+by his side for the last thirty-six hours.  One by one during the
+evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his
+wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably
+inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how
+things were.  Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison
+was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow
+twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at
+their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe.
+
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last,
+turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into
+the silent street.  Instinctively he turned his steps westwards.
+This might well be the last night on which he would care to show
+himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could
+mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of
+consciousness which follows upon disaster.  Already there was little
+enough left of it.  It was too late to change and go to his club.
+The places of amusement were already closed.  To-morrow night, both
+club and theatres would lie outside his world.  He walked slowly,
+yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a
+purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to
+light a cigarette.  It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few
+yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old
+churchyard--strange survival in such a part--and on the other
+the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker,
+an actuary.  It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance
+up the entry before he blew out the match.  Then he gave a quick
+start and became for a moment paralyzed.  Within a few feet of him
+something was lying on the ground--a dark mass, black and soft--the
+body of a man, perhaps.  Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed
+at him through the semi-darkness.
+
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy.  It might be a tramp
+or a drunkard, perhaps,--a fight, or a man taken ill.  Then
+something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his
+heart beating faster.  He struck another match with firm fingers,
+and bent forward.  What he saw upon the ground made him feel a
+little sick.  What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him
+to swift pursuit.  Down the arched court into the open space he ran,
+himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike
+form which he pursued.  At the end was another street--empty.  He
+looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life.  There
+was nothing to tell him which way to turn.  Opposite was a very
+labyrinth of courts and turnings.  There was not even the sound of
+a footfall to guide him.  Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another
+match, and leaned over the prostrate figure.  Then he knew that it
+was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means.
+These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself.
+Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed.
+A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt
+through the heart of the murdered man.  There had been other blows,
+notably about the head.  There was not much blood, but the position
+of the knife alone told its ugly story.  Laverick, though his nerves
+were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked.  He rose to
+his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping.  The
+street was no longer empty.
+
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in
+the middle of the road.  The light from the lamp-post escaped his
+face.  Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height,
+dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his
+overcoat.  To all appearance, he was watching the entry.  Laverick
+took a step towards him--the man as deliberately took a step further
+away.  Laverick held up his hand.
+
+"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned.
+
+The person addressed took no notice.  Laverick advanced another two
+or three steps--the man retreated a similar distance.  Laverick
+changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward.  The man
+hesitated no longer--he turned and ran as though for his life.  In
+a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight.
+Laverick returned slowly to the entry.
+
+A distant clock struck midnight.  A couple of clerks came along the
+pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters.
+Laverick hesitated.  He was never afterwards able to account for the
+impulse which prevented his calling out to them.  Instead he lurked
+in the shadows and watched them go by.  When he was sure that they
+had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered
+man.  Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a
+nameless and terrible fascination for him.  His first feelings of
+horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity.  What manner
+of man was he?  He was tall and strongly built; fair--of almost
+florid complexion.  His clothes were very shabby and apparently
+ready-made.  His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed
+closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen.  Laverick stooped
+lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees.  There
+was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been
+half snatched out--a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the
+size of a satchel.  Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand
+whilst with firm fingers he struck another match.  Then, for the
+first time, a little cry broke from his lips.  Both sides of the
+pocket-book were filled with bank-notes.  As his match flickered
+out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner--500
+pounds!--great rolls of them!  Laverick rose gasping to his
+feet.  It was a new Arabian Nights, this!--a dream!--a continuation
+of the nightmare which had threatened him all day!  Or was it,
+perhaps, the madness coming--the madness which he had begun only
+an hour or so ago to fear!
+
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down.  The
+mysterious stranger had vanished.  There was not a soul in sight.
+He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the
+pavement with his heels.  There was no doubt about it--everything
+around him was real.  Most real of all was the fact that within a
+few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that
+brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents.  For the
+last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up
+shape.  One by one he went through the other pockets.  There was a
+packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver,
+and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained
+with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings.
+There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification
+of any sort.  Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the
+thoughts that went tearing through his brain.  The pocket-book began
+to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon
+his forehead.  Yet he never hesitated.  He walked like a man in a
+dream, but his footsteps were steady and short.  Deliberately, and
+without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices.  If
+a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided
+to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened.  It was the
+one chance he held against himself,--the gambler's method of
+decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at.  As it turned out, there
+was still not a soul in sight.  Laverick opened the outer door with
+his latchkey, let himself in and closed it.  Then he groped his way
+through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the
+electric light and once more sat down before his desk.
+
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with
+a nervousness wholly unfamiliar.  Then he opened the pocket-book,
+drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them.  It was curious
+that he felt no surprise at their value.  Bank-notes for five
+hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with
+his task without the slightest instinct of surprise.  Then he leaned
+back in his chair.  Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes!
+There they lay on the table before him.  A man had died for their
+sake,--another must go through all the days with the price of blood
+upon his head--a murderer--a haunted creature for the rest of his
+life.  And there on the table were the spoils.  Laverick tried to
+think the matter out dispassionately.  He was a man of average moral
+fibre--that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other
+men because his father and his grandfather before him had been
+honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful.  Here,
+however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem.
+These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man.  Save for
+his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his
+murderer.  The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm.
+Such risk as there was he took himself.  That it was a risk he knew
+and fully realized.  Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his
+partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery.  Yet of the two
+men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position
+the more keenly.  He was a man of some social standing, with a
+large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests
+outside the daily routine of his city life.  To him failure meant
+more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life
+worth having.  The days to come had been emptied of all promise.
+He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had
+strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities
+and humiliation to come.  And here before him was possible salvation.
+There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making
+use even for an hour of this money.  Yet from the first he had known
+that he meant to do it.
+
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book
+into one of the drawers, and locked it up.  Then he lit a cigarette,
+finally shut up the office and walked down the street.  As he passed
+the entry he turned his head slowly.  Apparently no one had been
+there, nothing had been disturbed.  Straining his eyes through the
+darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up
+on the ground.  Then he walked on.  He had burned his boats now and
+was prepared for all emergencies.  At the corner he met a policeman,
+to whom he wished a cheery good-night.  He told himself that the
+thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself.
+He owed it to those who had trusted him.  After all, it was the
+chief part of his life--his city career.  It was here that his
+friends lived.  It was here that his ambitions flourished.  Disgrace
+here was eternal disgrace.  His father and his grandfather before
+him had been men honored and respected in this same circle.  Disgrace
+to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a
+few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection
+upon their memories.  The names upon the brass plates to right and
+to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he
+desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth
+living or the reverse.  It was worth a great risk--this effort of
+his to keep his place.  His one mistake--this association with
+Morrison--had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck.  He
+was rid of the fellow now.  For the future there should be no more
+partners.  He had his life to live.  It was not reasonable that he
+should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a
+creature.  He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria
+Street, and hailed it.
+
+"Whitehall Court," he told the driver.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+
+
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life
+it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien.  But this
+was disaster too appalling even for his self-control.  He felt his
+knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which
+he was standing.  There was no possible doubt about it, he had been
+tricked.  Von Behrling, after all,--Von Behrling, whom he had
+looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell
+his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+
+The man who sat at the head of the table--the only other occupant
+of the room--was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat.
+He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's
+message had summoned him.  Before him on the table was an envelope,
+hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper.  It was upon
+these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled
+horror and amazement.  The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them
+away with a little gesture of contempt.
+
+"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious
+an error.
+
+"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered.  "I--yes, I have been deceived."
+
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+
+"What is to be done?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together.  He caught up the
+envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper
+to the lamp and laid them down.  Then with clenched fists he walked
+to the other side of the room and returned.  He was himself again.
+
+"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry.
+Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the
+city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope."
+
+"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without
+opening the envelope."
+
+Bellamy admitted it.
+
+"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are
+almost inevitable.  I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd
+risk.  To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience
+in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the
+money.  Von Behrling was there in disguise.  The men with whom he
+came to this country are furious with him.  To all appearance, he
+seemed to have broken with them absolutely.  Even now--
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall
+of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in
+his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake.  An
+envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others
+or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency.  He had it
+with him in his pocket-book.  He even told me so.  God in Heaven,
+he gave me the wrong one!"
+
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+
+"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy
+to-night, especially if he was in disguise.  You may still be able
+to find him and repair the error.
+
+"I will try," answered Bellamy.  "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a
+sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his
+footsteps.  I can find out before morning where he went when he
+left our rendezvous.  There is another way, too.  Mademoiselle--this
+man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country
+with him.  She was to have had a message within the next few hours."
+
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often.  The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above
+supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to
+have paid for this."
+
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger.  Bellamy's
+teeth were clenched.
+
+"The money shall be returned, sir.
+
+"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more
+kindly.  "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was
+destined to purchase, is nothing.  We might even count it a fair
+risk if it was lost."
+
+"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised.  "If Von Behrling has
+played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country.  In
+that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt.  If, on
+the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country,
+as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late."
+
+"Let us hope not," Sir James declared.  "Bellamy," he continued, a
+note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I
+am sure, how important this matter is.  You work like a mole in the
+dark, yet you have brains,--you understand.  Let me tell you how
+things are with us.  A certain amount of confidence is due to you,
+if to any one.  I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a
+very serious tone prevailed.  We do not understand in the least the
+attitude of several of the European Powers.  It can be understood
+only under certain assumptions.  A note of ours sent through the
+Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days.  The
+German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent
+business.  We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from
+Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris.  Side by side with
+all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his
+promised visit here.  The note we have received speaks of his
+health.  Well, we know all about that.  We know, I may tell you,
+that his health has never been better than at the present moment."
+
+"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed.  "In
+Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile.  Even
+the man in the street seems to know what is coming."
+
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat.  His hands were tightly
+clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes.  Those
+who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during
+the last few weeks.
+
+"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in
+my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the
+Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe
+to-day."
+
+"An army," murmured Bellamy.
+
+"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated
+of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with
+their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us.  Secretly we are
+mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little
+sigh.  "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful.  Even
+if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things
+on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else
+suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known.  If we
+could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at
+those empty sheets of paper.  "It is this darkness which is so
+alarming!"
+
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+
+"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news."
+
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street.  It was half-past one, but
+he had no fear of not being admitted.  Louise's French maid answered
+the bell.
+
+"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile.  "It
+is only a few minutes ago that she has returned."
+
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room.  She was gorgeous in blue
+satin and pearls.  Her other maid was taking off her jewels.  She
+dismissed both the women abruptly.
+
+"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out
+her hands.  "You expected that, of course.  You were not at the
+Opera House?"
+
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle.  It
+was securely closed.  He came back slowly to her side.  Her eyes
+were questioning him fiercely.
+
+"Well?" she exclaimed.  "Well?"
+
+"Have you heard from Von Behrling?"
+
+"No," she answered.  "He knew that I must sing to-night.  I have
+been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home.  You
+have seen him?"
+
+"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted.  "Either he has deceived us
+both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened.
+Listen.  I met him where he appointed.  He was there, disguised,
+almost unrecognizable.  He was nervous and desperate; he had the air
+of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world.  I gave him the
+money,--twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,--and
+he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers.
+He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a
+little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to
+Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the
+hotel there later on.  You have not heard yet, then?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There has been no message, but go on."
+
+"He gave me the wrong document--the wrong envelope," continued
+Bellamy.  "When I took it to--to Downing Street, it was full of
+blank paper."
+
+The color slowly left her cheeks.  She looked at him with horror in
+her face.
+
+"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed.
+
+"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered.  "My own impression is that he
+did not.  We must find out at once what has become of him.  He might
+even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has,
+believing it to be the duplicate.  He is sure to telephone you.  The
+moment you hear you must let me know."
+
+"You had better stay here," she declared.  "There are plenty of
+rooms.  You will be on the spot then."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go.
+That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere.  That is one reason why
+I believe that Von Behrling was serious.
+
+"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated.
+
+"You are sure?" Bellamy asked.  "You have never had even any doubt
+about him?"
+
+"Never," she answered firmly.  "David, I had not meant to tell you
+this.  You know that I saw him for a moment this morning.  He was
+in deadly earnest.  He gave me a ring--a trifle--but it had
+belonged to his mother.  He would not have done this if he had been
+playing us false."
+
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+
+"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed.  "I shall go back to my rooms
+at once.  Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there
+may be a report for me.  If anything comes here, you will telephone
+at once?"
+
+"Of course," she assented.
+
+"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would
+attempt to see you here?"
+
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+
+"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that."
+
+"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait.  Dear," he added, in
+an altered tone, "how splendid you look!"
+
+Her face suddenly softened.
+
+"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a
+moment--it makes everything seem so different!"
+
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able
+to give up this life of anxiety and terrors.  But it cannot be
+yet--not for your country's sake or mine."
+
+She kissed him fondly.
+
+"So long as there is hope!" she whispered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+
+
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when
+the more confidential of her maids--Annette, the Frenchwoman--woke
+her with a light touch of the arm.  She sat up in bed sleepily.
+
+"What is it, Annette?" she asked.  "Surely it is not mid-day yet?
+Why do you disturb me?"
+
+"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur
+Bellamy--Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever
+he came.  He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient."
+
+"Did he send any message?"
+
+"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied.
+
+Louise sighed,--she was really very sleepy.  Then, as the thoughts
+began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember.  Some
+part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned.
+
+"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered.  "Tell Monsieur
+Bellamy that I hurry.  I will be with him in twenty minutes."
+
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory.  She came
+at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she
+herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+
+"David!" she cried,--"my dear David--!"
+
+Then she broke off.
+
+"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone.
+
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+
+"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely.  "Von Behrling was true, after
+all,--at least, it seems so."
+
+"What has happened?" she demanded.
+
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+
+"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous."
+
+A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips.  She sat down
+suddenly.  The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her
+bath was rapidly fading away.
+
+"David," she murmured, "is this true?"
+
+"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her.  "Not only that, but there is
+no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder.  It must
+have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got
+away with the pocket-book and the money."
+
+"What can we do?" she asked.
+
+"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly.  "We are
+defeated.  The thing is quite apparent.  Von Behrling never
+succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who
+were watching him.  They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited
+about while I met him.  Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow
+passage.  It was there that he was found murdered."
+
+"But, David, I don't understand!  Why did they wait until after he
+had seen you?  How did they know that he had not parted with the
+paper in the restaurant?  To all intents and purposes he ought to
+have done so."
+
+"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted.  "In fact, it
+is inexplicable."
+
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report.  Then, "You
+are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling?  He is
+quite unidentified, you see."
+
+"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared.  "I have been to
+the Mortuary.  It is certainly he.  All our work has been in
+vain--just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of
+it."
+
+She looked at him compassionately.
+
+"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted.  "You are tired, too.  You
+look as though you had been up all night."
+
+"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair.  "I am worse
+than tired.  This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I
+am afraid that it is the end of everything.  I have lost twenty
+thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance
+which might have saved England.  They will never trust me again."
+
+"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm
+of his chair.  "You did your best, David."
+
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his--smooth
+and cold--exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+
+"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous.
+Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others.  What do you
+think?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do?  Could
+we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were
+coming to pass?  Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were
+being butchered out of existence?--  And you--you are not the sort
+of man to be content with an ignoble peace.  No, it isn't possible.
+Our work may not be over yet--"
+
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many
+apologies.
+
+"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur
+also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is
+of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once.  I
+have done all that I can, but he will not go away.  He knows that
+Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and
+he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle."
+
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers.  He read
+out the name in blank amazement.
+
+"Baron de Streuss!"
+
+There was a moment's silence.  Louise and he exchanged wondering
+glances.
+
+"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely.
+
+"Heaven knows!" he answered.  "Let us see him together.  After
+all--after all--"
+
+"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered.
+
+"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come
+to us?  It is not like these men to be vindictive.  Diplomacy to
+them is nothing--a game of chess.  I do not understand."
+
+The door opened.  Annette announced their visitor.  Streuss bowed
+low to Louise--he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+
+"I need not introduce myself," he said.  "With Mr. Bellamy I have
+the honor to be well acquainted.  Madame is known to all the world."
+
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+
+"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,"
+she said.  "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I
+owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?"
+
+"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be.  I know that
+it is an impossible hour.  I know, too, that to have forced my
+presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous.  Yet the
+urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me."
+
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow
+of thanks.
+
+"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste
+words.  We have played a game of chess together.  You, Mademoiselle,
+and Mr. Bellamy on the one side--I and my friends upon the other.
+The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought.
+The victory remains with you."
+
+Bellamy never moved a muscle.  Louise, on the contrary, could not
+help a slight start.
+
+"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the
+struggle was uneven.  I do myself the justice to remember that from
+the first I realized that we played a losing game.  Mademoiselle,"
+he added, "from the days of Cleopatra--ay, and throughout those
+shadowy days which lie beyond--the diplomats of the world have been
+powerless when matched against your sex.  Rudolph Von Behrling was
+an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes.  Mademoiselle,
+you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a
+stronger man."
+
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of
+her lips.  Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly.  She did
+not understand.
+
+"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured.
+
+"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth.  This plain talking
+is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it.
+That time, I think, is now.  Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice,
+but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me
+in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you,
+Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here.  We followed a man who, by
+some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap,
+the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and
+priceless to yours.  The subsequent history of those papers should
+have been automatic.  The first step was fulfilled readily enough.
+The man disappeared--the papers were ours.  Von Behrling was the
+man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them.
+If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have
+ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to
+Vienna.  The others thought differently.  They ruled that we should
+come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here.
+In a weak moment I consented.  It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle,
+an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself."
+
+This time Louise held herself with composure.  Bellamy's brain was
+in a whirl but he remained silent.
+
+"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open.  I
+come--I make no secret of it--I come to make terms.  But first of
+all I must know whether I am in time.  There is one question which
+I must ask.  I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to
+Bellamy.  "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the
+papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief.  Though he had maintained
+his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played
+with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling.
+
+"Well, then, I am in time.  Will you see my hand?"
+
+"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to
+listen to anything you may have to say."
+
+"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have
+come to say, yet I want you to remember this.  I do not come to
+bribe you in any ordinary manner.  The things which are to come will
+happen; they must happen, if not this year, next,--if not next year,
+within half a decade of years.  History is an absolute science.  The
+future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs.
+The thing which has been resolved upon is certain.  The knowledge
+of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the
+final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more.  In the
+long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every
+way, that the end come soon.  Therefore, I ask you to perform no
+traitorous deed.  I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable
+for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us.
+restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government,
+and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!"
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Bellamy repeated.
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise.
+
+There was a brief, intense pause.  Louise waited, warned by the
+expression in Bellamy's face.  Silence, she felt, was safest, and it
+was Bellamy who spoke.
+
+"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little
+amazing.  Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment."
+
+"Most certainly," the Baron agreed.  "I go away and leave you--out
+of the room, if you will."
+
+"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied.  "Louise!"  The Baron
+withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest
+corner of the room.
+
+"What can it mean?" he whispered.  "What do you suppose has happened?"
+
+"I cannot imagine.  My brain is in a whirl."
+
+"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must
+have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary.  If so, there is a
+chance.  Louise, say nothing; leave this to me."
+
+"As you will," she assented.  "I have no wish to interfere.  I only
+hope that he does not ask me any questions."
+
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron
+turned to meet them.
+
+"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little
+upset this morning.  She knows, of course, as I know and you know,
+that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried
+his life in his hands.  Yet his death has been a shock--has been a
+shock, I may say, to both of us.  From your point of view," Bellamy
+went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but--"
+
+"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted.
+"I do not understand at all!  You speak of Von Behrling's death!
+What do you mean?"
+
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+
+"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no
+need for you to play a part.  Von Behrling knew that you were
+watching him.  Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me.
+He knew that he was running terrible risks.  He was not unprepared
+and he has paid.  It is not for us--"
+
+"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted
+once more.  "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's
+death?"
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth.  He leaned forward
+with his hands resting upon the table.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you do not know?"
+
+"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron.
+
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+
+"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+
+
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers.  His face now
+was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and
+read the paragraph word by word.
+
+                     TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+
+        Early this morning the body of a man was discovered
+        in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to
+        Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little
+        doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play.
+        The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had
+        received several severe blows about the head.  He was
+        shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and
+        he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found.
+
+                            LATER
+
+        There appears to be no further doubt but that the man
+        found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been
+        the victim of a particularly murderous assault.  Neither
+        his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which
+        he could be identified.  The body has been removed to the
+        nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held.
+
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise
+was apparent.  He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion.
+While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts
+were forming in his mind.
+
+"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered.  "But who--who could have done
+this?"
+
+"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter
+concerning which we had any doubt.  The only wonder to us was that
+it should have been done too late."
+
+"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had
+completed his bargain with you?"
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it
+was done afterwards?  You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to
+think?  Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed.  How about
+yours?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"We do not fight that way," he replied.  "I had bought Von Behrling.
+He was of no further interest to me.  I did not care whether he
+lived or died."
+
+"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said.  "If
+neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?"
+
+"That I can't tell you.  Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from
+the police.  It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain
+long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in
+bank-notes."
+
+"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked.
+
+"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me."
+
+"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets
+from one another.  I will ask you one last question.  Where is that
+packet at the present moment?"
+
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+
+"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me
+to answer."
+
+"I will put it another way," Streuss continued.  "Supposing you
+decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can
+be placed in my hands?"
+
+"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why
+there should be any delay at all."
+
+Streuss was silent for several moments.  His hands were thrust deep
+down into the pockets of his overcoat.  With eyes fixed upon the
+tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised
+his head and looked steadily at Bellamy.
+
+"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you?  You are sure
+that you have that identical packet?"
+
+"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+
+"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss
+begged.  "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake
+to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within
+twenty-four hours."
+
+"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure,"
+he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder."
+
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+
+"There is little fear of that," he said.  "The papers are of no
+use except to us and to England.  To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the
+eventful result would be the same.  It is for that reason that I am
+here, for that reason that I have made you this offer."
+
+"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared.  "It is not
+a matter to be decided upon off-hand.  Remember that it is not only
+the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my
+honor."
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly.  "From your own
+side you get nothing--nothing but your beggarly salary and an
+occasional reprimand.  One hundred thousand pounds is not immense
+wealth, but it is something."
+
+"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt
+about that.  On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration.  It is a big thing for us, remember.  I have worked
+very hard for the contents of that packet."
+
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity.  After all,
+was this Englishman playing with him?  So he asked: "You are quite
+sure that you have it?"
+
+"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use.
+You must be content with my word.  I have the packet.  I paid Von
+Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands."
+
+"I must accept your word," Streuss declared.  "I give you three days
+for reflection.  Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer
+once more to this,"--touching the newspaper which still lay upon
+the table.  "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked
+man.  Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels.  Yet
+in the end some third person seems to have intervened.  Are you
+quite sure that you know nothing of this?"
+
+"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest
+information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read
+there.  It was as great a surprise to me as to you."
+
+"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured.
+
+"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone
+must have seen him with those notes.  There were people moving about
+in the little restaurant where we met.  The rustle of bank-notes has
+cost more than one man his life.
+
+"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so.
+Listen to me, both of you.  You will be wiser if you do not delay.
+You are young people, and the world is before you.  With money one
+can do everything.  Without it, life is but a slavery.  The world
+is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means
+to choose.  Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this
+transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer."
+
+"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him.
+
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+
+"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to
+Louise, "I go.  I must try and understand for myself the meaning of
+this thing which has happened to Von Behrling."
+
+"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we
+are equally interested."...
+
+They heard him go out.  Bellamy purposely held the door open until
+he saw the lift descend.  Then he closed it firmly and came back
+into the room.  Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full
+of anxious questioning.
+
+"What does it mean?" Louise cried.  "What can it mean?"
+
+"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered.  "There is not a gleam of
+daylight.  My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling.  If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his
+people are in the same position.  Who, then, in the name of all that
+is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?"
+
+"In London, too," Louise murmured.  "It is not Vienna, this, or
+Belgrade."
+
+"You are right," Bellamy agreed.  "London is one of the most
+law-abiding cities in Europe.  Besides, the quarter where the murder
+occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes.  It is
+simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+
+"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?" Louise asked,--"some one else who has been watching Von
+Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"How can that be?  Besides, if any one else were really on his track,
+they must have believed that he had parted with it to me.  I shall
+go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of
+Scotland Yard.  If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning."
+
+"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed
+again.  These days are too strenuous for me.  Won't you stay and take
+your coffee with me?"
+
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+
+"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what
+a maze this is into which we have wandered.  Von Behrling has been
+murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty
+thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine.  I must
+trace them if I can, Louise.  It is a poor chance, but I must do
+my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered
+for the money, and for the money only.  If so, that packet may be
+in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it.
+They may even destroy it.  If Streuss returns and you are forced to
+see him, be careful.  Remember, we have the document--we are
+hesitating.  So long as he believes that it is in our possession,
+he will not look elsewhere."
+
+"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck.
+"And, dear, take care.  When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling,
+I tremble, also, for you.  It seems to me that your danger is no
+less than his."
+
+"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,"
+with a smile.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is
+pledged to recover.  Be careful that they do not lead you into a
+trap.  They are not above anything, these men.  I heard once of a
+Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured--tortured almost to death--before
+he spoke.  Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum.  Remember,
+dear, they have no consciences and no pity."
+
+"We are in London," he reminded her.
+
+"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly,--"not only in London
+but in a safe part of London.  Yet he is dead."
+
+"It was not their doing," he declared.  "In their own country, they
+have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their
+backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts.  Here they must needs
+go cautiously.  I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling,
+as he opened the door.  "I think I can promise you that if you will
+do me the honor we will sup together to-night."
+
+"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted.  "It is
+a bargain.  I have suffered enough neglect at your hands.  One thing,
+David,--where do you go first from here?"
+
+"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von
+Behrling when he left me.  If any man in England knows anything of
+the murder, it must be he.  He should be at my rooms by now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+
+
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor--his friends called him an
+incorrigible one.  He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of
+rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river.  His habits
+were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning
+following his late night in the city was no exception to the
+general rule.  At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite
+knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready.  He
+awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the
+events of the preceding evening.
+
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of
+memory.  He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and
+by no means of an adventurous turn of mind.  He sought naturally
+for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which
+no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory.  It was a dream,
+of course.  But the dream did not fade.  Slowly it spread itself out
+so that he could no longer doubt.  He knew very well as he sat there
+on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth.  He, Stephen
+Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of
+which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked
+into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty
+thousand pounds of someone else's money.  Morally, at any
+rate,--probably legally as well,--he was a thief.  A glimpse inside his
+safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him
+under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper
+dye.
+
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher.  In
+the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath,
+this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible.
+Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action.  The
+thing was done; he must make the best of it.  Behaving in every way
+like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search
+hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his
+bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down
+to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper.  The item for
+which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as
+he had expected.  It appeared under one of the leading headlines,
+but it consisted of only a few words.  He read them with interest
+but without emotion.  Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange
+quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested.
+
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed
+his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal
+Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices.  A little
+crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from
+Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked
+curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain.
+It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind
+now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream
+of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway.  In his early morning
+mood the thing was impossible.  In a moment or two he paid his driver
+and dismissed him.
+
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when
+he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office.  He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which
+was brought in to him by his head-clerk.  Afterwards, as soon as he
+was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner
+drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and
+gloves.
+
+"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out.
+"I shall be back in half-an-hour--perhaps less."
+
+"Very good, sir," the man answered.  "Will Mr. Morrison be here this
+morning?"
+
+Laverick hesitated.
+
+"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day."
+
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an
+interview with the manager was immediately granted.  The latter
+received him kindly but with a certain restraint.  There are not
+many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular
+mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely
+commented upon.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked.
+
+"I am not sure," answered Laverick.  "To tell you the truth, I am
+in a somewhat singular position."
+
+The banker nodded.  He had not a doubt but that he understood
+exactly what that position was.
+
+"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late
+partner, Mr. Morrison,--"
+
+"Late partner?" the manager interrupted.
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison
+left the office with an understanding between us that he should not
+return.  You will receive a formal intimation of that during the
+course of the next day or so.  We will revert to the matter
+presently, if you wish.  My immediate business with you is to
+discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty
+thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock
+which Morrison has made."
+
+"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail
+to do so?" the manager remarked gravely.
+
+"Naturally," Laverick answered.  "I am quite aware of the fact that
+Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for
+his transactions.  He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great
+deal more deeply than our capital warranted.  I may add that I had
+not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings."
+
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money,
+Mr. Laverick."
+
+"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted.  "I am here to
+ask you to lend it to me."
+
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+
+"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully.
+
+"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued.  The bank manager
+was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to
+escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance.  It was entirely contrary
+to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of
+emotion.
+
+"Unimpeachable security," he repeated.  "Of course, if you have that
+to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you."
+
+"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly.  "I have
+bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds."
+
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action.  He
+whistled softly under his breath.  A very respectable client he
+had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly
+never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence
+of means.  Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the
+table.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when
+one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a
+confessional.  I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will
+be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your
+own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between
+you and me.  I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?"
+
+"Most certainly," the banker agreed.
+
+"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this
+money is not mine.  I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it
+without any conditions.  I have power to make what use I wish of
+it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf.  Whether I am
+justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns
+this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably.
+I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to
+credit me with twenty thousand pounds.  I ask you to allow me to
+deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft.
+You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of
+to-day."
+
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one.
+They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+
+"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he
+said.
+
+"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted.
+"At the same time, there the money is.  You can run no risk.  If I
+am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I
+who will have to pay.  Will you do as I ask?"
+
+The banker hesitated.  The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one,
+but on the face of it there could be no possible risk.  At the same
+time, there was something about it which he could not understand.
+
+"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully,
+"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation."
+
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+
+"In a sense, that is so," he assented.
+
+"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit
+them to your account in the usual way."
+
+"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling
+about it.  I prefer to keep the notes intact.  If you cannot follow
+out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once.  This isn't a
+threat, Mr. Fenwick,--you will understand that, I am sure.  It is
+simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations
+I have no time for arguments.  I am quite satisfied to remain in
+your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated,
+and I cannot change.  If you are to retain my account, my
+engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have
+pointed out."
+
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments.
+When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who
+is giving in to an unreasonable client.
+
+"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced.  "The notes
+are placed upon deposit.  Your engagements to-day up to twenty
+thousand pounds shall be duly honored."
+
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about
+indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office.  He had
+rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living,
+somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him.  He was doing the
+impossible.  He knew very well that his name was in every one's
+mouth.  People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how
+he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an
+irresponsible speculator.  No one ever imagined that he would be
+able to keep his engagements.  And he had done it.  The price
+might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay.  At any moment
+the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole
+world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds.
+So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the
+shape of direct apprehensions.  Already, however, the shadow was
+beginning to fall.  Even as he entered his office, the sight of a
+stranger offering office files for sale made him start.  He half
+expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in
+his ear.  He set his teeth tight.  This was his risk and he must
+take it.
+
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme
+for the redirection of its policy.  With the absence of Morrison,
+too, there were other changes to be made,--changes in the nature
+of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed.
+It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the
+simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry
+of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was
+going on.
+
+"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in
+an excited tone.  "They sagged a little this morning, but since
+eleven they have been going steadily up.  Just now there seems to
+be a boom.  Listen."
+
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded.  He
+was prepared to be surprised at nothing.
+
+"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked.  "Morrison
+wasn't an absolute idiot."
+
+The luncheon hour passed.  The excitement in the city grew.  By
+three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of
+Laverick's engagements.  Just before closing-time, it was even
+doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without
+security at all.  He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of
+course.  He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every
+man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him.  He
+escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a
+taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open.  It was
+a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time
+during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions.
+He turned them over now with firm fingers.  There was absolutely no
+fresh news.  No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the
+identity of the murdered man.  All day long the body had lain in
+the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but
+presumably unrecognized.  Laverick could scarcely believe the words
+he read.  The thing seemed ludicrously impossible.  The twenty
+thousand pounds must have come from some one.  Why did they keep
+silence?  What was the mystery about it?  Could it be that they were
+not in a position to disclose the fact?  Curiously enough, this
+unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was
+almost fear.  He had taken his risks boldly enough.  Now that Fate
+was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a
+growing nervousness.  Who could he have been, this man?  Whence
+could he have derived this great sum?  One person at least must
+know that he had been robbed--the man who murdered him must know
+it.  A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought.
+Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood,
+a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his
+spoil.
+
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going
+to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a
+little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there,
+however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand.  It
+was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it.
+
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly
+concealed.  There was something ominous to him in those printed
+characters.  Its contents, however, were short enough.
+
+DEAR LAVERICK,
+I must see you.  Come the moment you get this.  Come without fail,
+for your own sake and mine.  A.  M.
+
+Laverick looked at the boy.  His fingers were trembling, but it
+was with relief.  The note was from Morrison.
+
+"There is no address here," he remarked.
+
+"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered.
+
+"Is it far?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared.  "Not more nor five
+minutes in one of them taxicabs.  The gent said we was to take
+one.  He is in a great hurry to see you."
+
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment.
+
+"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once."
+
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called
+them a taxicab.
+
+"What address?" he asked.
+
+"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said.  Laverick nodded and
+repeated the address to the driver.
+
+"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+
+
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory
+neighborhood.  Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat
+extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.
+The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young
+lady who was obviously expecting him.  Before he could open his lips
+to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
+
+"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly.
+
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat,
+and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain
+undeniable traces of some cultured presence.  The girl who had
+followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath.
+Laverick contemplated her in surprise.  She was under medium height,
+with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes.  Her brown hair was
+parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking
+into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a
+child.  When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she
+was afraid.  Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a
+woman.
+
+"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+
+"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted.  "I understood that I
+should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here."
+
+"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you.  The note was from him.
+He is here."
+
+She made no movement to summon him.  She still stood, in fact, with
+her back to the door.  Laverick was distinctly puzzled.  He felt
+himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her
+terrified face and beautiful eyes.  He had never heard Morrison
+speak of having any relations.  His presence in such a locality,
+indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.
+Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with
+a "W" rather than Heaven E. C.
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you
+are afraid of me.  I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he
+added smiling.  "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter?
+Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?"
+
+"Yes," she answered, "he is.  As for me, I am terrified."
+
+She came a little away from the door.  Laverick was a man who
+inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind.  He had the
+protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
+
+"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested.  "I expected to hear
+that he had gone abroad."
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously.  "I was
+hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him."
+
+"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered.  "We certainly had
+a terribly anxious time yesterday.  Our business has been most
+unfortunate--"
+
+"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted.  "Please go on.  There have been
+business troubles, then."
+
+"Rather," Laverick continued.  "Last night they reached such a
+pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he
+should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else.  I quite
+understood that he was going abroad."
+
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+
+"There was something, then," she said, half to herself.  "There was
+something.  Oh, I am glad of that!  You were angry with him, perhaps,
+Mr. Laverick?"
+
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his
+hands behind him--a commanding figure in the tiny room full of
+feminine trifles.  He looked a great deal more at his ease than
+he really was.
+
+"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted.  "You
+see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was
+going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control.
+He had entered into certain speculations which I considered
+unjustifiable.  To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn
+for the better."
+
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded.  Morrison, of course, would be
+triumphant.  Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated.  For
+many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
+
+"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and
+why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why
+is he here instead of in his own rooms?"
+
+"I will explain," she began softly.
+
+"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly.  "And don't
+look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh.  "I can assure
+you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort.  You
+make me feel quite uncomfortable."
+
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had
+never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features.  The
+strained rigidity passed away.  An altogether softer light gleamed
+in her wonderful eyes.  She was certainly by far the prettiest child
+he had ever seen.  As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
+
+"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother."
+
+"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.
+Besides, this meant that she must be of his race.  There was nothing
+in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that
+nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which
+belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews.  It was not a quality,
+Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's
+sister.
+
+"My brother, in a way," she resumed.  "Arthur's father was a widower
+and my mother was a widow when they were married.  You are surprised?"
+
+"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved
+at her last statement.  "Your brother and I have been connected in
+business for some years.  We have seen very little of one another
+outside."
+
+"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends
+would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same
+sort of things.  You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and
+as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would
+come to see me very often.  Last night, though, quite late--long
+after I had gone to bed--he rang the bell here.  I was frightened,
+for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the
+morning.  So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the
+pavement, huddled up against the door.  I hurried down and let him
+in.  Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him,
+"I have never seen any one look like it.  He was terrified to death.
+Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him
+even the power of speech.  He pushed past me into this room, threw
+himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and
+he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a
+woman in a fit of hysterics.  His clothes were all untidy, he was
+as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready
+to start out of his head."
+
+"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly.
+
+"Frightened!  I shall never forget it!  I did not sleep all night.
+He would tell me nothing--he has scarcely spoken a sensible word.
+Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him
+lie down.  He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist,
+but he has not slept.  Every now and then he tries to get up, but
+in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides
+his face.  If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks.  If he hears a
+footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me.  Mr. Laverick, I
+have never been so frightened in my life.  I didn't know whom to
+send for or what to do.  When he wrote that note to you I was so
+relieved.  You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!"
+
+Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy.  One could see that the
+scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes.  She was
+shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more.  He moved
+over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it
+afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
+
+"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said.  "I will talk to
+your brother.  We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there
+wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this
+way.  Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have
+improved a great deal to-day.  Let me go upstairs and I'll try and
+pump some courage into him."
+
+"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very
+kind.  Will you come, then?"
+
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and
+into a tiny bedroom.  Laverick had no time to look around, but it
+seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very
+ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity
+pervaded this little apartment as the one below.
+
+"It is my room," she said shyly.  "There is no other properly
+furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed."
+
+"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered.
+
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang
+into a sitting posture.  Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock.
+It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the
+office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished.  His
+black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all
+disordered.  Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one
+sees seldom in life,--an expression of real and mortal terror.
+
+"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable.
+"Who is that?  What do you want?"
+
+"It is I--Laverick," Laverick answered.  "What on earth is the
+matter with you, man?"
+
+Morrison drew a quick breath.  Some part of the terror seemed to
+leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object.
+Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's
+shoulder.
+
+"Will you leave us alone?" he asked.  "I will come and talk to
+you afterwards, if I may."
+
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out.  Laverick closed the
+door and came up to the bedside.
+
+"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said.
+"Are you ill, or what is it?"
+
+Morrison opened his lips--opened them twice--without any sort of
+sound issuing.
+
+"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly.  "I have been
+feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing
+one's money, after all.  As a matter of fact, things are altogether
+better in the city to-day.  You made a big mistake in taking us out
+of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all.  'Unions'
+have been going up all day."
+
+Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner.  He made no
+reference, however, to Laverick's words.
+
+"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at
+once.  Try and pull yourself together.  Sit up and tell me what you
+are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms.
+I was afraid!"
+
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+
+"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?"
+
+"You don't know!" Morrison faltered.  "You don't know!"
+
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the
+financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had
+reduced his late partner to this hopeless state.  He looked at him
+narrowly.
+
+"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?"
+
+"Nowhere," Morrison gasped.  "I came here."
+
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat
+down.
+
+"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you mean
+to tell me everything.  Have you been getting yourself into any
+trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection
+with them which I don't know?"
+
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other,
+he remained speechless.  Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick.
+There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself
+terrifying.
+
+"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever
+it is.  I will help you if I can."
+
+Morrison shook his head.  There was a glass of water by his side.
+He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips.  They
+were dry, almost cracking.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown--that's what's the
+matter with me.  My nerves were never good.  I'm afraid of going
+mad.  The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me.
+I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to
+manage it.  I can't think.  Directly I try to think my head goes
+round."
+
+"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick
+answered.  "It is the simplest matter possible.  Even if we had gone
+under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you
+chose to go.  Ruin, even if it had been ruin,--and I told you just
+now that business was better,--is not a crime.  Pull yourself
+together, for Heaven's sake, man!  You should be ashamed to come
+here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death."
+
+Morrison gripped his partner's arm.
+
+"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely.  "It doesn't matter
+about prices being better.  I want to get away.  You must help me."
+
+Laverick looked at him steadily.  Morrison was an ordinary young
+man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a
+coward.  But this was no ordinary fear--not even the ordinary fear
+of a coward.  Laverick's face became graver.  There was something
+else, then!
+
+"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he.  "There is
+no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something
+from me.  You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South
+Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't
+you better tell me exactly what happened last night?"
+
+Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words.
+Then a feeble moan escaped him.  He threw up his hands and his head
+fell back.  The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips,
+and he sank back among the pillows.  Laverick strode across the
+room to the door.
+
+"Are you anywhere about?" he called out.
+
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has
+fainted.  Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think
+that you had better run out and get a doctor.  I will stay with him.
+I know exactly what to do."
+
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was
+standing, and ran downstairs without a word.  Laverick mixed some
+of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES
+
+
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes
+to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted.  He
+felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed
+Laverick down into the sitting room.
+
+"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced.  "The
+patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately.  He will be
+all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I
+will call again to-morrow."
+
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took
+his departure.  Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had
+followed them downstairs.
+
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked.
+
+"It is not his health which frightens me.  I am sure--I am quite
+sure that he has something upon his mind.  Did he tell you nothing?"
+
+"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness.  "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are
+right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night.  He
+was just about to tell me something when he fainted."
+
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning.  The girl listened with
+pitiful face.
+
+"What am I to do?" she asked.  "I cannot leave him like this, and
+if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined."
+
+"The theatre?" Laverick repeated.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I am on the stage," she said,--"only a chorus girl at the
+Universal, worse luck.  Still, they don't allow us to stay away,
+and I can't afford to lose my place."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?"
+Laverick asked bluntly.
+
+"Of course," she answered.  "I do not like to be a burden on any
+one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at
+all.  He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately."
+
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had
+been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a
+year, but he checked himself.  It was not his business to interfere.
+
+"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for
+you.  He could have done so with very little effort."
+
+"But what am I to do now?" she asked him.  "If I am absent, I shall
+lose my place."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that
+make any difference?  I could stay until you came back."
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly.  "It would be so kind of you."
+
+"Not at all," he answered.  "Perhaps you would be good enough to
+bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms.  Take
+one from here, if you can find it.  There are always some at the
+corner."
+
+"I'd love to," she answered.  "I must run upstairs and get my hat
+and coat."
+
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother.
+Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure.
+Not a board creaked.  She seemed to float down to him in a most
+becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose
+deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware.  Her lips were parted once
+more in a smile.
+
+"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced.
+"It is nice of you to stay."
+
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+
+"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?"
+
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+
+"Have you any idea how old I am?"
+
+"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered.
+"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen.  Later on, it seemed
+to me possible that you were eighteen.  I am absolutely certain
+that you are not more than nineteen."
+
+"That shows how little you know about it.  I am twenty, and I am
+quite used to going about alone.  Will you sit upstairs or here?
+I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you."
+
+"Thanks, I need nothing.  I think I will sit upstairs in case he
+wakes."
+
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly.
+Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight,
+moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible
+swiftness.  When she had turned the corner, he went slowly
+upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep.  He
+drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the
+evening paper.  The events of the last hour or so had completely
+blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition
+into the world of tragical happenings.  He glanced at the sleeping
+man, then opened his paper.  There was very little fresh news
+except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body
+of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first
+supposed.  It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after
+all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in
+a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals.  There
+was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black
+Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the
+murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago.  But apart from
+this there was nothing fresh.
+
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair.  The
+strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon
+his robust constitution.  The atmosphere of the room, too, was close.
+He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary.  Perhaps he
+dozed.  At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization
+of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a
+sudden start.
+
+Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his
+lips were parted.  His manner was quieter, but there were black
+lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone
+something of that haunting fear.
+
+"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely.
+
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+
+"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?"
+
+Morrison nodded.
+
+"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling--better.  How did you come here?
+I can't remember anything."
+
+"You sent for me," Laverick answered.  "I arrived to find you
+pretty well in a state of collapse.  Your sister has gone round to
+the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening."
+
+"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued.  "Tell me,
+has any one been around at the office asking after me?"
+
+"No one particular," Laverick answered,--"no one at all that I can
+think of.  There were one or two inquiries through the telephone,
+but they were all ordinary business matters."
+
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh
+of relief.
+
+"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely.
+
+"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving
+way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to
+death."
+
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+"We talked--some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away.
+You promised that you would help me.  You said that I could get
+off to Africa or America to-morrow."
+
+"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered.  "There
+are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind--don't take this unkindly but the truth is best--I will not
+have you back again.  There may have to be a more definite
+readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished
+with."
+
+"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured.  "I have had enough
+of the city for the rest of my life.  I'd rather get away somewhere
+and make a fresh start.  You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?"
+
+"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised.
+
+"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good
+for me.  It was a rotten partnership for you.  We could never have
+pulled together."
+
+"Let that go," Laverick interrupted.  "If you really mean getting
+away, that simplifies matters, of course.  Have you made any plans
+at all?  Where do you want to go?"
+
+"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best.
+There is money to be made there if one has something to make a
+start with."
+
+"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered,
+"probably a great deal more.  I shall place our affairs in the hands
+of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday.
+You shall have every penny that is due to you.  You have quite
+enough, however, to get there with.  I will see to your ticket
+to-night, if possible.  When you've arrived you can cable me your
+address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave,
+and I will send you a further remittance."
+
+"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled.
+
+"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued,
+"and I will go back and put together some of your things.  I suppose
+you will not want much to go away with.  The rest can be sent on
+afterwards.  And what about your letters?"
+
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the
+bed.  He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically.
+
+"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged.  "Promise me that you
+won't!  I don't want any letters!  I don't want any of my things!"
+
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+
+"You mean you want to go away without--"
+
+"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically.
+"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they
+will find out where I am.  I should be there now but for that."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  The matter was becoming serious.
+
+"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say.  I will not go near
+your rooms.  I will get you a few things somewhere to start with."
+
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+
+"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you.  I wish--I wish--"
+
+His voice seemed to die away.  Laverick glanced towards him,
+wondering at the unfinished sentence.  Once again the man's face
+seemed to be convulsed with horror.  He flung himself face downward
+upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands.
+
+"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly.  "If you've anything on
+your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what
+I can to help you."
+
+Morrison made no reply.  He was sobbing now like a child.  Laverick
+rose to his feet and went to the window.  What was to be done with
+such a creature!  When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once
+more into a sitting posture.  His appearance was absolutely spectral.
+
+"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot
+tell you--I cannot tell any one."
+
+"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered.  "I am simply
+anxious to help you."
+
+"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly.  "You
+must promise me something--promise that if any one asks for me
+to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am.
+Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into
+the country for a few days.  Say that you are expecting me back.
+Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely
+away.  And then don't tell a soul where I have gone."
+
+"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked
+sternly.
+
+"I haven't--I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared.  "It's
+something quite outside business--quite outside business altogether."
+
+"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked,
+then.  Listen--here is your sister back again," he added, as he
+heard the taxicab stop outside.  "Pull yourself together and don't
+frighten her so much.  I am going down to meet her.  I shall tell
+her that you are better.  Try and buck up when she comes in to see
+you."
+
+"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly.  "If you knew!  If you
+only knew!"
+
+He began to sob again.  Laverick left the room and, descending the
+stairs, met the girl in the hall.  Her white face questioned him
+before her lips had time to frame the speech.
+
+"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said.  "I am sure that
+you need not be anxious about him."
+
+"I am so glad," she murmured.  "They let me off but I had to pay a
+fine.  I had no idea before that I was so important.  Shall I go to
+him now?"
+
+"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room.  "Miss Morrison," he went on,--
+
+"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted.
+
+"I beg your pardon.  Your brother evidently has something on his
+mind apart from business.  I am afraid that he has been getting
+into some sort of trouble.  I don't think there is any object in
+bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away."
+
+"You will help?" she begged.
+
+"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered.  "I have promised to.
+You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock
+to-morrow morning.  He wants to go to New York, and the special
+to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight
+to eight-thirty."
+
+"But his clothes!" she cried.  "How can he be ready by then?"
+
+"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or
+to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly.
+
+"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed.  "Do you mean to say, then,
+that he is going without anything?"
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for
+granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable
+business or other.  He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts
+an entire secret.  He has been asking me whether any one has been
+to the office to inquire for him.  Under the circumstances, I think
+the best thing we can do is to humor him.  I shall buy him before
+to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of
+clothes, and a few things for the voyage.  Then I shall send a cab
+for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station.
+
+"You are very kind," she murmured.  "What should I have done without
+you?  Oh, I cannot think!"
+
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong.  Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire
+to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the
+tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes.  He reminded himself
+that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion,
+that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an
+impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be
+no possible excuse.
+
+He moved away towards the door.
+
+"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother.  You
+see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been
+partners in business."
+
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+
+"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for
+me to do anything to relieve your anxiety."
+
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord.  The gratitude which
+shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which
+was almost invitation.  Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet.
+Something had come into his life--something absurd, uncounted upon,
+incomprehensible.  The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified.
+In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had
+told himself would be the action of a cad.  He had taken her,
+unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips.  Afterwards,
+he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it
+seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without
+hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a
+natural consolation in a time of trouble.  But Laverick was conscious
+of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab
+and was driven swiftly away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"
+
+
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases
+as he could on Morrison's behalf.  Then, with the bag ready packed,
+he returned to his rooms.  Time had passed quickly during the last
+three hours.  It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the
+lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the
+latchkey which hung from his chain.  He began to change his clothes
+mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell
+upon his table rang.
+
+"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver.
+
+"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer.  "Person here wishes to see you
+particularly."
+
+"A person!" Laverick repeated.  "Man or woman?"
+
+"Man, sir.
+
+"Better send him up," Laverick ordered.
+
+"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him
+that I scarcely thought you'd see him."
+
+"Never mind," Laverick answered.  "I can soon get rid of the fellow
+if he's cadging."
+
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie.  His own
+affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the
+announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his
+mind with a rush.  Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers
+shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the
+passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later.  A
+man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face
+somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment,
+place it.
+
+"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare
+me just a moment."
+
+"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door
+and preceding the way into the sitting-room.  At any rate, there
+was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor--nor
+anything official.
+
+"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to
+ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison."
+
+Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief.  What he felt he
+succeeded in keeping to himself.
+
+"You mean Morrison--my partner, I suppose?" he answered.
+
+"If you please, sir," the man admitted.  "I wanted a word or two
+with him most particular.  I found out his address from the
+caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to
+his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there."
+
+"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked.  "Where do you
+come from?"
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,'--little bar and
+restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir,
+at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley.  You've been in once or
+twice, Mr. Laverick, I think.  Mr. Morrison's a regular customer.
+He comes in for a drink most mornings."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+
+"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said.  "What do you want
+with Mr. Morrison?"
+
+The man was silent.  He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+
+"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr.
+Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally.  "If you could put me
+in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad.  I may say that it would be
+to his advantage, too."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+
+"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained.  "Mr.
+Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night.  I
+undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared,
+and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once.  We
+parted--well, not exactly the best of friends.  I am afraid I
+cannot give you any information."
+
+"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked.
+
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly.  His visitor was not in
+the least convinced.
+
+"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said.
+"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here.  I'm not wishing him
+any harm at all.  On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his
+advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him."
+
+"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with
+me.  Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the
+country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf."
+
+The man looked doubtful.
+
+"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't
+like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself.
+It's--it's a bit serious."
+
+The man's face gave weight to his words.  Curiously enough, the
+gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded
+him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely
+an hour ago.  To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took
+a cigarette from a box and lit it.  A conviction was forming
+itself in his mind.  There was something definite behind these
+hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this
+man had an inkling.
+
+"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think
+you had better be frank with me.  I must know more than I know at
+present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be
+found.  We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend
+enough--for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation,
+"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may
+have stumbled into.  So you see that so far as anything you may have
+to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me."
+
+"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly,
+"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?"
+
+"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided.  "Even if I knew exactly where
+he was--and I'm not admitting that--I couldn't put you in touch
+with him unless I knew what your business was."
+
+The man's eyes gleamed.  He was a typical waiter--pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking--but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and
+they were expressive.
+
+"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr.
+Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble."
+
+"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered.  "You must either go
+away--it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet--or
+you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison."
+
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+
+"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put
+myself out about this at all.  The only thing is--"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly.
+
+"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison--knowing, as I
+well do, sir, the sort of gent he is--would be more likely to talk
+common sense with me about this matter than you, sir."
+
+"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling,
+"especially as I'm acting for him."
+
+The man looked around the room.  The door behind had been left ajar.
+He stepped backward and closed it.
+
+"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious
+matter I'm going to speak about.  I'll just tell you a little thing
+and you can form your own conclusions.  Last night we was open late
+at the 'Black Post.'  We keep open, sir, as you know, when you
+gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy.  About nine o'clock there
+was a strange customer came in.  He had two drinks and he sat as
+though he were waiting.  In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in,
+and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort
+of business.  Anyways, there was papers passed between them.  I was
+fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in
+the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed
+the dark gentleman leave.  The others went out a few minutes
+afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place.
+He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before
+him.  I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink,
+and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes.  He sat there
+just like a man extra deep in thought.  Just after eleven, in came
+Mr. Morrison.  I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white,
+and shaking all over.  'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said,--'a big
+brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."'
+
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself.  Laverick
+was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his
+pulses.
+
+"Go on," he said.  "That was after he left me.  Go on."
+
+"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter
+continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other.  All of a sudden
+I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap
+as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn.  I leaned
+over the counter and had a look, too.  There he sat--this tall,
+fair chap who had been in the place so long--with his big
+pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was
+I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out
+from it.  All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison
+a-watching him and me from behind the counter.  Back he whisks the
+pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two
+mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out."
+
+"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired.
+
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered--paused
+and looked nervously around the room.  His voice shook.
+
+"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the
+'Black Post' last night, sir," he said.
+
+"How do you know?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to
+the Mortuary.  There was no doubt about it.  There he was--same
+chap, same clothes.  I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon
+I'll have to at the inquest."
+
+Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers.  It seemed to
+him that he was no longer in the room.  He was listening to Big
+Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom
+with its spotless sheets and lace curtains.  The man on the bed was
+looking at him.  Laverick remembered the look and shivered.
+
+"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded.
+
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half
+terrified way.
+
+"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper,
+"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds.  A sort of
+queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying
+me.  I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on,
+"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being
+found on the man as was murdered."
+
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away.  He walked to
+the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor.
+His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the
+Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other
+side of the river.  He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor.
+Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror?  He wondered no
+longer at his collapse.  The terror was upon him, too.  He felt his
+forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet.  It was not
+Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's
+knowledge.  The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a
+nightmare.  He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the
+missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager
+reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes
+deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy...
+Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant
+though it had been, passed.  This was no new thing with which he
+was confronted.  All the time he had known that the probabilities
+were in favor of such a discovery.  He set his teeth and turned to
+face his visitor.
+
+"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said.
+"Have you spoken about it to any one else?"
+
+"Not a soul, sir," the man answered.  "I thought it best to have a
+word or two first with Mr. Morrison."
+
+"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said
+thoughtfully.  "The police would thank you for your evidence, and
+there, I suppose, the matter would end."
+
+"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted.  "There the matter
+would end."
+
+"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were
+not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being
+a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison
+called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you
+dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take
+its own course,--Laverick paused.  His visitor scratched the side
+of his chin and nodded.
+
+"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an
+understandable, straightforward way.  I'm a poor man--I've been a
+poor man all my life--and I've never seed a chance before of
+getting away from it.  I see one now."
+
+"You want to do the best you can for yourself?"
+
+"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed.
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me
+and in telling me about this affair.  The idea of connecting Mr.
+Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on
+the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his
+name mentioned in connection with it.  You have behaved discreetly,
+and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out.
+You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I
+suggested with regard to the inquest.  What do you consider that
+service is worth?"
+
+"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr.
+Morrison values his life!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+
+
+The man's manner was expressive.  Laverick repeated his phrase,
+frowning.
+
+"His life!"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing.  I
+have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say,
+that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in
+connection with this affair.  But because he left your bar a few
+minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that
+therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death.  I cannot
+conceive anything more unlikely."
+
+The man smiled--a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth
+less than anything in the world.
+
+"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked,--"one in especial."
+
+"Well?" Laverick inquired.  "Let's have it.  You had better tell me
+everything that is in your mind."
+
+"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife."
+
+"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper.  "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to
+where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it."
+
+Laverick was silent.  What was there to be said?
+
+"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things."
+
+"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years
+without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly.
+
+"Is there anything more?"
+
+"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply.  "You know that, sir.
+So do I.  There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send
+Mr. Morrison to the gallows."
+
+"We will waive that point," Laverick declared.  "The jury sometimes
+are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone.  However,
+as I have said, let us waive that point.  Your position is clear
+enough.  You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get
+nothing.  You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life.
+The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good.  Now
+take my advice.  Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous.
+It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this
+affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in
+your place.  I am here to act for Mr. Morrison.  What is it that you
+want?"
+
+"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said,--"like a sensible
+gent, too.  I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into
+a bit of money,--just at present, at any rate.  I could easy find
+an excuse for changing my job--perhaps get away from London
+altogether.  I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to
+open a banking account.  A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in
+the way of doing it."
+
+"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to
+commence with?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last.
+
+"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered,--"generally called Jim,
+sir."
+
+"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is,
+in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where
+the thing will end.  A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but
+in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could
+be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case.  Two
+hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have
+saved or got together.  After that your investments would be my
+lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven
+hundred and fifty pounds.  But what security have I--has Mr.
+Morrison, let us say--that you will be content with this sum?"
+
+"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once.  "He couldn't have
+any.  I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting
+around that I'm independent all of a sudden.  That wouldn't do
+nohow.  A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a
+week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my
+health being none too good.  I've no wife or children, sir.  I was
+thinking of an annuity.  With two pounds a week I'd have no cause
+to trouble any one again."
+
+Laverick considered.
+
+"It shall be done," he said.  "To-morrow I shall buy shares for
+you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds.  They will be
+deposited in a bank.  Some day you can look in and see me, and I
+will take you round there.  You are my client who has speculated
+under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name
+and become a customer.  After that, you will speculate again.
+When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to
+buy an annuity.  Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be
+the luckiest night of your life.  Do you drink?"
+
+"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess
+I'd go off my chump."
+
+"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop
+too much when I'm by myself.  Then I tumbles off to sleep and
+that's the end of it.  I've no fancy for company at such times."
+
+"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into
+his pocket.  "Here's a five-pound note on account.  I daresay you
+can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate.  That's all, isn't
+it?"
+
+"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as
+to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?"
+
+"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before
+he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed.
+"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement."
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!"
+
+"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?"
+
+"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing
+the door softly behind him.
+
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry.
+He was faced now with a new tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+
+
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train.
+The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious
+of a sense of immense relief.  Morrison had been at the station
+some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a
+physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all
+the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on
+the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a
+criminal expecting apprehension at any moment.  The whistle of the
+train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick.
+
+"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out.
+"Good luck, Morrison!  Pull yourself together and make a fresh
+start."
+
+Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod.  Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands.  He felt himself at the last moment,
+stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all
+this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately.
+His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger.  He
+would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down
+to hers and whispered a reassuring little message.  Laverick turned
+away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering.
+Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly
+difficult.  The train was off at last, however, and they were alone.
+
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of
+relief.  They turned silently toward the exit.
+
+"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Yes," she answered listlessly.  "There is nothing else to do."
+
+"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"It is the first time," she said.  "Another girl and her mother
+have lived with me always.  They started off last week, touring.
+They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go
+into rooms.  As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable."
+
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+
+"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the
+world like this."
+
+"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an
+effort at lightness.  "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going.
+His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that
+he would do what he could.  I didn't see much of him, but one felt
+always that there was somebody.  It's different now.  It makes
+one feel very lonely."
+
+"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a
+lonely person.  You must let me see something of you now and then."
+
+She looked up at him quickly.  Her gaze was altogether disingenuous,
+but her eyes--those wonderful eyes--spoke volumes.
+
+"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad."
+
+"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling.  "I cannot ask
+you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have
+dinner together quite early.  Then I would take you to the theatre
+and meet you afterwards, if you liked."
+
+"If I liked!" she whispered.  "Oh, how good you are."
+
+"I am not at all sure about that.  Now I'll put you in this taxi
+and send you home."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"You mustn't do anything so extravagant.  I can get a 'bus just
+outside.  I never have taxicabs."
+
+"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you
+for his fare.  You must let me, please.  Remember that there's a
+large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you
+needn't mind these trifles.  Till this evening, then.  Shall I
+fetch you or will you come to me?"
+
+"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said.  "It isn't nice for you to
+come down to where I live.  It's such a horrid part."
+
+"Just as you like," he answered.  "I'd be very glad to fetch you
+if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came.  Shall
+we say seven o'clock?  I've written the address down on this card
+so that you can make no mistake."
+
+She laughed gayly.
+
+"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating
+me as though I were a baby.  I'll be there punctually, and I don't
+think I need tie the card around my neck."
+
+The cab glided off.  Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face
+with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she
+leaned out for a moment to say good-bye.  Then he went back to his
+rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office.
+
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder
+in Crooked Friars' Alley.  Evidently what information the police
+had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the
+moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think
+of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come.  The long-predicted
+boom had arrived at last.  Without lunch, he and all his clerks
+worked until after six o'clock.  Even then Laverick found it hard
+to leave.  During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask
+for Morrison.  To all of them he had given the same reply,--Morrison
+had gone abroad on private business for the firm.  Very few were
+deceived by Laverick's dry statement.  He was quite aware that he
+was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as
+a financier of consummate skill.  The failure of Laverick & Morrison
+had been looked upon as a certainty.  How they had tided over that
+twenty-four hours had been known to no one--to no one but Laverick
+himself and the manager of his bank.
+
+Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment," his head-clerk announced.
+
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick.  Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick!
+Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day.  What is it?  The
+account is all right, isn't it?"
+
+"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer.  "At the same time,
+if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you
+concerning the deposit you made yesterday."
+
+"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised.  "This afternoon it
+is quite out of the question.  I have a crowd of people waiting to
+see me, and several important engagements for which I am late
+already."
+
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+
+"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed.
+
+"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+
+For a time this last message troubled him.  As soon as the day's
+work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed
+it entirely from his thoughts.  It was curious how, notwithstanding
+this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding
+that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice,
+he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a
+pleasure which he had not felt for many months.  The whirl of the
+day faded easily from his mind.  He lived no more in an atmosphere
+of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety.  How
+empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so
+much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child!  It was hard to think
+of her otherwise--impossible.  A strange heritage, this, to have
+been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison.  How in the world,
+he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection.
+
+She was a little shy when she arrived.  Laverick had left special
+orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room
+immediately.  She was very quietly dressed except for her hat,
+which was large and wavy.  He found it becoming, but he knew enough
+to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive,
+and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact.
+
+"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire,
+"that we must go somewhere very quiet.  You see, I have only one
+evening gown and I couldn't wear that.  There wouldn't be time to
+change afterwards.  Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about
+in the dressing-rooms."
+
+"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly.
+"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on
+to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other
+smart young ladies in the same position.  I had to change because I
+have taken a stall to see your performance.  Tell me, how are you
+feeling now?"
+
+"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace.
+"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly.  "I
+don't now, of course.
+
+"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down
+in the lift.  "Haven't you any friends?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked.  "The girls in the
+chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many
+people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something
+of the sort."
+
+"And you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said.
+"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again."
+
+"I wonder why?" he remarked.
+
+"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily.  "You see, I think the
+men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to
+be allowed to make love to them.  At any rate, they behaved like
+that.  Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't
+like it a bit.  So they left me alone afterwards.  The girl I lived
+with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we
+go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays.  It's dull, though, very
+dull, especially now they're away."
+
+"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he
+asked.
+
+"What could one do?" she answered.  "My mother's money died with
+her--she had only an annuity--and my stepfather, who had promised
+to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly.  Arthur
+was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything.  My only
+friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was
+director of the orchestra at the Universal.  All he could do for me
+was to get me a place in the chorus.  I have been there ever since.
+They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it.  It's
+always like that in theatres.  You have to be a favorite of the
+manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance
+unless you are unusually lucky."
+
+"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted.  "I am afraid I am
+rather a stupid person.  When I can get away from work I go into
+the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going.
+When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few
+friends, or playing bridge at the club.  I never have been a
+theatre-goer.
+
+"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round
+table in the restaurant which he had chosen,--"I wonder why every
+now and then you look so serious."
+
+"I didn't know that I did," he answered.  "We've had thundering
+hard times lately in business, though.  I suppose that makes a man
+look thoughtful."
+
+"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly.  "Are things any better
+now?"
+
+"Much better."
+
+"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted.
+
+"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+She leaned across the table.  In the shaded light, her oval face
+with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though
+it might have belonged to some old miniature.  She was delightful,
+like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain--delightful
+when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the
+corner of her lips.  Just now, however, she became very much in
+earnest.
+
+"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said.  "I cannot
+help worrying still about Arthur.  You know you admitted last
+night that he had done something.  You saw how terribly frightened
+he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though
+he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid.
+Oh!  I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so
+terrified sometimes.  I feel that he must have done something--bad.
+It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of
+him so completely."
+
+"It was not," Laverick admitted at once.  "He has done something, I
+believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange,
+and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it."
+
+"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I did not," he answered.  "I told him nothing.  For many reasons
+it was better to keep him ignorant.  He and I might not have seen
+things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the
+best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any
+more.  Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in
+New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will
+never come to anything serious."
+
+"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly.  "From what
+he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed,
+you and he are so different."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+
+"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so
+much trouble for his sake alone.  You see," he continued, smiling,
+"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very
+anxious, weren't you?"
+
+Her hand came across the table--an impulsive little gesture,
+which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful.  He
+took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips
+but for the waiters who were hovering around.
+
+"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate.  I think that
+I wanted a friend."
+
+"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did.  You are
+not drinking your wine."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked.  "A very little gets into my head
+because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes
+the least bit of a mistake.  Besides, I do not think that I like
+to drink wine.  If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse
+for never having anything when the girls ask you."
+
+He nodded sympathetically.
+
+"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any
+rate.  Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival
+in New York.  Are you ready?"
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him.
+
+"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and
+fetch my ticket."
+
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he
+took an evening paper from the stall.  A brief paragraph at once
+attracted his attention.
+
+     Murder in the City.--We understand that very important
+     information has come into the hands of the police.  An
+     ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest.
+
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side.  It was
+the usual sort of thing.  There was nothing they could have found
+out--nothing, he told himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+
+
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning,
+Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went
+round to his bank.  Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely.  He was feeling
+keenly the responsibilities of his position.  Just how much to say
+and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full
+measure of diplomacy.
+
+"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you
+with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday."
+
+Laverick nodded.  It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued.
+"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an
+urgent one."
+
+"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning.  "What is
+it you wish me to do?  Withdraw my account?"
+
+"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily.
+
+"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on.
+"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate.  I could quite understand that you needed security to
+go on making the necessary payments on my behalf.  To-day, things
+are entirely different.  I am twenty thousand pounds better off,
+and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of
+my overdraft within half-an-hour.  That I do not do so is simply a
+matter of policy and prices."
+
+"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager
+declared.  "The position is simply this.  We have had a most unusual
+and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge
+to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes
+has been passed through our account during the last few days."
+
+"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly.
+
+"We have.  I can tell you no more.  The source of the inquiry was,
+in a sense, amazing."
+
+"May I ask what your reply was?"
+
+"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had
+passed through our account.  We asked them, however, without giving
+any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time.  Our
+reply was perfectly truthful.  Owing to your peculiar stipulations,
+we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security
+chamber.  We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little
+doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of
+this inquiry.  I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to
+open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the
+usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in
+the first instance to this inquiry."
+
+"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I
+absolutely decline to take.  It is not for me to tell you the nature
+of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client.
+All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and
+must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must
+be treated entirely as a confidential one.  If you decline to do
+this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course,
+take the packet away with me.  To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick,"
+he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never
+intended to do so.  I simply deposited them as security until the
+turn in price of 'Unions' came.
+
+"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked.
+"I should consider that you had already made use of them."
+
+"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly.
+
+"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick."
+
+"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied.  "There is only one
+inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested.  It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?"
+
+"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette
+would have intervened at all.  I should have felt it my duty to
+have revealed at once the fact of your deposit.  At the same time,
+the inquiry comes from an even more important source,--a source
+which cannot be ignored."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared.  "By
+four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits.
+You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold
+on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you."
+
+"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you
+would take it with you.  It means, I think, a matter of six or
+seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary
+thing we will pass that."
+
+"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly.  "The charge of those
+documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself.  I have no
+doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place
+elsewhere."
+
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank
+with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket.
+Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe
+and proceeded with the usual business of the day.  Even with an
+added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar.  Laverick
+threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to
+escape from these unpleasant memories.  He succeeded perfectly.  It
+was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment.  His
+head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room.
+
+"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man
+outside--Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe--said he had a small
+investment to make which you promised to look after personally.  He
+would insist on seeing you--said he was a waiter at a restaurant
+which you visited sometimes."
+
+"That's all right," Laverick declared.  "You can show him in.  We'll
+probably give him American rails."
+
+"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked.
+"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds."
+
+"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after
+it myself.  Send him in, Scropes."
+
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced.
+Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned
+cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+
+"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked.  "We're having a bit of a
+rush."
+
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side.
+
+"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had
+in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting
+and talking.  They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's
+some of them can shift the drink."
+
+"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked,
+"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth.  If you'll just approve that
+list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across,
+"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates.  I shall tell
+them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if
+any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said.  "To tell you the
+truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day."
+
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded.
+
+"May I sit down, sir?  I'm a bit worn out.  I've been on the go
+since half-past ten."
+
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair.  Shepherd brought it up to
+the side of the table and leaned forward.
+
+"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions.  They
+wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and
+could I describe them.  Was there any one I recognized, and so on."
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"I declared I couldn't remember any one.  To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o'clock.  I wouldn't say for certain--it looked as though I might
+have had a reason."
+
+"And were they satisfied?"
+
+"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted.  "Not altogether,
+that is to say."
+
+"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick--"Morrison's, for
+instance?  Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?"
+
+"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but
+they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients.  Fortunate
+like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not
+paying any too much attention to them.  It was all I could do to
+keep on getting orders attended to."
+
+"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked.  "Do you think that
+they came from the police?"
+
+"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell,
+and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so
+sometimes on purpose to deceive.  I should have said that these two
+were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered.
+I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a
+shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man
+who was murdered and the little dark fellow."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very
+sagacious person."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added,
+"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries.  My
+nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he
+remarked,--"no one who could contradict you?"
+
+"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed.
+
+"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued.  "You see, you've been
+wise.  You haven't given yourself away altogether.  You've simply
+said that you don't recollect any one coming in.  Why should you
+recollect?  At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice
+every stray customer.  Stick to it, and, if you take my advice,
+don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in
+for another week or so.  Pave the way for it a bit.  Ask the governor
+for a rise--say you're not making a living out of it."
+
+"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head.  "I'm on to it,
+sir.  I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure."
+
+"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in.
+You're not obliged to remember anything.  No one can ever prove that
+you remembered anything.  Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if
+these fellows turn up again."
+
+"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared.  "They sat
+about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I
+hopped out the back way.  They'll be there again to-night, sure
+enough."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens."
+
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his
+voice.
+
+"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking
+rapidly.  "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great
+pocketful of notes.  But my! there was a sight of money there,
+sir!  He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out."
+
+"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted.  "It isn't a
+pleasant thing to think about or talk about.  We won't know anything,
+Shepherd.  We shall be better off."
+
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced.
+Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before
+eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way.
+When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the
+sofa and lit a cigar.  Once more the evening papers had no
+particular news.  This time, however, one of them had a leading
+article upon the English police system.  The fact that an undetected
+murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the
+slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself
+alarming.  Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make
+little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known.
+At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a
+considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the
+vicinity of the tragedy.  It was rumored that some mysterious
+inquiries were being circulated around London banks.  It was
+possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the
+crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined.  The whole interest
+of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity.
+As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might
+be expected.
+
+Laverick threw the paper away.  He tried to rest upon the sofa, but
+tried in vain.  He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+
+"To-night," he muttered to himself,--"no, I will not go to-night!
+It is not fair to the child.  It is absurd.  Why, she would think
+that I was--"
+
+He stopped short.
+
+"I'll change and go to the club," he decided.
+
+He rose to his feet.  Just then there was a ring at his bell.  He
+opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+
+"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening
+his wallet.
+
+Laverick held out his hand.  The boy gave him a large square
+envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre."
+Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously
+pleased.  He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope,
+and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate
+handwriting.
+
+
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night?  Don't let me be a nuisance,
+but do come if you have nothing to do.  I have something to tell
+you.
+
+                                                        ZOE.
+
+
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot
+that he was tired.  He changed his clothes, whistling softly to
+himself all the time.  At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door
+of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
+
+
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the
+stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a
+waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier.  Laverick stood
+back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to
+himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening.
+Zoe was among the last to appear.  She came up to him with a
+delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter
+of course as he led her across to the waiting cab.
+
+"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared.
+"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?"
+
+"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.  "Delightful!  Two
+nights following, too!  I did love last night."
+
+"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked.
+
+"If only you meant it!" she sighed.
+
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes.
+Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat
+Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the
+moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a
+question.
+
+"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged.  "You said that
+you had some information for me.
+
+"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted.  "I found
+out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about
+me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur
+Morrison, the stockbroker."
+
+"Do you know who it was?" he asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"The man left no name at all.  I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell
+me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to
+that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything."
+
+"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have
+found you out.  You were so seldom with Morrison.  I dare say," he
+added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small
+sum of money."
+
+"Very likely," she answered.  "But I was going to tell you.  He came
+again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round.
+I have brought it for you to see."
+
+The note--it was really little more than a message--was written
+on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently
+borrowed from the box-office.  It read as follows:
+
+
+DEAR MISS LENEVEU,
+
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I
+am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his.  Could
+you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of
+this evening?  If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps
+allow me to give you some supper.
+
+                                               Sincerely,
+                                               PHILIP E. MILES.
+
+
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the
+programme.
+
+"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man
+who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was
+or had been a friend of Morrison's."
+
+"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten."
+
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious
+of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+
+"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me
+know.  You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so
+summarily."
+
+"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly.
+
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation
+of her speech.
+
+"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged.
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"First of all, then, how old are you?"
+
+He made a grimace.
+
+"Thirty-eight--thirty-nine my next birthday.  Doesn't that seem
+grandfatherly to you?"
+
+"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed.  "It is not even
+middle-aged.  Now tell me--how do you spend your time generally?
+Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most
+evenings?"
+
+"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal."
+
+"You have no sisters?"
+
+"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained.
+
+"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him.
+
+"I am quite content," he answered.  "Go ahead, but remember, though,
+that I am a very dull person."
+
+"You look so young for your years," she declared.  "I wonder, have
+you ever been in love?"
+
+He laughed heartily.
+
+"About a dozen times, I suppose.  Why?  Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?"
+
+"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly.  "You don't seem to me
+as though you cared to make friends very easily.  I just felt I
+wanted to ask you.  Have you ever been engaged?"
+
+"Never," he assured her.
+
+"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a
+little for any one?"
+
+"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her
+glass.
+
+She laughed at him.
+
+"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said.
+"You are quite right to make fun of me."
+
+"On the contrary," he insisted.  "I am very much in earnest."
+
+"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall
+be in love with me.  You shall take me about, give me supper every
+night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre--oh, and
+there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!"
+she wound up.
+
+"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove
+it with pleasure.  Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the
+stage-door."
+
+"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed.  "It's a horrid little
+life."
+
+"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively.
+
+"I hate it, but I must do something.  I could not live on charity.
+If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but
+there is no other way.  I tried once to give music lessons.  I had
+a few pupils, but they never paid--they never do pay.
+
+"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully.
+"Of course, it is occupation you want.  So far as regards the
+monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal--"
+
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+
+"No, no!" she declared.  "I have never complained about Arthur.
+Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not
+wish to take any of his money--or of anybody else's," she added.
+"I want always to earn my own living."
+
+"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully
+independent."
+
+"Why not?" she answered softly.  "It is years since I had any one
+to do very much for me.  Necessity teaches us a good many things.
+Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little
+sigh.  "I got over it.  We all do.  Tell me--who is that woman,
+and why does she stare so at you?"
+
+Laverick looked across the room.  Louise and Bellamy were sitting
+at the opposite table.  The former was strikingly handsome and very
+wonderfully dressed.  Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open
+in front, displayed her marvelous figure.  She wore long pearl
+earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair
+hair.  Laverick recognized her at once.
+
+"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano
+in the world."
+
+"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not know her," he said.  "I know who she is, of course,--every
+one does.  She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her
+country.  She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago,
+and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again
+before the enemies of her country.  She had been engaged a long time
+to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really
+come.  She breaks her engagements just when she chooses.  In fact,
+she is a very wonderful person altogether."
+
+"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered.  "And how
+lovely she is!  I do not understand, though, why she is so
+interested in you."
+
+"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps."
+
+It certainly seemed probable.  Even at that moment she touched
+her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at
+Laverick.  It was obvious that he was the subject of her
+conversation.
+
+"I know the man," Laverick said.  "He was at Harrow with me, and I
+have played cricket with him since.  But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale.  One does not forget that sort of person."
+
+"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully.  "Do you like
+tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones."
+
+"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed.  "We came
+together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense."
+
+"You are making me young again," he declared.
+
+"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him.  "To tell you
+the truth, I am jealous.  Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the
+time.  Look at her now.  Is she not beautiful?"
+
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her--and she was by far the most interesting person in the room--thought
+her a little sad.  Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to
+be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over
+his head and out of the room.  Wherever her thoughts were, one could
+be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under
+discussion.
+
+"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked.  "She has none
+of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen.  Yet there was never anything
+so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage."
+
+"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would
+die for."
+
+"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one
+whom you preferred to live for.  Do you know, you are rather a
+morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?"
+
+"Ah, I like that!" she declared.  "I will not be called Miss Leneveu
+any more by you.  You must call me Miss Zoe, please,--Zoe, if you
+like."
+
+"Zoe, by all means.  Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting."
+
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+
+"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then.
+I was reading about her only the other day.  They say that so many
+men fall in love with her--so many men to whom she gives no
+encouragement at all."
+
+Laverick looked into his companion's face.
+
+"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won.  I can assure you
+that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star.
+Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week,
+and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire
+income?  Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!"
+
+"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman.  See, your
+friend is coming to speak to you."
+
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room.  He nodded to Laverick and
+bowed to his companion.
+
+"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said.  "You do remember me, I
+hope?  Bellamy, you know."
+
+"I remember you quite well.  We used to play together at Lord's,
+even after we left school."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"That is so," he answered.  "I see by the papers that you have kept
+up your cricket.  Mine, alas! has had to go.  I have been too much
+of a rolling stone lately.  Do you know that I have come to ask you
+a favor?"
+
+"Go ahead," Laverick interposed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained.
+"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims
+she is.  If you won't come across and be introduced like a good
+fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time,
+go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled."
+
+Laverick laughed heartily.  A little smile played at the corner of
+Zoe's lips--nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+
+"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had
+better go.  You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe,
+"that I cannot stay for more than a second."
+
+"Naturally," Bellamy answered.  "If Mademoiselle really has anything
+to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment."
+
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+
+"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared.  "You're
+in the front row, aren't you?  I have seen you in that clever little
+step-dance and song in the second act."
+
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+
+"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully.  "You see, we
+are all so tired of it."
+
+"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared.  "I shall have the
+pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow.
+
+The two men crossed the room.
+
+"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick
+demanded.  "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling
+against hard times?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered.  "And
+as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted
+to.  Her interest in you is rather a curious one.  No time to explain
+it now.  She'll tell you."
+
+Louise smiled as he paused before her.  She was certainly exquisitely
+beautiful.  Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her
+voice, were all perfection.  She gave him the tips of her fingers as
+Bellamy pronounced his name.
+
+"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me.  And
+indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would
+like to say one word with you."
+
+Laverick bowed.
+
+"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which
+procures me such a pleasure."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said.  "But indeed, then, I fear
+you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested.
+I read all your newspapers.  I read of that terrible murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago,--is not that how you
+call the place?"
+
+Laverick was suddenly grave.  What was this that was coming?
+
+"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a
+foreigner.  The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian.  I,
+too, come from that part of Europe--if not from Austria, from a
+country very near--and I am always interested in my country-people.
+A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this
+Crooked Friars' Alley?'  Just then he bowed to you, and he answered
+me, 'It is in the city.  It is within a yard or two of the offices
+of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.'  So I
+looked across at you and I thought that it was strange."
+
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+
+"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has
+told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office.  So far, too,
+the police seem completely at a loss."
+
+"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they
+are not very clever.  It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your
+offices are?"
+
+"Not at all," Laverick replied.  "On the contrary, in the daytime
+it might be called the heart of the city--of the money-making part
+of the city, at any rate.  Only this thing, you see, seems to have
+taken place very late at night."
+
+"When all the offices were closed," she remarked.
+
+"Most of them," Laverick answered.  "Mine, as it happened, was open
+late that night.  I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of
+the time when the murder must have been committed."
+
+"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head.  "Tell me,
+Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show
+me this place,--yes?"
+
+"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but
+there is nothing there.  It is just a passage."
+
+"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will
+come.  You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me.  Well, sometimes
+I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will
+give me your advice.  So!  You have a card!"
+
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it.  She
+thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+
+"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick."
+
+He bowed and recrossed the room.  Bellamy was standing talking to
+Zoe.
+
+"Well," he asked, as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to
+throw yourself beneath the car?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not think so," he answered.  "Our acquaintance promises to be
+a business one.  Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though
+me."
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked.  "Ah, well, you have
+every reason!"
+
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place.
+Laverick looked after him a little compassionately.
+
+"Poor fellow," he said.
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered.
+"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed.  "He is nice.  She must care for some
+one.  Why do you pity him?"
+
+"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick
+continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her.
+She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to
+spare from herself are given to her country."
+
+Zoe shuddered.
+
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women.
+Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all.  To me she seems only very,
+very sad.  Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?"
+
+"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim.  It must have been a
+whim."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+
+
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think
+about.  He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant,
+within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company
+of friends.  Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he
+knew slightly came across the room to him.
+
+"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?"
+
+"He has gone abroad for a few weeks.  As a matter of fact, we shall
+be announcing a change in the firm shortly."
+
+"Queer thing," the broker remarked.  "I was in Liverpool yesterday,
+and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks.  I
+should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful
+about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking
+individual.  I called out to him and he vanished like a streak."
+
+"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said.  "He sailed
+several days ago for New York."
+
+"That settles it," the man declared, passing on.  "All the same,
+it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw."
+
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out
+a marconigram to the Lusitania,
+
+      Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board?  Reply.
+
+He signed his name and paid for an answer.  Then he went back to
+his office.
+
+"Any one to see me?" he inquired.
+
+"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,--"queer
+looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash
+for some railway stock."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I'll see him," he said.  "Anything else?"
+
+"A lady rang up--name sounded like a French one, but we could none
+of us catch what it was--to say that she was coming down to see you."
+
+"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her
+directly she arrives.  How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to
+the waiter as he passed towards his room.  "Come in, will you?
+You've got your certificates all right?"
+
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not
+wholly agreed.  He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his
+little green eyes seemed even more restless.  His attire--a long
+rough overcoat over the livery of his profession--scarcely enhanced
+the dignity of his appearance.
+
+"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+
+"Our bar is being watched," the man declared.  "I don't think it's
+anything to do with the police.  Seems to be a sort of foreign gang.
+They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night.  They've
+pumped everybody."
+
+"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find
+out except from you."
+
+"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued.  "My
+junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room,
+told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten
+and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking.
+They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful."
+
+"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised.  "The inquest's on now and
+you haven't been called.  I don't fancy you're running any sort of
+risk.  Any one may say they believe there were people in the bar
+between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you
+outright.  Besides, you haven't sworn to anything.  You've simply
+said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one."
+
+"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically.
+"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you.  Their eyes
+seem to follow you all over the place."
+
+"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared.
+"I should like to see them.  I might get an idea as to their
+nationality, at any rate."
+
+"Very good, sir.  I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested.  I've
+said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at
+the work, so as to pave the way.  It's a hard job, and no mistake.
+I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed,
+too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to
+serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them.  It's
+more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick."
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"So much the better," he declared.  "All the more excuse for your
+leaving.
+
+"You'll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking
+up his hat.
+
+"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered.
+"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows."
+
+Jim Shepherd departed.  There was a shouting of newspaper boys in
+the street outside.  Laverick sent out for a paper.  The account of
+the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called
+except the men who had found the dead body.  The nature of the
+wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their
+having been self-inflicted.  In the absence of any police evidence
+or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death
+was naturally limited.  The jury contented themselves by bringing
+in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons
+unknown." Laverick laid down the paper.  The completion of the
+inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety.  The
+question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand
+pounds.  He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy.  After all, had
+he paid too great a price?  The millstone was gone from around his
+neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life.
+Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge.
+
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections.
+Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor.  She was
+wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,--a
+white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to
+have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure.  She brought with
+her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes--a
+perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its
+faint suggestion of hothouse flowers.  She held out her hand to
+Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair.
+
+"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle."
+
+She inclined her head graciously.
+
+"You are very kind," said she.  "I know that here in the city you
+are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long.
+Will you buy me some stocks,--some good safe stocks, which will
+bring me in at least four per cent?"
+
+"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered.  "Have you any
+choice?"
+
+"No, I have no choice," Louise told him.  "I bring with me a
+cheque,--see, I give it to you,--it is for six thousand pounds.  I would
+like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I
+may watch them in the paper.  I like to see whether they go up or
+down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much.  It is
+something like gambling but it is no trouble."
+
+"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick
+assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two,
+at any rate, your stocks will go up.  With regard to selling--"
+
+"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what
+you propose."
+
+"We will do our best," Laverick promised.
+
+"It is good," she said.  "Money is a wonderful thing.  Without it
+one can do little.  You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you
+were going to show me this passage?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Come with me now, if you will.  It is only a yard
+or two away."
+
+He took her out into the street.  Every clerk in the office forgot
+his manners and craned his neck.  Outside, Mademoiselle let fall
+her veil and passed unrecognized.  Laverick showed her the entry.
+
+"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on
+the left, that the body was found."
+
+She looked at the place steadily.  Then she looked along the
+passage.
+
+"Where does it lead to--that?" she asked.
+
+"Come and I will show you.  On the left"--as they passed along the
+flagged pavement--"is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard.  On the
+right here there are just offices.  The street in front of us is
+Henschell Street.  All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices."
+
+"And directly opposite," she asked,--"that is a cafe, is it
+not,--a restaurant, as you would call it?"
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"That is so," he agreed.  "One goes in there sometimes for a drink."
+
+"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired.  "It would probably
+be a meeting place.  One might leave there and walk down this
+passage naturally enough."
+
+Laverick inclined his head.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went
+to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night.
+You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock,
+and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+
+"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence.  In
+the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long
+before now.  The guilty person would be in the hands of the law.
+As it is, I suppose that he will go free."
+
+"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered
+Laverick.  "They haven't had much time so far."
+
+"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder--"  She
+hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence.  "Come,"
+she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office!
+This place is not cheerful.  All the time I think of that poor man.
+It does make me frightened."
+
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which
+was waiting before his door.
+
+"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by
+to-night's post," he promised her.  "We shall do our best in your
+interests."
+
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick.  I would like to see you again
+very soon.  You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?"
+
+"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly."
+
+"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House.  I
+leave a box for you at the door.  Send me round a note that you
+are there, and it is possible that I may see you.  It is against
+the rules, but for me there are no rules."
+
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+
+"You are doing something else?" she protested.  "You were, perhaps,
+thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were
+sitting last night?"
+
+"I had half promised--"
+
+"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter.  "She is not for
+you--that child.  She is too young.  She knows nothing.  Better to
+leave her alone.  She is not for a man of the world like you.  Soon
+she would cease to amuse you.  You would be dull and she would still
+care.  Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick--so
+much tragedy for the woman!  It is she always who suffers.  You
+will take my advice.  You will leave that little girl alone."
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly.  You
+see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me.  Perhaps," he added, after a second's
+pause, "I care for her too much."
+
+"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much.
+An Englishman, he cares never enough.  A woman to him is something
+amusing,--his companion for a little of his spare time, something
+to be pleased about, to show off to his friends,--to share, even,
+the passion of the moment.  But an Englishman he does not care too
+much.  He never cares enough.  He does not know what it is to care
+enough."
+
+"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there
+may not.  We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at
+least we are faithful."
+
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+
+"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed.  "Who is there, indeed,
+who wishes that you would be faithful?  How much we poor women do
+suffer from that!  Why can you never understand that a woman would
+be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the
+passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long.  It gets
+weary.  It gets stale.  It is as you say,--the Englishman he cares
+very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be
+an artiste and a woman, she tires.  But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick!
+I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous
+matters.  You come to-night?"
+
+"You are very kind," Laverick said.  "If I may come until eleven
+o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure."
+
+"As you will," she declared.  "We shall see.  I expect you, then.
+You ask for your box."
+
+"If you wish it, certainly."
+
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+
+"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street."
+
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his
+clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle
+Idiale.  He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that
+Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the
+telephone.  He took up the receiver.
+
+"Who is it?" he asked.
+
+"It is Shepherd," was the answer.  "Is that Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd
+continued.  "You had with you a lady--a young, tall lady with a
+veil."
+
+"That's right," Laverick admitted.  "What about her?"
+
+"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in
+the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely.  "He saw her with you and
+I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock.  He
+dropped his glass and his paper.  He watched you every second of
+the time you were there until you had disappeared.  Then he, too,
+put on his hat and went out."
+
+"Anything else?"
+
+"Nothing else," was the reply.  "I thought you might like to know
+this, sir.  The man recognized the lady right enough."
+
+"It seems queer," Laverick admitted.  "Thank you for ringing me up,
+Shepherd.  Good morning!"
+
+Laverick leaned back in his chair.  There was no doubt whatever now
+in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other,
+was interested in this crime.  Her wish to see the place, her
+introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all
+part of a scheme.  He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it.
+As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place
+amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+
+
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green
+Park.  Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand.
+She took his arm in foreign fashion.  They walked together towards
+Buckingham Palace--a strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+
+"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me.  To look at him,
+to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest.  He has just
+those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half
+splendid, of your athletic Englishman.  One would imagine him doing
+a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a
+criminal at all."
+
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path.  His forehead wore a perplexed
+frown.
+
+"He didn't give himself away, then?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?"
+
+"Without an instant's hesitation."
+
+"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make
+love to you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I even gave him an opening," she said.  "Of flirtation he has no
+more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets."
+
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+
+"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that
+he has the money and the portfolio.  I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed
+only a week ago.  They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly
+insolvent.  No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis."
+
+"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired.
+
+"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her.  "He saw Laverick enter
+that passage and come out.  Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way.
+The thing could not have been accidental."
+
+"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested.  "He is, after
+all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be
+very much in your power.  Tell him of the value of that document.
+Tell him that you must have it."
+
+"It could be done," Bellamy admitted.  "I think that one of us must
+talk plainly to him.  Listen, Louise,--are you seeing him again?"
+
+"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night."
+
+"See what you can do," he begged.  "I would rather keep away from
+him myself, if I can.  Have you heard anything of Streuss?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched--even
+my dressing-room at the Opera House.  That man's spies are
+simply wonderful.  He seems able to plant them everywhere.  And,
+David!--"
+
+"Yes, dear?"
+
+"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued.  "I am perfectly
+certain of it."
+
+"Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy
+declared.
+
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone.  "The man
+has all my affairs in his hands.  Up till now, although he is
+uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well."
+
+"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said.  "I am tired."
+
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side.  In full view
+of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying.  She looked
+thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster.
+
+"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked.
+
+"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more.
+
+"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence.  I seem to
+feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk,
+to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who
+throng your streets.  They are a stolid, unbelieving people--these.
+The blow, when it comes, will be the harder."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"You are right," he said.  "When one comes to think of it, it is
+amazing.  How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how
+completely their teachings have been ignored!  The invasion bogey
+has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest.
+Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers."
+
+"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I am," he affirmed.  "I think that if we could read that document
+we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion
+of England.  I think you would find that the blow would be struck
+simultaneously at our Colonies.  We should either have to submit or
+send a considerable fleet away from home waters.  Then, I presume,
+the question of invasion would come again.  All the time, of course,
+the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be
+scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings.  Austria would
+gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere."
+
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+
+"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she
+said, "this decadence of your country.  Once England held the scales
+of justice for the world.  Now she is no longer strong enough, and
+there is none to take her place.  David, even if you know what that
+document contains, even then will it help very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed.  Don't you see that there is one hope left to
+us--one hope--and that is Russia?  The Czar must be made to
+withdraw from that compact.  We want to know his share in it.  When
+we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia.  Germany
+and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world.  With Russia
+behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an
+equal one.  They have to face both directions, they have to face two
+great armies working from the east and from the west."
+
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments.
+Bellamy was thinking deeply.
+
+"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms
+have been searched.  When was this?"
+
+"Only last night," she replied.
+
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is
+not in our possession.  He knows nothing about Laverick.  How are
+we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?"
+
+"You have a plan?" she asked.
+
+"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared.  "I shall
+say that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government.  It will be a bluff, pure and simple.  He may believe
+it or he may not."
+
+"You will break your compact then," she reminded him.
+
+"I shall call myself justified," he continued.  "He has attempted
+to rob us of the document.  You are sure of what you say--that your
+rooms and dressing-room have been searched?"
+
+"Absolutely certain," she declared.
+
+"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided.  "If Streuss comes to
+me, I shall meet him frankly.  I shall tell him that he has tried
+to play the burglar and that it must be war.  I shall tell him that
+the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and
+his spies had better clear out."
+
+She looked at him questioningly.
+
+"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can
+do, and one thing only.  We must send a mission to Russia and another
+to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea
+we must declare war.  It is the only thing left to us--a bold front.
+Without that packet we have no casus belli.  With it, we can strike,
+and strike hard.  I still believe that if we declare war within seven
+days, we shall save ourselves."
+
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across
+the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world
+beyond.  They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh
+floor of one of the great Strand hotels.
+
+"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily.  "We cannot
+doubt it any longer.  I think, Streuss, that the best course you
+and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back.  We do no
+good here.  We only run needless risks."
+
+The face of the other man was dark with anger.  His tone, when he
+spoke, shook with passion.
+
+"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely.  "I tell you
+that we must succeed.  If that document reaches the hands of any one
+in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen
+upon our country since you or I were born.  You don't understand,
+Kahn!  You keep your eyes closed!"
+
+"What men can do we have done," the other answered.  "Von Behrling
+played us false.  He has died a traitor's death, but it is very
+certain that he parted with his document before he received that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared.  "At
+mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were
+unknown to the Ministers of the King here.  Now if Von Behrling
+had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose
+that everything would be known by now?  He did not part with it.
+Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it.
+That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer,
+and it is for us to find him."
+
+Kahn sighed.
+
+"It is outside our sphere--that.  What can we do against the police
+of this country working in their own land?"
+
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing.  The veins
+in his temples were like whipcord.
+
+"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool!  Can't you see what it
+means?  If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose
+will happen?"
+
+"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered.  "They will
+have time to make preparation."
+
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+
+"Worse than that!" he exclaimed.  "They are not all fools, these
+English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches.
+Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches
+Downing Street?  War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon!
+Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working
+night and day?  Don't you know that every nerve is being strained,
+that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our
+new battleships?  There is but one chance for this country, and if
+her statesmen read that document they will know what it is.  It is
+open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves
+secure against attack."
+
+"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared.  "They might
+make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to
+take the initiative--no!  I do not believe it."
+
+"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said.  "He
+may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it.  Kahn, wake up, man!
+You and I together have never known what failure means.  I tell you
+that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must
+find it.  This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called
+at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked
+Friars' Alley.  She was there a long time.  The stockbroker himself
+came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood
+with her there and returned.  What was her interest in him, Kahn?
+His name is Laverick.  Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin.
+To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements.  Why did
+Mademoiselle go to the city to see him?  He was at his office late
+that Tuesday night.  He had a partner who has disappeared."
+
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+
+"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed.
+
+"And more," Streuss declared.  "For twenty-four hours, this man
+Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels."
+
+"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested.  "If he has the
+document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly."
+
+Streuss shook his head.
+
+"You don't know the man.  He is an Englishman, and if he had any
+idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would
+be small indeed.  This is what I think will happen.  Mademoiselle
+will try to obtain it, and try in vain.  Then Bellamy will tell him
+the truth, and he will part with it willingly.  In the meantime, I
+believe that it is in his possession.
+
+"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn.
+
+"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed.  "If it is only a hundred to one
+chance, we have to take it.  I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf,
+and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed."
+
+The telephone bell rang.  Streuss took off the receiver and held it
+to his ear.  The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid
+the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in
+his face.
+
+"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with
+the document to-day.  Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been
+sitting in the Park for an hour.  When they separated, she drove
+home and dropped him at his club.  Up till now, then, they have not
+the document.  We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves
+business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document
+has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his
+office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's--"
+
+"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly.
+
+"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly,
+"there is still a chance for us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+
+
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden
+that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the
+reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become
+her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this
+adventure.  He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no
+interest for her.  In some way or other he had become connected in
+her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of
+his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder
+had become a subject of interest to her.  Either that, or this was
+one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of
+courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary
+visitor.  The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her
+wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no
+person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved
+upon any stage.  It appeared impossible that movement so graceful
+and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless.  There
+seemed to be some strange power inside the woman.  Surely her will
+guided her feet!  The necessity for physical effort never once
+appeared.  Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt
+against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether
+in check.  The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her
+glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience.  He
+clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he
+leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she
+reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips,
+accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the
+packed house.
+
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock
+at his box door.  One of the attendants ushered in a short man of
+somewhat remarkable personality.  He was barely five feet in height,
+and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the
+appearance of a hunchback.  He had black, beady eyes, a black
+moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin.  His white gloves
+had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his
+silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually
+associated with Bond Street.
+
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and
+commenced to speak.  His accent was foreign, but, if not an
+Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence.
+
+"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies.  It was
+Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance.
+My name is Lassen.  I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business
+manager.
+
+"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick.  "Will
+you sit down?"
+
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed
+back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took
+the seat opposite Laverick.  His first question was inevitable.
+
+"What do you think of the opera, sir?"
+
+"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered.  "It
+is above criticism."
+
+"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe
+and her voice is the most wonderful.  It is a great combination,
+this.  I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to
+England most of those whose names are known during the last ten
+years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,--never will
+be."
+
+"I can believe it," Laverick admitted.
+
+"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen.  "Your
+acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest."
+
+"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly.  He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+
+"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded.
+"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance."
+
+"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered.  "As a matter of fact,
+it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist
+upon my coming here to-night.  She did me the honor, as you may
+know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning."
+
+"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared.  "Mademoiselle is a
+great woman of business.  Most of her investments she controls
+herself.  She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict
+her.  She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of
+affairs."
+
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss
+Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger
+should be her manager.  He nodded and took up his programme.  As
+he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act.  Laverick turned
+deliberately towards the stage.  The little man had paid his respects,
+as he put it.  Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation
+with him.  Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that
+his companion's eyes were fixed upon him.  He had an uncomfortable
+sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this
+visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he
+had not declared.
+
+"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter
+remarked, some time afterwards.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her."
+
+"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested.
+"You are here at her invitation.  It is usual, I can assure you."
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said.  "I
+have an engagement immediately after the performance is over."
+
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch,
+and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later.  When
+he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to
+Laverick with an air of triumph.
+
+"It is as I said!" he exclaimed.  "Mademoiselle expects you."
+
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+
+
+  I wish to see you after the performance.  If you cannot come
+  round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant
+  of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup.  Do not fail.
+
+                                                   Louise Idiale.
+
+
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate
+remark.  Later on he turned to his companion.
+
+"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself
+the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant.  I have an
+engagement after the performance which I must keep."
+
+"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously.
+
+"Without a doubt," Laverick promised.
+
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+
+"I will go and tell Mademoiselle.  For some reason or other she
+seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening.  She has
+her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself,
+find it well to keep them gratified.  If I do not see you again,
+sir, permit me to wish you good evening."
+
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and
+Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve.  He was not in the
+least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this
+woman's interest in him.  Her invitation, he knew very well, was
+one which half London would have coveted.  Yet it meant nothing
+personal, he was sure of that.  It simply meant that for some
+mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit
+him in the city he was of interest to her.
+
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove
+to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre.  Zoe came out among the
+first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street
+eagerly.  When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly.
+
+"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab.  "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there
+is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true.
+To-night I was not sure.  You had said nothing about it, and yet I
+could not help believing that you would be here."
+
+"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together.
+Unfortunately, I have an engagement."
+
+"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling.
+
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+
+"It is rather an odd thing," he declared.  "You remember that woman
+at Luigi's last night--Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to
+invest for her.  She made me take her out and show her where the
+murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it.
+Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening,
+and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards.
+I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to
+Luigi's, where she will be."
+
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+
+"Where are we going now, then?" she asked.
+
+"Wherever you like.  I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere."
+
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+
+"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said.  "I have so
+many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home."
+
+"I am sorry.  If I could think of anything or anywhere--"
+
+"No, you must take me home, please," said she.  "It was selfish of
+me.  Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person.  Do you
+think that she will want you every night?"
+
+"Of course not," he laughed.  "Come, I will make an engagement with
+you.  We will have supper together to-morrow evening."
+
+She brightened up at once.
+
+"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you
+heard anything from Arthur?  He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown."
+
+Laverick shook his head.  He said nothing about the marconigram he
+had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that
+there was no such person on board.  It seemed scarcely worth while
+to worry her.
+
+"I have heard nothing," he replied.  "Of course, he must be half-way
+to America by now."
+
+"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked.
+
+"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors.
+The latter I am paying as they come.  But there is one thing you
+ought to do with me.  I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock
+up his papers and letters.  He never even went back, you know, after
+that night."
+
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"When would you like to do this?"
+
+"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until
+Monday afternoon.  Would you go with me then?"
+
+"Of course...  My time is my own.  We have no matinee, and I have
+nothing to do except in the evening."
+
+They had reached her home.  It looked very dark and very uninviting.
+She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was
+carrying.
+
+"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged.  "It
+looks so dreary, doesn't it?"
+
+"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in
+a part like this."
+
+"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered.  "I am only lonely."
+
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit
+the gas jet.  In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting
+for her, and some bread.
+
+"Thank you so much," she said.  "Now I am going to make up the fire
+and read for a short time.  I hope that you will enjoy your supper--well,
+moderately," she added, with a little laugh.
+
+"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than
+last night's or to-morrow night's."
+
+She sighed.
+
+"Poor little me!" she exclaimed.  "It is not fair to have to compete
+with Mademoiselle Idiale.  Good night!"
+
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+
+"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away
+early--would you like me to come in and say good night to you
+later on?"
+
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+
+"Oh, do!" she begged.  "Do!"
+
+He turned away with a smile.
+
+"Very well," he said.  "Don't shut up just yet and I will try."
+
+"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared,--"until
+four, even.  You must come.  Remember, you must come.  See."
+
+She held out to him her key.
+
+"I can knock at the door," he protested.  "You would hear me."
+
+"But I might fall asleep," she answered.  "I am afraid.  If you have
+the key, I am sure that you will come."
+
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+
+"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+
+
+Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to
+twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties
+on their way to a fancy dress ball.  The demand for tables was far
+in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before
+the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once.
+"Will you be so good as to come this way?"
+
+Laverick followed him.  She was sitting at the same table as last
+night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise,
+only for two.
+
+"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to
+a new sensation.  I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of
+an hour--I!  Such a thing has never happened to me before."
+
+"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+
+"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you.  That is what I
+seldom do with any man.  Not that I care for the appearance," she
+added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand.  "Nothing troubles me
+less.  It is simply that one man alone wearies me.  Almost always
+he will make love, and that I do not like.  You, Mr. Laverick, I am
+not afraid of.  I do not think that you will make love to me."
+
+"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I
+forthwith banish.  You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle."
+
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+
+"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said.  "I do not think that
+you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous."
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make
+love to any one.  I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is
+difficult--sometimes it is even embarrassing.  For supper?"
+
+"It is ordered," she declared.  "You are my guest."
+
+"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly.  "I have been your guest
+at the Opera.  You at least owe me the honor of being mine for
+supper."
+
+She frowned a little.  She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+
+"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted.  "No," she
+continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back.  I
+sup with you to-night.  This is an ill omen for our future
+acquaintance.  I have given in to you already--I, who give in to
+no man.  Give me some champagne, please."
+
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the
+sommelier darted forward and served them.
+
+"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,"
+she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast,
+I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is
+consuming you."
+
+"The curiosity?"
+
+"Yes!  You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last
+night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your
+office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with
+you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you
+to supper here and am supping with you alone.  Now confess the
+truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?"
+
+"Frankly, I am."
+
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+
+"I knew it quite well.  You are not conceited.  You do not believe,
+as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you.  You
+think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the
+time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether
+you have any idea."
+
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper.  She looked at him with a
+suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only
+needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something
+almost irresistible.
+
+"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea."
+
+"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked.
+
+"It was about the murder.  You seemed interested in the fact that
+my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred."
+
+"Quite right," she admitted.  "I see that your memory is very good.
+There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you."
+
+Laverick drank his wine slowly.  The woman knew!  Impossible!  Her
+eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely.  What
+could she know?  How could she guess?
+
+"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand.  Your interest in me
+arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that
+murder.  Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?"
+
+"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance
+of mine."
+
+"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed.  "Why, he has not
+been identified.  No one knows who he was."
+
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you
+everything.  I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of
+mine.  Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna
+with him."
+
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+
+"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?"
+
+"Perhaps I could," she answered.  "I can tell you one thing, at any
+rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you.  At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him.  This
+is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press."
+
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his.  He sat
+quite still.  His face exhibited nothing more than the blank
+amazement which he certainly felt.
+
+"This is marvelous," he said.  "Have you told the police?"
+
+"I have not," she answered.  "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling
+the police."
+
+"But the money?  To whom did it belong?"
+
+"Not to the murdered man."
+
+"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired.
+
+"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am
+telling you too much."
+
+"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly.
+
+"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?"
+
+"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed.  "But what can I do?  What do I know
+of these things?"
+
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful
+gold purse set with emeralds.  Carefully opening it, she drew from
+the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great
+uncut emerald set into its centre.  This, too, she opened, and drew
+out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top.
+These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth.
+Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+
+"You may read that," she said.  "It is part of a report which I have
+had in my pos session since Wednesday morning."
+
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular
+characters, very distinct and plain:
+
+          Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down
+          the street but did not glance toward the passage.  The next
+          person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the
+          same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his
+          homeward way.  He glanced up the passage and saw the body
+          lying there.  He disappeared for a moment and struck a match.
+          A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and
+          down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office
+          from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey,
+          and closed the door behind him.  He was there for about ten
+          minutes.  When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street
+          and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him.
+
+          The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was
+          Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+
+"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly.
+
+He handed it back to her.
+
+"It interests me very much," he answered.  "Who was this unseen
+person who wrote from the clouds?"
+
+"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared.
+"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?"
+
+Laverick helped himself to champagne.  He listened for a moment to
+the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that
+beautiful face a few feet away.  Her lips were slightly parted, her
+forehead wrinkled.  There was nothing of the accuser in her
+countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression.
+
+"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It might seem so," she answered.  "Sometimes I think that all the
+time we live two lives,--the life of which the world sees the
+outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows
+anything at all.  Look, for instance, at all these people--these
+chorus girls and young men about town--the older ones, too--all
+hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they
+had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy.
+Have they no shadows, too, no secrets?  They seem so harmless, yet
+if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer
+there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus
+on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor?  But
+those are the things of the other world which we do not see.  The
+men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me.
+The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and
+shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame
+throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very
+few minutes.  But they do not know.  There are the shadows across
+my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours.  What
+do you say, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+He looked at her, curiously moved.  Now at last he began to believe
+that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a
+marvelous woman.  She had a fame which would have contented nine
+hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand.  She had beauty,
+and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are
+irresistible.  She had but to lift a finger and there were few
+who would not kneel to do her bidding.  And yet, behind it all there
+were other things in her life.  Had she sought them, or had they
+come to her?
+
+"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who
+realize the danger of words.  You believe in silence.  Well, silence
+is often good.  You do not choose to admit anything."
+
+"What is there for me to admit?  Do you want to know whether I am
+the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage,
+who reappeared again--"
+
+"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured
+across the flowers.
+
+"At least tell me this?" he demanded.  "Was the money yours?"
+
+"I am not like you," she replied.  "I have talked a great deal and
+I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you."
+
+"But where are we?" he asked.  "Are you seriously accusing me of
+having robbed this murdered man?"
+
+"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having
+murdered him."
+
+"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account
+for my movements that night as against the written word of your
+mysterious informant?  Is it you who are charging me with being a
+thief?  Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself
+or to plead guilty?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No," she answered.  "I have said almost my last word to you upon
+this subject.  All that I have to ask of you is this.  If that
+pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents,
+then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not
+a secret pocket.  If you discover that, I think that you will find
+in it a sealed document.  If you find that document, you must bring
+it to me."
+
+The lights went down.  The voice of the waiter murmured something
+in his ears.
+
+"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not
+wish to disturb us.  Still, perhaps we had better go."
+
+They passed down the room.  To Laverick it was all--like a dream--the
+laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the
+lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to
+have enfolded the place.  In the hall her maid came up.  A small
+motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the
+doorway.  Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand.
+
+"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite
+a success.  We shall before long, I hope, meet again."
+
+He handed her into the carriage.  Her maid walked with them.  The
+footman stood erect by his side.  There were no further words to be
+spoken.  A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood
+bareheaded upon the pavement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+
+
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when
+he stole into that shabby little sitting-room.  Zoe had fallen
+asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the
+window.  Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat
+lay upon the table.  A book was upon her lap as though she had
+started to read only to find it slip through her fingers.  He stood
+with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her.  Her
+eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that
+her eyes were closed.  Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed
+more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of
+ill-health.  The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the
+neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin.
+Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her
+feet and ankles.  Once more he remembered his first simile, his
+first thought of her.  She seemed, indeed, like some dainty
+statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her
+own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the
+struggle.  His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he
+stood and watched her.  Supposing she had been different!  It
+would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way
+through the most difficult of all lives.  Brute!
+
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her
+eyes.  At first she seemed bewildered.  Then she smiled and sat up.
+
+"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed.
+
+"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling.  "I have
+been standing looking at you for five minutes at least."
+
+"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared.  "I don't
+suppose I should ever have heard you.  Now please stand there in
+the light and let me look at you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle
+Idiale."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?"
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so
+beautiful!  If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she
+even looked my way."
+
+"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable."
+
+"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Why should I be?" he laughed.  "She is like a wonderful picture, a
+marvelous statue, if you will.  Everything about her is faultless.
+But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know.  It is life
+which stirs life."
+
+"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked.
+
+"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir
+it."
+
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+
+"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the
+least desire to let you go."
+
+"Incredible!" he declared.
+
+"But it is true," she answered earnestly.  "You would not have me
+talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door.  The men
+to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very
+few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for
+me and I have not cared for them.  I think," she said, disconsolately,
+"I am too small.  Every one to-day seems to like big women.  Cora
+Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every
+night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper."
+
+Laverick looked grave.
+
+"You are not envying her?" he asked.
+
+"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes."
+
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to
+prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+But do you know that it is half past one?  I must not stay here any
+longer."
+
+She sighed once more.
+
+"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely.  I have never
+been here without May and her mother.  I have never slept alone in
+the house before the other night.  If I had known that they were
+going away, I should never have dared to come here."
+
+"It is too bad," he declared.  "Couldn't you get one of the other
+girls to stay with you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but
+they are all living either at home or with relatives.  The others I
+am afraid about.  They seem to like to sit up so late and--"
+
+"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily,--"quite right.  You
+are better alone.  But you ought to have a servant."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked.  "You must remember that
+I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay."
+
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I
+have money which should go to your brother.  Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little?  I cannot bear to think of
+you here all alone."
+
+"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no.
+Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that
+sort of help from you.  If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it
+for a time and I think when you write him--I do not want to seem
+grasping--but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that
+he does give me just a little.  I have never had anything from him
+at all.  Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+
+"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you
+would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to
+you.  I will take the responsibility for it.  It will come from him
+and not from me."
+
+She remained unconvinced.
+
+"I would rather wait," she said.  "If you really want to give me
+something, I will let you--out of my brother's money, of course,
+I mean," she added.  "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't
+have that.  But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and
+hat.  You can tell Arthur directly you write to him.  I don't mind
+that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed--I did the other night to
+have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very
+differently from all of them."
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+"I don't think men notice those things.  To me you seemed just as
+you should seem.  I only know that I was glad enough to be there
+with you."
+
+"Were you?"--rather wistfully.
+
+"Of course I was.  Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget
+Monday afternoon.  We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's
+rooms."
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"Is it really so late?" she asked.
+
+"It is.  Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?"
+
+They stood hand in hand for a moment.  A strange silence seemed to
+have fallen upon the streets.  Laverick was suddenly conscious of
+something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had
+smiled upon him--a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering
+excitement which almost took his breath away.  His eyes were fixed
+upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave
+of feeling in her own expressive face.  Her lips trembled, her eyes
+were deeper and softer than ever.  They seemed to be asking him a
+question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was
+concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at
+arm's length.
+
+"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer,
+so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+
+"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice
+even to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+
+"Run along to bed.  To-morrow night--to-morrow night, then, I will
+fetch you.  Good-bye!"
+
+He let himself out.  He did not even look behind to the spot where
+he had left her.  He closed the front door and walked with swift,
+almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square,
+and into New Oxford Street.  Here he seemed to breathe more freely.
+He called a hansom and drove to his rooms.
+
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was
+no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him.  When he
+entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise.
+Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands
+upon his knees--Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even
+than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of
+unconcealed and unaffected terror.
+
+"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed.  "What the dickens--what do you want
+here, Shepherd?"
+
+"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied,
+"but I'm scared.  I've brought you back the certificates of them
+shares.  I want you to keep them for me.  I'm terrified lest they
+come and search my room.  I am, I tell you fair.  I'm terrified to
+order a pint of beer for myself.  They're watching me all the time."
+
+"Who are?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it.
+I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd
+done and finished with it.  Not a bit of it!  There was another one
+there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of
+the passage and asking me no end of questions.  He wasn't no
+journalist, I'll swear to that.  I asked him about his paper.
+'Half-a-dozen,' he declared.  'They're all glad to have what I send
+them.' Journalist!  Lord knows who the other chap was and what he
+was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight.  Joe
+Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a
+month's notice, and he says to me, 'You see that big chap?'--meaning
+him as had been asking me the questions--and I says 'Yes!' and he
+says, 'That's a 'tee.  I've seed him in a police court, giving
+evidence.'  I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me
+down."
+
+"Come, come!" said Laverick.  "There's no need for you to be feeling
+like this about it.  All that you've done is not to have remembered
+those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night.
+There's nothing criminal in that."
+
+"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds'
+worth of shares in one's pocket--something suspicious, anyway,"
+Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table.  "I ain't giving
+you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me.  I wish I'd never
+given notice.  I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on."
+
+"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?"
+Laverick inquired.
+
+"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up.  "Why, he's
+been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me.
+My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell
+whether he did or not?  Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere.
+Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush
+was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels.  I seed
+him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get
+a drop of something."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you
+are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come
+here!  All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner."
+
+"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared.  "I couldn't, indeed.
+I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one.  And then
+there were these shares.  There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe."
+
+"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about
+nothing.  In any case, there is only one thing for you to do.  Pull
+yourself together and put a bold face upon it.  I'll keep these
+certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come
+to me for it.  Go back to your place, and if your master is willing
+to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for
+another month or so.  But don't let any one see that you're
+frightened.  Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble
+for.  No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked,
+except in a court and under oath.  Stick to your story, and if you
+take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking
+fingers, "you will keep away from the drink."
+
+"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him.  "A drop
+now and then just to keep up one's spirits--nothing that amounts
+to anything."
+
+"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said.  "Remember, I'm back
+of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble.  And don't come here
+again.  Come to my office, if you like--there's nothing in that--but
+don't come here, you understand?"
+
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+
+"I understand, sir.  I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight
+of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers."
+
+"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason," Laverick said,
+showing him out, "but not here again.  Keep your eyes open, and let
+me know if you think you've been followed here."
+
+"There's no more news in the papers, sir?  Nothing turned up?"
+
+"Nothing," replied Laverick.  "If the police have found out anything
+at all, they will keep it until after the inquest."
+
+"And you've heard nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a
+hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?"
+
+"Nothing," Laverick answered.  "Mr. Morrison is abroad."
+
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+
+"Of course!" he muttered.  "A good job, too, for him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+
+
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and
+one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine.  He found
+a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows.
+They stared at him in amazement.  His arrival at such an hour was
+absolutely unprecedented.
+
+"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told
+them.  "I have a few things to attend to at once."
+
+He was accordingly left alone.  He had reckoned upon this as being
+the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being
+disturbed.  Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure
+against any possible intruder.  Then he went to his safe, unlocked
+it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather
+pocket-book.
+
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table.
+Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little
+leap.  It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him.  On one
+side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper.  He opened the
+case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining.
+Very soon he found the opening--it was simply a matter of drawing
+down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge.
+Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope,
+securely sealed.  Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged
+the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again.  Then
+he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document
+which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+
+There was not much to be made of it.  There was no address, but the
+black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms,
+and a motto which to him was indecipherable.  He held it up to the
+light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained
+no idea as to its contents.  He leaned back in his chair for a
+moment, and looked at it.  So this was the document which would
+probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley!
+This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so
+much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of
+bank-notes!  What did it all mean?  Was this man, who had either
+expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance,--was
+he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret
+society, an informer?  Or was he one of the underground criminals
+of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known
+things--a creature of the dark places?  Perhaps during those few
+minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city
+awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than
+ever before exactly how he stood.  Without doubt he was walking on
+the brink of a precipice.  Four days ago there had been nothing for
+him but ruin.  The means of salvation had suddenly presented
+themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without
+hesitation he had embraced them.  What did it all amount to?  How
+far was he guilty, and of what?  Was he a thief?  The law would
+probably call him so.  The law might have even more to say.  It
+would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on
+that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals,--he
+was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge
+of this terrible crime.  Events had followed upon one another so
+rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time
+for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood.  The
+long-expected boom in "Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange
+advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible
+connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her
+apparent knowledge of his share in it,--these things were sufficient,
+indeed, to give him food for thought.  Laverick was not by nature a
+pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without
+doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high
+order.  It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger.
+He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other
+thoughts.  Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business
+of the day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face
+and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was.  How was he
+to find a way out--to set himself right with the law?  What could
+he do with those notes?  They were there untouched.  He had only
+made use of them in an indirect way.  They were there intact, as
+he had picked them up upon that fateful night.  Was there any
+possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and
+restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned?
+His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him.
+Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy.  Should he risk
+everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much
+and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale?  It was a strange
+dilemma for a man to find himself in.
+
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced.  A pile
+of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began
+to ring.  He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of
+his coat and buttoned it up.  There, for the present, it must remain.
+He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make
+the most of this great tide of business.  With set face he closed
+the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which
+were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual
+figure.
+
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him
+that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+
+"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded
+him.  "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her.  They
+must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit.  Perhaps she
+wants to realize."
+
+"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick.
+
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and
+heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat
+severely furnished office.  Her skirts swept his carpet with a
+musical swirl.  She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume
+of violets,--a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a
+famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person
+upon earth.  Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those
+few yards as she walked?
+
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+
+"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely.  "So
+far, we have nothing but good news for you."
+
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk,
+and she waved her hand.
+
+"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments
+are a nuisance, I suppose," she said.  "But indeed I will not keep
+you long.  A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you.  I am
+beginning to find city affairs so interesting."
+
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so
+high that he could see her eyes.  She leaned back in her chair,
+supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right
+hand.  She looked at him thoughtfully.
+
+"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked.
+
+"I have."
+
+"And the document was there?"
+
+"The document was there," he admitted.  "Perhaps you can tell me how
+it would be addressed?"
+
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was
+assumed.  She was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+
+"I imagine that there would be no address," she said.
+
+"You are right.  That document is in my pocket."
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
+
+"What do you advise me to do with it?"
+
+"Give it to me."
+
+"Have you any claim?"
+
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+
+"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"I do not claim them," he replied.  "They are in my safe at this
+moment, untouched.  They are there ready to be returned to their
+proper owner."
+
+"Why do you not find him?"--with a note of incredulity in her tone.
+
+"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"We waste words," she continued coldly.  "I think that if I leave
+you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand
+me that document."
+
+"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted.  "The very fact that
+you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to
+it.  But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?"
+
+"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none."
+
+"But listen," he begged.  "You are the only person with whom I have
+come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair.  I
+should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it.
+Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence?  I want neither
+the twenty thousand pounds nor the document.  I want, to be frank
+with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of
+being half a thief and half a criminal.  Show me some claim to that
+document and you shall have it.  Tell me to whom that money belongs,
+and it shall be restored."
+
+"You are incomprehensible," she declared.  "Are you, by any chance,
+playing a part with me?  Do you think that it is worth while?"
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the
+world is further from my thoughts.  There is very little of the
+conspirator about me.  I am a plain man of business who stumbled in
+upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary
+use of his discovery.  You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid.
+I want to get out.  Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such
+a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents
+anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again."
+
+She listened to him with unchanged face.  Yet for some moments after
+he had finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+
+"You may be speaking the truth," she said.  "If so, I have been
+deceived.  You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were.
+What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true."
+
+"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly.
+
+"Listen," she said, after a brief pause.  "You were at school, were
+you not, with Mr. David Bellamy?  You know well who he is?"
+
+"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You would consider him a person to be trusted?"
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"Very well, then," she declared.  "You shall come to my fiat at five
+o'clock this afternoon and bring that document.  If it is possible,
+David Bellamy shall be there himself.  We will try then and prove
+to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us."
+
+"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must
+tell me where."
+
+"You will put it down, please," she said.  "There must not be any
+mistake.  You must come, and you must come to-day.  I am staying at
+number 15, Dover Street.  I will leave orders that you are shown
+in at once."
+
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her.  On the way
+she hesitated.
+
+"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged.  "There
+are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry
+with you.  You represent to them things beside which life and death
+are trivial happenings."
+
+Laverick laughed shortly.  He was a matter-of-fact man, and there
+seemed something a little absurd in such a warning.
+
+"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear.  London
+is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably
+safe one to live in."
+
+"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your
+guard to-day, for all our sakes."
+
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+
+"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to
+leave as they are.  It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to
+know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a
+thousand pounds."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It was an excuse--that investment," she declared.  "Yet money is
+always good.  Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will.  I
+will trust your judgment.  Buy or sell as you please.  You will let
+nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?"
+
+"Nothing," he promised her.
+
+From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham
+she held out her hand in farewell.
+
+"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do
+beg that you will remember what I say.  Do not be alone to-day more
+than you can help.  Suspect every one who comes near to you.  There
+may be a trap before your feet at any moment.  Be wary always and do
+not forget--at five o'clock I expect you."
+
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+
+"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+
+
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked
+"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick.  He tore it open.
+It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two
+of the partners of which he was on friendly terms.  It ran thus:
+
+  MY DEAR LAVERICK,--I want a chat with you, if you can spare
+  five minutes at lunch time.  Come to Lyons' a little earlier
+  than usual, if you don't mind,--say at a quarter to one.
+
+                                                    J. HENSHAW.
+
+
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first.  He
+had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention
+of starting out, when a thought struck him.  He took it up and read
+it though again.  Then he turned to the telephone.
+
+"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen.  I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly."
+
+Two minutes passed.  Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands
+ready to go out.  Then the telephone bell rang.  He took up the
+receiver.
+
+"Hullo!  Is that Henshaw?"
+
+"I'm Henshaw," was the answer.  "That's Laverick, isn't it?  How
+are you, old fellow?"
+
+"I'm all right," Laverick replied.  "What is it that you want to
+see me about?"
+
+"Nothing particular that I know of.  Who told you that I wanted to?"
+
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat
+down in his chair.
+
+"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago,
+asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons'?"
+
+Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response.
+
+"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,--you know
+that," was the answer, "but some one's been putting up a practical
+joke on you."
+
+"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick
+insisted.
+
+"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply.  "Do you seriously mean that
+you've had one purporting to come from me?"
+
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+
+"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could
+tell what the name really was.  I guessed at you but I seem to have
+guessed wrong.  Good-bye!"
+
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning.
+Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken.  This was a deliberate
+effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices
+at a quarter to one.
+
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked,
+Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of
+his premises.  At the same time his curiosity was excited.  Here,
+perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable
+mystery.
+
+There were thee clerks in the outer office.  He put on his hat and
+despatched two of them on errands in different directions.  The last
+he was obliged to take into his confidence.
+
+"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch.  At least, I wish it
+to be thought that I am going out to lunch.  As a matter of fact, I
+shall return in about ten minutes by the back way.  I do not wish
+you, however, to know this.  I want you to have it in your mind
+that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past
+two.  If there are visitors for me--Inquirers of any sort--act
+exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was
+not in the building."
+
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified.  Laverick took him even
+further into his confidence.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a
+bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him.  Some
+one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour
+or so.  I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible.
+You understand?"
+
+"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully.  "I am not to be
+aware that you have returned, then?"
+
+"Certainly not," Laverick answered.  "Please be quite clear about
+that.  If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in,
+but do not send for the police unless I tell you to.  I wish to
+look into this affair for myself."
+
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+
+"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate
+with the police in the first case?  If this should really turn out
+to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the
+matter to them."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to
+tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter
+personally.  Please do exactly as I say."
+
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of
+the restaurant which he chiefly frequented.  He reached it in a
+moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance.  Within ten
+minutes he was back at his office.
+
+"Has any one been, Halsey?"
+
+"No one, sir," the clerk answered.
+
+"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I
+have returned."
+
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the
+small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands.  He had
+scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside
+hall.  The door of his office was opened.
+
+"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he
+heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+
+"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar
+voice.  "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry.  The matter is of
+some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick."
+
+The visitor was shown in.  Laverick investigated his appearance
+through a crack in the door.  He was a man of medium height,
+well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles.  He
+made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted
+the paper which Halsey offered him.
+
+"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially.  "I have
+been running about all the morning."
+
+"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said.
+"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or
+twenty minutes."
+
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door.  The man in the chair waited
+for a moment.  Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously
+around the room.  Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to
+his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table.  With fingers
+which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he
+swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers.  His
+eyes were everywhere.  Every document seemed to be scanned and as
+rapidly discarded.  At last he found something which interested him.
+He held it up and paused in his search.  Laverick heard a little
+breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the
+paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon
+which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had
+given him.  The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper
+where he had found it.  Evidently he had done with the writing-table.
+He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a
+few seconds.  Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys.  To
+Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door
+of the safe swung open.  He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand
+reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers.
+Then he stood once more quite still, listening.  Satisfied that no
+one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved
+once more to the writing-table.  With marvelous swiftness the notes
+were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down,
+the secret place disclosed--the secret place which was empty.  It
+seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little
+oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips.  The man
+replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated.
+Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly
+out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and
+the door.
+
+"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly.
+
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without
+the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where
+he lay, for a moment, motionless.  Then he slowly picked himself up.
+His spectacles were broken--he blinked as he stood there.
+
+"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said.  "Perhaps if you will kindly
+realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so
+good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your
+intrusion."
+
+The man obeyed.  He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment,
+as though in pain.
+
+"I imagine," he said--and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had
+a slight foreign accent--"I imagine that the motive for my paying
+you this visit is fairly clear to you.  People who have compromising
+possessions may always expect visits of this sort.  You see, one
+runs so little risk."
+
+"So little risk!" Laverick repeated.
+
+"Exactly," the other answered.  "Confess that you are not in the
+least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give
+me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted
+from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of
+England notes."
+
+"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You are a man of common sense," declared the other.  "It would not
+do.  Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you.  There
+was a sealed document in this pocket-book.  Where is it?  What
+have you done with it?"
+
+"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions
+from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
+attempt at burglary?"
+
+The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
+into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+
+"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply.  "Whether
+you've read that document or not, I want it.  If you've read it, you
+know the sort of men you've got to deal with.  If you haven't, take
+my word for it that we waste no time.  The document!  Will you give
+it me?"
+
+"Do I understand that you are threatening me?"  Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+
+"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
+seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered.
+"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last
+movement you'll ever make on earth."
+
+"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick
+said.  "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance
+of getting clear of the building.  My clerks would rush out after
+you into the street.  You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
+business men.  You couldn't make your way through anywhere.  You'd
+be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards.  Put down your revolver.
+We can perhaps settle this little matter without it."
+
+"The document!" the man ordered.  "You've got it!  You must have it!
+You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book
+was the document.  We must have it.  We intend to have it."
+
+"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired.
+
+"If you do not know, what does it matter?  Will you give it to me?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I have no document."
+
+The man in the chair leaned forward.  The muzzle of his revolver was
+very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+
+"Give it to me!" he repeated.  "You ought to know that you are not
+dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death.  You have it about
+you.  Produce it, and I've done with you.  Deny me, and you have not
+time to say your prayers!"
+
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
+His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it.  He held
+it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at
+his visitor.  He followed behind with one desperate spring.  Once,
+twice, the revolver barked out.  Laverick felt the skin of his temple
+burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days.
+Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay
+upon the carpet.
+
+"We'll see about that.  By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the
+life out of you.  That bullet of yours might have been in my temple."
+
+"It was meant to be there," the man gasped.  "Hand over the document,
+you pig-headed fool!  It'll cost you your life--if not to-day,
+to-morrow."
+
+"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely.
+"You assassin!  Scoundrel!  To come here and make a cold-blooded
+effort at murder!  You shall see what you think of the inside of an
+English prison."
+
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+
+"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked.
+
+Laverick was silent.  His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed.  You have twenty
+thousand pounds.  That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty
+thousand for that document unopened."
+
+"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away.  "Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark.  Tell me the real position of the murdered man?  Tell me why he
+was murdered?  Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in
+his possession?  Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you."
+
+"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,"
+his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me.  You do not
+expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded?
+You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that
+sealed envelope?  Bah!  It is a child's game, that, and we play as
+men with men."
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?"
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered.  "The document is worth
+no more than that to you.  How you came into this thing is a mystery,
+but you are in and, what is more, you have possession.  Twenty
+thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick.  It is a large sum of money.  You
+find it interesting?"
+
+"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a
+seller."
+
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes.  His expression was
+full of wonder.
+
+"Consider for a moment," he said.  "While that document remains in
+your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a
+thread.  Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares.
+Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner
+you are out of them the better.  What do you say now to my offer?"
+
+"It is refused," Laverick declared.  "I regret; to add," he
+continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at
+my disposal.  Forgive me."
+
+He pressed a button with his finger.  His visitor rose up in anger.
+
+"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed.  "You are not going to
+send me away without it?  Why, I tell you that there won't be a
+safe corner in the World for you!"
+
+Halsey opened the door.  Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+
+"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered.
+
+Halsey started.  The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been
+muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of
+gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke.  The man rose
+slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+
+"It must be as you will, of course.  I wonder if you would be so
+good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist?  I am,
+unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition."
+
+"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered.  "Put on your
+hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses."
+
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+
+"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered.
+"Do you accept my offer?  Will you give me the document?"
+
+"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied.  "I shall not part with
+anything until I know more than I know at present."
+
+The man stood motionless for a moment.  His fingers seemed to be
+twitching.  Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but
+if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance
+checked them.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly.  "We
+shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date."
+
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room.  Laverick
+went to the window and threw it wide open.  The smoke floated out,
+the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed.  Then he walked
+back to his seat.  Once more he locked up the notes.  The document
+was safe in his pocket.  There was a slight mark by the side of his
+temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding.  He rang the bell
+and Halsey entered.
+
+"Has our friend gone, Halsey?"
+
+"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered.  "He was
+buying some spectacles."
+
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those
+gold-rimmed glasses were scattered.
+
+"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said.  "The
+gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe.  We'll
+have a combination put on."
+
+"Very good, sir," Halsey answered.
+
+"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing,
+for your own sake as well as mine.  If that man presents himself
+again, don't let him come into my room unannounced.  If you can
+help it, don't let him come in at all.  I have an idea that he
+might be dangerous."
+
+The clerk's face was a study.
+
+"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall
+take the liberty of sending for the police."
+
+Laverick made no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
+meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab
+to be summoned.  He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book
+securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and
+directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane.  Here at the headquarters
+of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in
+the strong-room locked up the pocket-book.  There was only now the
+document left.  Stepping once more into the street, he found that
+his taxicab had vanished.  He looked up and down in vain.  The man
+had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his
+departure.  A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and
+addressed him.
+
+"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?" he asked.
+
+"I was," Laverick answered.  "I hadn't paid him and I told him to
+wait."
+
+"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman
+remarked.  "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up
+in a hansom.  They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver,
+who shook his head and pointed to his flag.  The gent then said
+something else to him--can't say as I heard what it was, but it
+was probably offering him double fare.  Anyway, they both got in
+and off went your taxi, sir."
+
+"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully.  "It sounds a little
+perplexing."
+
+He hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit
+in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed.  I have still
+in my pocket a document of great importance.  I have no doubt
+whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is
+to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will
+render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful."
+
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously.
+He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical
+joke.  Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and
+was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle!
+Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous
+order.  Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a
+wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to
+defend himself at any time.  The constable smiled in a non-committal
+manner.
+
+"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think
+this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault."
+
+"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you
+must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice.  I stepped
+from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight
+from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other
+document I am carrying with me.  Why I have taken you into my
+confidence is to ask you this.  Can you walk with me to the corner
+of the street, or until we meet a taxicab?  it sounds cowardly, but,
+as a matter of fact, I am not afraid.  I simply want to make sure
+of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs."
+
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+
+"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further
+on.  I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire
+it.  At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations.
+How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this
+neighborhood for some purpose of your own?"
+
+"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with
+a smile.
+
+"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted.  "Keep by my side, and I
+think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn."
+
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of
+the policeman he seemed short.  Both scanned the faces of the
+passers-by closely--the police-man with mild interest, Laverick
+with almost feverish anxiety.  It was a gray afternoon, pleasant
+but close.  There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the
+feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick.  He
+felt himself in danger--he had no idea how, or in what way--but
+the conviction was there.  He took every step fully alert,
+absolutely on his guard.
+
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the
+bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road.
+Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct
+of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own
+position.  With the constable, however, it was naturally different.
+He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and
+he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he
+was engaged.  A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either
+knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of
+fit.  There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making
+desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.  The constable
+sprang to the rescue.  Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing
+that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.  He
+was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
+been meant for the back of his head.  He was confronted by a man
+dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat,
+a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as
+would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion.
+Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one
+pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking
+life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked
+with chloroform.  Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his
+left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent
+him staggering against the wall.  The handkerchief, with its load
+of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.  The man was obviously
+worsted.  Laverick sprang at him.  They were almost unobserved,
+for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway.
+With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close,
+and tore at his coat.  Laverick struck at him again but met only
+the air.  The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this
+time Laverick made no mistake.  He struck downward so hard that
+with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold.  Before he
+could recover, Laverick had struck him again.  He reeled into the
+crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what
+seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance.
+But there was to be no more fight.  Through the people,
+swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
+find some hidden way.  Laverick glared fiercely around him, but
+the man had gone.  His left hand crept to his chest. The victory
+was with him; the document was still there.
+
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi.  Ignoring
+the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing
+helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd,
+Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside.
+
+"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed.  The
+man obeyed him.  People raced to look through the window at him.
+The other commotion had died away,--the man in the road had got up
+and walked off.  A policeman came hurrying along but he was just
+too late.  Very soon they were on their way down Holborn.  Once
+more Laverick had escaped.
+
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
+High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked
+for Mademoiselle Idiale.  He was shown into one of the most
+delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of.  The walls
+were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle
+so often affected in her clothes.  Laverick, who was something of
+a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort,
+priceless,--French furniture of the best and choicest period, a
+statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene
+from which he had just arrived.  The air in the room seemed as
+though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,--it was fresh
+and sweet yet curiously fragrant.  Laverick sank down into one of
+the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
+that he was out of breath.  Then the door opened silently and
+there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr.
+Lassen.  Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully.  Lassen's
+small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge
+ingratiating smile.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said,--"very glad
+indeed."
+
+"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly.  He had disliked this man from the first moment
+he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should
+conceal his feelings.
+
+"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself
+opposite to Laverick.  "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately
+prevented from seeing you.  She has a severe nervous headache,
+and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly
+undisturbed.  Women of her position, as you may understand, have
+to be exceptionally careful.  It would be a very serious matter
+indeed if she were unable to sing to-night."
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered.  "In that
+case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered."
+
+"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed.  "Many times,
+let us hope.  But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a
+document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle.  She is
+most anxious that you should hand it to me--most anxious.  She
+will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day,
+if she is well enough to receive."
+
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+
+"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering
+the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with
+it even to her.  I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say.
+But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would
+induce me to part with it to any one else."
+
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's
+face.  He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show
+its teeth.  Laverick was suddenly on his guard.  More adventures,
+he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique
+of the other man.  He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a
+small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by
+his side.  If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward
+his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
+
+"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said
+slowly.  "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to
+change your mind.  I can assure you that I have as much right to
+the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest
+wish that you should hand it over to me.  Further, I may inform you
+that the document itself is a most incriminating one.  Its possession
+upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his
+guard, might be a very serious matter indeed."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of
+carrying it about with me.  On the other hand, I shall part with it
+to no one.  I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale
+as soon as she is recovered.  I am not disposed--I mean no offence,
+sir--but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as
+much with you."
+
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving.
+Lassen followed his example and confronted him.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk
+like that,--in your own interests, I say."
+
+"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked
+after by myself than by strangers.  You must forgive my adding,
+Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me."
+
+"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at
+least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered.  "She
+has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration.
+You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you
+bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to
+treat with you.  You must allow me to wish you good afternoon."
+
+Lassen shook his head.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous.  You force me
+to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is
+not a very secure one.  All the police in this capital are searching
+to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was
+found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley.  If they could find the
+man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession
+of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with
+it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think?
+I say nothing of the document."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  He realized, however, that to
+make terms with this man was impossible.  Besides, he did not trust
+him.  He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the
+accredited envoy of Mademoiselle.
+
+"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to
+do with the matter.  Where you got your information from I cannot
+say.  I neither accept nor deny it.  But I can assure you that I
+am not to be intimidated.  This document will remain in my possession
+until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it."
+
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
+his clenched fist.
+
+"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely.  "Man,
+it stares you there in the face!  If you do not part with it, you will
+be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in
+the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling!  That I swear!  That I shall
+see to myself!"
+
+"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the
+hands of the English police."
+
+The shot told.  Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
+upon his listener.  Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered
+curses.  He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick
+bodily.
+
+"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed.  "Why do you
+suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands
+of the English police?"
+
+"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should
+take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do
+not know.  I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen!  I shall be ready
+to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me.  But
+in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he
+added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible
+document in my possession."
+
+He moved to the door.  Already his hand was upon the knob when he
+saw the movement for which he had watched.  Laverick, with a single
+bound, was upon his would-be assailant.  The hand which had already
+closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though
+in a vice.  With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon
+the floor.  Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket
+and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till
+the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were
+changed into moans.  Then he flung him into a corner of the room.
+
+"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed.  "You come of the breed of men
+who shoot from behind.  If ever I lay my hands upon you again,
+you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it."
+
+He left the room and rang for the lift.  He saw no trace of any
+servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving.  From
+Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house.  Keeping the cab
+waiting, he knocked at the door.  She opened it herself at once,
+and her eyes glowed with pleasure.
+
+"How delightful!" she cried.  "Please come in.  Have you come to
+take me to the theatre?"
+
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+
+"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor."
+
+"Me a favor?" she repeated.  "I think you know how happy it will
+make me if there is anything--anything at all in the world that I
+could do."
+
+"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very
+successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
+never came my way.  Since then things have altered.  I have stumbled
+in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever
+became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself.
+The net result, for the moment, is this.  Every one is trying to
+steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket.  I want
+to hide it for the night.  I cannot go to the police, it is too
+late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling
+that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies.  May I hide
+my document in your room?  I do not believe for a moment that any
+one would think of searching here."
+
+"Of course you may," she answered.  "But listen.  Can you see out
+into the street without moving very much?"
+
+He turned his head.  He had been standing with his back to the
+window, and Zoe had been facing it.
+
+"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented.
+
+"Tell me--you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she
+asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked.
+
+"I was at the window, looking out, when you came," she said.  "It
+followed you out from the Square into this street.  Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab.  It
+seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you
+all the time."
+
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+
+"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked.
+
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people
+who live round here.  The people whom I see coming in and out of
+that house are not nice people at all."
+
+"I understand," he said.  "Thank you, Zoe.  You are right.  Whatever
+I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here.  To tell
+you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid
+my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more.  Come
+back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the
+theatre."
+
+She clapped her hands.
+
+"I shall love it," she declared.  "But what shall you do with the
+document?"
+
+"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to
+the cashier.  They have a wonderful safe there.  It is the best
+thing I can think of.  Can you suggest anything?"
+
+She considered for a moment.
+
+"Do you know what is inside?" she asked.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I have no idea.  It is the most mysterious document in the world,
+so far as I am concerned."
+
+"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know
+exactly what it is all about.  You can learn it by heart and tear
+it up."
+
+"I must think that over," he said.  "One second before we go out."
+
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped.  It
+was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged.  He replaced it in
+his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger.
+
+"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along."
+
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
+ordered:
+
+"To the Milan Hotel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+
+
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his
+clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly
+from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number
+15, Dover Street.  Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted
+almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle
+Idiale.
+
+"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+The man's expression was one of sombre regret.
+
+"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir.  Bellamy
+took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+
+"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before."
+
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's
+sleeping apartment.  There was no answer.  He knocked again and
+listened at the key-hole.  There was some movement inside but no
+one spoke.
+
+"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in.  It is I--David."
+
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds.  Almost it seemed
+as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth.
+Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention.  There were
+voices in the small reception room,--the voice of Henri, the butler,
+and another.  Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and
+walked swiftly down the passage.  He entered the reception room and
+looked around him in amazement.  It was still in disorder.  Lassen
+sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side.  Henri
+was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there
+were marks of blood about his shirt.  Bellamy's eyes sparkled.  He
+closed the door behind him.
+
+"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is
+somewhat opportune!"
+
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+
+"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said.  "He has had
+a fit and fallen down."
+
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+
+"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he
+declared.  "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?"
+
+The man glared at him viciously.
+
+"I do not know what you are talking about," he said.  "I do not
+wish to speak to you.  I am ill.  You had better go and persuade
+Mademoiselle to return.  She is at Dover, waiting."
+
+"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered.  "She is in her room now,
+locked up--guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures.  I have been
+half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen.
+You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy."
+
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+
+"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I
+think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor.  He declined to accept you
+as her proxy, I imagine.  Still, one must make sure."
+
+He advanced quickly.  Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly.  "Keep him away from me,
+Henri.  Ring the bell for your other man.  This fellow will do me
+a mischief."
+
+"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully.  "Stay where you are, Henri.
+To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting.  Take off his coat."
+
+"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested.
+
+"I'm d--d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled.
+
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick
+handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain.  On
+the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is
+the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing
+him to do so.  Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks.  The coat
+first, please, Henri.  It is necessary that I search it thoroughly."
+
+There was a brief hesitation.  Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into
+his pocket.
+
+"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry
+firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have
+learned how to use pretty effectively.  Come, you know, it isn't a
+fair fight.  You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't
+the muscle of a chicken."
+
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be
+removed.  Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter
+for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address.
+
+"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile.
+"No, you need not fear, Lassen!  I am not going to read it.  There
+is plenty of proof of your treachery without this."
+
+Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads.  Bellamy
+handed back the coat.
+
+"That's all right," he said.  "Nothing there, I am glad to see--or
+in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it.  "I'll
+trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen."
+
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over.  When he
+had finished, he held in his hand a key.
+
+"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced,
+"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been
+up to."
+
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and
+deliberately cut the telephone wire.  With the instrument under his
+arm, he left the room.  Lassen blundered to his feet as though to
+intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and
+the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head.
+Lassen staggered away.
+
+"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember
+now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper."
+
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little.  With a
+smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the
+gag from her mouth.  Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was
+lying upon the bed, as though asleep.  Bellamy saw with an impulse
+of relief that she was breathing regularly.
+
+"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed.  "What have they
+done to her?"
+
+The maid spoke thickly.  She was very pale, and unsteady upon her
+feet.
+
+"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered.  "I heard Mr.
+Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours.  I
+think--I think that she is waking now."
+
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement.  Bellamy
+sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+
+"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn
+battle, although you got the worst of it."
+
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+
+"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked.
+
+"He has.  Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game.  I
+came here to find you like this and Annette tied up.  Henri is in
+with him.  What has become of your other servants I don't know."
+
+"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks.  "I begin to understand.  But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?"
+
+"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must
+have received him as though with your authority."
+
+"And what then?" she asked quickly.
+
+"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to
+have anything to do with him.  I received a wire from Dover to say
+that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the
+Lord Warden Hotel.  I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent
+telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back.  When I arrived
+here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head.
+Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of
+it.  I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper.  Laverick
+brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again."
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"Go and let Lassen out," she said.  "Tell him he must never come
+here again.  I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night--that is, if I can get there.  I do not know whether I shall
+feel fit to sing."
+
+"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking
+Henri out."
+
+Louise sighed.
+
+"He was such a good servant.  I think it must have cost our friend
+Streuss a good deal to buy Henri.  You will come back to me when
+you have finished with them?"
+
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners.  Lassen was
+surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful.
+Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their
+various missions.  Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down
+again and drinking some tea.  She motioned Bellamy to come over to
+her side.
+
+"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?"
+
+"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered.
+"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but
+after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman.  I am going to tell
+him what that envelope contains--tell him the truth."
+
+"You are right!" she exclaimed.  "Whatever he may have done, if you
+tell him the truth he will give you that document.  I am sure of it.
+Do you know where to find him?"
+
+"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared.  "I must be quick, too,
+for Lassen is free--they will know that he has failed."
+
+"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+
+
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking
+around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did
+not wholly understand.
+
+"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said
+anxiously.  "Tell me what it is.  You don't like this place, perhaps?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted.  "Come, out with it.
+Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?"
+
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks.  Her eyes, raised for a
+moment to his, were almost reproachful.
+
+"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she
+whispered.  "You are too kind to me all the time.  Only," she went
+on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize--can't you see how
+differently most of the girls here are dressed?  I don't mind so
+much for myself--but you--you have so many friends.  You keep on
+seeing people whom you know.  I am afraid they will think that I
+ought not to be here."
+
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction.
+For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her
+clothes.  Everything about her was so neat--pathetically neat, as
+it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization.  The
+white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly
+clean.  The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts.
+Her gloves had been stitched a good many times.  Her gown, although
+it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days.
+He suddenly recognized the effort--the almost despairing effort--which
+her toilette had cost her.
+
+"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply.  "To
+me you look just as you should look--and I wouldn't change places
+with any other man in the room for a great deal."
+
+Her eyes were soft--perilously soft--as she looked at him with
+uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her
+lips.  A wave of tenderness crept into his heart.  What a brave
+little child she was!
+
+"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she
+murmured.
+
+"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel
+like that, you are going to have a new gown--or two--and a new
+hat, and you are going to have them at once.  They are going to be
+bought with your brother's money, mind.  Shall I come shopping with
+you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said.  "It
+would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much
+money.  You really mean it all?"
+
+"Absolutely," he answered.  "I insist upon it."
+
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes.  After all, she was very
+much of a child.  The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted
+herself to think of it, was enthralling.
+
+"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a
+simple white dress.  A black hat would do for both of them, then."
+
+"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared.  "His
+stock is going up all the time."
+
+"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially.
+
+"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he
+replied.
+
+She made a wry face.
+
+"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully.  "It is much
+more economical than anything--"
+
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude
+stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod.  Laverick frowned.
+
+"Who is that fellow?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+
+"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?"
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+
+She caught at his arm in terror.  The man was sitting at the next
+table.
+
+"Don't, please!" she implored.  "He might hear you.  He is just
+behind there."
+
+Laverick half turned in his chair.  She guessed what he was about
+to say, and went on rapidly.
+
+"He has been so foolish," she whispered.  "He has asked me so often
+to go out with him.  And he could get me sent away, if he wanted,
+any time.  He almost threatened it, the last time I refused.  Now
+that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever."
+
+Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes.
+The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+
+"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go
+with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone.  "I can't think
+why he bothers me."
+
+"I can," Laverick muttered.  "Let's forget about the brute."
+
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the
+bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the
+theatre with her.  Her little hand, when she gave it to him at
+parting, was quite cold.
+
+"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed.  "Mr. Heepman will be
+watching all the night for something to find fault with me about."
+
+"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged.
+
+"I won't," she promised.  "Good-bye!  Thanks so much for my dinner."
+
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an
+attempt.  Laverick walked on to his club.  There was no one in the
+dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty.  He played
+one game of billiards, but he played badly.  He was upset.  His
+nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder.  There seemed
+to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and
+walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden.  Outside the Opera House he
+hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of
+which he scarcely recognized.  While he was inquiring about a stall,
+a small printed notice was thrust into his hand.  He read it with
+a slight start.
+
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle
+Idiale will not be able to appear this evening.  The part of Delilah
+will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal
+Opera House, St. Petersburg.
+
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street.
+A strange man-servant answered him.
+
+"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said.
+
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards.
+Laverick, however, retained his.
+
+"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said.  "I
+think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment."
+
+The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility.
+He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over
+the threshold.
+
+"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man
+declared.  "She shall have your card as soon as possible."
+
+"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+
+"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared.  "Mademoiselle
+is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute."
+
+"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick
+remarked.  "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration,
+"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?"
+
+"That is so, sir.  Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one
+has access to Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick
+declared convincingly.  "You can put that note in your pocket.  I
+am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and
+that your master would wish her to do so."
+
+"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have
+received were stringent."
+
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments.  When he came back
+he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously
+a maid.
+
+"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive
+you.  If you will come this way?"
+
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick
+followed her.  The man returned to his place in the hall.
+
+"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said.  "She will be glad
+to see you, but she has been very badly frightened."
+
+Laverick bowed sympathetically.  The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+
+"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a
+great deal of trouble here," she said.  "Madame never trusted him
+and now we have discovered that he is a spy."
+
+The woman seemed to fade away.  The door of the inner room was
+opened and Louise came out.  She was still exceedingly pale, and
+there were dark rims under her eyes.  She came across the room with
+outstretched hands.  There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure.
+
+"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day.  I came to call upon
+you this afternoon."
+
+She wrung her hands.
+
+"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed.  "I did not trust
+Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this.  He is an Austrian.
+Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily
+paid spies.  Streuss got hold of him.  But there, I forgot--you do
+not understand this.  It is enough that he laid a plot to get that
+document from you.  Where is it, Mr. Laverick?  You have brought it
+now?"
+
+"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not."
+
+Her eyes were round with terror.  She held out her hands as though
+to keep away some tormenting thought.
+
+"Where is it?" she cried.  "You have not parted with it?
+
+"I have not," Laverick replied gravely.  "It is in the safe deposit
+of a hotel to which I have moved."
+
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+
+"You are not well," Laverick said.  "Let me help you to a chair."
+
+She sat down wearily.
+
+"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked.
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have
+wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights.  Three times to-day
+attempts have been made to get that document from me by force.  I
+have been followed whereever I went.  I felt that it was not safe
+in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their
+strong-room.  I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I
+can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself
+as to its destination."
+
+Louise sat quite still for several moments.  Then she opened her
+eyes.
+
+"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she
+declared.  "I perceive now that we have made a mistake.  We should
+have told you the whole truth from the first.  This afternoon when
+Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything."
+
+Laverick listened gravely.
+
+"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course.  I haven't
+the least desire to keep the document.  I cannot think why Bellamy
+did not treat me with confidence from the first--"
+
+He stopped short.  Suddenly he understood.  Something in Louise's
+face gave him the hint.
+
+"Of course!" he murmured to himself.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's
+judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only.  There may be some
+explanation.  If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think
+best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter.  It is not our
+business to interfere with the course of justice.  You will run no
+risk in parting with that paper.
+
+"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up
+his hat.
+
+"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered.  "Did you leave
+word there where you had gone?"
+
+"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied.  "I had better try and find
+him, perhaps."
+
+"It is not necessary," she announced.  "No wonder that you feel
+yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick.
+There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere--two sets that
+I know of.  There may be another."
+
+"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked.
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait."
+
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or
+other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man."
+
+Laverick sighed.  He opened his lips but closed them again.
+
+"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply.
+
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel,
+noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially
+to the clerk in charge.  The latter recognized Laverick with obvious
+relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him.  Kahn
+turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling
+towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him.  He
+was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being
+a man of breeding.  He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed,
+but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to
+address him.  The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a
+little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter.  He
+approached Laverick hastily.
+
+"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked.
+
+"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered.  "Why?"
+
+"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with
+his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been
+carrying.
+
+Laverick read quickly,--
+
+          To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,--Deliver to bearer
+          document deposited with you.                  STEPHEN LAVERICK.
+
+"It is not," he declared promptly.  "It is an impudent forgery.
+Good God!  You don't mean to say that you parted with my property
+to--"
+
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+
+"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said.  "I was just
+wondering what to do when you came in.  I'd no reason to believe
+that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it,
+somehow.  We'd better be after him.  Come along, sir."
+
+They hurried outside.  The man was nowhere in sight.  The cashier
+summoned the head porter.
+
+"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed,--"tall and fair, very
+carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass!  Which way did he go?"
+
+"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter
+answered.  "I noticed him particularly.  He spoke to the chauffeur
+in Austrian."
+
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+
+"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly.
+
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+
+"Not the ghost of a chance, sir.  He shot round the corner there as
+though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the
+island.  I heard the police calling to him.  I hope there's nothing
+wrong, Mr. Dean?"
+
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+
+"Nothing much," Laverick answered.  "We should have liked to have
+asked him a question--that is all."
+
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+
+"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly.  "Nothing the matter, I
+hope?"
+
+"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied.
+
+The cashier returned to his duties.  The two men were alone.
+Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under
+his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed
+very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick
+felt himself to have blundered.  He looked down for a moment at the
+tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious
+about the weather.
+
+"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly.
+
+"Delighted!" Laverick assented.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+
+
+The two men stepped back into the hotel.  The cashier had returned
+to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to
+have passed unnoticed.  Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied
+indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he
+endeavored to imitate it.
+
+"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked.  "There's very seldom
+any one there at this time."
+
+"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered.  "It's years since we had a
+drink together."
+
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two
+chairs into the further corner.  Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+
+"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered.  "Now, Laverick,
+listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away.  "We are alone
+for the moment but it won't be for long.  You know very well that
+it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you
+to come in here with me."
+
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+
+"Please go on," he said.  "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp
+this affair properly."
+
+"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for
+the Stock Exchange.  I went first to Magdalen.  Did you ever hear
+what became of me afterwards?"
+
+"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one
+of the Government offices."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy assented.  "I did.  At this moment I have
+the honor to serve His Majesty."
+
+"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed.
+"I know the sort of thing."
+
+"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered.  "I often work twenty
+hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of
+the time I carry my life in my hands.  When I am working--and I
+am working now--I am never sure of the morrow."
+
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+
+"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+"Not by any manner of means.  I have the honor to be a humble member
+of His Majesty's Secret Service."
+
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+
+"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual
+existence except in novels."
+
+"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly.  "Abroad,
+I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one.
+At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service.
+Here come our drinks."
+
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+
+"Here's luck!" he exclaimed.  "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued.
+"The waiter can't overhear."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can
+trust.  As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once.  Now listen to me attentively, Laverick.  I am going to speak
+to you as one man to another."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I am ready," he said.
+
+"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a
+soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night
+in the heart of the city--within one hundred yards of the Stock
+Exchange.  The papers called it a mysterious murder.  No one knows
+who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why.  You and I,
+Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
+"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office."
+
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+
+"Horrible affair it was," he remarked.
+
+Bellamy glanced toward the door,--a man had looked in and departed.
+
+"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said.  "A theft was committed
+from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
+knows nothing.  A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty
+thousand pounds and a sealed document.  As to who murdered the man,
+I want you to understand that that is not my affair.  As to what has
+become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest
+curiosity.  I want the document."
+
+"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied.  "Time is too
+short.  I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what
+that document consists of.  The man's name was Von Behrling, and he
+was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service.  The document
+of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference
+which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany,
+the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia.  It contains the
+details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered
+into by those several Powers.  I want that document, Laverick.  Have
+I established my claim?"
+
+"You have," Laverick answered.  "Why on earth Didn't you come to me
+before?  Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as
+readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the
+truth, Laverick, because the truth is best.  Twenty-two years lie
+between us and the time when we knew anything of one another.  To
+me, therefore, you are a stranger.  I had my spies following Von
+Behrling that night.  I know that you took the pocket-book from his
+dead body.  If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done
+by an accomplice of yours.  How was I to trust you?  We are speaking
+naked words, my friend.  We are dealing with naked truths.  To me
+you were a murderer and a thief.  A word from me and you would have
+realized the value of that document.  I tell you frankly that
+Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day."
+
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden
+weakness.  He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away--wet.
+He struggled desperately for self-control.
+
+"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth.  I am not on my trial
+before you.  Believe me, man, for God's sake!"
+
+"I'll try," Bellamy promised.  "Go on."
+
+"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me
+on the morrow.  I left it meaning to go straight home.  I lit a
+cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was
+throwing it away, I saw the murdered man.  I think for a time I was
+paralyzed.  The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket.
+Why I looked inside it I don't know.  I had some sort of wild idea
+that I must find out who he was.  Mind you, though, I should have
+given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street.
+There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully.
+When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty.  I
+looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the
+possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance.  I saw
+the notes there.  Once more I went out into the street.  I gave no
+alarm,--I am not attempting to explain why.  I was like a man made
+suddenly mad.  I went back to my office and shut myself in."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently.  The waiter came forward
+and refilled them.
+
+"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart,
+and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
+man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition.
+My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored
+and well thought of.  My father followed in his footsteps.  I, too,
+was there.  Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become
+known and respected.  Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken
+life and a broken honor.  I sat in my office and I knew that the use
+of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might
+keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
+jealously, free from shame.  I would have paid any price for the use
+of them.  I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible.
+Think of the risk I ran--the danger I am now in.  I deposited those
+notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my
+engagements.  The crisis is over!  Those notes are in a safe deposit
+vault in Chancery Lane!  I only wish to Heaven that I could find
+the owner!"
+
+"And the document?" Bellamy asked.  "The document?"
+
+"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered.
+
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief.  Then he emptied his tumbler
+and lit a cigarette.
+
+"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you."
+
+"Thank God!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully.  "As to
+who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
+idea.  That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service
+money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was
+murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be
+the document.  He deceived me by making up a false packet.  The real
+one he kept.  He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead."
+
+Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful.
+
+"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed.
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of
+mine--a Cabinet Minister.  You shall tell him the story exactly as
+you've told it to me, and restore the money."
+
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+
+"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like
+you, Bellamy,--used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings.
+I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has
+been like a hateful nightmare to me.  I can't believe that I'm going
+to get rid of it."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you.
+To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck--don't
+misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck--to run such a risk.  Why,
+at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds
+must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out."
+
+"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly.  "I saw
+a chance of salvation and I went for it.  And now about this letter."
+
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+
+"On the King's service!" he whispered softly.
+
+They walked once more to the cashier's desk.  A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+
+"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said.
+"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly."
+
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock.  "I am afraid,
+sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning."
+
+"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning.
+
+"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only
+one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe.  You see, sir," he
+continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did
+not expect that anything would be required from it to-night."
+
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+
+"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better.
+There's no need to get shirty with these fellows.  As a matter of
+fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without
+making some special preparations.  I can get some plain clothes
+men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock."
+
+They strolled back into the hall.
+
+"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged
+my name to the order a few hours ago?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy.  I have been watching him for
+days.  If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but
+it would have been touch and go.  He is a very prince of conspirators,
+that fellow.  To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home."
+
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note
+to Laverick.
+
+"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained.
+
+Laverick tore open the envelope.  The contents consisted of a few
+words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which
+was strange to him.
+
+  "Ring up 1232 Gerrard."
+
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked
+once more at the envelope.  Then he passed it on to his companion.
+
+"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+
+"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically.  "Do you
+know the handwriting?"
+
+"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered.  "What
+should you do about it?"
+
+"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232
+Gerrard."
+
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+
+"1232 Gerrard," he said.
+
+The connection was made almost at once.
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply.  "Are you Mr.
+Laverick?"
+
+"I am," Laverick answered.  "Is Miss Leneveu there?  Can she speak
+to me herself?"
+
+"She is not here," the voice continued.  "She was fetched away in
+a hurry from the theatre--we understood by her brother.  She left
+two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain
+that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street,
+and would you kindly go on there."
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick demanded.
+
+There was no reply.  Laverick remained speechless, listening
+intently.  He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear.  Was
+it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he
+heard in the background?  It was a woman or a child who was
+speaking--he was almost sure that it was Zoe.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked fiercely.  "Miss Leneveu is there with you.
+Why does she not speak for herself?"
+
+"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer.  "I have done what she
+desired.  You can please yourself whether you go or not.  The address
+is 25, Jermyn Street.  Ring off."
+
+The connection was gone.  Laverick laid down the receiver and
+stepped out of the booth.
+
+"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy.  "You'll be round in
+the morning?"
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans.  I shall not
+leave the hotel.  I am going to telephone round to my man to bring
+me some clothes.  By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this
+message which you have just received had anything to do with the
+little affair in which we are interested?"
+
+"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation.
+"The message was from a young lady.  I have to go and meet her."
+
+"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly.
+
+"Implicitly," Laverick assured him.
+
+"She spoke herself?"
+
+"No, she sent a message.  Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I
+must really go."
+
+"By all means," Bellamy answered.
+
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab
+was summoned.  Laverick stepped quickly in.
+
+"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered.
+
+Bellamy watched him drive off.  Then he sighed.
+
+"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need
+some one to look after you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+
+
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's
+room for the coming of Laverick.  There was Lassen--flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes.
+There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan
+Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind
+him.  There was Streuss--stern, and desperate with anxiety.  There
+was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow,
+with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken
+eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual
+criminal.  There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with
+anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled
+eyes.  She, too, like the others, watched the door.  So they waited.
+
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing
+aside the curtains looked down into the street.
+
+"Will he come--this Englishman?" he muttered.  "Has he courage?"
+
+"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly.  "More courage than my poor
+brother, who stands there like a coward!"
+
+"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly.  "There is nothing for
+you to be furious about or frightened.  No one wants to ill-treat
+you.  These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us.  It is
+Laverick they want."
+
+"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk
+into a trap--you let them even use my name to bring him here!
+Arthur, be a man!  Have nothing more to do with them.  Help me to
+get away from this place.  Call out.  Do something instead of
+standing there and wasting the precious minutes."
+
+He came towards her--ugly and threatening.
+
+"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely,--"something
+you won't like, either.  Keep your mouth shut, I tell you.  It's me
+or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!"
+
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+
+"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress
+yourself so.  I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen.
+If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary
+absence.  You shall not be disturbed in any way."
+
+"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen
+growled.  "If any one's in danger, it's he.  He'll be lucky if he
+saves his own skin."
+
+The young man glowered at her.
+
+"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered.  "Keep still, can't
+you?"
+
+Her face was full of defiance.  He came nearer to her and changed
+his tone.
+
+"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand?  If they can't
+get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me.  They're
+desperate, I tell you.  They mean mischief all the time."
+
+"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you
+when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried
+indignantly.
+
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+
+"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for
+himself.  Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know
+now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go--not
+empty-handed, by any manner of means."
+
+"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of
+these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him
+searchingly.
+
+The terror whitened his face once more.  The perspiration stood out
+in beads upon his forehead.
+
+"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously.  "I should
+like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him?  Listen here, my fine young lady.  If I've been mug
+enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking
+advantage of it.  He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you."
+
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across
+the room to them all.
+
+"He is here," he announced.
+
+"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly.
+
+"Alone," Streuss echoed.
+
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room.  Zoe made no attempt
+to cry out.  Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though
+listening.  Her attitude seemed harmless enough.  No one took any
+more notice of her.  They all watched the entrance to the apartment.
+Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs.  She was absorbed in a
+breathless calculation.  Now--now he should be coming quite close.
+Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening.  At
+last she raised her head.  The room resounded with her cries.
+
+"Don't come in!  Don't come in here!" she shrieked.  "Mr. Laverick,
+do you hear?  Go away!  Don't come in here alone!"
+
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth
+brutally.  Her little effort was naturally a failure--defeating,
+in fact, its own object.  Laverick, hearing her cries, simply
+hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock,
+and stepped quickly across the threshold.  He saw a man dressed in
+shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a
+rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling
+across the room.  Then something in the man's cry, a momentary
+glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity.
+
+"Morrison!" he cried.  "Good God, it's Morrison!"
+
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face
+turned upon his aggressor.  Laverick took quick stock of his
+surroundings.  There was the tall, fair young man--Adolf Kahn--whom
+he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago--the man who had
+unsuccessfully forged his name.  There was Lassen, the man who, under
+pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise.  There was
+Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back
+to the door.  There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother.  She held out
+her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+
+"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly.
+"I tried so hard to stop you.  It was not I who sent that message."
+
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+
+"I know it, dear," he murmured.
+
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard.
+Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough
+written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes.  Laverick gave him
+his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor.  He was
+angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual
+pains to secure my presence here!  Tell me now, what can I do for
+you?"
+
+It was Streuss who became spokesman.  He addressed Laverick with
+the consideration of one gentleman addressing another.  His voice
+had many agreeable qualities.  His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a
+little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit.  We
+are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either
+wilfully or accidentally strayed.  An understanding between us has
+become a necessity."
+
+"Go on," Laverick interrupted.  "Tell me exactly who you are and
+what you want."
+
+"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter?  I
+repeat that we are men who are in earnest--let that be enough.  As
+to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every
+claim, and which has come into your possession--I flatter you
+somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Let that go," he said.  "I know all about the document you refer to,
+and the notes.  They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession.  Prove your claim to
+both and you shall have them."
+
+Streuss smiled.
+
+"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he
+asked suavely, "is equal to yours?"
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of
+keeping either the document or the money.  That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title
+is better still."
+
+Streuss frowned.
+
+"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged.  "We are men of peace--when
+peace is possible.  The money of which you spoke you can
+consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention
+to possess ourselves of the document.  It is for that reason that
+we are here in London.  I, personally, am committed to the extent
+of my life and my honor to its recovery."
+
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive.  Laverick
+looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said.
+"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell
+you where it is kept."
+
+"Quite so," Streuss admitted.  "We are not doing you the injustice
+to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself
+anywhere with that document upon your person.  It is in the safe
+at the Milan Hotel.  I may add that probably, if it had not
+occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in
+our possession before now.  We are hoping to persuade you to return
+to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it."
+
+"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible.  The man
+who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty,
+and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning."
+
+"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily.  "His present
+whereabouts and his address are known to us.  He lives with his
+family at Harvard Court, Hampstead.  We shall assist you in making
+it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the
+combination word for the safe."
+
+"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed.
+
+"It is our business.  The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in
+our hands."
+
+"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked.
+
+"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly.  "Your
+partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one.  Your own I will not allude to.  I will simply
+suggest that for both your sakes publicity--any measure of
+publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair--would not be
+desirable."
+
+Laverick hesitated.  He understood all that was implied.  Morrison's
+eyes were fixed upon him--the eyes of a craven coward.  He felt the
+intensity of the moment.  Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+
+"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips.  "They
+cannot hurt you, and it is not true--about Arthur."
+
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick
+knocked him down.  Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was
+changed.  Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from
+different sides.  Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a
+revolver.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with.  Keep
+your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!"
+
+Laverick looked at the revolver--fascinated, for an instant, by
+its unexpected appearance.  The face of the man who held it had
+changed.  There was lightning playing about the room.
+
+"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely,--"for
+you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any
+longer!  One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty.
+Who are you to have scruples--criminals, both of you?  Your place
+is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if
+there are any more evasions.  Now, Laverick, will you fetch that
+document?  It is your last chance."
+
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened--a
+voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite
+inquiry.  Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little
+company.  The curtain separating this from the inner room had been
+drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black
+overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head,
+his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain
+which he had drawn aside.
+
+"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly.
+
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain.
+The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination.
+Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+
+"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably.  "I
+happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with
+him before I left for the Continent."
+
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan!  His revolver had
+disappeared.  The smile upon his lips was both gracious and
+unembarrassed.
+
+"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy
+anywhere--anyhow," he declared.  "If apologies are needed at all," he
+continued, "it is to our friend and host--Mr. Morrison here.
+Permit me--Mr. Arthur Morrison--the Honorable David Bellamy!
+These are Mr. Morrison's rooms."
+
+Morrison could do no more than stare.  Bellamy, on the contrary,
+with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat
+from his head.  Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between
+Bellamy and the heavy curtains.  Adolf Kahn moved as though
+unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were.
+
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+
+"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment.
+I have a car full of friends below--we are on our way, in fact, to
+the Covent Garden Ball--and one or two of them, I fear," he added
+indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which
+such an entertainment in England seems to demand.  They will
+certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer.  There!" he
+ exclaimed, "you hear that?"
+
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below.  Streuss,
+with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind.  There were
+two motor-cars waiting there--large cars with Limousine bodies,
+and apparently full of men.  After all, it was to be expected.
+Bellamy was no fool!
+
+"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with
+a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night.  The little matter
+of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your
+partner."
+
+Laverick turned toward Zoe.  Their eyes met and he read their message
+of terror.
+
+"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said.
+"You must let me offer you my escort."
+
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison
+moved near to them.
+
+"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath,--"if
+you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do?
+They will hand me over to the police--they have sworn it!"
+
+"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared.
+"I tell you they have eyes everywhere.  You cannot move without their
+knowledge.  I had to come.  Now that I am here they have told me
+plainly the price of my freedom.  It is that document.  Laverick, it
+is my life!  You must give in--you must, indeed!  Remember you're
+in it, too."
+
+"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly.
+
+"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely.  "Didn't
+you come into the entry and take the pocket-book?  Heaven knows what
+possessed you to do it!  Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use
+the money!  But you did it, and you are a criminal--a criminal as I
+am.  Don't be a fool, Laverick.  Make terms with these people.  They
+want the document--the document--nothing but the document!  They
+will let us keep the money."
+
+"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe.  "What do you
+say about all this?"
+
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+
+"I trust you," she said.  "I trust you to do what is right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+LAVERICK S ARREST
+
+
+"At last, David!"
+
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which
+Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips.  Then she turned toward the
+third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door--a
+short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped
+black hair, and upturned black moustache.
+
+"You remember Prince Rosmaran?" she said to Bellamy.  "He left
+Servia only the day before yesterday.  He has come to England on a
+special mission to the King."
+
+Bellamy shook hands.
+
+"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before,
+Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago.  It
+was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
+party."
+
+The Prince bowed sadly.
+
+"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to
+my unhappy country."
+
+"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,"
+Bellamy reminded him sympathetically.  "At the same time, we must
+not despair.  Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she
+has not dared to strike."
+
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+
+"As yet, no!" he answered.  "But how long--how long, I wonder--before
+the blow falls?  We in Servia have been blamed for arming
+ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being
+secretly concentrated on the frontier.  Their arsenals are working
+night and day.  Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight
+of Belgrade.  We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know
+that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last
+week."
+
+"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly.  "England has
+been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a
+negligible Power."
+
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+
+"David," she whispered, "the compact!"
+
+He answered her unspoken question.
+
+"It is arranged," he said,--"finished.  To-morrow morning at nine
+o'clock I receive it."
+
+"You are sure?" she begged.  "Why need there be any delay?"
+
+"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk
+who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine.
+Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour.  You were right,
+Louise, as usual.  I should have trusted him from the first."
+
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
+interest.
+
+"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning
+the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince."
+
+"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared.
+"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical.  What you
+suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth.  There is a rumor that the
+Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable
+information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the
+Government here.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  That, I
+know, is one of your own mottoes.  So I am here to know if there is
+anything to be learned."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince.  When did you come?"
+
+"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered.  "Our
+train was an hour late.  I am presenting my credentials early this
+morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon."
+
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+
+"It is true!" he said.  "Between us three there is indeed no need
+for secrecy.  The information you speak of will be in our hands
+within a few hours.  I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister
+will share in it."
+
+"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously.
+
+"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock.  "For my own
+part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another
+and a profounder source of interest in that document.  If, indeed,
+it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli."
+
+"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked.
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I," said he,--"I am not even a politician.  But, you know, the
+lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is
+only one course open for this country,--to work upon Russia so
+that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with
+Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria
+in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare
+war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free
+from danger."
+
+The Prince nodded.
+
+"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more.  Wherever
+one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and
+Austria.  Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed
+rule Europe."
+
+Three o'clock struck.  The Prince rose.
+
+"I go," he announced.
+
+"And I," Bellamy declared.  "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock
+tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news."
+
+Bellamy lingered behind.  For a moment he held Louise in his arms
+and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face.
+
+"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly.
+
+"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him,
+"to feel the mother love?  Who can help it who would not be ignoble?"
+
+"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief.  Even now I am afraid."
+
+"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said.  "David, you are
+sure this time?"
+
+"I am sure," he replied.  "I am going back now to the hotel where
+Laverick is staying.  We are going to sit together and smoke until
+the morning.  Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel.  I
+was with them all only an hour ago,--Streuss, that blackguard
+Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy.  They are beaten men and
+they know it.  They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a
+dramatic entrance and the game was up."
+
+"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,"
+she begged.
+
+"I will," he promised.
+
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand.  The streets were
+almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight.  The air seemed
+curiously keen.  Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement
+was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and
+glanced sharply around.  He reached the Milan Hotel, however,
+without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the
+hall where he had expected to find Laverick.  There was no one
+there!  He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense
+of apprehension.  The place was deserted except for a couple of
+sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their
+machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious
+figures in the dim light.
+
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+
+"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was
+with about an hour ago?" he asked,--"a tall, fair gentleman--Mr.
+Laverick his name was?"
+
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+
+"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air.  "Mr.
+Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago.  Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and
+inquired for him.  They talked for a little time, and finally Mr.
+Laverick went away with them."
+
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+
+"Went away with them?" he repeated.  "I don't understand that,
+Reynolds.  He was to have waited here till I returned."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very
+wishful to go.  It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the
+matter."
+
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+
+"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those
+gentlemen by sight.  He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the
+one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes."
+
+"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed.  "You think, then,--"
+
+"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered.
+"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+
+
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot
+humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre.
+She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual.  All day
+long she had heard nothing of Laverick.  All day long she had sat
+in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her.
+She had tried in vain to sleep,--she had made no effort whatever
+to eat.  She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away.  She knew
+the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out.
+The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison.
+Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle.  All the wonderful
+dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for
+this last week, had faded away.  She was once more a mournful
+little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube.  Boys were
+shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers.  Nearly
+every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets.  She herself
+passed on with unseeing eyes.  News was nothing to her.  Governments
+might rise and fall, war might come and go,--she had still life to
+support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen
+shillings a week.  The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but
+one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+
+              SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN
+              STOCKBROKER.  CHARGE OF MURDER.
+
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse.  Her fingers
+trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement.  The boy picked
+it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in
+her hand.  There it was on the front page--staring her in the face:
+
+           Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of
+           Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was
+           arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned
+           in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley,
+           on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge,
+           was removed to Bow Street Police-Station.  Particulars of his
+           examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4.
+
+There was a dull singing in her ears.  An electric tram, coming up
+from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of
+thunder from an unknown world.  She staggered on, unseeing, gasping
+for breath.  If she could find somewhere to sit down!  If she could
+only rest for a moment!  Then a sudden wave of strength came to her,
+the blood flowed once more in her veins--blood that was hot with
+anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red.  It was the man
+she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely.  It was the fulfilment
+of their threat--a deliberate plot against him.  The murderer of
+Crooked Friars' Alley--she knew who that was!--she knew!  Perhaps
+she might help!
+
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that
+walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of
+the theatre with the paper spread out before her.  She read that
+Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate
+of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having
+been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had
+pleaded "Not Guilty!"  Her eyes glittered as she read that the
+first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the
+accused.  She read his deposition--that he had left Laverick at
+their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they
+were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect
+of meeting their engagements on the morrow.  She read the evidence
+of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had,
+on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the
+engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since
+been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts.
+She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting
+this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the
+vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he
+identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after
+disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter
+the offices from which he had issued.  He explained his presence
+there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the
+Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by.
+Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for.  The
+accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when
+Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill.  After waiting for some
+time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused
+man was removed in custody.
+
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet.  She made her way to
+where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new
+scenery.
+
+"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal!  I have
+to go out."
+
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+
+"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly.  "Shall you be back
+for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?"
+
+His clumsy irony missed its mark.  Her thoughts were too intensely
+focussed upon one thing.
+
+"I am sorry," she replied, turning away.  "I will come back as soon
+as I can."
+
+He called out after her and she paused.
+
+"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the
+other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even
+waiting for permission.  It can't be done, young lady.  You must
+do your playing around some other time.  If you're not here when
+you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again.  Do you
+understand?"
+
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed
+to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+
+"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break
+in her voice,--"as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman."
+
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among
+the hurrying throng of pedestrians.  Several people turned round to
+look at her.  Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost
+unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for
+tragedy.  She herself saw no one.  She would have taken a cab, but
+a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her.  She walked
+steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third
+floor, and knocked at her brother's door.  No one answered her at
+first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty.
+There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she
+called out to him.
+
+"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?"
+
+"Who is it?" he demanded.
+
+"It is I--Zoe!" she exclaimed.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"I want to speak to you, Arthur.  I must speak to you.  Please
+come as quickly as you can."
+
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared.  He was
+wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier
+in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked
+by reason of this resumption of his old attire.  His cheeks were
+hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that
+feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool.
+He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously
+to try and bully her.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said.  "I've
+told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like
+women about the place.  What is it?  What do you want?"
+
+"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part," she answered, looking him in the face.  "I've come now to
+ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick?  What
+were you doing in the court this morning, lying?  What is the
+meaning of it, Arthur?"
+
+"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly,
+"you'd better be off."
+
+"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly.  "I think I can
+understand what it is that has happened.  They have terrified you
+and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing--even
+this.  Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I
+have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation.
+But nothing of that counts.  I want you to realize that I know the
+truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the
+guilty go free."
+
+He moved a step towards her.  They were on opposite sides of the
+small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely.
+
+"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed.  "You came to my rooms a
+week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man.  If ever there was
+guilt in a man's face, it was in yours.  You sent for Laverick.  He
+pitied you and helped you away.  At Liverpool they would not let
+you embark--these men.  They have brought you back here.  You are
+their tool.  But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen
+Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley!  You know very
+well that it was not Stephen Laverick!"
+
+"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely.
+
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice.  Her little white
+hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+
+"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she
+cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall
+go to court myself and tell the truth."
+
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with
+nervously twitching lips and fingers.  But there was murder in his eyes.
+
+"What do you know about this?" he muttered.
+
+"Never mind," she answered.  "I know and I guess quite enough to
+convince me--and I think anybody else--that you are the guilty man.
+I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but
+I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense."
+
+"What is Laverick to you?" he growled.
+
+"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends.  Even
+were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent
+man suffer?"
+
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+
+"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said,--"nonsense!  Even if
+there has been some little mistake, what could I do now?  I have
+given my evidence.  So far as I am concerned, the case is finished.
+I shall not be called again until the trial."
+
+"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and
+take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not,
+I shall be there and I shall tell the truth."
+
+"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high.  This thing has upset me.
+I'm ill.  Can't you see it, Zoe?  Look at me.  I haven't slept for
+weeks.  Night and day I've had the fear--the fear always with me.
+You don't know what it is--you can't imagine.  It's like a terrible
+ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger
+upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to
+drown thought even for a moment.  Don't you try me too far, Zoe.
+I'm not responsible.  Laverick isn't the man you think him to be.
+He isn't the man I believed.  He did have that money--he did,
+indeed."
+
+"That," she said, "is to be explained.  But he is not a murderer."
+
+"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a
+week--somewhere to the seaside.  We will talk about this and think it
+over.  I want to get away from London.  We will go to Brighton, if
+you like.   I must do something for you, Zoe.  I'm afraid I've
+neglected you a good deal.  Perhaps I could get you a better part
+at one of the theatres.  I must make you an allowance.  You ought
+to be wearing better clothes."
+
+She drew a little away.
+
+"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this--that
+you speak the truth."
+
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+
+"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that
+you are asking me?  Do you want me to go into court and say--'That
+isn't the man...  It is I who am the murderer'?  Do you want me to
+feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and
+have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that
+before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope
+around my neck and--"
+
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a
+fit of impotent terror.  But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+
+"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the
+world can alter its punishment.  If it is frightful for you to
+think of this, what must it be for him?  And you are guilty and he
+is not."
+
+"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself.  "Zoe, I
+was mad!  I called there to have a drink.  We were broke,--the firm
+was broke.  I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt
+the next day.  And there, within a few yards of me, was that man,
+with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life.  Five
+hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists.
+Zoe, they fascinated me.  I had two drinks quickly and I followed
+him out.  Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that
+was on the counter.  I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I
+wanted some of those notes!  I was leaving the next day for Africa
+and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start.  I wanted it--my
+God, how I wanted money!"
+
+"It couldn't have been worth--that!" she cried, looking at him
+wonderingly.
+
+"I was mad," he continued.  "I saw the notes and they went to my
+head.  Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for
+love.  I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my
+God, money is like the blood of my body to me!  I saw it, and I
+wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad!  Zoe, you won't give me
+away?  Say you won't!"
+
+"But what am I to do?" she protested.  "He must not suffer."
+
+"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly.  "I tell you he'll
+get off.  He's only to part with the document, which never belonged
+to him, and the charge will be withdrawn.  They know who the
+murdered man was.  They know where the money came from which he was
+carrying.  I tell you he can save himself.  You wouldn't dream of
+sending me to the gallows, Zoe!"
+
+"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people,"
+she declared.  "I am sure of that."
+
+"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered.  "He has the chance,
+anyway."
+
+She turned toward the door.
+
+"I must go away," she said.  "I must go away and think.  It is all
+too horrible."
+
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+
+"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this.  You must tell me
+that you are not going to give me up.  Do you hear?"
+
+"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this--I
+shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead."
+
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what
+it was that he was holding.  Then he struck her down and without a
+backward glance fled out of the place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+
+
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the
+commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Cafe, who
+happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the
+place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an
+unexpected surprise.  A large closed motor-car drove up to the
+front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick
+himself.  He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely
+mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior
+of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked
+for his packet.  The clerk looked up at him in amazement.  He did
+not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately
+behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen.  He had only a
+few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow,
+upon the charge of murder.  His knowledge of English law was by no
+means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance
+outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening.
+
+"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement.  "Why, this is Mr.
+Laverick himself, is it not?"
+
+"Certainly," was the quiet reply.  "I am Stephen Laverick."
+
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as
+though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background
+for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity.  Of
+Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt.  Besides,
+the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat
+reassured them.  The cashier himself came forward.
+
+"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to
+get rid of your packet.  Your instructions were that we should
+disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and
+I may say that they have been strictly adhered to.  We have,
+however, had two applications in your name this morning."
+
+"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared.
+
+The cashier hesitated.  Then he leaned across the broad mahogany
+counter towards Laverick.  One of the men who appeared to form part
+of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few
+steps nearer.
+
+"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+
+"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my
+confidence.  If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr.
+Bellamy also to hear."
+
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place
+by Laverick's side.  The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+
+"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to
+Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a
+small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in
+our document safe.  My assistant had accepted it and was actually
+locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could
+not understand.  The bag was opened and found to contain an
+infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour."
+
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+
+"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly.  "That's
+Kahn's work!"
+
+"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick
+remarked quietly.  "I gather, however, from what you say, that my
+packet is still in your possession?"
+
+"It is, sir," the man assented.  "We have two detectives from
+Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had
+almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security."
+
+"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick
+declared.
+
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office.  At
+their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few
+yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and
+the superintendent.  The safe was opened and the packet placed in
+Laverick's hands.  He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and
+immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men,
+apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel.  They made a slow
+and exceedingly cautious exit.  Once outside, Bellamy turned to
+Laverick with outstretched hand.
+
+"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily.  "I think
+you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning."
+
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade--two
+of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind.  It
+had almost the appearance of a procession.  The whole party stepped
+into a closed motor-car.  Three or four men were lounging on the
+pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually
+interfered.  As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and
+his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in
+which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street.  Very few
+words were exchanged during the short journey.  His solicitor,
+however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing
+was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.
+
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat
+remarkable little gathering took place.  The two men chiefly
+responsible for the destinies of the nation--the Prime Minister
+and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs--sat side by side
+before a small table.  Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in
+front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
+envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of
+the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal.  The
+Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit
+of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the
+presence of big events.
+
+"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to
+stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
+document?"
+
+"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly.
+"That is no copy which you have there.  On the contrary, the
+handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself."
+
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague.  The
+latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words,
+looked up.
+
+"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in
+my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
+One moment, if you please."
+
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from
+an adjoining room.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company
+at Paddington.  Ask for the station master in my name, and see that
+a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour.
+Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up,
+but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged."
+
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+
+"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on,
+"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem.
+We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail
+his visit--why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks
+everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time.
+His health is all right.  He has had a hint from Vienna that there
+has been a leakage.  His special mission only reached Paris this
+morning.  The President is in the country and their audience is not
+fixed until to-morrow.  Rawson will go over with a copy of these
+papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train.
+It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as
+this."
+
+He drew his chief a few steps away.  They whispered together for
+several moments.  When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang
+the bell again for his secretary.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few
+minutes for Windsor.  Go round yourself to General Hamilton,
+telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the
+Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison.  Tell them all to be here
+at ten o'clock tonight.  If I am not back, they must wait.  If
+either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the
+word 'Finisterre.'  They will understand."
+
+The young man once more withdrew.  The Prime Minister turned
+back to the papers.
+
+"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile,
+"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this."
+
+"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman
+answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview
+which will follow.  A month ago, the thought that war might come
+under our administration was a continual terror to me.  To-day
+things are entirely different.  To-day it really seems that if
+war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England
+of this century.  You saw the last report from Kiel?"
+
+Sir James nodded.
+
+"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly.
+"They are cooped up--safe enough, they think--under the shelter
+of their fortifications.  Hamilton has another idea.  Between you
+and me, Sir James, so have I.  I tell you," he went on, in a
+deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a
+terrible nightmare--this.  We have had ten years of panic, of
+nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you
+and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears.  It
+will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter
+differently."
+
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone
+interview with the superintendent at Paddington.  The two great
+men rose.  The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+
+"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service.
+There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've
+earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate.  There is nothing more
+we can do?"
+
+"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy
+answered.  "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the
+man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick."
+
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+
+"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said.  "You are asking a
+great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the
+slightest manner with the course of justice.  You are absolutely
+convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do
+with the murder?"
+
+"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied.
+
+"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir
+James remarked.  "Who was he?"
+
+"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was
+actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary.  I
+have told you the history, sir, of those papers.  It was Von
+Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist
+and secured them.  It was he who insisted upon coming to London
+instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the
+most obvious course for him to have adopted.  He was a pauper, and
+desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout
+this matter.  He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand
+pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the
+same night.  I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in
+the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the
+false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir.  As a matter
+of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now
+will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed
+to have bought in his possession, and also the money.  Within five
+minutes he was murdered.  Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom,
+but it was not by Stephen Laverick.  Laverick's share in the whole
+thing was nothing but this--that he found the pocket-book, and that
+he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to
+save himself from ruin.  That was unjustifiable, of course.  He has
+made atonement.  The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit
+vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came.
+I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron
+de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter."
+
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully.  He stooped down and scrawled a few
+lines on half a sheet of note-paper.
+
+"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell
+him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the
+nature of the papers.  The thing must be arranged, of course."
+
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that
+the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were
+going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even
+they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were
+really transpiring.  They knew nothing of the interview between the
+Czar and his August host--an interview which in itself was a
+chapter in the history of these times.  They knew nothing of the
+reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit
+instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the
+President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before
+the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves.
+The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant
+enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that
+night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg.
+At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from
+Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned.  The
+Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under
+pretence of a command from his royal master.  The happiest man in
+London was Prince Rosmaran.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+
+
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the
+dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company
+with his friends left the court."  The proceedings altogether took
+scarcely more than half-an-hour.  Laverick's solicitor first put
+Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to
+the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife
+which he had seen him snatch up.  Cross-examined as to why he had
+kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer
+and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which
+would cost a man his life.  Directly, however, another man had been
+accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different.  He
+had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to
+offer his evidence.
+
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's
+solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu.  A little murmur of interest ran
+though the court.  Laverick himself started.  Zoe stepped into the
+witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the
+upper part of her head.  She admitted that she was the half-sister
+of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship.  She
+described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder,
+and his state of great alarm.  She declared that he had confessed
+to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the
+murder in question.
+
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David
+Bellamy.  He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his,
+and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently
+possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business.
+The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until
+negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt
+uncertain how to make use of the money.  But he assured the court
+that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in
+question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use
+to which Laverick had put it.
+
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Morrison.  Laverick found
+Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor.
+
+"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word!  That
+dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any
+case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the
+matter.  The magistrate had received a communication direct from
+the Home Secretary concerning your case."
+
+"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared.  "I tell you I
+think I am very lucky.  I wish I knew what had become of Miss
+Leneveu.  The usher told me she left the court before we came out."
+
+"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said.  "You
+must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in
+a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street.  I was having
+Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his
+rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was
+there who appeared to be seriously injured."
+
+"D--d scamp!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued.  "I fetched her at
+once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some
+one to look after her.  The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow
+must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such
+a child.  I wonder whether he'll get away."
+
+"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked.  "He hasn't the nerve.
+He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out.  He's a
+broken-spirited cur, after all."
+
+"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu."
+
+"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will."
+
+
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little
+house for nearly half-an-hour.  He had found the door closed and
+locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had
+gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not
+returned.  Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited.  Presently
+a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of
+her house.  Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out.  She was
+as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking
+anxious.
+
+"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands.
+
+"Quite," he answered.  "You dear little girl!"
+
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor.
+Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago
+had come to see Arthur Morrison.
+
+"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous
+system is very much run down.  There is nothing serious.  She
+seems to have just escaped concussion.  The nurse had better stay
+with her for another day, at any rate."
+
+"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly.
+
+"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly.  "I see worse
+wounds every day of my life.  I'll come again to-morrow, if you like,
+but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot."
+
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which
+Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more
+encouraging words.  Laverick stayed and talked for a short time
+with the nurse.
+
+"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced.  "There
+isn't anything to worry about.  She seems as though she had been
+having a hard time, though.  There was scarcely a thing in the house
+but half a packet of tea--and these."
+
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+
+"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said.  "I had to look
+round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house."
+
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his
+eyes.
+
+"Poor little woman!" he murmured.  "I think she'd sooner have starved
+than ask for help."
+
+The nurse smiled.
+
+"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she
+remarked.  "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new
+hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing
+to the sofa.
+
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+
+"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she
+wants.  I shall be here again later in the day.  There is not the
+slightest need for all this.  She will be quite well off for the rest
+of her life.  Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to
+come in until she is able to be moved?"
+
+"I'll look after her," the nurse promised.
+
+Laverick went reluctantly away.  The events of the last few days were
+becoming more and more like a dream to him.  He went to his club
+almost from habit.  Presently the excitement which all London seemed
+to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the
+background.  The air was full of rumors.  The Prime Minister and the
+Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes.  Nothing
+was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence
+that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her
+existence as a great Power.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE PLOT THAT FAILED
+
+
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion
+House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord
+Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely
+inexplicable to the general public.  It was known that affairs in
+Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was
+felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had
+brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications
+that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country
+was now actually at hand.  There was in the Press a curious
+reticence with regard to the development of the political situation.
+One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm--that at
+any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling
+stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied.  The
+circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little
+peculiar.  On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of
+health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be
+cut down to two days.  No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however,
+than a change was announced.  The Czar had so far recovered as to
+be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit.
+Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full
+of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable.
+The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany.
+That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement
+there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt.
+
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go
+by.  Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but
+he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning.  Afterwards
+they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had
+thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants.
+
+"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise.  Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true.  The humor of the
+whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who
+pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of
+exciting suspicion.  That, of course, was when there seemed to be
+no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out.  They
+would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the
+Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in
+the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor."
+
+"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed.  "The
+special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on.  "Any morning you
+may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an
+ultimatum."
+
+"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss."
+
+"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy
+answered.  "There's always plenty of work for spies."
+
+"Don't use that word," she begged.
+
+He made a little grimace.
+
+"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?" he asked.  "Well, that counts for nothing now.  I hope I may
+still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different
+way."
+
+"What do you mean?" she demanded.
+
+"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued,
+"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months.
+When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords.
+It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I
+suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up.  I have done
+my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Your share, indeed," she murmured.  "Remember that but for that
+document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have
+gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the
+second-class Powers.  There may be war now, it is true, but it
+will be a glorious war."
+
+"Louise, very soon we shall know.  Until then I will say nothing.
+But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been
+something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these
+last few years."
+
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft.  She looked across towards him
+wistfully.
+
+"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now.  I am
+not fit to be the wife of an English peer--I am not noble."
+
+He laughed.
+
+"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think
+you one of the noblest women on earth.  Why should I not?  Your
+life itself has been a study in devotion.  The modern virtues seem
+almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a
+splendid thing.  But don't you think, Louise, that we have done
+our work that it is time to think of ourselves?"
+
+She gave him her hand.
+
+"Let us see," she said.  "Let us wait for a little time and see what
+comes."
+
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely
+spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places.  Louise
+was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose
+trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after
+a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress.  For a
+short time the costume was not recognized.  Then the music--the
+national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage,
+brought the thing home to the audience.  They did not even wait for
+her to finish.  In the middle of her song the applause broke like a
+crash of thunder.  From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered
+her wildly, madly.  A dozen times she came before the curtain.  It
+seemed impossible that they would ever let her go.  Directly she
+turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again.  The manager
+at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words.  She
+stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the
+previous applause had been unanimous.  Her voice reached easily to
+every place in the House.
+
+"I thank you all very much," she said.  "I am very happy indeed to
+be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous
+country in the world--the country that is always ready to protect
+and help her weaker neighbors.  I am a Servian, and I love my
+country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her
+voice,--"therefore I love you all."
+
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the
+streets of London had not been so impassable for years.  Crowds
+made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War
+Office, where men were working late.  Everything seemed to denote
+that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning
+made immense capital of the incident, and for the following
+twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at
+fever height.  It was known that the Cabinet Council had been
+sitting for six hours.  It was known, too, that without the least
+commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be
+called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the
+world had ever known was assembling off Dover.  The stock markets
+were wildly excited.  Laverick, back again in his office, found
+that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any
+comment.  More startling events were shaping themselves.  His own
+remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed.
+
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding
+the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in
+Theobald Square.  Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but
+eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer
+suffering.
+
+"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse
+here.  Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me.  I
+should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use."
+
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which
+contained her somewhat curt dismissal.  He laughed as he tore it
+into pieces.
+
+"Are you so sorry, Zoe?  Is the stage so wonderful a place that
+you could not bear to think of leaving it?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is not that," she whispered.  "You know that it is not that."
+
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+
+"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said.
+"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days.  A
+bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying
+sort of person."
+
+She shrank away a little.
+
+"You don't mean it," she murmured.
+
+"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her.  "I
+think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were
+doomed to become my wife."
+
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes.  For the moment she
+had forgotten everything.  She was absolutely and completely happy.
+
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards,
+as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+
+"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened.  You
+will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know.  Remember the
+alternative--and read that."
+
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur
+Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square.  The police had apparently
+tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment.  The
+details of his last few hours were indescribable.  Zoe shuddered,
+and her eyes filled with tears.  She smiled bravely in his face,
+however.
+
+"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no
+relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury.  When
+I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry."
+
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded
+up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct
+of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard,
+merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened.
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this
+excitement is about."
+
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and
+white.  An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna.
+Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's
+action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain.  It was
+demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops
+upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate
+over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon,
+from that time forward, to guarantee.  It was further announced that
+England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete
+concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured.  Further, it
+was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea
+with sealed orders.
+
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms.
+Bellamy greeted him heartily.  He was on the point of going out,
+and the two men drove off together in the latter's car.
+
+"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come
+from small means!  The document which you preserved for us, and
+for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this."
+
+"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured.
+
+"It is very simple," Bellamy declared.  "That meeting in Vienna was
+meant to force our hands.  It is all a question of the balance of
+strength.  Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,--even
+with Russia neutral,--could have defied Europe.  Germany could
+have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her
+prey.  It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the
+Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers
+with a revelation of the whole affair.  At Windsor the thing seemed
+different to him.  The French Government behaved splendidly, and the
+Czar behaved like a man.  Germany and Austria are left plante la.
+If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair.  They have no
+fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time.  They
+have no means of landing an army here.  Austria, perhaps, can hold
+Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for
+years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with
+ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme
+proved abortive.  Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick.
+To-day great things have happened to me."
+
+"And to me," Laverick interposed.
+
+"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs.  "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to
+be my wife."
+
+Laverick held out his hand.
+
+"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed.  "I have been an
+engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever
+may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy
+remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper.  "For the
+first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers
+of equal standing.  We were always rather good at bullying smaller
+countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have
+made our late Premier go lightheaded."
+
+"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him.
+
+"Absolutely," he affirmed.  "To-day's news makes peace a certainty.
+If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal
+welcome next month."
+
+"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked.
+
+"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon
+the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't
+been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your
+people."
+
+"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured.
+"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?"
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a
+silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious
+reputation in foreign countries.  I am Lord Denchester of
+Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon.
+By the way, I hope you like the title."
+
+"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared.  "To be an
+English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to
+go on singing at Covent Garden."
+
+"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her.  "I have asked
+Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with
+me.  Afterwards we must all have supper together."
+
+"How nice of you!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling.  "I really like
+Laverick.  He is a decent fellow and a good sort.  Incidentally, he
+was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it.  He
+interests me, too, in another way.  He is a man who, face to face
+with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!"
+
+"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked.
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out.  "He had no right
+to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station.  If he had done so--that is to say, if he had
+waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that
+pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one
+that there would have been another tragedy that night.  At any
+rate, the document would never have come to us."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that
+Laverick's decision brought us the document."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face
+with ruin.  The use of that money for a few hours did no one any
+harm, and saved him.  I say that such a deed is always a matter of
+calculation, and in this case that he was justified."
+
+"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked.
+
+"Perhaps I'll ask him."
+
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe,
+he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he
+had loved so long.  She moved about the stage that night as though
+her feet indeed fell upon the air.  She appeared to be singing
+always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a
+quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience
+thrilled.  Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance.
+Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning
+Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous
+love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled
+more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened.  Zoe
+found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement.
+Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut
+face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond.  Yet, as
+he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft.  The song grew
+and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite
+and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice.  The last note
+came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged
+for an extraordinary period.  When it died away, its passing seemed
+something almost unrealizable.  It quivered away into a silence
+which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause
+swept the house.  And in those last few seconds she had turned and
+faced Bellamy.  Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from
+his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat.  It was her
+good-bye.  She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into
+the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love
+itself.  Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked
+up to a state of frenzied excitement.  Bellamy was recognized, and
+the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the
+house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in
+the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again.
+But the three in the box were silent.  Bellamy stood back in the
+shadows.  Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in
+themselves.  Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed
+outside.
+
+"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly.  "You will excuse me
+for a few minutes?  I am going to Louise."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
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+*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim*
+#9 in our series by J. Walker McSpadden
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+Havoc
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+by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+August, 2000  [Etext #2287]
+
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+*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim*
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+*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+
+This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer.
+
+
+
+
+
+Havoc
+
+by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I        CROWNED HEADS MEET
+
+II       ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+
+III      "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+
+IV       THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+
+V        "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+
+VI       VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+
+VII      "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES
+
+VIII     THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+
+IX       ROBBING THE DEAD
+
+X        BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+
+XI       VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+
+XII      BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+
+XIII     STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+
+XIV      ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+
+XV       LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES
+
+XVI      THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST
+
+XVII     THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+
+XVIII    THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+
+XIX      MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+
+XX       LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED
+
+XXI      MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+
+XXII     ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+
+XXIII    LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+
+XXIV     A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+
+XXV      JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+
+XXVI     THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+
+XXVII    PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+
+XXVIII   LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+
+XXIX     LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+
+XXX      THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+
+XXXI     MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE
+
+XXXII    MORRISON Is DESPERATE
+
+XXXIII   LAVERICK'S ARREST
+
+XXXIV    MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+
+XXXV     BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+
+XXXVI    LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+
+XXXVII   THE PLOT TEAT FAILED
+
+XXXVIII  A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HAVOC
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CROWNED HEADS MEET
+
+
+Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every
+English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their
+spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath.
+Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure.  Bellamy's
+face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous.
+Failure was a new thing to him - a thing which those behind the
+great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he.
+Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart.
+
+Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours
+broke into a tumult of welcoming voices.  Down their thickly-packed
+lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first,
+swelling and growing to a thunderous roar.  Myriads of hats were
+suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs
+waved from every window.  It was a wonderful greeting, this.
+
+"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked.
+
+The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery -
+guardsmen of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in
+their white uniforms, their flashing helmets.  The small brougham
+with its great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of
+naked steel.  Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter
+democrat, thrust out his under-lip.
+
+"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered.
+
+Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices,
+muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre
+which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude.
+
+"The Emperor," declared Bellamy.  "He goes to the West station."
+
+The commotion had passed.  The crowds in the street below were on
+the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a
+murmur of voices.  The two men turned from their window back into
+the room.  Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained,
+nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with
+a gesture of depression.
+
+"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to
+himself, half to Dorward.  "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder."
+
+"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured.
+
+"Long enough," Bellamy answered.  "That little room in the Palace,
+my friend, may yet become famous."
+
+"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally
+shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I
+think.  I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable
+even a hundred words of their conversation."
+
+"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no
+price sufficient.  We made our effort in different directions, both
+of us.  With infinite pains I planted - I may tell you this now that
+the thing is over - seven spies in the Palace.  They have been of
+as much use as rabbits.  I don't believe that a single one of them
+got any further than the kitchens."
+
+Dorward nodded gloomily.
+
+"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked.
+"There wasn't a secretary in the room.  Carstairs was nearly thrown
+out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace.  The great staircase
+was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the
+corridors."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months
+older, Dorward," he declared.
+
+The journalist glanced at his friend keenly.  "You believe that?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked.  "When
+Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you
+believe it is across the North Sea that they point?  Things have
+been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe."
+
+"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared
+impatiently.  "I'd just like to know what they said about America."
+
+Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony.
+
+"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said.  "He can
+scarcely do more to show his regard for your country.  He is giving
+you a special interview - you alone out of about two hundred
+journalists.  Very likely he will give you an exact account of
+everything that transpired.  first of all, he will assure you that
+this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace.  He
+will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in
+the thoughts of his master.  He will assure you - "
+
+"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly.  "I
+wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the
+Chancellor, eh?"
+
+"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for
+it.  For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing.
+Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward?  You know the man -
+false as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent.  He will grasp your
+hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great
+Anglo-Saxon races - to England and to his dear friends the Americans.
+He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself
+candidly and openly.  Peace is to be the watchword of the future.
+The white doves have hovered over the Palace.  The rulers of the
+earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this
+terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up.
+They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this
+object, - Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army
+still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the
+nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the
+seaboard - Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her
+existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in
+letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her
+rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor.  Colonies!  Expansion!
+Empire!  Whose colonies, I wonder?  Whose empire?  Will he tell you
+that, my friend Dorward?"
+
+The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
+
+"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he
+answered indifferently.  "It's all part of the game, of course.  I
+am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth.  All the same,
+my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately
+after this wonderful meeting."
+
+"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our
+eyes and yours."
+
+"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the
+copy.  It's good-bye, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said.  "I can do
+no more good here.  And you?"
+
+"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any
+rate," Dorward answered.  "I hear the women are forming rifle
+clubs all through Servia."
+
+Bellamy smiled thoughtfully.
+
+"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?"
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said.  "All Vienna
+raves about her.  They throng the Opera House every night to hear
+her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been
+known here.  Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief
+of the Committee for National Defence.  The jewels that are sent her
+anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these
+people who worship her.  I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to
+his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people
+is something we colder races scarcely understand.  Perhaps it is
+because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror.  If
+ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which
+she enters, - it will be a carnage, an extermination!"
+
+Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting.  Good-bye,
+and cheer up, Bellamy!  Your old country isn't going to turn up
+her heels yet."
+
+Out he went - long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and
+hatchet-shaped, gray face - a strange figure but yet a power.
+Bellamy remained.  For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the
+time.  He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of
+the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose
+movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been
+in the service.  He had still a military bearing, - tall, and with
+complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes,
+a silent mouth, - a man of many reserves.  Even his intimates knew
+little of him.  Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted
+well his profession.
+
+After a time he sat down and wrote some letters.  He had just
+finished when there came a sharp tap at the door.  Before he could
+open his lips some one had entered.  He heard the soft swirl of
+draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and
+held out both his hands.  There was expression in his face now - as
+much as he ever suffered to appear there.
+
+"Louise!" he exclaimed.  "What good fortune!"
+
+She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a
+more than common intimacy.  Then she threw herself into an
+easy-chair and raised her thick veil.  Bellamy looked at her for a
+moment in sorrowful silence.  There were violet lines underneath
+her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color.  There
+was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him.
+She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was
+dead.
+
+"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting.  The word has
+been spoken."
+
+He came and stood by her side.
+
+"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be."
+
+She shook her head mournfully.
+
+"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed.  "For myself, I feel it in the air!
+I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city!  I can
+hear it in the peals of those awful bells!  You know nothing?  You
+have heard nothing?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice.
+"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity.  I
+filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance.  There
+wasn't even a secretary present.  The Czar, the two Emperors and the
+Chancellor, - not another soul was in the room."
+
+"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed.  "He was there
+in reserve, I know, as stenographer.  I have but to lift my hand
+and it is enough.  I would have had the truth from him, whatever it
+cost me."
+
+Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully.  It was not for nothing that
+the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful
+woman in the world.  He frowned slightly at her last words, for he
+loved her.
+
+"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said
+sharply.
+
+She moved her head and looked up at him.  She was leaning a little
+forward now, her chin resting upon her hands.  Something about the
+lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal
+crouching for a spring.  She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving,
+and he could guess at the passion within.  With purpose he spoke to
+set it loose.
+
+"You sing to-night?" he asked.
+
+"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes,
+shaking in her voice.  "I sing no more in this accursed city!"
+
+"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked.  "I see that the
+whole city is placarded with notices.  It is to be a gala night at
+the Opera.  The royal party is to be present."
+
+Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind.
+
+"What do I care - I - I - for their gala night!  If I were like
+Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and
+bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!"
+
+He took her hand and smoothed it in his.
+
+"Dear Louise, it is useless, this.  You do everything that can be
+done for your country."
+
+Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his.
+
+"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand.  None of you
+English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of
+this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know
+that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be
+shed, and shed in vain.  To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it
+is worse, this, than murder, - a worse crime than his who stains
+the soul of a poor innocent girl!  It is a sin against nature
+herself!"
+
+She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately.
+
+"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought.  I have borne up
+against this thing so long.  I can do no more good here.  I come
+to tell you that I go away till the time comes.  I go to your
+London.  They want me to sing for them there.  I shall do it."
+
+"You will break your engagement?"
+
+She laughed at him scornfully.
+
+"I am Idiale," she declared.  "I keep no engagement if I do not
+choose.  I will sing no more to this people whom I hate.  My friend
+David, I have suffered enough.  Their applause I loathe - their
+covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage - oh, I could
+strike them all dead!  They come to me, these young Austrian
+noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race.  I keep
+their diamonds but I destroy their messages.  Their jewels go to
+my chorus girls or to arm my people.  But no one of them has had a
+kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained.
+Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises.  No Austrian shall
+ever touch my lips - I have sworn it!"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital!  Even
+in the Palace - "
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"It is finished!" she declared.  "I sing no more.  I have sent word
+to the Opera House.  I came here to be in hiding for a while.  They
+will search for me everywhere.  To-night or to-morrow I leave for
+England."
+
+Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent.
+
+"I am not sure that you are wise," he said.  "You take it too much
+for granted that the end has come."
+
+"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded.  He hesitated.
+
+"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her.
+
+"Proof!"
+
+She sat upright in her chair.  Her hands thrust him from her, her
+bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks.
+
+"Proof!" she cried.  "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves
+have plotted for?  What else do you suppose could be Austria's share
+of the feast?  Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their
+voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity?  We
+are doomed - betrayed!  You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
+a blood-stained page of history for all time.  The world would tell
+you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings.  It is
+not true.  My friend David, it is not true.  It is a more terrible
+thing, this which is coming.  Body and soul we are to perish."
+
+He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on
+hers.  It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he
+loved.
+
+"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless.  There may
+yet be compromises."
+
+She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not
+pass out of her face or tone.
+
+"Compromises!" she repeated.  "Do you believe, then, that we are
+like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror
+because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered
+themselves passively to be led into captivity?  My country can be
+conquered in one way, and one way only, - not until her sons, ay,
+and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule.  They
+will come to an empty and a stricken country - a country red with
+blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities.  The
+horror of it!  Think, my friend David, the horror of it!"
+
+Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience.
+
+"You take too much for granted," he declared.  "England, at any
+rate, is not yet a conquered race.  And there is France - Italy,
+too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient
+enemy."
+
+"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured.
+"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless.
+Already it has been proved.  Last year you declared yourself our
+friend - you and even Russia.  Of what avail was it?  Word came
+from Berlin and you were powerless."
+
+Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man
+demented.  For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but
+this man was surely a stranger!  He was hatless, dishevelled, wild.
+A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes
+were on fire.
+
+"Bellamy!" he cried.  "Bellamy!"
+
+Words failed him suddenly.  He leaned against the table, breathless,
+panting heavily.
+
+"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began, -
+
+"Alone!" Dorward interrupted.  "I must see you alone!  I have news!"
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale rose.  She touched Bellamy on the shoulder.
+
+"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered.  "So?"
+
+Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure
+of his fingers.  Then he closed it firmly and came back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"
+
+
+"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a
+siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers.  He
+tossed it off before he spoke a word.  Then he turned around and
+faced his companion.  "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door."
+
+Bellamy obeyed.  He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his
+head in the Chancellor's presence - had made some absurd attempt to
+gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed.
+
+"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little
+out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was
+ever dealt out to a human being.  If only I can get safe out of
+this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man
+ever handled."
+
+"You don't mean that - "
+
+Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted.
+
+"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but
+I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting."
+
+"Got what?"
+
+"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for,"
+Dorward replied.
+
+Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity.
+
+"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed.  "You may have
+something - just what the Chancellor wants you to print.  You're
+not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?"
+
+Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a
+conqueror.
+
+"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the
+Chancellor's own handwriting.  I tell you I've got the original
+verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this
+afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and
+the Emperor of Germany.  I've got it word for word as the Chancellor
+took it down.  I've got their decision.  I've got their several
+undertakings."
+
+Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb.  He looked toward the door
+and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph.  Then his power
+of speech returned.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you stole it?"
+
+Dorward struck the table with his fist.
+
+"Not I!  I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to
+me with his own hands, willingly, - pressed it upon me.  No, don't
+scoff!" he went on quickly.  "Listen!  This is a genuine thing.
+The Chancellor's mad.  He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace.
+It will be in all the evening papers.  You will hear the boys
+shouting it in the streets within a few minutes.  Don't interrupt
+and I'll tell you the whole truth.  You can believe me or not, as
+you like.  It makes no odds.  I arrived punctually and was shown up
+into the anteroom.  Even from there I could hear loud voices in the
+inner chamber and I knew that something was up.  Presently a little
+fellow came out to me - a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses.
+He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician,
+regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see
+no one, - the excitement and hard work of the last few days had
+knocked him out.  Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I
+could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room
+was thrown open.  The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold.
+There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as
+parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled
+as though he had been standing upon his head.  He began to talk to
+the physician in German.  I didn't understand him until he began to
+swear, - then it was wonderful!  In the end he brushed them all
+away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room.
+For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I
+was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the
+things I wanted to know about.  Then, all of a sudden, he turned to
+me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted.  'Ah!' he
+said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now.
+Lock the door.'  I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they
+were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing
+us every moment.  'Come and sit down,' he ordered.  I did so at
+once.  'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared.  'To-day every one
+is worrying me.  They think that I am not well.  It is foolish.  I
+am quite well.  Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I
+told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and
+he nodded and seemed pleased.  'You have come to hear the truth
+about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of
+Germany?' he asked.  'That's so,' I told him.  'America 's more
+than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what
+to tell her.'  Then he leaned across the table.  'My young friend,'
+he said, 'I like you.  You are straightforward.  You speak plainly
+and you do not worry me.  It is good.  You shall tell your country
+what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are
+coming.  Yours is a great and wise country.  When they know the
+truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that
+the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.'
+'You are right,' I assured him, - 'dead right.  Treat us openly,
+that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he
+answered.  'Now look, I give you this.'  He fumbled through all his
+pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends
+with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two
+tigers facing each other.  He looked toward the door cautiously, and
+there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have.
+'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand.  This will
+tell you exactly what passed this afternoon.  It will tell you our
+plans.  It will tell you of the share which my master and the other
+two are taking.  Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you
+do, do not let them know outside that you have got it.  Between
+you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems
+to have happened to them all to-day.  There's my old doctor there.
+He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well.  I can see
+it whenever he comes near me.'  I nodded as though I understood and
+the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned.  Then I got up as
+casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let
+me go.  We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces
+of burning coal.  Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the
+door.  Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a
+paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't
+follow him.  I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there.
+I contrived to look as frightened as possible.  'His Highness is not
+well enough to talk to me,' I whispered.  'You had better look after
+him.'  I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall.  Then I closed the
+door and slipped away as quietly as I could - and here I am."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath.
+
+"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered.  "How long is it
+since you left the Palace?"
+
+"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered.
+
+"They'll find it out at once," declared the other.  "They'll miss
+the paper.  Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to
+you.  Don't let us run any risks, Dorward.  Tear it open.  Let us
+know the truth, at any rate.  If you have to part with the document,
+we can remember its contents.  Out with it, man, quick!.  They may
+be here at any moment."
+
+Dorward drew a few steps back.  Then he shook his head.
+
+"I guess not," he said firmly.
+
+Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement.
+
+"What do you mean?" he exclaimed.  "You're not going to keep it to
+yourself?  You know what it means to me - to England?"
+
+"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward
+declared.  "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance.  I am not here
+as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to
+nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands."
+
+Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control.
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly.  "I tell you
+I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared.  "I shall
+head for England.  Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will
+be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his
+hand.  We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too."
+
+Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet - too quiet to be altogether
+natural.  His hand was straying towards his pocket.
+
+"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the
+door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing
+is new to you.  You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive
+with that in your pocket.  If you trust yourself in the Orient
+Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier.
+By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too,
+that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor
+has told them the truth or not.  Open it at once so that we get some
+good out of it.  Then we'll go round to the Embassy.  We can slip
+out by the back way, perhaps.  Remember I have spent my life in the
+service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city
+where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy
+or mine.  Open the packet, man."
+
+"I think not," Dorward answered firmly.  "I am an American citizen.
+I have broken no laws and done no one any harm.  If there's any
+slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with
+Arthur Dorward.  . . .  Don't be a fool, man!"
+
+He took a quick step backward, - he was looking into the muzzle of
+Bellamy's revolver.
+
+"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it!  Yours is only
+a personal ambition - I stand for my country.  Share the knowledge
+of that packet with me or I shall shoot."
+
+"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely.  "This
+s my show, not yours.  You and your country can go to - "
+
+He broke off without finishing his sentence.  There was a thunderous
+knocking at the door.  The two men looked at one another for a
+moment, speechless.  Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced
+the revolver in his pocket.
+
+"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly.
+
+The knocking was repeated.  When Bellamy with a shrug of the
+shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered.
+They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room.
+
+"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed.
+"He was here but a moment ago."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the inner door.  He had had too much experience
+in such matters to attempt any prevarication.  The three men crossed
+the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear.  He heard a cry
+of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door.  The inner
+room was empty!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"
+
+
+Louise looked up eagerly as he entered.
+
+"There is news!" she exclaimed.  "I can see it in your face."
+
+"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news!  That is why I have come.
+Where can we talk?"
+
+She rose to her feet.  Before them the open French windows led on
+to a smooth green lawn.  She took his arm.
+
+"Come outside with me," she said.  "I am shut up here because I
+will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera
+House.  An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away."
+
+"You mean to keep your word, then?"
+
+"Have I ever broken it?  Never again will I sing in this City.  It
+is so."
+
+Bellamy looked around.  The garden of the villa was enclosed by
+high gray stone walls.  They were secure here, at least, from
+eavesdroppers.  She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding
+up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand.
+
+"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Of course," she assented.  "You told me that the Chancellor had
+promised him an interview for to-day."
+
+"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.".
+
+She looked at him with upraised eyebrows.
+
+"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose.  The
+latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill."
+
+"It is quite true," Bellamy declared.  "What I am going to tell you
+is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself.  When he reached
+the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane.  His doctors were
+trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard
+Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him.  The man was mad - on
+the verge of a collapse - and he handed over to Dorward his notes,
+and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning."
+
+She looked at him incredulously.
+
+"My dear David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth.  I know it for
+a fact.  The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what
+he was doing."
+
+"Where is it?" she asked quickly.  "You have seen it?"
+
+"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly.  "While we argued
+in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived.  Dorward escaped
+through the bedroom and down the service stairs.  He spoke of trying
+to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever
+let him leave the city."
+
+"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly.  "What are you going
+to do?"
+
+"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other.  I would have
+killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe
+that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us
+from disaster.  To know how far each is pledged, and from which
+direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation."
+
+"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to
+share his knowledge with you.  He is an American - it is almost the
+same thing as being an Englishman.  And you are friends, - I am
+sure that you have helped him often."
+
+"It was a matter of vanity - simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered.
+"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern
+times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his
+paper.  He fights for his own hand alone."
+
+"And you?" she whispered.
+
+"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared.  "I know that he
+is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be
+at his heels."
+
+She nodded her head thoughtfully.
+
+"I, too," she announced.  "I come with you, my friend.  I do no
+more good here, and they worry my life out all the time.  I come to
+sing in London at Covent Garden.  I have agreements there which only
+await my signature.  We will go together; is it not so?"
+
+"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must
+depend very largely upon Dorward's.  The train leaves at eight
+o'clock, station time.  I have already a coupe reserved."
+
+"I come with you," she murmured.  "I am very weary of this city."
+
+They walked on for a few paces in silence.  Bellamy looked around
+the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with
+here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst
+the wealth of foliage.  The villa had once belonged to a royal
+favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory.  They reached
+a sheltered seat and sat down.  A few yards away a tiny waterfall
+came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool.  They were hidden
+from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut
+tree.  Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips.
+
+"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly.
+
+She took his hand in hers and smoothed it.  She had returned his
+kiss, but she drew a little further away from him.
+
+"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes,
+"courtship is scarcely the word, is it?  For you and me there is
+nothing to hope for, nothing beyond."
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+"Never believe that," he begged.  "These days are dark enough,
+Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal.  Even our
+turn may come."
+
+Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed
+to make a different woman of her.  Bellamy saw it, and hardened
+though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses.  He
+kissed her hand passionately and she shivered.
+
+"We must not talk of these things," she said.  "We must not think
+of them.  At least our friendship has been wonderful.  Now I must
+go in.  I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night."
+
+They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment.  Though her
+lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve
+with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful,
+too.  They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked
+a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.
+
+"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible.
+Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together."
+
+He raised her fingers to his lips.  It was not often that they
+lapsed into sentiment.  When she spoke again it was finished.
+
+"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate.  There
+are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I
+are not seen too much together."
+
+"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at
+the station early.  If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna.
+If he goes, it may be an eventful journey."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
+
+
+Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe
+rolling innumerable cigarettes.  He was a man of unbounded courage
+and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as
+to the sanctity of an American citizen.  He had served his
+apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a
+household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent
+in the Russo-Japanese War.  His experience of European countries,
+however, was limited.  After the more obvious dangers with which
+he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous
+career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler
+perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted.  He had made
+his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and
+since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions,
+he had remained unmolested.  From his own point of view, therefore,
+it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any
+misgiving as to his personal safety.  ARREST as a thief was the
+worst which he had feared.  Even that he seemed now to have evaded.
+
+The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a
+somewhat exciting day.  He lit a cigarette and stretched himself
+out with a murmur of immense satisfaction.  He was close upon the
+great triumph of his life.  He was perfectly content to lie there
+and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were
+now fast descending.  He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured
+himself.  Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he
+started almost like a guilty man.  The relief in his face as he
+recognized his visitor was obvious.  It was Bellamy who entered
+and dropped into a seat by his side.
+
+"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to
+the growing heap of cigarettes.
+
+"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered.  "I can smoke this lot before
+we reach London."
+
+Bellamy smiled enigmatically.
+
+"I don't think that you will," he said.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed.  "Personally, I
+do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching
+London at all."
+
+Dorward laughed scornfully.
+
+"And why not?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders.  Dorward seemed to find the
+gesture irritating.
+
+"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared
+dryly.  "I suppose it's the result of your profession.  I may not
+know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think
+that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train
+like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a
+scrap by way of taking care of himself."
+
+"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy.
+
+"I don't see any pluck about it.  In Vienna, I must admit, I
+shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort
+of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't.  Guess they'd find
+it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen."
+
+Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.
+
+"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said.
+"You really believe what you say?"
+
+"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked.
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your
+experience should talk and behave like a baby.  You've taken some
+notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?"
+
+"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly.  "What about
+them?"
+
+"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my
+certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of
+Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of
+their subordinates somewhere on board the train."
+
+Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his
+friend keenly.
+
+"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked.
+
+But Bellamy was suddenly grave.  There had come into his face an
+utterly altered expression.  His tone, when he spoke, was almost
+solemn.
+
+"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have
+told you is the truth.  I cannot seem to make you realize the
+seriousness of your position.  When you left the Palace with that
+paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a
+doomed man.  Your passport and your American citizenship count for
+absolutely nothing.  I have come in to warn you that if you have
+any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now."
+
+"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed
+contemptuously.  "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you
+want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said.  "If the seal were
+broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help
+the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my
+forehead on the railway track."
+
+Dorward frowned uneasily.
+
+"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked.
+
+"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered.  "As a
+matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer.  I am sorry,
+old man.  You can't say that I didn't give you good advice.  I am
+bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I
+get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some
+regrettable accident has happened to you."
+
+"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed.
+"I've had about enough of it.  I am not denying anything you say,
+but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice
+before they meddle with me."
+
+"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the
+trouble to think at all.  Their minds are perfectly made up as to
+what they are going to do.  However, that's finished.  I have
+nothing more to say.
+
+Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window.
+
+"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing
+I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let
+you read it over with me?"
+
+Bellamy rose hastily to his feet.
+
+"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed.  "You would simply
+write my death-warrant.  Don't allude to that matter again.  I
+have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!"  Dorward said
+irritably.  "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk.  In
+an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep.  We'll
+breakfast together in the morning, if you like."
+
+Bellamy said nothing.  The steward had brought them the whiskies
+and sodas which Dorward had ordered.  Bellamy raised his tumbler
+to his lips and set it down again.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty."
+
+Dorward drank his off at a gulp.  Almost immediately he closed his
+eyes.  Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him
+alone.  As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the
+corridor.
+
+"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered.  She nodded.
+
+"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said.  "I invited him
+to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed.  It is his companions
+who watch him all the time.  He has promised to talk with me later."
+
+In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy
+bending over her.
+
+"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession
+of the packet.  They have been discussing whether it will not be
+safer to go on to London instead of doubling back.  See Von Behrling
+again.  Do all you can to persuade him to come to London, - all you
+can, Louise, remember."
+
+"So!" she whispered.  "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in
+the corridor.  It is hot here."
+
+Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him.  The train
+was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night.
+For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening.  The voices
+whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but
+once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry.
+In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have
+disappeared.  The man within him was hard to subdue.  He longed to
+make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly
+unequal struggle, yet he made no movement.  Dorward was a man and a
+friend, but what was a life more or less?  It was to a greater cause
+that he was pledged.  Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed
+and slept. . . .
+
+The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight.  The
+man's hands were trembling.
+
+"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily.
+
+"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered.  "Monsieur noticed,
+perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"I sleep soundly," he said.  "I heard nothing."
+
+"There has been an accident," the man declared.  "An American
+gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and
+became very drunk.  In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line."
+
+Bellamy shuddered a little.  He had been prepared, but none the
+less it was an awful thing, this.
+
+"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked.
+
+The man was very sure indeed.
+
+"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said.  "He
+examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous."
+
+Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes.
+The next move was for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"
+
+
+Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he
+came to the coup6 which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale.
+Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of
+the door and entered.  Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown,
+drinking her coffee.  He held up his finger and she greeted him
+only with a nod.
+
+"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was
+obliged to see you at once."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"It is of no consequence," she said.  "One is always prepared here.
+The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs - they all enter.
+Is anything wrong?"
+
+"It has happened," he answered.
+
+She shivered a little and her face became grave.
+
+"Poor fellow!" she murmured.
+
+"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still
+speaking in a cautious undertone.  "He would not be warned.  I could
+have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason."
+
+"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked.
+
+"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued.  "Now listen to me,
+Louise.  I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I
+feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London,
+all three of them."
+
+"Who is there on the train?" she demanded.
+
+"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and
+Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered.  "Then there are four or five Secret
+Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling
+separately.  Von Behrling has the packet.  The others form a sort
+of cordon around him."
+
+"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London?  Why not return to
+Vienna?"
+
+"For one thing, " Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are
+afraid of me.  Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward
+will be talked about.  They do not want to seem in any way
+implicated.  To return from any one of these stations down the line
+would create suspicion."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued.  "I
+find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin.  From
+there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can.  You know the
+address of my rooms?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"15, Fitzroy Street."
+
+"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I
+can see you.  While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling
+almost inaccessible.  Directly I have gone it will be different.
+Play with him carefully.  He should not be difficult.  To tell you
+the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a
+mission like this.  He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short
+while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to
+attend the conference.  The others will watch him closely, but
+they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two.  Von
+Behrling is a poor man.  You will know how to make him wish he were
+rich."
+
+Very slowly her eyebrows rose up.  She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked.  "Von Behrling is a
+little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with
+me, but I do not think that he would sell his country.  Then, too,
+see how he will be watched.  I do not suppose that they will leave
+us alone for a moment."
+
+Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural
+force.
+
+"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von
+Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength.  You
+know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know
+what that means.  I have heard men talk about you till one would
+think that they were children.  You have something of that art or
+guile - call it what you will - which passes from you through a
+man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven - but
+carries him there mad.  Louise, don't be angry with me for what I
+say.  Remember that I know my sex.  I know you, too, and I trust
+you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into
+what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your
+fingers.  Von Behrling has that packet in his possession.  When I
+come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds
+in Bank of England notes.  With that Von Behrling might fancy
+himself on his way to America - with you."
+
+She closed her eyes for a moment.  Perhaps she wished to keep hidden
+from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain.
+He wished to make use of her - of her, the woman whom he loved.
+Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the
+anger passed.
+
+"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach
+London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy."
+
+"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether
+he is in heaven or upon earth.  It will not be opened in London.
+He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which
+he robbed Dorward.  Oh!  it is a difficult game, I know, but it is
+worth playing.  Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators.
+It is your country's very existence that is threatened.  It is for
+her sake as well as for England."
+
+"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face.  "Oh,
+you may be sure that I shall do my best!"
+
+Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away.  The electric
+lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light
+dim.  Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to
+leave at Munich.  Then he rang for the porter.
+
+"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced.
+
+"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered.
+
+Bellamy looked at him closely.
+
+"You are a Frenchman?"
+
+"It is so, Monsieur!"
+
+"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if
+I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians
+you would tell me the truth."
+
+The man's gesture was inimitable.  Englishmen to him were obviously
+the salt of the earth.  Germans and Austrians - why, they existed
+as the cattle in the fields - nothing more.  Bellamy gave him a
+sovereign.
+
+"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said.  "They
+are in numbers ten and eleven."
+
+"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented.  "As yet I think they are
+fast asleep.  Not one of them has rung for his coffee."
+
+"Where are they booked for?"
+
+"For London, Monsieur."
+
+"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say
+anything about leaving the train before then?"
+
+"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen
+have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover.  They were very
+anxious to travel by a turbine."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Thank you very much.  You will be so discreet as to forget that I
+have asked you any questions concerning them.  As for me, if one
+would know, I am on my way to Berlin."
+
+The bell rang.  The man looked outside and put his head once more
+in Bellamy's coupe.
+
+"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared.  "If
+anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once
+to Monsieur."
+
+"You will do well," Bellamy answered.
+
+The porter returned in a few moments.
+
+"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in
+their pyjamas.  They have ordered their breakfast to be served after
+we leave Munich."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of
+them asked me whether the English gentleman - meaning you - was
+going through to London or not.  I told them that you were getting
+out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy said.  "If they ask any more questions, let
+me know."
+
+Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were
+traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective
+toilette.  At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked
+down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with
+his companions in one of the compartments.
+
+"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him.
+
+He rose to his feet and came out.  Tall, with a fair moustache and
+blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to
+be proud of the fact.
+
+"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low
+over her fingers.
+
+"Excellently," replied Louise.  "Will you not take me in to luncheon?
+The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone.  It is not
+pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids."
+
+"I am honored," he declared.  "Will you permit me for one moment?"
+
+He turned and spoke to his companions.  Louise saw at once that they
+were protesting vigorously.  She saw, too, that Von Behrling only
+became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry.  She moved
+a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the
+window.  He joined her almost immediately.
+
+"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes.
+We will go and take a good place."
+
+"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your
+leaving them.  They are not very gallant."
+
+"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his
+moustache.  "Streuss there is an old fool.  He has always some
+fancy in his brain."
+
+Louise raised her eyebrows slightly.
+
+"You are your own master, I suppose," she said.  "The Baron is
+used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets.  There are
+many people who find him too autocratic."
+
+"He means well," Von Behrling asserted.  "It is his manner only
+which is against him."
+
+They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across
+the white cloth.
+
+"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant
+than lunching alone."
+
+"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous
+twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so."
+
+"Always gallant," she murmured.  "Tell me, is it true of you - the
+news which I heard just before I left Vienna?  Have you really
+resigned your post with the Chancellor?"
+
+"You heard that?" he asked slowly.
+
+She hesitated for a moment.
+
+"I heard something of the sort," she admitted.  "To be quite candid
+with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a
+change on his own account."
+
+"So that is what they say, is it?  What do they know about it - these
+gossipers?"
+
+"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked.
+
+"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing."
+
+"Ah!  well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape,
+"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me
+wild.  I should not have been content until I had learned somehow
+or other what had transpired.  Lately, I am afraid, my interest in
+my country seems to have grown a trifle cold.  Perhaps because I
+have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your
+point of view.  Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own
+little careers are, after all, the most important part of it."
+
+Von Behrling eyed her Curiously.
+
+"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked.
+
+She looked out of the window for a moment.
+
+"Oh!  I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still
+hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with
+me, I must admit.  If we had two lives, I would give one to my
+country and keep one for myself.  Since we have only one, I am
+afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its
+pleasures."
+
+"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily.
+"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!"
+
+"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered.  "One needs many
+things to get the best out of life.  One needs wealth and one needs
+love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy."
+
+"It is true," Von Behrling admitted, - "quite true."
+
+"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by.
+They can never come again.  If one does not live while one is young,
+there is no other chance."
+
+Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom.  He was twenty-five years
+old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms.  Of late, this
+fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments.
+
+"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this.  You have
+the world at your feet, Mademoiselle.  You have only to throw the
+handkerchief."
+
+Her lips parted in a dazzling smile.  The bluest eyes in the world
+grew softer as they looked into his.  Von Behrling felt his cheeks
+burn.
+
+"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured.  "Tell me," she
+continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence.  Is
+it because you are poor?"
+
+"I am a beggar," - bitterly.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought,
+"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you
+have compensations."
+
+"But I have none!" he declared.  "You should know that - you,
+Mademoiselle.  Life for me means one thing and one thing only!"
+
+She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth.  Von
+Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion.
+
+"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file
+in to take their places.  "After luncheon we will take our coffee
+in my coupe.  Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters.  I
+have a headache.  Will you order me some champagne?  It is a terrible
+thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels,
+what can one do?  Here come your bodyguard.  They look at me as
+though I had stolen you away.  Remember we take our coffee together
+afterwards.  I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you
+to amuse me."
+
+Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts.
+The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself
+to have transported him into a seventh heaven.  On the other hand,
+he had trouble with his friends.  Streuss drew him on one side at
+Ostend, and talked to him plainly.
+
+"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and
+myself.  Wine and women and pleasure are good things.  We two, we
+love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for
+them, and it is not now.  Our mission is too serious."
+
+"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this?
+What do I do wrong?  What have you to say against me?  If I talk
+with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for
+me to do.  Would you have us three - you and Kahn and myself - travel
+arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers?  Would
+you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret
+mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already
+committed a crime?  These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss.  It
+is better that we behave like ordinary mortals.  You talk foolishly,
+Streuss!"
+
+"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will
+not have it!  Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot.  She
+is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman.  She and he were
+together last night."
+
+"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested.  "He
+went north to Berlin.  That itself is the proof that they know
+nothing.  If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that
+he would have stayed with us?"
+
+"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered.  "There are too many of
+us to deal with, - he knew that.  Mademoiselle Idiale is clever,
+too.  Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through
+false women.
+
+"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded.
+
+"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with
+Mademoiselle."
+
+Von Behrling drew himself up.  After all, it was he who was noble;
+Streuss was little more than a policeman.
+
+"I refuse!" he exclaimed.  "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am
+in charge of this expedition.  It was I who planned it.  It was I"
+ - he dropped his voice and touched his chest - "who struck the
+first blow for its success.  I think that we need talk no more," he
+went on.  "I welcome your companionship.  It makes for strength
+that we travel together.  But for the rest, the enterprise has been
+mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it
+shall be mine.  Watch me, if you like.  Stay with me and see that
+I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of
+myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot."
+
+Von Behrling stepped away quickly.  The siren was already blowing
+from the steamer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
+
+
+The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth.  Louise,
+wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left
+the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck.  Von Behrling
+found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across.
+She beckoned him to her side.  Her eyes glowed at him through the
+darkness.
+
+"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared.  "By myself
+I had to find this place."
+
+Von Behrling was ruffled.  He was also humbly apologetic.
+
+"It is those idiots who are with me," he said.  "All the time they
+worry."
+
+She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear.
+
+"I know what it is," she said.  "You have secrets which you are
+taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian.
+Tell me, is it not so?  Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy."
+
+Von Behrling hesitated.  She drew him closer towards her.
+
+"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail.
+You are too big to talk to up there.  So!  Now you can come
+underneath my rug.  Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?"
+
+"Is it without reason?" he asked.  "Would not any one be afraid of
+you - if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets?
+I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your
+little finger."
+
+She laughed at him softly.
+
+"Ah, no!" she said.  "Men are not like that, nowadays.  They talk
+and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake."
+
+"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone.
+
+"I do, indeed.  One reads love-stories - no, I do not mean romances,
+but memoirs - memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts - memoirs,
+even, written by Englishmen.  Men were different a generation ago.
+Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet
+there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these
+things for the love of a woman.
+
+"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely.
+
+"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there
+are very few."
+
+She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized
+his state of excitement.
+
+"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a
+laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna.  I - the poverty-stricken,
+who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you - have dared
+to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart
+above all the women on earth."
+
+"It is very nice of you," she murmured.  "Why do you tell me this
+now?"
+
+"Why, indeed?" he answered.  "What have I to hope for?"
+
+She looked along the deck.  Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends
+burned red through the gloom.  She knew very well that those cigar
+ends belonged to Streuss and his friend.  She laughed softly and
+once more she bent her head.
+
+"How they watch you, those men!" she said.  "Listen, my friend
+Rudolph.  Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really
+a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else
+you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!"
+
+"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+She laughed.
+
+"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing
+you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt
+it?  The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret
+Service Department, is he not?  To me he seems the most obvious
+policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman."
+
+"You don't mean it!" he muttered.  "You can't mean what you said
+just now!"
+
+She was silent for a few moments.  Some one passing struck a match,
+and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by
+her side - strained now and curiously intense.
+
+"Supposing I did!"
+
+"You must be mad!" he declared.  "You must not talk to me like this,
+Mademoiselle.  I have no secret.  It is your humor, I know, but it
+is dangerous."
+
+"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone.  I say again,
+Rudolph, supposing this were true?"
+
+His hand passed across his forehead.  She fancied that he made a
+motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his.
+
+"Stay here," she whispered.  "No, I do not wish to drive you away.
+Now you are here you shall listen to me."
+
+"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered.  "Don't tell me that you
+are in earnest.  It is treason.  I am Rudolph Von Behrling,
+Secretary to the Chancellor."
+
+Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes.
+
+"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are
+indeed the Chancellor's secretary.  What do you gain from it?  A
+pittance!  Many hours work a day and a pittance.  What have you to
+look forward to?  A little official life, a stupid official position.
+Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world.  Do I not represent
+other things?"
+
+"God knows you do!" he muttered.
+
+"I, too, am weary of singing.  I want a long rest - a long rest and
+a better name than my own.  Don't shrink away from me.  It isn't so
+wonderful, after all.  Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few
+hours ago.  He was Dorward's friend.  He knew well what Dorward
+carried.  It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from
+him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends."
+
+"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared.  "You must stop!  I must
+not listen to this!"
+
+"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet
+in your pocket.  Think of that, my friend.  It would be a start in
+life, would it not?  I am an extravagant woman.  Even if I would, I
+dared not think of a poor man.  But twenty thousand pounds is
+sufficient.  When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has
+been waiting for me for weeks - 15, Dover Street.  If you bring that
+packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there
+will be twenty thousand pounds and - "
+
+Her fingers suddenly held his.  She could almost hear his heart
+beating.  Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the
+tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face.
+She whispered a warning under her breath.  The two cigar ends had
+moved nearer.  The forms of the two men were now distinct.  One was
+leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side.  The other
+stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover.  Von Behrling
+staggered to his feet.  He said something in an angry undertone to
+Streuss.  Louise rose and shook out her furs.
+
+"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can
+spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids?  You will find
+them both in my cabin, number three.  I wish to walk for a few
+moments before we arrive."
+
+Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream.  Mademoiselle Idiale
+followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions.
+
+
+The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully
+planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram
+announcing her journey to London.  There was an engaged carriage at
+Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the
+Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her.
+Von Behrling seemed to be missing.  She had seen nothing of him
+since he had descended to summon her maids.  But just as the train
+was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment
+later his white face was pressed through the open window of the
+carriage.
+
+"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire!  I cannot talk to you!  I fear
+that they suspect something.  They have told me that if I travel
+with you they will force their way in.  Even now, Streuss comes.
+Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can.  I must think
+ - I must think!"
+
+He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES "
+
+
+Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two
+o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of
+correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he
+knew well.  He tore open the envelope.
+
+DAVID DEAR, - I have just arrived and I am sending you these few
+lines at once.  As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for
+certain, but there is a chance.  You had better get the money ready
+and come to me here.  If R. could only escape from Streuss and
+those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they
+are suspicious.  What may happen I cannot tell.  I do my best and
+I have hated it.  Get the money ready and come to me.
+                                                           LOUISE.
+
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces.  Then
+he rang for his servant.  "A bath and some clean clothes quickly,"
+he ordered.  "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see
+if Sir James is there.  If not, find out exactly where he is.  I
+must see him within half an hour.  Afterwards, get me a taxicab."
+
+The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained
+servant.  In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy
+had left his rooms.  Before four o'clock he had arrived at the
+address which Louise had given him.  A commissionaire telephoned his
+name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced
+French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to
+Bellamy.
+
+"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed.
+
+Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first
+floor.  He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with
+roses.
+
+"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is
+engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to
+receive Monsieur."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at
+her service.  My time is of no consequence."
+
+The man bowed and withdrew.  Louise came to him almost directly from
+an inner chamber.  She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of
+her journey seemed already to have passed away.  Her eyes were
+bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks.
+
+"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!"
+
+She took both his hands and held them for a moment.  Then she walked
+to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood
+there listening for a moment.
+
+"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I
+cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we
+landed in England.  I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any
+of the servants he has engaged for me.  You got my note?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, "I had your note - and I am here."
+
+The restraint of his manner was obvious.  He was standing a little
+away from her.  She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon
+his shoulders, her face was upturned to his.  Even then he made no
+motion to embrace her.
+
+"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing - what I have done
+ - was at your suggestion.  I do it for you, I do it for my country,
+I do it against every natural feeling I possess.  I hate and loathe
+the lies I tell.  Are you remembering that?  Is it in your heart at
+this moment?"
+
+He stooped and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human.
+We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets."
+
+"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon
+my lips.  What I have promised goes for nothing.  What he has
+promised is this - the papers to-night."
+
+"Unopened?"
+
+"Unopened," she repeated, softly.
+
+"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked.  "He must have arrived
+in London when you did last night.  How is it they are not already
+at the Embassy?"
+
+"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained.  "He cannot
+be back until late to-night.  No one else has a key to the treaty
+safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one
+save the Ambassador himself."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"What about Streuss?"
+
+"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said.  "Yet, after
+all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side.  His
+orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the
+safe by the Ambassador himself."
+
+"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be
+in your hands."
+
+"How is it to be done?"
+
+"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap.
+They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's
+crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest.
+He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and
+signed it with his seal.  It is this which he will hand over to the
+Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly.  The real one he has
+concealed."
+
+"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered.  "My dear David, what are you
+thinking of?  He is not here and he dare not come here.  You are to
+go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between
+five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the
+telephone.  A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night.
+You must take the money there and receive the packet.  Von Behrling
+will be disguised and prepared for flight."
+
+Bellamy's eyes glowed.
+
+"You believe this?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I believe it," she replied.  "He is going to do it.  After he has
+seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth.  I have promised - don't
+look at me, David - I have promised to join him there."
+
+Bellamy was grave.
+
+"There will be trouble," he said.  "He will come back.  He will want
+to shoot you.  He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is
+passionate."
+
+"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh.  "Have I ever
+shown fear of my life?  No, David!  It is not that of which I am
+afraid.  It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which
+was in your face when you came into the room.  These are the things
+I fear - not death."
+
+Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her.
+
+"Forgive me," he begged.  "At such times a man is a weak thing - a
+weak and selfish thing.  I am ashamed of myself.  I should have
+known better than to have doubted you for a moment.  I know you so
+well, Louise.  I know what you are."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy.  And now you must go away.
+Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude.  Over here I
+am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden.  See my
+roses.  There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in
+the place now.  The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and
+two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new
+manager of mine in the dining-room.  Between five and six o'clock
+this afternoon you will get the message.  It is somewhere, I think,
+in the city that you will have to go.  There will be no trouble
+about the money?  Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use."
+
+"I have it in my pocket," he answered.  "I have it in notes, but he
+need never fear that they will be traced.  The numbers of notes
+given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's
+memory."
+
+She drew a little sigh.
+
+"It is a great sum," she said.  "After all, he should be grateful
+to me.  If only he would be sensible and get away to the United
+States or to South America!  He could live there like a prince,
+poor fellow.  He would be far happier."
+
+"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed.  "There is one thing
+to be remembered.  If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four
+hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you
+harm.  The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at
+trifles.  Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of
+spies at their bidding here.  If they find out that he has tricked
+them, they will hunt him down, and before long."
+
+Louise shivered.
+
+"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away!  He is a traitor,
+of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all,
+I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it.
+That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint
+smile.  "Ah!  well, you see, for five years so many have been trying
+to turn my head.  No wonder if I begin to believe some of their
+stories.  David, I must go.  I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting
+any longer."
+
+"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come.  I am afraid
+I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise."
+
+The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room.
+
+"That is my signal," she declared smiling.  "De. Henschell was
+almost beside himself that I came away.  I come, Doctor," she called
+out.  "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands.  "Now
+go, dear."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
+
+
+Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but
+somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in
+appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never
+been more strongly evident.  They were partners in business and face
+to face with ruin.  Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm,
+although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut,
+powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that
+dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served
+him well along the road to fortune.  Arthur Morrison, the man who
+sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips
+notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with
+tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale
+face.  Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream.  He
+floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child.  The hand
+of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw
+him as he really was.
+
+"I can't stand it, Laverick, - I couldn't face them all.  It's too
+cruel - too horrible!  Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week,
+forty thousand in a month!  Forty thousand pounds!  Oh, my God!"
+
+He writhed in agony.  The man on the other side of the table said
+nothing.
+
+"If we could only have held on a little longer!  'Unions' must turn!
+They will turn!  Laverick, have you tried all your friends?  Think!
+Have you tried them all?  Twenty thousand pounds would see us through
+it.  We should get our own money back - I am sure of it.  There's
+Rendell, Laverick.  He'd do anything for you.  You're always shooting
+or playing cricket with him.  Have you asked him, Laverick?  He'd
+never miss the money."
+
+"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered.
+"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend."
+
+"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately.  "Every
+one does it sometimes.  He'd be glad to help you.  I know he would.
+Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be
+hammered?"
+
+"I have," Laverick admitted wearily.  "God knows it seems as
+terrible a thing to me as it can to you!  But if we go down, we
+must go down with clean hands.  I've no faith in your infernal
+market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend."
+
+The Jew's face was almost piteous.  He stretched himself across the
+table.  There were genuine tears in his eyes.
+
+"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong.  I know you think I've
+been led away.  I've taken you out of our depth, but the only
+trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing.
+Those who stand up will win.  They will make money."
+
+"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up.  Please
+understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way.
+I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend.  I have asked
+the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors.
+To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they
+are concerned.  As you know, they have refused.  If you see any hope
+in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends?  For
+every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom
+friends with at least twenty."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered.  "They will
+drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but
+they do not lend money.  If they would, do you think I would mind
+asking?  Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us
+the money.  I would even kiss his feet.  I cannot bear it, Laverick!
+I cannot!  I cannot!"
+
+Laverick said nothing.  Words were useless things, wasted upon such
+a creature.  He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no
+pains to conceal.  This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended
+to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young
+men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a
+money-maker if ever there was one!  Laverick thought of him as he
+appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed,
+with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny,
+hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the
+real thing.  What a collapse!
+
+"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table.
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered.
+
+The young man buried his face in his hands.
+
+"I can't!  I can't!" he moaned.  "I couldn't bear seeing all the
+fellows, hearing them whisper things - oh, Lord!  Oh, Lord!  . . .
+Laverick, we've a few hundreds left.  Give me something and let me
+out of it.  You're a stronger sort of man than I am.  You can face
+it, - I can't!  Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I
+do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  His companion watched his face
+eagerly.  After all, why not let him go?  He was no help, no comfort.
+The very sight of him was contemptible.
+
+"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said
+slowly.  "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious
+that they guessed how things were."
+
+"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly.
+"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft.  How much have
+we got in the safe?"
+
+"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques.
+You can count the proceeds for yourself.  There are, I think, eleven
+hundred pounds.  You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take
+them with you - to any place you like."
+
+The young man was already at the safe.  The notes were between them,
+on the table.  He counted quickly with the fingers of a born
+manipulator of money.  When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty
+pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his.
+
+"No more," he ordered sternly.
+
+"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred
+is five hundred and fifty.  Why should we not go halves?  That is
+only fair, Laverick.  It is little enough.  We ought to have had a
+great deal more."
+
+Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder
+of the notes.
+
+"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money,"
+he said, "for various reasons.  For one, I can bear this thing
+better alone.  As for the rest of the money, it remains there for
+the accountant who liquidates our affairs.  I do not propose to
+touch a penny of it."
+
+The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh.
+Such ways were not his ways.  They were not, indeed, within the
+limit of his understanding.  But of his partner he had learned one
+thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth.
+He shambled toward the door.  On the whole, he was lucky to have
+got the two hundred and fifty pounds.
+
+"So long, Laverick," he said from the door.  "I'm - I'm sorry."
+
+It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his
+hand.  Laverick nodded, not unkindly.  After all, this young man was
+as he had been made.
+
+"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said.  "Try South Africa."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ROBBING THE DEAD
+
+
+The roar of the day was long since over.  The rattle of vehicles,
+the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars
+and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away.
+Outside, the streets were almost deserted.  An occasional wayfarer
+passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps.  Here and
+there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger
+blocks of offices.  The bustle of the day was finished.  There is
+no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares
+of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight.
+
+Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with
+infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little
+snap and leaned back in his chair.  After all, save that he had got
+rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening.  Not even he, whose
+financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from
+those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable
+one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking
+by his side for the last thirty-six hours.  One by one during the
+evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his
+wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably
+inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how
+things were.  Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison
+was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow
+twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at
+their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe.
+
+Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last,
+turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into
+the silent street.  Instinctively he turned his steps westwards.
+This might well be the last night on which he would care to show
+himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could
+mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of
+consciousness which follows upon disaster.  Already there was little
+enough left of it.  It was too late to change and go to his club.
+The places of amusement were already closed.  To-morrow night, both
+club and theatres would lie outside his world.  He walked slowly,
+yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a
+purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to
+light a cigarette.  It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few
+yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old
+churchyard - strange survival in such a part - and on the other
+the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker,
+an actuary.  It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance
+up the entry before he blew out the match.  Then he gave a quick
+start and became for a moment paralyzed.  Within a few feet of him
+something was lying on the ground - a dark mass, black and soft -
+the body of a man, perhaps.  Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed
+at him through the, semi-darkness.
+
+Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy.  It might be a tramp
+or a drunkard, perhaps, - a fight, or a man taken ill.  Then
+something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his
+heart beating faster.  He struck another match with firm fingers,
+and bent forward.  What he saw upon the ground made him feel a
+little sick.  What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him
+to swift pursuit.  Down the arched court into the open space he ran,
+himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike
+form which he pursued.  At the end was another street - empty.  He
+looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life.  There
+was nothing to tell him which way to turn.  Opposite was a very
+labyrinth of courts and turnings.  There was not even the sound of
+a footfall to guide him.  Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another
+match, and leaned over the prostrate figure.  Then he knew that it
+was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled.
+
+The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means.
+These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself.
+Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed.
+A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt
+through the heart of the murdered man.  There had been other blows,
+notably about the head.  There was not much blood, but the position
+of the knife alone told its ugly story.  Laverick, though his nerves
+were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked.  He rose to
+his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping.  The
+street was no longer empty.
+
+About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in
+the middle of the road.  The light from the lamp-post escaped his
+face.  Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height,
+dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his
+overcoat.  To all appearance, he was watching the entry.  Laverick
+took a step towards him - the man as deliberately took a step further
+away.  Laverick held up his hand.
+
+"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned.
+
+The person addressed took no notice.  Laverick advanced another two
+or three steps - the man retreated a similar distance.  Laverick
+changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward.  The man
+hesitated no longer - he turned and ran as though for his life.  In
+a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight.
+Laverick returned slowly to the entry.
+
+A distant clock struck midnight.  A couple of clerks came along the
+pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters.
+Laverick hesitated.  He was never afterwards able to account for the
+impulse which prevented his calling out to them.  Instead he lurked
+in the shadows and watched them go by.  When he was sure that they
+had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered
+man.  Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a
+nameless and terrible fascination for him.  His first feelings of
+horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity.  What manner
+of man was he?  He was tall and strongly built; fair - of almost
+florid complexion.  His clothes were very shabby and apparently
+ready-made.  His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed
+closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen.  Laverick stooped
+lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees.  There
+was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been
+half snatched out - a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the
+size of a satchel.  Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand
+whilst with firm fingers he struck another match.  Then, for the
+first time, a little cry broke from his lips.  Both sides of the
+pocket-book were filled with bank-notes.  As his match flickered
+out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner -
+500 pounds!  - great rolls of them!  Laverick rose gasping to his
+feet.  It was a new Arabian Nights, this!  - a dream!  - a
+continuation of the nightmare which had threatened him all day!
+Or was it, perhaps, the madness coming - the madness which he had
+begun only an hour or so ago to fear!
+
+He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down.  The
+mysterious stranger had vanished.  There was not a soul in sight.
+He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the
+pavement with his heels.  There was no doubt about it - everything
+around him was real.  Most real of all was the fact that within a
+few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that
+brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents.  For the
+last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up
+shape.  One by one he went through the other pockets.  There was a
+packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver,
+and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained
+with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings.
+There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification
+of any sort.  Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the
+thoughts that went tearing through his brain.  The pocket-book began
+to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon
+his forehead.  Yet he never hesitated.  He walked like a man in a
+dream, but his footsteps were steady and short.  Deliberately, and
+without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices.  If
+a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided
+to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened.  It was the
+one chance he held against himself, - the gambler's method of
+decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at.  As it turned out, there
+was still not a soul in sight.  Laverick opened the outer door with
+his latchkey, let himself in and closed it.  Then he groped his way
+through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the
+electric light and once more sat down before his desk.
+
+He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with
+a nervousness wholly unfamiliar.  Then he opened the pocket-book,
+drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them.  It was curious
+that he felt no surprise at their value.  Bank-notes for five
+hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with
+his task without the slightest instinct of surprise.  Then he leaned
+back in his chair.  Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes!
+There they lay on the table before him.  A man had died for their
+sake, - another must go through all the days with the price of blood
+upon his head - a murderer - a haunted creature for the rest of his
+life.  And there on the table were the spoils.  Laverick tried to
+think the matter out dispassionately.  He was a man of average moral
+fibre - that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other
+men because his father and his grandfather before him had been
+honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful.  Here,
+however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem.
+These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man.  Save for
+his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his
+murderer.  The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm.
+Such risk as there was he took himself.  That it was a risk he knew
+and fully realized.  Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his
+partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery.  Yet of the two
+men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position
+the more keenly.  He was a man of some social standing, with a
+large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests
+outside the daily routine of his city life.  To him failure meant
+more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life
+worth having.  The days to come had been emptied of all promise.
+He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had
+strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities
+and humiliation to come.  And here before him was possible salvation.
+There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making
+use even for an hour of this money.  Yet from the first he had known
+that he meant to do it.
+
+Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book
+into one of the drawers, and locked it up.  Then he lit a cigarette,
+finally shut up the office and walked down the street.  As he passed
+the entry he turned his head slowly.  Apparently no one had been
+there, nothing had been disturbed.  Straining his eyes through the
+darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up
+on the ground.  Then he walked on.  He had burned his boats now and
+was prepared for all emergencies.  At the corner he met a policeman,
+to whom he wished a cheery good-night.  He told himself that the
+thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself.
+He owed it to those who had trusted him.  After all, it was the
+chief part of his life - his city career.  It was here that his
+friends lived.  It was here that his ambitions flourished.  Disgrace
+here was eternal disgrace.  His father and his grandfather before
+him had been men honored and respected in this same circle.  Disgrace
+to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a
+few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection
+upon their memories.  The names upon the brass plates to right and
+to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he
+desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth
+living or the reverse.  It was worth a great risk - this effort of
+his to keep his place.  His one mistake - this association with
+Morrison - had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck.  He
+was rid of the fellow now.  For the future there should be no more
+partners.  He had his life to live.  It was not reasonable that he
+should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a
+creature.  He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria
+Street, and hailed it.
+
+"Whitehall Court," he told the driver.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
+
+
+Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life
+it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien.  But this
+was disaster too appalling even for his self-control.  He felt his
+knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which
+he was standing.  There was no possible doubt about it, he had been
+tricked.  Von Behrling, after all, - Von Behrling, whom he had
+looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell
+his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly!
+
+The man who sat at the head of the table - the only other occupant
+of the room - was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat.
+He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's
+message had summoned him.  Before him on the table was an envelope,
+hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper.  It was upon
+these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled
+horror and amazement.  The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them
+away with a little gesture of contempt.
+
+"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious
+an error.
+
+"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered.  "I - yes, I have been deceived."
+
+The Minister glanced at the clock.
+
+"What is to be done?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together.  He caught up the
+envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper
+to the lamp and laid them down.  Then with clenched fists he walked
+to the other side of the room and returned.  He was himself again.
+
+"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry.
+Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the
+city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope."
+
+"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without
+opening the envelope."
+
+Bellamy admitted it.
+
+"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are
+almost inevitable.  I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd
+risk.  To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience
+in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the
+money.  Von Behrling was there in disguise.  The men with whom he
+came to this country are furious with him.  To all appearance, he
+seemed to have broken with them absolutely.  Even now -
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall
+of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in
+his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake.  An
+envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others
+or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency.  He had it
+with him in his pocket-book.  He even told me so.  God in Heaven,
+he gave me the wrong one!"
+
+The Minister glanced once more at the clock.
+
+"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy
+to-night, especially if he was in disguise.  You may still be able
+to find him and repair the error.
+
+"I will try," answered Bellamy.  "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a
+sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his
+footsteps.  I can find out before morning where he went when he
+left our rendezvous.  There is another way, too.  Mademoiselle -
+this man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country
+with him.  She was to have had a message within the next few hours.
+
+The Minister nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service
+often.  The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above
+supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to
+have paid for this."
+
+He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger.  Bellamy's
+teeth were clenched.
+
+"The money shall be returned, sir.
+
+"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more
+kindly.  "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was
+destined to purchase, is nothing.  We might even count it a fair
+risk if it was lost."
+
+"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised.  "If Von Behrling has
+played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country.  In
+that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt.  If, on
+the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country,
+as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late."
+
+"Let us hope not," Sir James declared.  "Bellamy," he continued, a
+note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I
+am sure, how important this matter is.  You work like a mole in the
+dark, yet you have brains, - you understand.  Let me tell you how
+things are with us.  A certain amount of confidence is due to you,
+if to any one.  I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a
+very serious tone prevailed.  We do not understand in the least the
+attitude of several of the European Powers.  It can be understood
+only under certain assumptions.  A note of ours sent through the
+Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days.  The
+German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent
+business.  We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from
+Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris.  Side by side with
+all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his
+promised visit here.  The note we have received speaks of his
+health.  Well, we know all about that.  We know, I may tell you,
+that his health has never been better than at the present moment."
+
+"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed.  "In
+Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile.  Even
+the man in the street seems to know what is coming."
+
+Sir James leaned a little back in his seat.  His hands were tightly
+clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes.  Those
+who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during
+the last few weeks.
+
+"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in
+my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the
+Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe
+to-day."
+
+"An army," murmured Bellamy.
+
+"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated
+of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with
+their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us.  Secretly we are
+mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little
+sigh.  "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful.  Even
+if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things
+on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else
+suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known.  If we
+could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at
+those empty sheets of paper.  "It is this darkness which is so
+alarming!"
+
+Bellamy turned toward the door.
+
+"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have
+news."
+
+Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street.  It was half-past one, but
+he had no fear of not being admitted.  Louise's French maid answered
+the bell.
+
+"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired.
+
+"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile.  "It
+is only a few minutes ago that she has returned."
+
+Bellamy was ushered at once into her room.  She was gorgeous in blue
+satin and pearls.  Her other maid was taking off her jewels.  She
+dismissed both the women abruptly.
+
+"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out
+her hands.  "You expected that, of course.  You were not at the
+Opera House?"
+
+He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle.  It
+was securely closed.  He came back slowly to her side.  Her eyes
+were questioning him fiercely.
+
+"Well?" she exclaimed.  "Well?"
+
+"Have you heard from Von Behrling?"
+
+"No," she answered.  "He knew that I must sing to-night.  I have
+been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home.  You
+have seen him?"
+
+"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted.  "Either he has deceived us
+both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened.
+Listen.  I met him where he appointed.  He was there, disguised,
+almost unrecognizable.  He was nervous and desperate; he had the air
+of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world.  I gave him the
+money, - twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,
+ - and he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers.
+He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a
+little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to
+Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the
+hotel there later on.  You have not heard yet, then?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There has been no message, but go on."
+
+"He gave me the wrong document - the wrong envelope," continued
+Bellamy.  "When I took it to - to Downing Street, it was full of
+blank paper."
+
+The color slowly left her cheeks.  She looked at him with horror in
+her face.
+
+"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed.
+
+"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered.  "My own impression is that he
+did not.  We must find out at once what has become of him.  He might
+even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has,
+believing it to be the duplicate.  He is sure to telephone you.  The
+moment you hear you must let me know."
+
+"You had better stay here," she declared.  "There are plenty of
+rooms.  You will be on the spot then."
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go.
+That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere.  That is one reason why
+I believe that Von Behrling was serious.
+
+"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated.
+
+"You are sure?" Bellamy asked.  "You have never had even any doubt
+about him?"
+
+"Never," she answered firmly.  "David, I had not meant to tell you
+this.  You know that I saw him for a moment this morning.  He was
+in deadly earnest.  He gave me a ring - a trifle - but it had
+belonged to his mother.  He would not have done this if he had been
+playing us false."
+
+Bellamy sprang to his feet.
+
+"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed.  "I shall go back to my rooms
+at once.  Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there
+may be a report for me.  If anything comes here, you will telephone
+at once?"
+
+"Of course," she assented.
+
+"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would
+attempt to see you here?"
+
+Louise shuddered for a moment.
+
+"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that."
+
+"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait.  Dear," he added, in
+an altered tone, "how splendid you look!"
+
+Her face suddenly softened.
+
+"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a
+moment - it makes everything seem so different!"
+
+He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able
+to give up this life of anxiety and terrors.  But it cannot be yet
+ - not for your country's sake or mine.
+
+She kissed him fondly.
+
+"So long as there is hope!" she whispered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+VON BEHRLING'S FATE
+
+
+It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when
+the more confidential of her maids - Annette, the Frenchwoman - woke
+her with a light touch of the arm.  She sat up in bed sleepily.
+
+"What is it, Annette?" she asked.  "Surely it is not mid-day yet?
+Why do you disturb me?"
+
+"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur Bellamy -
+Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever he came.
+He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient."
+
+"Did he send any message?"
+
+"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied.
+
+Louise sighed, - she was really very sleepy.  Then, as the thoughts
+began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember.  Some
+part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned.
+
+"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered.  "Tell Monsieur
+Bellamy that I hurry.  I will be with him in twenty minutes."
+
+To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory.  She came
+at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she
+herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers.
+
+"David!" she cried, - "my dear David -!"
+
+Then she broke off.
+
+"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone.
+
+He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying.
+
+"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely.  "Von Behrling was true, after all,
+ - at least, it seems so."
+
+"What has happened?" she demanded.
+
+Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper.
+
+"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our
+rendezvous."
+
+A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips.  She sat down
+suddenly.  The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her
+bath was rapidly fading away.
+
+"David," she murmured, "is this true?"
+
+"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her.  "Not only that, but there is
+no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder.  It must
+have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got
+away with the pocket-book and the money."
+
+"What can we do?" she asked.
+
+"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly.  "We are
+defeated.  The thing is quite apparent.  Von Behrling never
+succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who
+were watching him.  They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited
+about while I met him.  Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow
+passage.  It was there that he was found murdered."
+
+"But, David, I don't understand!  Why did they wait until after he
+had seen you?  How did they know that he had not parted with the
+paper in the restaurant?  To all intents and purposes he ought to
+have done so."
+
+"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted.  "In fact, it
+is inexplicable."
+
+She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report.  Then, "You
+are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling?  He is
+quite unidentified, you see."
+
+"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared.  "I have been to
+the Mortuary.  It is certainly he.  All our work has been in vain
+ - just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of
+it."
+
+She looked at him compassionately.
+
+"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted.  "You are tired, too.  You
+look as though you had been up all night."
+
+"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair.  "I am worse
+than tired.  This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I
+am afraid that it is the end of everything.  I have lost twenty
+thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance
+which might have saved England.  They will never trust me again."
+
+"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm
+of his chair.  "You did your best, David."
+
+She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his - smooth
+and cold - exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves.
+
+"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous.
+Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others.  What do you
+think?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do?  Could
+we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were
+coming to pass?  Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were
+being butchered out of existence?  - And you - you are not the sort
+of man to be content with an ignoble peace.  No, it isn't possible.
+Our work may not be over yet - "
+
+There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many
+apologies.
+
+"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur
+also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is
+of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once.  I
+have done all that I can, but he will not go away.  He knows that
+Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and
+he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle."
+
+Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers.  He read
+out the name in blank amazement.
+
+"Baron de Streuss!"
+
+There was a moment's silence.  Louise and he exchanged wondering
+glances.
+
+"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely.
+
+"Heaven knows!" he answered.  "Let us see him together.  After all
+ - after all - "
+
+"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered.
+
+"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come
+to us?  It is not like these men to be vindictive.  Diplomacy to
+them is nothing - a game of chess.  I do not understand."
+
+The door opened.  Annette announced their visitor.  Streuss bowed
+low to Louise - he bowed, also, to Bellamy.
+
+"I need not introduce myself," he said.  "With Mr. Bellamy I have
+the honor to be well acquainted.  Madame is known to all the world."
+
+Louise nodded, somewhat coldly.
+
+"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron,"
+she said.  "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I
+owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?"
+
+"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be.  I know that
+it is an impossible hour.  I know, too, that to have forced my
+presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous.  Yet the
+urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me.
+
+Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow
+of thanks.
+
+"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste
+words.  We have played a game of chess together.  You, Mademoiselle,
+and Mr. Bellamy on the one side - I and my friends upon the other.
+The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought.
+The victory remains with you."
+
+Bellamy never moved a muscle.  Louise, on the contrary, could not
+help a slight start.
+
+"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the
+struggle was uneven.  I do myself the justice to remember that from
+the first I realized that we played a losing game.  Mademoiselle,"
+he added, "from the days of Cleopatra - ay, and throughout those
+shadowy days which lie beyond - the diplomats of the world have been
+powerless when matched against your sex.  Rudolph Von Behrling was
+an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes.  Mademoiselle,
+you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a
+stronger man.
+
+Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of
+her lips.  Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly.  She did
+not understand.
+
+"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured.
+
+"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth.  This plain talking
+is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it.
+That time, I think, is now.  Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice,
+but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me
+in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you,
+Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here.  We followed a man who, by
+some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap,
+the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and
+priceless to yours.  The subsequent history of those papers should
+have been automatic.  The first step was fulfilled readily enough.
+The man disappeared - the papers were ours.  Von Behrling was the
+man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them.
+If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have
+ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to
+Vienna.  The others thought differently.  They ruled that we should
+come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here.
+In a weak moment I consented.  It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle,
+an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself."
+
+This time Louise held herself with composure.  Bellamy's brain was
+in a whirl but he remained silent.
+
+"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open.  I
+come - I make no secret of it - I come to make terms.  But first of
+all I must know whether I am in time.  There is one question which
+I must ask.  I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to
+Bellamy.  "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the
+papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+The Baron drew a long breath of relief.  Though he had maintained
+his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played
+with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling.
+
+"Well, then, I am in time.  Will you see my hand?"
+
+"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to
+listen to anything you may have to say."
+
+"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have
+come to say, yet I want you to remember this.  I do not come to
+bribe you in any ordinary manner.  The things which are to come will
+happen; they must happen, if not this year, next, - if not next year,
+within half a decade of years.  History is an absolute science.  The
+future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs.
+The thing which has been resolved upon is certain.  The knowledge
+of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the
+final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more.  In the
+long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every
+way, that the end come soon.  Therefore, I ask you to perform no
+traitorous deed.  I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable
+for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us.
+restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government,
+and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!"
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds " Bellamy repeated.
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise.
+
+There was a brief, intense pause.  Louise waited, warned by the
+expression in Bellamy's face.  Silence, she felt, was safest, and it
+was Bellamy who spoke.
+
+"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little
+amazing.  Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment."
+
+"Most certainly," the Baron agreed.  "I go away and leave you - out
+of the room, if you will."
+
+"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied.  "Louise!"  The Baron
+withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest
+corner of the room.
+
+"What can it mean?" he whispered.  "What do you suppose has happened?"
+
+"I cannot imagine.  My brain is in a whirl."
+
+"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must
+have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary.  If so, there is a
+chance.  Louise, say nothing; leave this to me."
+
+"As you will," she assented.  "I have no wish to interfere.  I only
+hope that he does not ask me any questions."
+
+They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron
+turned to meet them.
+
+"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little
+upset this morning.  She knows, of course, as I know and you know,
+that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried
+his life in his hands.  Yet his death has been a shock - has been a
+shock, I may say, to both of us.  From your point of view," Bellamy
+went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but - "
+
+"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted.
+"I do not understand at all!  You speak of Von Behrling's death!
+What do you mean?"
+
+Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words.
+
+"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no
+need for you to play a part.  Von Behrling knew that you were
+watching him.  Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me.
+He knew that he was running terrible risks.  He was not unprepared
+and he has paid.  It is not for us - "
+
+"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted
+once more.  "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's
+death?"
+
+Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth.  He leaned forward
+with his hands resting upon the table.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you do not know?"
+
+"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron.
+
+Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him.
+
+"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our
+interview."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL
+
+
+The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers.  His face now
+was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and
+read the paragraph word by word.
+
+                     TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY
+
+        Early this morning the body of a man was discovered
+        in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to
+        Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little
+        doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play.
+        The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had
+        received several severe blows about the head.  He was
+        shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and
+        he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found.
+
+                            LATER
+
+        There appears to be no further doubt but that the man
+        found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been
+        the victim of a particularly murderous assault.  Neither
+        his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which
+        he could be identified.  The body has been removed to the
+        nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held.
+
+Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise
+was apparent.  He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion.
+While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts
+were forming in his mind.
+
+"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered.  "But who - who could have done
+this?"
+
+"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter
+concerning which we had any doubt.  The only wonder to us was that
+it should have been done too late."
+
+"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had
+completed his bargain with you?"
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it
+was done afterwards?  You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to
+think?  Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed.  How about
+yours?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"We do not fight that way," he replied.  "I had bought Von Behrling.
+He was of no further interest to me.  I did not care whether he
+lived or died."
+
+"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said.  "If
+neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?"
+
+"That I can't tell you.  Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from
+the police.  It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain
+long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in
+bank-notes."
+
+"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked.
+
+"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me."
+
+"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets
+from one another.  I will ask you one last question.  Where is that
+packet at the present moment?"
+
+Bellamy raised his eyebrows.
+
+"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me
+to answer."
+
+"I will put it another way," Streuss continued.  "Supposing you
+decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can
+be placed in my hands?"
+
+"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why
+there should be any delay at all."
+
+Streuss was silent for several moments.  His hands were thrust deep
+down into the pockets of his overcoat.  With eyes fixed upon the
+tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised
+his head and looked steadily at Bellamy.
+
+"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you?  You are sure
+that you have that identical packet?"
+
+"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without
+flinching.
+
+"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss
+begged.  "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake
+to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within
+twenty-four hours."
+
+"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head.
+"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure,"
+he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder."
+
+Streuss laughed mirthlessly.
+
+"There is little fear of that," he said.  "The papers are of no
+use except to us and to England.  To England, I will admit that the
+foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the
+eventful result would be the same.  It is for that reason that I am
+here, for that reason that I have made you this offer."
+
+"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared.  "It is not
+a matter to be decided upon off-hand.  Remember that it is not only
+the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my
+honor."
+
+"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly.  "From your own
+side you get nothing - nothing but your beggarly salary and an
+occasional reprimand.  One hundred thousand pounds is not immense
+wealth, but it is something."
+
+"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt
+about that.  On the other hand, I cannot decide without further
+consideration.  It is a big thing for us, remember.  I have worked
+very hard for the contents of that packet."
+
+Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity.  After all,
+was this Englishman playing with him?  So he asked: "You are quite
+sure that you have it?"
+
+"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use.
+You must be content with my word.  I have the packet.  I paid Von
+Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands."
+
+"I must accept your word," Streuss declared.  "I give you three days
+for reflection.  Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer
+once more to this," - touching the newspaper which still lay upon
+the table.  "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked
+man.  Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels.  Yet
+in the end some third person seems to have intervened.  Are you
+quite sure that you know nothing of this?"
+
+"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest
+information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read
+there.  It was as great a surprise to me as to you."
+
+"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured.
+
+"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone
+must have seen him with those notes.  There were people moving about
+in the little restaurant where we met.  The rustle of bank-notes has
+cost more than one man his life.
+
+"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so.
+Listen to me, both of you.  You will be wiser if you do not delay.
+You are young people, and the world is before you.  With money one
+can do everything.  Without it, life is but a slavery.  The world
+is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means
+to choose.  Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this
+transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer."
+
+"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him.
+
+Streuss took up his hat and gloves.
+
+"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to
+Louise, "I go.  I must try and understand for myself the meaning of
+this thing which has happened to Von Behrling."
+
+"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we
+are equally interested." . . .
+
+They heard him go out.  Bellamy purposely held the door open until
+he saw the lift descend.  Then he closed it firmly and came back
+into the room.  Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full
+of anxious questioning.
+
+"What does it mean?" Louise cried.  "What can it mean?"
+
+"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered.  "There is not a gleam of
+daylight.  My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von
+Behrling.  If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his
+people are in the same position.  Who, then, in the name of all that
+is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?"
+
+"In London, too," Louise murmured.  "It is not Vienna, this, or
+Belgrade."
+
+"You are right," Bellamy agreed.  "London is one of the most
+law-abiding cities in Europe.  Besides, the quarter where the murder
+occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes.  It is
+simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes.
+
+"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that
+document?" Louise asked, - "some one else who has been watching Von
+Behrling?"
+
+Bellamy shook his head.
+
+"How can that be?  Besides, if any one else were really on his track,
+they must have believed that he had parted with it to me.  I shall
+go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of
+Scotland Yard.  If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning."
+
+"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed
+again.  These days are too strenuous for me.  Won't you stay and take
+your coffee with me?"
+
+Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his.
+
+"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what
+a maze this is into which we have wandered.  Von Behrling has been
+murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies.
+Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty
+thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine.  I must
+trace them if I can, Louise.  It is a poor chance, but I must do
+my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered
+for the money, and for the money only.  If so, that packet may be
+in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it.
+They may even destroy it.  If Streuss returns and you are forced to
+see him, be careful.  Remember, we have the document - we are
+hesitating.  So long as he believes that it is in our possession,
+he will not look elsewhere."
+
+"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck.
+"And, dear, take care.  When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling,
+I tremble, also, for you.  It seems to me that your danger is no
+less than his."
+
+"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book,"
+with a smile.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is
+pledged to recover.  Be careful that they do not lead you into a
+trap.  They are not above anything, these men.  I heard once of a
+Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured - tortured almost to death
+ - before he spoke.  Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum.
+Remember, dear, they have no consciences and no pity."
+
+"We are in London," he reminded her.
+
+"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly, - "not only in London
+but in a safe part of London.  Yet he is dead."
+
+"It was not their doing," he declared.  "In their own country, they
+have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their
+backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts.  Here they must needs
+go cautiously.  I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling,
+as he opened the door.  "I think I can promise you that if you will
+do me the honor we will sup together to-night."
+
+"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted.  "It is
+a bargain.  I have suffered enough neglect at your hands.  One thing,
+David, - where do you go first from here?"
+
+"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von
+Behrling when he left me.  If any man in England knows anything of
+the murder, it must be he.  He should be at my rooms by now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE
+
+
+Stephen Laverick was a bachelor - his friends called him an
+incorrigible one.  He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of
+rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river.  His habits
+were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning
+following his late night in the city was no exception to the
+general rule.  At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite
+knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready.  He
+awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the
+events of the preceding evening.
+
+At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of
+memory.  He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and
+by no means of an adventurous turn of mind.  He sought naturally
+for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which
+no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory.  It was a dream,
+of course.  But the dream did not fade.  Slowly it spread itself out
+so that he could no longer doubt.  He knew very well as he sat there
+on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth.  He, Stephen
+Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of
+which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked
+into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty
+thousand pounds of someone else's money.  Morally, at any rate, -
+probably legally as well, - he was a thief.  A glimpse inside his
+safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him
+under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper
+dye.
+
+Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher.  In
+the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath,
+this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible.
+Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action.  The
+thing was done; he must make the best of it.  Behaving in every way
+like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search
+hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his
+bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down
+to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper.  The item for
+which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as
+he had expected.  It appeared under one of the leading headlines,
+but it consisted of only a few words.  He read them with interest
+but without emotion.  Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange
+quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested.
+
+He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed
+his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal
+Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices.  A little
+crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from
+Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked
+curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain.
+It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind
+now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream
+of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway.  In his early morning
+mood the thing was impossible.  In a moment or two he paid his driver
+and dismissed him.
+
+He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when
+he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful
+"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office.  He lit his
+customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which
+was brought in to him by his head-clerk.  Afterwards, as soon as he
+was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner
+drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and
+gloves.
+
+"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out.
+"I shall be back in half-an-hour - perhaps less."
+
+"Very good, sir," the man answered.  "Will Mr. Morrison be here this
+morning?"
+
+Laverick hesitated.
+
+"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day."
+
+It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an
+interview with the manager was immediately granted.  The latter
+received him kindly but with a certain restraint.  There are not
+many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular
+mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely
+commented upon.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked.
+
+"I am not sure," answered Laverick.  "To tell you the truth, I am
+in a somewhat singular position."
+
+The banker nodded.  He had not a doubt but that he understood
+exactly what that position was.
+
+"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late
+partner, Mr. Morrison, - "
+
+"Late partner?" the manager interrupted.
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison
+left the office with an understanding between us that he should not
+return.  You will receive a formal intimation of that during the
+course of the next day or so.  We will revert to the matter
+presently, if you wish.  My immediate business with you is to
+discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty
+thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock
+which Morrison has made."
+
+"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail
+to do so?" the manager remarked gravely.
+
+"Naturally," Laverick answered.  "I am quite aware of the fact that
+Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for
+his transactions.  He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great
+deal more deeply than our capital warranted.  I may add that I had
+not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings."
+
+The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude.
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money,
+Mr. Laverick."
+
+"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted.  "I am here to
+ask you to lend it to me.
+
+The bank manager raised his eyebrows.
+
+"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully.
+
+"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued.  The bank manager
+was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to
+escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance.  It was entirely contrary
+to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of
+emotion.
+
+"Unimpeachable security," he repeated.  "Of course, if you have that
+to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our
+business to see what we can do for you."
+
+"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly.  "I have
+bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds."
+
+The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action.  He
+whistled softly under his breath.  A very respectable client he
+had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly
+never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence
+of means.  Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the
+table.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when
+one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a
+confessional.  I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will
+be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your
+own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between
+you and me.  I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?"
+
+"Most certainly," the banker agreed.
+
+"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this
+money is not mine.  I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it
+without any conditions .  I have power to make what use I wish of
+it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf.  Whether I am
+justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns
+this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably.
+I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to
+credit me with twenty thousand pounds.  I ask you to allow me to
+deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft.
+You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of
+to-day."
+
+The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one.
+They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine.
+
+"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he
+said.
+
+"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted.
+"At the same time, there the money is.  You can run no risk.  If I
+am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I
+who will have to pay.  Will you do as I ask?"
+
+The banker hesitated.  The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one,
+but on the face of it there could be no possible risk.  At the same
+time, there was something about it which he could not understand.
+
+"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully,
+"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation."
+
+Laverick returned his gaze without flinching.
+
+"In a sense, that is so," he assented.
+
+"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit
+them to your account in the usual way."
+
+"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling
+about it.  I prefer to keep the notes intact.  If you cannot follow
+out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once.  This isn't a
+threat, Mr. Fenwick, - you will understand that, I am sure.  It is
+simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations
+I have no time for arguments.  I am quite satisfied to remain in
+your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated,
+and I cannot change.  If you are to retain my account, my
+engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have
+pointed out."
+
+The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments.
+When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who
+is giving in to an unreasonable client.
+
+"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced.  "The notes
+are placed upon deposit.  Your engagements to-day up to twenty
+thousand pounds shall be duly honored."
+
+Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about
+indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office.  He had
+rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living,
+somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him.  He was doing the
+impossible.  He knew very well that his name was in every one's
+mouth.  People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how
+he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an
+irresponsible speculator.  No one ever imagined that he would be
+able to keep his engagements.  And he had done it.  The price
+might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay.  At any moment
+the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole
+world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked
+Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds.
+So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the
+shape of direct apprehensions.  Already, however, the shadow was
+beginning to fall.  Even as he entered his office, the sight of a
+stranger offering office files for sale made him start.  He half
+expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in
+his ear.  He set his teeth tight.  This was his risk and he must
+take it.
+
+For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme
+for the redirection of its policy.  With the absence of Morrison,
+too, there were other changes to be made, - changes in the nature
+of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed.
+It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the
+simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry
+of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was
+going on.
+
+"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in
+an excited tone.  "They sagged a little this morning, but since
+eleven they have been going steadily up.  Just now there seems to
+be a boom.  Listen."
+
+Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded.  He
+was prepared to be surprised at nothing.
+
+"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked.  "Morrison
+wasn't an absolute idiot."
+
+The luncheon hour passed.  The excitement in the city grew.  By
+three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of
+Laverick's engagements.  Just before closing-time, it was even
+doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without
+security at all.  He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of
+course.  He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every
+man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him.  He
+escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a
+taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open.  It was
+a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time
+during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions.
+He turned them over now with firm fingers.  There was absolutely no
+fresh news.  No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the
+identity of the murdered man.  All day long the body had lain in
+the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but
+presumably unrecognized.  Laverick could scarcely believe the words
+he read.  The thing seemed ludicrously impossible.  The twenty
+thousand pounds must have come from some one.  Why did they keep
+silence?  What was the mystery about it?  Could it be that they were
+not in a position to disclose the fact?  Curiously enough, this
+unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was
+almost fear.  He had taken his risks boldly enough.  Now that Fate
+was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a
+growing nervousness.  Who could he have been, this man?  Whence
+could he have derived this great sum?  One person at least must
+know that he had been robbed - the man who murdered him must know
+it.  A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought.
+Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood,
+a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his
+spoil.
+
+Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going
+to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a
+little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there,
+however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand.  It
+was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it.
+
+Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly
+concealed.  There was something ominous to him in those printed
+characters.  Its contents, however, were short enough.
+
+DEAR LAVERICK,
+I must see you.  Come the moment you get this.  Come without fail,
+for your own sake and mine.  A.  M.
+
+Laverick looked at the boy.  His fingers were trembling, but it
+was with relief.  The note was from Morrison.
+
+"There is no address here," he remarked.
+
+"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered.
+
+"Is it far?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared.  "Not more nor five
+minutes in one of them taxicabs.  The gent said we was to take
+one.  He is in a great hurry to see you."
+
+Laverick did not hesitate a moment."
+
+"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once.
+
+He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called
+them a taxicab.
+
+"What address?" he asked.
+
+"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said.  Laverick nodded and
+repeated the address to the driver.
+
+"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he
+thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE
+
+
+The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory
+neighborhood.  Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat
+extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully.
+The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young
+lady who was obviously expecting him.  Before he could open his lips
+to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him.
+
+"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly.
+
+Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat,
+and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain
+undeniable traces of some cultured presence.  The girl who had
+followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath.
+Laverick contemplated her in surprise.  She was under medium height,
+with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes.  Her brown hair was
+parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking
+into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a
+child.  When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she
+was afraid.  Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a
+woman.
+
+"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.
+
+"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted.  "I understood that I
+should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here."
+
+"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you.  The note was from him.
+He is here."
+
+She made no movement to summon him.  She still stood, in fact, with
+her back to the door.  Laverick was distinctly puzzled.  He felt
+himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her
+terrified face and beautiful eyes.  He had never heard Morrison
+speak of having any relations.  His presence in such a locality,
+indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident.
+Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with
+a "W" rather than Heaven E. C.
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you
+are afraid of me.  I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he
+added smiling.  "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter?
+Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?"
+
+"Yes," she answered, "he is.  As for me, I am terrified."
+
+She came a little away from the door.  Laverick was a man who
+inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind.  He had the
+protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman.
+
+"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested.  "I expected to hear
+that he had gone abroad."
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously.  "I was
+hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him."
+
+"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered.  "We certainly had
+a terribly anxious time yesterday.  Our business has been most
+unfortunate - "
+
+"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted.  "Please go on.  There have been
+business troubles, then."
+
+"Rather," Laverick continued.  "Last night they reached such a
+pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he
+should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else.  I quite
+understood that he was going abroad."
+
+The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved.
+
+"There was something, then," she said, half to herself.  "There was
+something.  Oh, I am glad of that!  You were angry with him, perhaps,
+Mr. Laverick?"
+
+Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his
+hands behind him - a commanding figure in the tiny room full of
+feminine trifles.  He looked a great deal more at his ease than
+he really was.
+
+"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted.  "You
+see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was
+going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control.
+He had entered into certain speculations which I considered
+unjustifiable.  To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn
+for the better."
+
+Almost as he spoke his face clouded.  Morrison, of course, would be
+triumphant.  Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated.  For
+many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire.
+
+"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and
+why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why
+is he here instead of in his own rooms?"
+
+"I will explain," she began softly.
+
+"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly.  "And don't
+look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh.  "I can assure
+you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort.  You
+make me feel quite uncomfortable."
+
+She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had
+never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features.  The
+strained rigidity passed away.  An altogether softer light gleamed
+in her wonderful eyes.  She was certainly by far the prettiest child
+he had ever seen.  As yet he could not take her altogether seriously.
+
+"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair.
+"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother."
+
+"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly.
+
+Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations.
+Besides, this meant that she must be of his race.  There was nothing
+in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that
+nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which
+belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews.  It was not a quality,
+Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's
+sister.
+
+"My brother, in a way," she resumed.  "Arthur's father was a widower
+and my mother was a widow when they were married.  You are surprised?"
+
+"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved
+at her last statement.  "Your brother and I have been connected in
+business for some years.  We have seen very little of one another
+outside."
+
+"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends
+would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same
+sort of things.  You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and
+as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would
+come to see me very often.  Last night, though, quite late - long
+after I had gone to bed - he rang the bell here.  I was frightened,
+for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the
+morning.  So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the
+pavement, huddled up against the door.  I hurried down and let him
+in.  Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him,
+"I have never seen any one look like it.  He was terrified to death.
+Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him
+even the power of speech.  He pushed past me into this room, threw
+himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and
+he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a
+woman in a fit of hysterics.  His clothes were all untidy, he was
+as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready
+to start out of his head."
+
+"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly.
+
+"Frightened!  I shall never forget it!  I did not sleep all night.
+He would tell me nothing - he has scarcely spoken a sensible word.
+Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him
+lie down.  He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist,
+but he has not slept.  Every now and then he tries to get up, but
+in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides
+his face.  If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks.  If he hears a
+footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me.  Mr. Laverick, I
+have never been so frightened in my life.  I didn't know whom to
+send for or what to do.  When he wrote that note to you I was so
+relieved.  You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!"
+
+Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy.  One could see that the
+scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes.  She was
+shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more.  He moved
+over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it
+afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder.
+
+"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said.  "I will talk to
+your brother.  We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there
+wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this
+way.  Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have
+improved a great deal to-day.  Let me go upstairs and I'll try and
+pump some courage into him."
+
+"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from
+before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very
+kind.  Will you come, then?"
+
+She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and
+into a tiny bedroom.  Laverick had no time to look around, but it
+seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very
+ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity
+pervaded this little apartment as the one below.
+
+"It is my room," she said shyly.  "There is no other properly
+furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed."
+
+"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered.
+
+Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang
+into a sitting posture.  Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock.
+It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the
+office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished.  His
+black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all
+disordered.  Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one
+sees seldom in life, - an expression of real and mortal terror.
+
+"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable.
+"Who is that?  What do you want?"
+
+"It is I - Laverick," Laverick answered.  "What on earth is the
+matter with you, man?"
+
+Morrison drew a quick breath.  Some part of the terror seemed to
+leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object.
+Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's
+shoulder.
+
+"Will you leave us alone?" he asked.  "I will come and talk to
+you afterwards, if I may."
+
+She nodded understandingly, and passed out.  Laverick closed the
+door and came up to the bedside.
+
+"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said.
+"Are you ill, or what is it?"
+
+Morrison opened his lips - opened them twice - without any sort of
+sound issuing.
+
+"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly.  "I have been
+feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing
+one's money, after all.  As a matter of fact, things are altogether
+better in the city to-day.  You made a big mistake in taking us out
+of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all.  'Unions'
+have been going up all day."
+
+Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone,
+seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner.  He made no
+reference, however, to Laverick's words.
+
+"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at
+once.  Try and pull yourself together.  Sit up and tell me what you
+are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life."
+
+Morrison groaned.
+
+"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms.
+I was afraid!"
+
+Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt.
+
+"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?"
+
+"You don't know!" Morrison faltered.  "You don't know!"
+
+Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the
+financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had
+reduced his late partner to this hopeless state.  He looked at him
+narrowly.
+
+"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?"
+
+"Nowhere," Morrison gasped.  "I came here."
+
+Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat
+down.
+
+"Look here," he said," it's no use sending for me unless you mean
+to tell me everything.  Have you been getting yourself into any
+trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection
+with them which I don't know?"
+
+Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other,
+he remained speechless.  Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick.
+There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself
+terrifying.
+
+"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever
+it is.  I will help you if I can."
+
+Morrison shook his head.  There was a glass of water by his side.
+He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips.  They
+were dry, almost cracking.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown - that's what's the
+matter with me.  My nerves were never good.  I'm afraid of going
+mad.  The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me.
+I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to
+manage it.  I can't think.  Directly I try to think my head goes
+round."
+
+"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick
+answered.  "It is the simplest matter possible.  Even if we had gone
+under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you
+chose to go.  Ruin, even if it had been ruin,- and I told you just
+now that business was better,- is not a crime.  Pull yourself
+together, for Heaven's sake, man!  You should be ashamed to come
+here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death."
+
+Morrison gripped his partner's arm.
+
+"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely.  "It doesn't matter
+about prices being better.  I want to get away.  You must help me."
+
+Laverick looked at him steadily.  Morrison was an ordinary young
+man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a
+coward.  But this was no ordinary fear - not even the ordinary fear
+of a coward.  Laverick's face became graver.  There was something
+else, then!
+
+"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he.  "There is
+no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something
+from me.  You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South
+Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't
+you better tell me exactly what happened last night?"
+
+Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words.
+Then a feeble moan escaped him.  He threw up his hands and his head
+fell back.  The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips,
+and he sank back among the pillows.  Laverick strode across the
+room to the door.
+
+"Are you anywhere about?" he called out.
+
+The girl was by his side in a moment.
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has
+fainted.  Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think
+that you had better run out and get a doctor.  I will stay with him.
+I know exactly what to do."
+
+She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was
+standing, and ran downstairs without a word.  Laverick mixed some
+of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES
+
+
+The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes
+to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted.  He
+felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed
+Laverick.  down into the sitting room.
+
+"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced.  "The
+patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately.  He will be
+all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I
+will call again to-morrow."
+
+He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took
+his departure.  Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had
+followed them downstairs.
+
+
+"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked.
+
+"It is not his health which frightens me.  I am sure - I am quite
+sure that he has something upon his mind.  Did he tell you nothing?"
+
+"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of
+thankfulness.  "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are
+right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night.  He
+was just about to tell me something when he fainted."
+
+Upstairs they could hear him moaning.  The girl listened with
+pitiful face.
+
+"What am I to do?" she asked.  "I cannot leave him like this, and
+if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined."
+
+"The theatre?" Laverick repeated.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I am on the stage," she said, - "only a chorus girl at the
+Universal, worse luck.  Still, they don't allow us to stay away,
+and I can't afford to lose my place."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?"
+Laverick asked bluntly.
+
+"Of course," she answered.  "I do not like to be a burden on any
+one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at
+all.  He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately."
+
+Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had
+been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a
+year, but he checked himself.  It was not his business to interfere.
+
+"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for
+you.  He could have done so with very little effort."
+
+"But what am I to do now?" she asked him.  "If I am absent, I shall
+lose my place."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that
+make any difference?  I could stay until you came back."
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly.  "It would be so kind of you."
+
+"Not at all," he answered.  "Perhaps you would be good enough to
+bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms.  Take
+one from here, if you can find it.  There are always some at the
+corner."
+
+"I'd love to," she answered.  "I must run upstairs and get my hat
+and coat."
+
+He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother.
+Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure.
+Not a board creaked.  She seemed to float down to him in a most
+becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose
+deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware.  Her lips were parted once
+more in a smile.
+
+"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced.
+"It is nice of you to stay."
+
+He looked at her almost jealously.
+
+"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?"
+
+She laughed, softly but heartily.
+
+"Have you any idea how old I am?"
+
+"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered.
+"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen.  Later on, it seemed
+to me possible that you were eighteen.  I am absolutely certain
+that you are not more than nineteen."
+
+"That shows how little you know about it.  I am twenty, and I am
+quite used to going about alone.  Will you sit upstairs or here?
+I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you."
+
+"Thanks, I need nothing.  I think I will sit upstairs in case he
+wakes."
+
+She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly.
+Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight,
+moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible
+swiftness.  When she had turned the corner, he went slowly
+upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep.  He
+drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the
+evening paper.  The events of the last hour or so had completely
+blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition
+into the world of tragical happenings.  He glanced at the sleeping
+man, then opened his paper.  There was very little fresh news
+except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body
+of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first
+supposed.  It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after
+all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in
+a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals.  There
+was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black
+Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the
+murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago.  But apart from
+this there was nothing fresh.
+
+Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair.  The
+strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon
+his robust constitution.  The atmosphere of the room, too, was close.
+He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary.  Perhaps he
+dozed.  At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization
+of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a
+sudden start.
+
+Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his
+lips were parted.  His manner was quieter, but there were black
+lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone
+something of that haunting fear.
+
+"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely.
+
+Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him.
+
+"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?"
+
+Morrison nodded.
+
+"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling - better.  How did you come here?
+I can't remember anything."
+
+"You sent for me," Laverick answered.  "I arrived to find you
+pretty well in a state of collapse.  Your sister has gone round to
+the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening."
+
+"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued.  "Tell me,
+has any one been around at the office asking after me?"
+
+"No one particular," Laverick answered, - "no one at all that I can
+think of.  There were one or two inquiries through the telephone,
+but they were all ordinary business matters."
+
+The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh
+of relief.
+
+"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely .
+
+"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving
+way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to
+death.
+
+Morrison passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+"We talked - some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away.
+You promised that you would help me.  You said that I could get
+off to Africa or America to-morrow."
+
+"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered.  "There
+are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I
+suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through.
+Mind - don't take this unkindly but the truth is best - I will not
+have you back again.  There may have to be a more definite
+readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished
+with."
+
+"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured.  "I have had enough
+of the city for the rest of my life.  I'd rather get away somewhere
+and make a fresh start.  You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?"
+
+"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised.
+
+"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good
+for me.  It was a rotten partnership for you.  We could never have
+pulled together."
+
+"Let that go," Laverick interrupted.  "If you really mean getting
+away, that simplifies matters, of course.  Have you made any plans
+at all?  Where do you want to go?"
+
+"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best.
+There is money to be made there if one has something to make a
+start with."
+
+"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered,
+"probably a great deal more.  I shall place our affairs in the hands
+of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday.
+You shall have every penny that is due to you.  You have quite
+enough, however, to get there with.  I will see to your ticket
+to-night, if possible.  When you've arrived you can cable me your
+address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave,
+and I will send you a further remittance."
+
+"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled.
+
+"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued,
+"and I will go back and put together some of your things.  I suppose
+you will not want much to go away with.  The rest can be sent on
+afterwards.  And what about your letters?"
+
+Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the
+bed.  He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically.
+
+"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged.  "Promise me that you
+won't!  I don't want any letters!  I don't want any of my things!"
+
+Laverick was dumfounded.
+
+"You mean you want to go away without - "
+
+"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically.
+"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they
+will find out where I am.  I should be there now but for that."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  The matter was becoming serious.
+
+"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say.  I will not go near
+your rooms.  I will get you a few things somewhere to start with."
+
+Morrison sank back upon his pillow.
+
+"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you.  I wish - I wish - "
+
+His voice seemed to die away.  Laverick glanced towards him,
+wondering at the unfinished sentence.  Once again the man's face
+seemed to be convulsed with horror.  He flung himself face downward
+upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands.
+
+"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly.  "If you've anything on
+your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what
+I can to help you."
+
+Morrison made no reply.  He was sobbing now like a child.  Laverick
+rose to his feet and went to the window.  What was to be done with
+such a creature!  When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once
+more into a sitting posture.  His appearance was absolutely spectral.
+
+"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot
+tell you - I cannot tell any one."
+
+"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered.  "I am simply
+anxious to help you."
+
+"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly.  "You
+must promise me something - promise that if any one asks for me
+to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am.
+Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into
+the country for a few days.  Say that you are expecting me back.
+Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely
+away.  And then don't tell a soul where I have gone."
+
+"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked
+sternly.
+
+"I haven't - I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared.  "It's
+something quite outside business - quite outside business altogether."
+
+"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked,
+then.  Listen - here is your sister back again," he added, as he
+heard the taxicab stop outside.  "Pull yourself together and don't
+frighten her so much.  I am going down to meet her.  I shall tell
+her that you are better.  Try and buck up when she comes in to see
+you."
+
+"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly.  "If you knew!  If you
+only knew!"
+
+He began to sob again.  Laverick left the room and, descending the
+stairs, met the girl in the hall.  Her white face questioned him
+before her lips had time to frame the speech.
+
+"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said.  "I am sure that
+you need not be anxious about him."
+
+"I am so glad," she murmured.  "They let me off but I had to pay a
+fine.  I had no idea before that I was so important.  Shall I go to
+him now?"
+
+"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the
+sitting-room.  "Miss Morrison," he went on, -
+
+"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted.
+
+"I beg your pardon.  Your brother evidently has something on his
+mind apart from business.  I am afraid that he has been getting
+into some sort of trouble.  I don't think there is any object in
+bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away."
+
+"You will help?" she begged.
+
+"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered.  "I have promised to.
+You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock
+to-morrow morning.  He wants to go to New York, and the special
+to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight
+to eight-thirty."
+
+"But his clothes!" she cried.  "How can he be ready by then?"
+
+"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or
+to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly.
+
+"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed.  "Do you mean to say, then,
+that he is going without anything?"
+
+"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for
+granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable
+business or other.  He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts
+an entire secret.  He has been asking me whether any one has been
+to the office to inquire for him.  Under the circumstances, I think
+the best thing we can do is to humor him.  I shall buy him before
+to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of
+clothes, and a few things for the voyage.  Then I shall send a cab
+for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station.
+
+"You are very kind," she murmured.  "What should I have done without
+you?  Oh, I cannot think!"
+
+The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong.  Naturally
+unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire
+to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the
+tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes.  He reminded himself
+that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion,
+that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an
+impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be
+no possible excuse.
+
+He moved away towards the door.
+
+"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother.  You
+see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been
+partners in business."
+
+He caught a look upon her face and smiled.
+
+"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for
+me to do anything to relieve your anxiety."
+
+She gave him her hands then of her own accord.  The gratitude which
+shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which
+was almost invitation.  Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet.
+Something had come into his life - something absurd, uncounted upon,
+incomprehensible.  The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified.
+In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had
+told himself would be the action of a cad.  He had taken her,
+unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips.  Afterwards,
+he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it
+seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without
+hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a
+natural consolation in a time of trouble.  But Laverick was conscious
+of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab
+and was driven swiftly away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST"
+
+Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an
+outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases
+as he could on Morrison's behalf.  Then, with the bag ready packed,
+he returned to his rooms.  Time had passed quickly during the last
+three hours.  It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the
+lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the
+latchkey which hung from his chain.  He began to change his clothes
+mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell
+upon his table rang.
+
+"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver.
+
+"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer.  "Person here wishes to see you
+particularly."
+
+"A person!" Laverick repeated.  "Man or woman?"
+
+"Man, sir.
+
+"Better send him up," Laverick ordered.
+
+"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him
+that I scarcely thought you'd see him."
+
+"Never mind," Laverick answered.  "I can soon get rid of the fellow
+if he's cadging."
+
+He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie.  His own
+affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the
+announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his
+mind with a rush.  Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers
+shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the
+passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later.  A
+man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face
+somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment,
+place it.
+
+"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare
+me just a moment."
+
+"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door
+and preceding the way into the sitting-room.  At any rate, there
+was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor - nor
+anything official.
+
+"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to
+ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison."
+
+Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief.  What he felt he
+succeeded in keeping to himself.
+
+"You mean Morrison - my partner, I suppose?" he answered.
+
+"If you please, sir," the man admitted.  "I wanted a word or two
+with him most particular.  I found out his address from the
+caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to
+his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there."
+
+"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked.  "Where do you
+come from?"
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,' - little bar and
+restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir,
+at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley.  You've been in once or
+twice, Mr. Laverick, I think.  Mr. Morrison 's a regular customer.
+He comes in for a drink most mornings."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+
+"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said.  "What do you want
+with Mr. Morrison?"
+
+The man was silent.  He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed.
+
+"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr.
+Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally.  "If you could put me
+in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad.  I may say that it would be
+to his advantage, too."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a moment.
+
+"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained.  "Mr.
+Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night.  I
+undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared,
+and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once.  We
+parted - well, not exactly the best of friends.  I am afraid I
+cannot give you any information."
+
+"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked.
+
+Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly.  His visitor was not in
+the least convinced.
+
+"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said.
+"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here.  I'm not wishing him
+any harm at all.  On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his
+advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him."
+
+"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with
+me.  Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the
+country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf."
+
+The man looked doubtful.
+
+"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't
+like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself.
+It's - it's a bit serious."
+
+The man's face gave weight to his words.  Curiously enough, the
+gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded
+him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely
+an hour ago.  To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took
+a cigarette from a box and lit it.  A conviction was forming
+itself in his mind.  There was something definite behind these
+hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this
+man had an inkling.
+
+"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think
+you had better be frank with me.  I must know more than I know at
+present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be
+found.  We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend enough
+ - for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation,
+"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may
+have stumbled into.  So you see that so far as anything you may have
+to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me."
+
+"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly,
+"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?"
+
+"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided.  "Even if I knew exactly where
+he was - and I'm not admitting that - I couldn't put you in touch
+with him unless I knew what your business was.
+
+The man's eyes gleamed.  He was a typical waiter - pasty-faced,
+unwholesome-looking - but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and
+they were expressive.
+
+"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr.
+Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble."
+
+"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered.  "You must either go
+away - it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet - or
+you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison."
+
+The man looked upon the carpet for several moments.
+
+"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put
+myself out about this at all.  The only thing is - "
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly.
+
+"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison - knowing, as I
+well do, sir, the sort of gent he is - would be more likely to talk
+common sense with me about this matter than you, sir."
+
+"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling,
+"especially as I'm acting for him."
+
+The man looked around the room.  The door behind had been left ajar.
+He stepped backward and closed it.
+
+"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious
+matter I'm going to speak about.  I'll just tell you a little thing
+and you can form your own conclusions.  Last night we was open late
+at the 'Black Post.'  We keep open, sir, as you know, when you
+gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy.  About nine o'clock there
+was a strange customer came in.  He had two drinks and he sat as
+though he were waiting.  In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in,
+and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort
+of business.  Anyways, there was papers passed between them.  I was
+fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in
+the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed
+the dark gentleman leave.  The others went out a few minutes
+afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place.
+He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before
+him.  I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink,
+and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes.  He sat there
+just like a man extra deep in thought.  Just after eleven, in came
+Mr. Morrison.  I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white,
+and shaking all over.  'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said, - 'a big
+brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."'
+
+The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself.  Laverick
+was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his
+pulses.
+
+"Go on," he said.  "That was after he left me.  Go on."
+
+"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter
+continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other.  All of a sudden
+I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap
+as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn.  I leaned
+over the counter and had a look, too.  There he sat - this tall,
+fair chap who had been in the place so long - with his big
+pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was
+I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out
+from it.  All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison
+a-watching him and me from behind the counter.  Back he whisks the
+pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two
+mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out."
+
+"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired.
+
+Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered - paused
+and looked nervously around the room.  His voice shook.
+
+"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the
+'Black Post' last night, sir," he said.
+
+"How do you know?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to
+the Mortuary.  There was no doubt about it.  There he was - same
+chap, same clothes.  I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon
+I '11 have to at the inquest."
+
+Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers.  It seemed to
+him that he was no longer in the room.  He was listening to Big
+Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom
+with its spotless sheets and lace curtains.  The man on the bed was
+looking at him.  Laverick remembered the look and shivered.
+
+"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded.
+
+Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half
+terrified way.
+
+"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper,
+"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds.  A sort of
+queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying
+me.  I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on,
+"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being
+found on the man as was murdered."
+
+Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away.  He walked to
+the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor.
+His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the
+Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other
+side of the river.  He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor.
+Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror?  He wondered no
+longer at his collapse.  The terror was upon him, too.  He felt his
+forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet.  It was not
+Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's
+knowledge.  The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a
+nightmare.  He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the
+missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager
+reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes
+deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy. . .
+Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant
+though it had been, passed.  This was no new thing with which he
+was confronted.  All the time he had known that the probabilities
+were in favor of such a discovery.  He set his teeth and turned to
+face his visitor.
+
+"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said.
+"Have you spoken about it to any one else?"
+
+"Not a soul, sir," the man answered.  "I thought it best to have a
+word or two first with Mr. Morrison."
+
+"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said
+thoughtfully.  "The police would thank you for your evidence, and
+there, I suppose, the matter would end."
+
+"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted.  "There the matter
+would end."
+
+"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were
+reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to
+meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were
+not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being
+a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison
+called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you
+dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take
+its own course, - Laverick paused.  His visitor scratched the side
+of his chin and nodded.
+
+"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an
+understandable, straightforward way.  I'm a poor man - I've been a
+poor man all my life - and I've never seed a chance before of
+getting away from it.  I see one now."
+
+"You want to do the best you can for yourself?"
+
+"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed.
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me
+and in telling me about this affair.  The idea of connecting Mr.
+Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on
+the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his
+name mentioned in connection with it.  You have behaved discreetly,
+and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out.
+You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I
+suggested with regard to the inquest.  What do you consider that
+service is worth?"
+
+"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr.
+Morrison values his life!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE PRICE OF SILENCE
+
+
+The man's manner was expressive.  Laverick repeated his phrase,
+frowning.
+
+"His life!"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing.  I
+have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say,
+that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in
+connection with this affair.  But because he left your bar a few
+minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that
+therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death.  I cannot
+conceive anything more unlikely."
+
+The man smiled - a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth
+less than anything in the world.
+
+"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked, - "one in especial."
+
+"Well?" Laverick inquired.  "Let's have it.  You had better tell me
+everything that is in your mind."
+
+"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife."
+
+"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once
+more to a whisper.  "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to
+where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it."
+
+Laverick was silent.  What was there to be said?
+
+"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things."
+
+"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years
+without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly.
+
+"Is there anything more?"
+
+"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply.  "You know that, sir.
+So do I.  There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send
+Mr. Morrison to the gallows."
+
+"We will waive that point," Laverick declared.  "The jury sometimes
+are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone.  However,
+as I have said, let us waive that point.  Your position is clear
+enough.  You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get
+nothing.  You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life.
+The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good.  Now
+take my advice.  Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous.
+It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this
+affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in
+your place.  I am here to act for Mr. Morrison.  What is it that you
+want?"
+
+"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said, - "like a sensible
+gent, too.  I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into
+a bit of money, - just at present, at any rate.  I could easy find
+an excuse for changing my job - perhaps get away from London
+altogether.  I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to
+open a banking account.  A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in
+the way of doing it."
+
+"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to
+commence with?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last.
+
+"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered, - "generally called Jim,
+sir."
+
+"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is,
+in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where
+the thing will end.  A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but
+in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could
+be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case.  Two
+hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have
+saved or got together.  After that your investments would be my
+lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven
+hundred and fifty pounds.  But what security have I - has Mr.
+Morrison, let us say - that you will be content with this sum?"
+
+"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once.  "He couldn't have
+any.  I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting
+around that I'm independent all of a sudden.  That wouldn't do
+nohow.  A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a
+week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my
+health being none too good.  I've no wife or children, sir.  I was
+thinking of an annuity.  With two pounds a week I'd have no cause
+to trouble any one again."
+
+Laverick considered.
+
+"It shall be done," he said.  "To-morrow I shall buy shares for
+you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds.  They will be
+deposited in a bank.  Some day you can look in and see me, and I
+will take you round there.  You are my client who has speculated
+under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name
+and become a customer.  After that, you will speculate again.
+When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to
+buy an annuity.  Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be
+the luckiest night of your life.  Do you drink?"
+
+"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess
+I'd go off my chump."
+
+"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop
+too much when I'm by myself.  Then I tumbles off to sleep and
+that's the end of it.  I've no fancy for company at such times."
+
+"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into
+his pocket.  "Here's a five-pound note on account.  I daresay you
+can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate.  That's all, isn't
+it?"
+
+"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as
+to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?"
+
+"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before
+he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed.
+"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a
+disagreement."
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!"
+
+"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?"
+
+"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing
+the door softly behind him.
+
+Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry.
+He was faced now with a new tragedy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
+
+
+They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train.
+The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious
+of a sense of immense relief.  Morrison had been at the station
+some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a
+physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all
+the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on
+the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a
+criminal expecting apprehension at any moment.  The whistle of the
+train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick.
+
+We'11 write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out.
+"Good luck, Morrison!  Pull yourself tog-ether and make a fresh
+start.
+
+"Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod.  Laverick had not
+attempted to shake hands.  He felt himself at the last moment,
+stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all
+this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately.
+His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger.  He
+would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down
+to hers and whispered a reassuring little message.  Laverick turned
+away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering.
+Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly
+difficult.  The train was off at last, however, and they were alone.
+
+The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of
+relief.  They turned silently toward the exit.
+
+"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked.
+
+"Yes," she answered listlessly.  "There is nothing else to do."
+
+"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"It is the first time," she said.  "Another girl and her mother
+have lived with me always.  They started off last week, touring.
+They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go
+into rooms.  As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable."
+
+Laverick looked at her wonderingly.
+
+"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the
+world like this."
+
+"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an
+effort at lightness.  "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going.
+His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that
+he would do what he could.  I didn't see much of him, but one felt
+always that there was somebody.  It's different now.  It makes
+one feel very lonely."
+
+"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a
+lonely person.  You must let me see something of you now and then."
+
+She looked up at him quickly.  Her gaze was altogether disingenuous,
+but her eyes - those wonderful eyes - spoke volumes.
+
+"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad."
+
+"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling.  "I cannot ask
+you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have
+dinner together quite early.  Then I would take you to the theatre
+and meet you afterwards, if you liked."
+
+"If I liked!" she whispered.  "Oh, how good you are."
+
+"I am not at all sure about that.  Now I'll put you in this taxi
+and send you home."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"You mustn't do anything so extravagant.  I can get a 'bus just
+outside.  I never have taxicabs."
+
+"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you
+for his fare.  You must let me, please.  Remember that there's a
+large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you
+needn't mind these trifles.  Till this evening, then.  Shall I
+fetch you or will you come to me?"
+
+"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said.  "It isn't nice for you to
+come down to where I live.  It's such a horrid part."
+
+"Just as you like," he answered.  "I'd be very glad to fetch you
+if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came.  Shall
+we say seven o'clock?  I've written the address down on this card
+so that you can make no mistake."
+
+She laughed gayly.
+
+"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating
+me as though I were a baby.  I'll be there punctually, and I don't
+think I need tie the card around my neck."
+
+The cab glided off.  Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face
+with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she
+leaned out for a moment to say good-bye.  Then he went back to his
+rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office.
+
+The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder
+in Crooked Friars' Alley.  Evidently what information the police
+had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the
+moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think
+of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come.  The long-predicted
+boom had arrived at last.  Without lunch, he and all his clerks
+worked until after six o'clock.  Even then Laverick found it hard
+to leave.  During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask
+for Morrison.  To all of them he had given the same reply, - Morrison
+had gone abroad on private business for the firm.  Very few were
+deceived by Laverick's dry statement.  He was quite aware that he
+was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as
+a financier of consummate skill.  The failure of Laverick & Morrison
+had been looked upon as a certainty.  How they had tided over that
+twenty-four hours had been known to no one - to no one but Laverick
+himself and the manager of his bank.
+
+Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow.
+
+"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a
+moment," his head-clerk announced.
+
+Laverick took up the telephone.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick.  Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick!
+Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day.  What is it?  The
+account is all right, isn't it?"
+
+"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer.  "At the same time,
+if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you
+concerning the deposit you made yesterday."
+
+"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised.  "This afternoon it
+is quite out of the question.  I have a crowd of people waiting to
+see me, and several important engagements for which I am late
+already."
+
+The banker seemed scarcely satisfied.
+
+"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed.
+
+"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off.
+
+For a time this last message troubled him.  As soon as the day's
+work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed
+it entirely from his thoughts.  It was curious how, notwithstanding
+this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding
+that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice,
+he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a
+pleasure which he had not felt for many months.  The whirl of the
+day faded easily from his mind.  He lived no more in an atmosphere
+of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety.  How
+empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so
+much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child!  It was hard to think
+of her otherwise - impossible.  A strange heritage, this, to have
+been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison.  How in the world,
+he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection.
+
+She was a little shy when she arrived.  Laverick had left special
+orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room
+immediately.  She was very quietly dressed except for her hat,
+which was large and wavy.  He found it becoming, but he knew enough
+to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive,
+and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact.
+
+"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire,
+"that we must go somewhere very quiet.  You see, I have only one
+evening gown and I couldn't wear that.  There wouldn't be time to
+change afterwards.  Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about
+in the dressing-rooms."
+
+"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly.
+"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on
+to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other
+smart young ladies in the same position.  I had to change because I
+have taken a stall to see your performance.  Tell me, how are you
+feeling now?"
+
+"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace.
+"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly.  "I
+don't now, of course.
+
+"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down
+in the lift.  "Haven't you any friends?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked.  "The girls in the
+chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many
+people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something
+of the sort."
+
+"And you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said.
+"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again."
+
+"I wonder why?" he remarked.
+
+"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily.  "You see, I think the
+men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to
+be allowed to make love to them.  At any rate, they behaved like
+that.  Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't
+like it a bit.  So they left me alone afterwards.  The girl I lived
+with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we
+go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays.  It's dull, though, very
+dull, especially now they're away."
+
+"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he
+asked.
+
+"What could one do?" she answered.  "My mother's money died with
+her - she had only an annuity - and my stepfather, who had promised
+to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly.  Arthur
+was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything.  My only
+friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was
+director of the orchestra at the Universal.  All he could do for me
+was to get me a place in the chorus.  I have been there ever since.
+They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it.  It's
+always like that in theatres.  You have to be a favorite of the
+manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance
+unless you are unusually lucky."
+
+"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted.  "I am afraid I am
+rather a stupid person.  When I can get away from work I go into
+the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going.
+When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few
+friends, or playing bridge at the club.  I never have been a
+theatre-goer.
+
+"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round
+table in the restaurant which he had chosen, - "I wonder why every
+now and then you look so serious."
+
+"I didn't know that I did," he answered.  "We've had thundering
+hard times lately in business, though.  I suppose that makes a man
+look thoughtful."
+
+"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly.  "Are things any better
+now?"
+
+"Much better."
+
+"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted.
+
+"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave.
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+She leaned across the table.  In the shaded light, her oval face
+with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though
+it might have belonged to some old miniature.  She was delightful,
+like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain - delightful
+when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the
+corner of her lips.  Just now, however, she became very much in
+earnest.
+
+"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said.  "I cannot
+help worrying still about Arthur.  You know you admitted last
+night that he had done something.  You saw how terribly frightened
+he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though
+he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid.
+Oh!  I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so
+terrified sometimes.  I feel that he must have done something - bad.
+It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of
+him so completely."
+
+"It was not," Laverick admitted at once.  "He has done something, I
+believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange,
+and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it."
+
+"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I did not," he answered.  "I told him nothing.  For many reasons
+it was better to keep him ignorant.  He and I might not have seen
+things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the
+best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any
+more.  Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in
+New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will
+never come to anything serious."
+
+"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly.  "From what
+he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed,
+you and he are so different."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.
+
+"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so
+much trouble for his sake alone.  You see," he continued, smiling,
+"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very
+anxious, weren't you?"
+
+Her hand came across the table - an impulsive little gesture,
+which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful.  He
+took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips
+but for the waiters who were hovering around.
+
+"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate.  I think that
+I wanted a friend."
+
+"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did.  You are
+not drinking your wine."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Do you mind?" she asked.  "A very little gets into my head
+because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes
+the least bit of a mistake.  Besides, I do not think that I like
+to drink wine.  If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse
+for never having anything when the girls ask you."
+
+He nodded sympathetically.
+
+"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any
+rate.  Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival
+in New York.  Are you ready?"
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him.
+
+"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and
+fetch my ticket."
+
+As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he
+took an evening paper from the stall.  A brief paragraph at once
+attracted his attention.
+
+     Murder in the City.  - We understand that very important
+     information has come into the hands of the police.  An
+     ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest.
+
+He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side.  It was
+the usual sort of thing.  There was nothing they could have found
+out - nothing, he told himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
+
+
+As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning,
+Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went
+round to his bank.  Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely.  He was feeling
+keenly the responsibilities of his position.  Just how much to say
+and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full
+measure of diplomacy.
+
+"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you
+with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday."
+
+Laverick nodded.  It suited him to remain monosyllabic.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued.
+"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an
+urgent one."
+
+"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning.  "What is
+it you wish me to do?  Withdraw my account?"
+
+"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily.
+
+"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on.
+"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called
+desperate.  I could quite understand that you needed security to
+go on making the necessary payments on my behalf.  To-day, things
+are entirely different.  I am twenty thousand pounds better off,
+and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of
+my overdraft within half-an-hour.  That I do not do so is simply a
+matter of policy and prices."
+
+"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager
+declared.  "The position is simply this.  We have had a most unusual
+and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge
+to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes
+has been passed through our account during the last few days."
+
+"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly.
+
+"We have.  I can tell you no more.  The source of the inquiry was,
+in a sense, amazing."
+
+"May I ask what your reply was?"
+
+"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had
+passed through our account.  We asked them, however, without giving
+any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time.  Our
+reply was perfectly truthful.  Owing to your peculiar stipulations,
+we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security
+chamber.  We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little
+doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of
+this inquiry.  I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to
+open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the
+usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in
+the first instance to this inquiry."
+
+"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I
+absolutely decline to take.  It is not for me to tell you the nature
+of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client.
+All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and
+must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must
+be treated entirely as a confidential one.  If you decline to do
+this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course,
+take the packet away with me.  To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick,"
+he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never
+intended to do so.  I simply deposited them as security until the
+turn in price of 'Unions' came.
+
+"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked.
+"I should consider that you had already made use of them."
+
+"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly.
+
+"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick."
+
+"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied.  "There is only one
+inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting
+upon what you have suggested.  It emanated, I presume, from Scotland
+Yard?"
+
+"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette
+would have intervened at all.  I should have felt it my duty to
+have revealed at once the fact of your deposit.  At the same time,
+the inquiry comes from an even more important source, - a source
+which cannot be ignored."
+
+Laverick thought for a moment.
+
+"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared.  "By
+four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits.
+You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold
+on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you."
+
+"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you
+would take it with you.  It means, I think, a matter of six or
+seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary
+thing we will pass that."
+
+"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly.  "The charge of those
+documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself.  I have no
+doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place
+elsewhere."
+
+The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank
+with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket.
+Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe
+and proceeded with the usual business of the day.  Even with an
+added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar.  Laverick
+threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to
+escape from these unpleasant memories.  He succeeded perfectly.  It
+was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment.  His
+head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room.
+
+"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man
+outside - Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe - said he had a small
+investment to make which you promised to look after personally.  He
+would insist on seeing you - said he was a waiter at a restaurant
+which you visited sometimes."
+
+"That's all right," Laverick declared.  "You can show him in.  We'll
+probably give him American rails."
+
+"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked.
+"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds."
+
+"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after
+it myself.  Send him in, Scropes."
+
+There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced.
+Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned
+cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed.
+
+"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked.  "We're having a bit of a
+rush."
+
+The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side.
+
+"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had
+in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting
+and talking.  They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's
+some of them can shift the drink."
+
+"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked,
+"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth.  If you'll just approve that
+list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across,
+"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates.  I shall tell
+them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if
+any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said.  "To tell you the
+truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day."
+
+Laverick looked up quickly.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded.
+
+"May I sit down, sir?  I'm a bit worn out.  I've been on the go
+since half-past ten."
+
+Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair.  Shepherd brought it up to
+the side of the table and leaned forward.
+
+"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions.  They
+wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and
+could I describe them.  Was there any one I recognized, and so on."
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"I declared I couldn't remember any one.  To the best of my
+recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten
+o'clock.  I wouldn't say for certain - it looked as though I might
+have had a reason."
+
+"And were they satisfied?"
+
+"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted.  "Not altogether,
+that is to say."
+
+"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick - "Morrison's, for
+instance?  Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?"
+
+"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but
+they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients.  Fortunate
+like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not
+paying any too much attention to them.  It was all I could do to
+keep on getting orders attended to."
+
+"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked.  "Do you think that
+they came from the police?"
+
+"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell,
+and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so
+sometimes on purpose to deceive.  I should have said that these two
+were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered.
+I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a
+shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man
+who was murdered and the little dark fellow."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very
+sagacious person."
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added,
+"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries.  My
+nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps."
+
+Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he
+remarked, - "no one who could contradict you?"
+
+"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed.
+
+"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued.  "You see, you've been
+wise.  You haven't given yourself away altogether.  You've simply
+said that you don't recollect any one coming in.  Why should you
+recollect?  At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice
+every stray customer.  Stick to it, and, if you take my advice,
+don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in
+for another week or so.  Pave the way for it a bit.  Ask the governor
+for a rise - say you're not making a living out of it."
+
+"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head.  "I'm on to it,
+sir.  I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure."
+
+"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in.
+You're not obliged to remember anything.  No one can ever prove that
+you remembered anything.  Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if
+these fellows turn up again."
+
+"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared.  "They sat
+about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I
+hopped out the back way.  They'll be there again to-night, sure
+enough."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens."
+
+Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his
+voice.
+
+"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking
+rapidly.  "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great
+pocketful of notes.  But my!  there was a sight of money there,
+sir!  He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out."
+
+"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted.  "It isn't a
+pleasant thing to think about or talk about.  We won't know anything,
+Shepherd.  We shall be better off."
+
+The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced.
+Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before
+eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way.
+When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the
+sofa and lit a cigar.  Once more the evening papers had no
+particular news.  This time, however, one of them had a leading
+article upon the English police system.  The fact that an undetected
+murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the
+slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself
+alarming.  Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make
+little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known.
+At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a
+considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the
+vicinity of the tragedy.  It was rumored that some mysterious
+inquiries were being circulated around London banks.  It was
+possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the
+crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined.  The whole interest
+of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity.
+As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might
+be expected.
+
+Laverick threw the paper away.  He tried to rest upon the sofa, but
+tried in vain.  He found himself continually glancing at the clock.
+
+"To-night," he muttered to himself, - "no, I will not go to-night!
+It is not fair to the child.  It is absurd.  Why, she would think
+that I was - "
+
+He stopped short.
+
+"I'll change and go to the club," he decided.
+
+He rose to his feet.  Just then there was a ring at his bell.  He
+opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule.
+
+"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening
+his wallet.
+
+Laverick held out his hand.  The boy gave him a large square
+envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre."
+Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously
+pleased.  He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope,
+and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate
+handwriting.
+
+Are you coming to fetch me to-night?  Don't let me be a nuisance,
+but do come if you have nothing to do.  I have something to tell
+you.
+                                                        ZOE.
+
+Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot
+that he was tired.  He changed his clothes, whistling softly to
+himself all the time.  At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door
+of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
+
+
+One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the
+stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a
+waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier.  Laverick stood
+back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to
+himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening.
+Zoe was among the last to appear.  She came up to him with a
+delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter
+of course as he led her across to the waiting cab.
+
+"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared.
+"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?"
+
+"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.  "Delightful!  Two
+nights following, too!  I did love last night."
+
+"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked.
+
+"If only you meant it!" she sighed.
+
+He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes.
+Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat
+Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the
+moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a
+question.
+
+"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged.  "You said that
+you had some information for me.
+
+"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted.  "I found
+out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about
+me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur
+Morrison, the stockbroker."
+
+"Do you know who it was?" he asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"The man left no name at all.  I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell
+me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to
+that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything."
+
+"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have
+found you out.  You were so seldom with Morrison.  I dare say," he
+added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small
+sum of money."
+
+"Very likely," she answered.  "But I was going to tell you.  He came
+again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round.
+I have brought it for you to see."
+
+The note - it was really little more than a message - was written
+on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently
+borrowed from the box-office.  It read as follows:
+
+DEAR MISS LENEVEU,
+
+I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I
+am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his.  Could
+you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of
+this evening?  If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps
+allow me to give you some supper.
+                                               Sincerely,
+                                              PHILIP E. MILES.
+
+
+Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the
+programme.
+
+"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man
+who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was
+or had been a friend of Morrison's."
+
+"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten."
+
+She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious
+of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference.
+
+"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me
+know.  You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so
+summarily."
+
+"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly.
+
+Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot,
+nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation
+of her speech.
+
+"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged.
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"First of all, then, how old are you?"
+
+He made a grimace.
+
+"Thirty-eight - thirty-nine my next birthday.  Doesn't that seem
+grandfatherly to you?"
+
+"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed.  "It is not even
+middle-aged.  Now tell me - how do you spend your time generally?
+Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most
+evenings?"
+
+"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal."
+
+"You have no sisters?"
+
+"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained.
+
+"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him.
+
+"I am quite content," he answered.  "Go ahead, but remember, though,
+that I am a very dull person."
+
+"You look so young for your years," she declared.  "I wonder, have
+you ever been in love?"
+
+He laughed heartily.
+
+"About a dozen times, I suppose.  Why?  Do I seem to you like a
+misanthrope?"
+
+"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly.  "You don't seem to me
+as though you cared to make friends very easily.  I just felt I
+wanted to ask you.  Have you ever been engaged?"
+
+"Never," he assured her.
+
+"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a
+little for any one?"
+
+"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her
+glass.
+
+She laughed at him.
+
+"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said.
+"You are quite right to make fun of me."
+
+"On the contrary," he insisted.  "I am very much in earnest."
+
+"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall
+be in love with me.  You shall take me about, give me supper every
+night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre - oh, and
+there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!"
+she wound up.
+
+"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove
+it with pleasure.  Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the
+stage-door."
+
+"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed.  "It's a horrid little
+life."
+
+"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively.
+
+"I hate it, but I must do something.  I could not live on charity.
+If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but
+there is no other way.  I tried once to give music lessons.  I had
+a few pupils, but they never paid - they never do pay.
+
+"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully.
+"Of course, it is occupation you want.  So far as regards the
+monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal - "
+
+She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture.
+
+"No, no!" she declared.  "I have never complained about Arthur.
+Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of
+having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not
+wish to take any of his money - or of anybody else's," she added.
+"I want always to earn my own living."
+
+"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully
+independent."
+
+"Why not?" she answered softly.  "It is years since I had any one
+to do very much for me.  Necessity teaches us a good many things.
+Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little
+sigh.  "I got over it.  We all do.  Tell me - who is that woman,
+and why does she stare so at you?"
+
+Laverick looked across the room.  Louise and Bellamy were sitting
+at the opposite table.  The former was strikingly handsome and very
+wonderfully dressed.  Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open
+in front, displayed her marvelous figure.  She wore long pearl
+earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair
+hair.  Laverick recognized her at once.
+
+"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano
+in the world."
+
+"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not know her," he said.  "I know who she is, of course, - every
+one does.  She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her
+country.  She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago,
+and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again
+before the enemies of her country.  She had been engaged a long time
+to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really
+come.  She breaks her engagements just when she chooses.  In fact,
+she is a very wonderful person altogether."
+
+"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered.  "And how
+lovely she is!  I do not understand, though, why she is so
+interested in you."
+
+"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps."
+
+It certainly seemed probable.  Even at that moment she touched
+her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at
+Laverick.  It was obvious that he was the subject of her
+conversation.
+
+"I know the man," Laverick said.  "He was at Harrow with me, and I
+have played cricket with him since.  But I have certainly never met
+Mademoiselle Idiale.  One does not forget that sort of person.
+
+"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully.  "Do you like
+tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones."
+
+"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed.  "We came
+together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense.
+
+
+"You are making me young again," he declared.
+
+"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him.  "To tell you
+the truth, I am jealous.  Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the
+time.  Look at her now.  Is she not beautiful?"
+
+There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising
+her - and she was by far the most interesting person in the room -
+thought her a little sad.  Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to
+be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over
+his head and out of the room.  Wherever her thoughts were, one could
+be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under
+discussion.
+
+"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked.  "She has none
+of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen.  Yet there was never anything
+so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage."
+
+"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would
+die for."
+
+"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one
+whom you preferred to live for.  Do you know, you are rather a
+morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?"
+
+"Ah, I like that!" she declared.  "I will not be called Miss Leneveu
+any more by you.  You must call me Miss Zoe, please, - Zoe, if you
+like."
+
+"Zoe, by all means.  Under the circumstances, I think it is only
+fitting."
+
+His eyes wandered across the room again.
+
+"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then.
+I was reading about her only the other day.  They say that so many
+men fall in love with her - so many men to whom she gives no
+encouragement at all."
+
+Laverick looked into his companion's face.
+
+"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won.  I can assure you
+that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star.
+Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week,
+and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire
+income?  Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!"
+
+"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman.  See, your
+friend is coming to speak to you."
+
+Bellamy was indeed crossing the room.  He nodded to Laverick and
+bowed to his companion.
+
+"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said.  "You do remember me, I
+hope?  Bellamy, you know."
+
+"I remember you quite well.  We used to play together at Lord's,
+even after we left school."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"That is so," he answered.  "I see by the papers that you have kept
+up your cricket.  Mine, alas! has had to go.  I have been too much
+of a rolling stone lately.  Do you know that I have come to ask you
+a favor?"
+
+"Go ahead," Laverick interposed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained.
+"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims
+she is.  If you won't come across and be introduced like a good
+fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time,
+go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled."
+
+Laverick laughed heartily.  A little smile played at the corner of
+Zoe's lips - nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious.
+
+"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had
+better go.  You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe,
+"that I cannot stay for more than a second."
+
+"Naturally," Bellamy answered.  "If Mademoiselle really has anything
+to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment."
+
+Laverick introduced him to Zoe.
+
+"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared.  "You're
+in the front row, aren't you?  I have seen you in that clever little
+step-dance and song in the second act."
+
+She nodded, evidently pleased.
+
+"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully.  "You see, we
+are all so tired of it."
+
+"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared.  "I shall have the
+pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow.
+
+The two men crossed the room.
+
+"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick
+demanded.  "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling
+against hard times?"
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered.  "And
+as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted
+to.  Her interest in you is rather a curious one.  No time to explain
+it now.  She'll tell you."
+
+Louise smiled as he paused before her.  She was certainly exquisitely
+beautiful.  Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her
+voice, were all perfection.  She gave him the tips of her fingers as
+Bellamy pronounced his name.
+
+"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me.  And
+indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would
+like to say one word with you."
+
+Laverick bowed.
+
+"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which
+procures me such a pleasure."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said.  "But indeed, then, I fear
+you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested.
+I read all your newspapers.  I read of that terrible murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago, - is not that how you
+call the place?"
+
+Laverick was suddenly grave.  What was this that was coming?
+
+"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a
+foreigner.  The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian.  I,
+too, come from that part of Europe - if not from Austria, from a
+country very near - and I am always interested in my country-people.
+A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this
+Crooked Friars' Alley?'  Just then he bowed to you, and he answered
+me, 'It is in the city.  It is within a yard or two of the offices
+of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.'  So I
+looked across at you and I thought that it was strange."
+
+Laverick scarcely knew what to say.
+
+"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has
+told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office.  So far, too,
+the police seem completely at a loss."
+
+"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they
+are not very clever.  It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so.
+Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your
+offices are?"
+
+"Not at all," Laverick replied.  "On the contrary, in the daytime
+it might be called the heart of the city - of the money-making part
+of the city, at any rate.  Only this thing, you see, seems to have
+taken place very late at night."
+
+"When all the offices were closed," she remarked.
+
+"Most of them," Laverick answered.  "Mine, as it happened, was open
+late that night.  I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of
+the time when the murder must have been committed."
+
+"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head.  "Tell me,
+Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show
+me this place, - yes?"
+
+"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but
+there is nothing there.  It is just a passage."
+
+"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will
+come.  You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me.  Well, sometimes
+I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will
+give me your advice.  So!  You have a card!"
+
+Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it.  She
+thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers.
+
+"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick."
+
+He bowed and recrossed the room.  Bellamy was standing talking to
+Zoe.
+
+"Well," he asked,.  as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to
+throw yourself beneath the car?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I do not think so," he answered.  "Our acquaintance promises to be
+a business one.  Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though
+me."
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked.  "Ah, well, you have
+every reason!"
+
+He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place.
+Laverick looked after him a little compassionately.
+
+"Poor fellow," he said.
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered.
+"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed.  "He is nice.  She must care for some
+one.  Why do you pity him?"
+
+"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick
+continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her.
+She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to
+spare from herself are given to her country."
+
+Zoe shuddered.
+
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women.
+Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all.  To me she seems only very,
+very sad.  Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?"
+
+"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim.  It must have been a
+whim."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT
+
+
+Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think
+about.  He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant,
+within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company
+of friends.  Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he
+knew slightly came across the room to him.
+
+"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?"
+
+"He has gone abroad for a few weeks.  As a matter of fact, we shall
+be announcing a change in the firm shortly."
+
+"Queer thing," the broker remarked.  "I was in Liverpool yesterday,
+and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks.  I
+should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful
+about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking
+individual.  I called out to him and he vanished like a streak."
+
+"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said.  "He sailed
+several days ago for New York."
+
+"That settles it," the man declared, passing on.  "All the same,
+it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw."
+
+Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out
+a marconigram to the Lusitania,
+
+      Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board?  Reply.
+
+He signed his name and paid for an answer.  Then he went back to
+his office.
+
+"Any one to see me?" he inquired.
+
+"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him, - "queer
+looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash
+for some railway stock."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I'll see him," he said.  "Anything else?"
+
+"A lady rang up - name sounded like a French one, but we could none
+of us catch what it was - to say that she was coming down to see you."
+
+"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her
+directly she arrives.  How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to
+the waiter as he passed towards his room.  "Come in, will you?
+You've got your certificates all right?"
+
+Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not
+wholly agreed.  He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his
+little green eyes seemed even more restless.  His attire - a long
+rough overcoat over the livery of his profession - scarcely enhanced
+the dignity of his appearance.
+
+"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed.
+
+"Our bar is being watched," the man declared.  "I don't think it's
+anything to do with the police.  Seems to be a sort of foreign gang.
+They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night.  They've
+pumped everybody."
+
+"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find
+out except from you."
+
+"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued.  "My
+junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room,
+told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten
+and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking.
+They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful."
+
+"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised.  "The inquest's on now and
+you haven't been called.  I don't fancy you're running any sort of
+risk.  Any one may say they believe there were people in the, bar
+between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you
+outright.  Besides, you haven't sworn to anything.  You've simply
+said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one."
+
+"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically.
+"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you.  Their eyes
+seem to follow you all over the place."
+
+"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared.
+"I should like to see them.  I might get an idea as to their
+nationality, at any rate."
+
+"Very good, sir.  I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested.  I've
+said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at
+the work, so as to pave the way.  It's a hard job, and no mistake.
+I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed,
+too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to
+serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them.  It's
+more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick."
+
+Laverick assented.
+
+"So much the better," he declared.  "All the more excuse for your
+leaving.
+
+"You '11 be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking
+up his hat.
+
+"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered.
+"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows."
+
+Jim Shepherd departed.  There was a shouting of newspaper boys in
+the street outside.  Laverick sent out for a paper.  The account of
+the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called
+except the men who had found the dead body.  The nature of the
+wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their
+having been self-inflicted.  In the absence of any police evidence
+or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death
+was naturally limited.  The jury contented themselves by bringing
+in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons
+unknown." Laverick laid down the paper.  The completion of the
+inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety.  The
+question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand
+pounds.  He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy.  After all, had
+he paid too great a price?  The millstone was gone from around his
+neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life.
+Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge.
+
+A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections.
+Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor.  She was
+wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity, - a
+white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to
+have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure.  She brought with
+her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes - a
+perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its
+faint suggestion of hothouse flowers.  She held out her hand to
+Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair.
+
+"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle."
+
+She inclined her head graciously.
+
+"You are very kind," said she.  "I know that here in the city you
+are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long.
+Will you buy me some stocks, - some good safe stocks, which will
+bring me in at least four per cent?"
+
+"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered.  "Have you any
+choice?"
+
+"No, I have no choice," Louise told him.  "I bring with me a cheque,
+ - see, I give it to you, - it is for six thousand pounds.  I would
+like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I
+may watch them in the paper.  I like to see whether they go up or
+down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much.  It is
+something like gambling but it is no trouble."
+
+"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick
+assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two,
+at any rate, your stocks will go up.  With regard to selling - "
+
+"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what
+you propose."
+
+"We will do our best," Laverick promised.
+
+"It is good," she said.  "Money is a wonderful thing.  Without it
+one can do little.  You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you
+were going to show me this passage?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Come with me now, if you will.  It is only a yard
+or two away."
+
+He took her out into the street.  Every clerk in the office forgot
+his manners and craned his neck.  Outside, Mademoiselle let fall
+her veil and passed unrecognized.  Laverick showed her the entry.
+
+"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on
+the left, that the body was found."
+
+She looked at the place steadily.  Then she looked along the
+passage.
+
+"Where does it lead to - that?" she asked.
+
+"Come and I will show you.  On the left" - as they passed along the
+flagged pavement - "is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard.  On the
+right here there are just offices.  The street in front of us is
+Henschell Street.  All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices."
+
+"And directly opposite," she asked, - "that is a caf�, is it not,
+ - a restaurant, as you would call it?"
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"That is so," he agreed.  "One goes in there sometimes for a drink."
+
+"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired.  "It would probably
+be a meeting place.  One might leave there and walk down this
+passage naturally enough."
+
+Laverick inclined his head.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went
+to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night.
+You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock,
+and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
+
+"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence.  In
+the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long
+before now.  The guilty person would be in the hands of the law.
+As it is, I suppose that he will go free."
+
+"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered
+Laverick.  "They haven't had much time so far."
+
+"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder - "  She
+hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence.  "Come,"
+she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office!
+This place is not cheerful.  All the time I think of that poor man.
+It does make me frightened."
+
+Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which
+was waiting before his door.
+
+"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by
+to-night's post," he promised her.  "We shall do our best in your
+interests."
+
+He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go.
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick.  I would like to see you again
+very soon.  You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?"
+
+"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly."
+
+"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House.  I
+leave a box for you at the door.  Send me round a note that you
+are there, and it is possible that I may see you.  It is against
+the rules, but for me there are no rules."
+
+Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face.
+
+"You are doing something else?" she protested.  "You were, perhaps,
+thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were
+sitting last night?"
+
+"I had half promised - "
+
+"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter.  "She is not for
+you - that child.  She is too young.  She knows nothing.  Better to
+leave her alone.  She is not for a man of the world like you.  Soon
+she would cease to amuse you.  You would be dull and she would still
+care.  Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick
+- so much tragedy for the woman!  It is she always who suffers.  You
+will take my advice.  You will leave that little girl alone."
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly.  You
+see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I
+think that she would miss me.  Perhaps," he added, after a second's
+pause, "I care for her too much."
+
+"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much.
+An Englishman, he cares never enough.  A woman to him is something
+amusing, - his companion for a little of his spare time, something
+to be pleased about, to show off to his friends, - to share, even,
+the passion of the moment.  But an Englishman he does not care too
+much.  He never cares enough.  He does not know what it is to care
+enough."
+
+"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there
+may not.  We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at
+least we are faithful."
+
+She held up her hand with a little grimace.
+
+"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed.  "Who is there, indeed,
+who wishes that you would be faithful?  How much we poor women do
+suffer from that!  Why can you never understand that a woman would
+be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the
+passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long.  It gets
+weary.  It gets stale.  It is as you say, - the Englishman he cares
+very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be
+an artiste and a woman, she tires.  But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick!
+I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous
+matters.  You come to-night?"
+
+"You are very kind," Laverick said.  "If I may come until eleven
+o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure."
+
+"As you will," she declared.  "We shall see.  I expect you, then.
+You ask for your box."
+
+"If you wish it, certainly."
+
+She smiled and waved her hand.
+
+"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street."
+
+Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his
+clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle
+Idiale.  He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that
+Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the
+telephone.  He took up the receiver.
+
+"Who is it?" he asked.
+
+"It is Shepherd," was the answer.  "Is that Mr. Laverick?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd
+continued.  "You had with you a lady - a young, tall lady with a
+veil."
+
+"That's right," Laverick admitted.  "What about her?"
+
+"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in
+the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely.  "He saw her with you and
+I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock.  He
+dropped his glass and his paper.  He watched you every second of
+the time you were there until you had disappeared.  Then he, too,
+put on his hat and went out."
+
+"Anything else?"
+
+"Nothing else," was the reply.  "I thought you might like to know
+this, sir.  The man recognized the lady right enough."
+
+"It seems queer," Laverick admitted.  "Thank you for ringing me up,
+Shepherd.  Good morning!"
+
+Laverick leaned back in his chair.  There was no doubt whatever now
+in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other,
+was interested in this crime.  Her wish to see the place, her
+introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all
+part of a scheme.  He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it.
+As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place
+amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
+
+
+Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green
+Park.  Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand.
+She took his arm in foreign fashion.  They walked together towards
+Buckingham Palace - a strangely distinguished-looking couple.
+
+"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me.  To look at him,
+to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest.  He has just
+those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half
+splendid, of your athletic Englishman.  One would imagine him doing
+a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a
+criminal at all."
+
+Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path.  His forehead wore a perplexed
+frown.
+
+"He didn't give himself away, then?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?"
+
+"Without an instant's hesitation."
+
+"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make
+love to you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I even gave him an opening," she said.  "Of flirtation he has no
+more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets."
+
+Bellamy was silent for several moments.
+
+"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that
+he has the money and the portfolio.  I have made one or two other
+inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed
+only a week ago.  They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly
+insolvent.  No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis."
+
+"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired.
+
+"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her.  "He saw Laverick enter
+that passage and come out.  Afterwards he went back to his office,
+although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way.
+The thing could not have been accidental."
+
+"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested.  "He is, after
+all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be
+very much in your power.  Tell him of the value of that document.
+Tell him that you must have it."
+
+"It could be done," Bellamy admitted.  "I think that one of us must
+talk plainly to him.  Listen, Louise, - are you seeing him again?"
+
+"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night."
+
+"See what you can do," he begged.  "I would rather keep away from
+him myself, if I can.  Have you heard anything of Streuss?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched
+ - even my dressing-room at the Opera House.  That man's spies are
+simply wonderful.  He seems able to plant them everywhere.  And,
+David! - "
+
+"Yes, dear?"
+
+"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued.  "I am perfectly
+certain of it."
+
+Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy
+declared.
+
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone.  "The man
+has all my affairs in his hands.  Up till now, although he is
+uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well."
+
+"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said.  "I am tired."
+
+She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side.  In full view
+of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying.  She looked
+thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster.
+
+"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked.
+
+"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more.
+
+"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence.  I seem to
+feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk,
+to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who
+throng your streets.  They are a stolid, unbelieving people - these.
+The blow, when it comes, will be the harder."
+
+Bellamy sighed.
+
+"You are right," he said.  "When one comes to think of it, it is
+amazing.  How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how
+completely their teachings have been ignored!  The invasion bogey
+has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest.
+Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers."
+
+"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I am," he affirmed.  "I think that if we could read that document
+we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion
+of England.  I think you would find that the blow would be struck
+simultaneously at our Colonies.  We should either have to submit or
+send a considerable fleet away from home waters.  Then, I presume,
+the question of invasion would come again.  All the time, of course,
+the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be
+scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings.  Austria would
+gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere."
+
+Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire.
+
+"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she
+said, "this decadence of your country.  Once England held the scales
+of justice for the world.  Now she is no longer strong enough, and
+there is none to take her place.  David, even if you know what that
+document contains, even then will it help very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed.  Don't you see that there is one hope left to
+us - one hope - and that is Russia?  The Czar must be made to
+withdraw from that compact.  We want to know his share in it.  When
+we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia.  Germany
+and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world.  With Russia
+behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an
+equal one.  They have to face both directions, they have to face two
+great armies working from the east and from the west."
+
+She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments.
+Bellamy was thinking deeply.
+
+"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms
+have been searched.  When was this?"
+
+"Only last night," she replied.
+
+Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is
+not in our possession.  He knows nothing about Laverick.  How are
+we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?"
+
+"You have a plan?" she asked.
+
+"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared.  "I shall
+say that we have already handed over the document to the English
+Government.  It will be a bluff, pure and simple.  He may believe
+it or he may not."
+
+"You will break your compact then," she reminded him.
+
+"I shall call myself justified," he continued.  "He has attempted
+to rob us of the document.  You are sure of what you say - that your
+rooms and dressing-room have been searched?"
+
+"Absolutely certain," she declared.
+
+"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided.  "If Streuss comes to
+me, I shall meet him frankly.  I shall tell him that he has tried
+to play the burglar and that it must be war.  I shall tell him that
+the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and
+his spies had better clear out."
+
+She looked at him questioningly.
+
+"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can
+do, and one thing only.  We must send a mission to Russia and another
+to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea
+we must declare war.  It is the only thing left to us - a bold front.
+Without that packet we have no casus belli.  With it, we can strike,
+and strike hard.  I still believe that if we declare war within seven
+days, we shall save ourselves."
+
+Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across
+the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world
+beyond.  They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh
+floor of one of the great Strand hotels.
+
+"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily.  "We cannot
+doubt it any longer.  I think, Streuss, that the best course you
+and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back.  We do no
+good here.  We only run needless risks."
+
+The face of the other man was dark with anger.  His tone, when he
+spoke, shook with passion.
+
+"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely.  "I tell you
+that we must succeed.  If that document reaches the hands of any one
+in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen
+upon our country since you or I were born.  You don't understand,
+Kahn!  You keep your eyes closed!"
+
+"What men can do we have done," the other answered.  "Von Behrling
+played us false.  He has died a traitor's death, but it is very
+certain that he parted with his document before he received that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared.  "At
+mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were
+unknown to the Ministers of the King here.  Now if Von Behrling
+had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose
+that everything would be known by now?  He did not part with it.
+Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it.
+That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer,
+and it is for us to find him."
+
+Kahn sighed.
+
+"It is outside our sphere - that.  What can we do against the police
+of this country working in their own land?"
+
+Streuss struck the table before which they were standing.  The veins
+in his temples were like whipcord.
+
+"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool!  Can't you see what it
+means?  If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose
+will happen?"
+
+"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered.  "They will
+have time to make preparation."
+
+Streuss laughed bitterly.
+
+"Worse than that!" he exclaimed.  "They are not all fools, these
+English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches.
+Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches
+Downing Street?  War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon!
+Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working
+night and day?  Don't you know that every nerve is being strained,
+that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our
+new battleships?  There is but one chance for this country, and if
+her statesmen read that document they will know what it is.  It is
+open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves
+secure against attack."
+
+"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared.  "They might
+make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to
+take the initiative - no!  I do not believe it."
+
+"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said.  "He
+may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it.  Kahn, wake up, man!
+You and I together have never known what failure means.  I tell you
+that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must
+find it.  This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called
+at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked
+Friars' Alley.  She was there a long time.  The stockbroker himself
+came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood
+with her there and returned.  What was her interest in him, Kahn?
+His name is Laverick.  Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin.
+To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements.  Why did
+Mademoiselle go to the city to see him?  He was at his office late
+that Tuesday night.  He had a partner who has disappeared."
+
+Kahn looked at his companion with admiration.
+
+"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed.
+
+"And more," Streuss declared.  "For twenty-four hours, this man
+Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels."
+
+"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested.  "If he has the
+document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly."
+
+Streuss shook his head.
+
+"You don't know the man.  He is an Englishman, and if he had any
+idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would
+be small indeed.  This is what I think will happen.  Mademoiselle
+will try to obtain it, and try in vain.  Then Bellamy will tell him
+the truth, and he will part with it willingly.  In the meantime, I
+believe that it is in his possession.
+
+"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn.
+
+"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed.  "If it is only a hundred to one
+chance, we have to take it.  I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf,
+and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed."
+
+The telephone bell rang.  Streuss took off the receiver and held it
+to his ear.  The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid
+the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in
+his face.
+
+"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with
+the document to-day.  Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been
+sitting in the Park for an hour.  When they separated, she drove
+home and dropped him at his club.  Up till now, then, they have not
+the document.  We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves
+business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document
+has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his
+office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's - "
+
+"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly.
+
+"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly,
+"there is still a chance for us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
+
+
+Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden
+that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the
+reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become
+her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this
+adventure.  He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no
+interest for her.  In some way or other he had become connected in
+her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of
+his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder
+had become a subject of interest to her.  Either that, or this was
+one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman.
+
+He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of
+courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary
+visitor.  The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her
+wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no
+person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved
+upon any stage.  It appeared impossible that movement so graceful
+and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless.  There
+seemed to be some strange power inside the woman.  Surely her will
+guided her feet!  The necessity for physical effort never once
+appeared.  Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt
+against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether
+in check.  The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her
+glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience.  He
+clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he
+leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she
+reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips,
+accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the
+packed house.
+
+Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock
+at his box door.  One of the attendants ushered in a short man of
+somewhat remarkable personality.  He was barely five feet in height,
+and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the
+appearance of a hunchback.  He had black, beady eyes, a black
+moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin.  His white gloves
+had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his
+silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually
+associated with Bond Street.
+
+Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and
+commenced to speak.  His accent was foreign, but, if not an
+Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence.
+
+"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies.  It was
+Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance.
+My name is Lassen.  I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business
+manager.
+
+"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick.  "Will
+you sit down?"
+
+Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat,
+straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed
+back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took
+the seat opposite Laverick.  His first question was inevitable.
+
+"What do you think of the opera, sir?"
+
+"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered.  "It
+is above criticism."
+
+"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe
+and her voice is the most wonderful.  It is a great combination,
+this.  I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to
+England most of those whose names are known during the last ten
+years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale, - never will
+be."
+
+I can believe it," Laverick admitted.
+
+She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen.  "Your
+acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest."
+
+"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly.  He was not
+particularly taken with his visitor.
+
+"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded.
+"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance."
+
+"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered.  "As a matter of fact,
+it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist
+upon my coming here to-night.  She did me the honor, as you may
+know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning."
+
+"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared.  "Mademoiselle is a
+great woman of business.  Most of her investments she controls
+herself.  She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict
+her.  She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of
+affairs."
+
+Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss
+Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger
+should be her manager.  He nodded and took up his programme.  As
+he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act.  Laverick turned
+deliberately towards the stage.  The little man had paid his respects,
+as he put it.  Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation
+with him.  Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that
+his companion's eyes were fixed upon him.  He had an uncomfortable
+sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this
+visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he
+had not declared.
+
+"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter
+remarked, some time afterwards.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her."
+
+"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested.
+"You are here at her invitation.  It is usual, I can assure you."
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said.  "I
+have an engagement immediately after the performance is over."
+
+His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch,
+and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later.  When
+he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to
+Laverick with an air of triumph.
+
+"It is as I said!" he exclaimed.  "Mademoiselle expects you."
+
+Laverick read the few lines which she had written.
+
+  I wish to see you after the performance.  If you cannot come
+  round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant
+  of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup.  Do not fail.
+                                                   Louise Idiale.
+
+Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate
+remark.  Later on he turned to his companion.
+
+"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself
+the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant.  I have an
+engagement after the performance which I must keep."
+
+"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously.
+
+"Without a doubt," Laverick promised.
+
+Mr. Lassen took up his hat...
+
+"I will go and tell Mademoiselle.  For some reason or other she
+seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening.  She has
+her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself,
+find it well to keep them gratified.  If I do not see you again,
+sir, permit me to wish you good evening."
+
+He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and
+Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve.  He was not in the
+least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this
+woman's interest in him.  Her invitation, he knew very well, was
+one which half London would have coveted.  Yet it meant nothing
+personal, he was sure of that.  It simply meant that for some
+mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit
+him in the city he was of interest to her.
+
+At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove
+to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre.  Zoe came out among the
+first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street
+eagerly.  When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly.
+
+"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his
+taxicab.  "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there
+is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true.
+To-night I was not sure.  You had said nothing about it, and yet I
+could not help believing that you would be here."
+
+"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together.
+Unfortunately, I have an engagement."
+
+"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling.
+
+Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it.
+
+"It is rather an odd thing," he declared.  "You remember that woman
+at Luigi's last night - Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to
+invest for her.  She made me take her out and show her where the
+murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it.
+Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening,
+and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards.
+I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to
+Luigi's, where she will be."
+
+The girl was silent for a moment.
+
+"Where are we going now, then?" she asked.
+
+"Wherever you like.  I can take you home first, or I can leave you
+anywhere."
+
+She looked at him with a piteous little smile.
+
+"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said.  "I have so
+many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home."
+
+"I am sorry.  If I could think of anything or anywhere - "
+
+"No, you must take me home, please," said she.  "It was selfish of
+me.  Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person.  Do you
+think that she will want you every night?"
+
+"Of course not," he laughed.  "Come, I will make an engagement with
+you.  We will have supper together to-morrow evening."
+
+She brightened up at once.
+
+"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you
+heard anything from Arthur?  He promised to send a telegram from
+Queenstown."
+
+Laverick shook his head.  He said nothing about the marconigram he
+had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that
+there was no such person on board.  It seemed scarcely worth while
+to worry her.
+
+"I have heard nothing," he replied.  "Of course, he must be half-way
+to America by now."
+
+"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked.
+
+"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors.
+The latter I am paying as they come.  But there is one thing you
+ought to do with me.  I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock
+up his papers and letters.  He never even went back, you know, after
+that night."
+
+She nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"When would you like to do this?"
+
+"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until
+Monday afternoon.  Would you go with me then?"
+
+"Of course...  My time is my own.  We have no matinee, and I have
+nothing to do except in the evening."
+
+They had reached her home.  It looked very dark and very uninviting.
+She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was
+carrying.
+
+"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged.  "It
+looks so dreary, doesn't it?"
+
+"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in
+a part like this."
+
+"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered.  "I am only lonely."
+
+He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit
+the gas jet.  In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting
+for her, and some bread.
+
+"Thank you so much," she said.  "Now I am going to make up the fire
+and read for a short time.  I hope that you will enjoy your supper
+ - well, moderately," she added, with a little laugh.
+
+"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than
+last night's or to-morrow night's."
+
+She sighed.
+
+"Poor little me!" she exclaimed.  "It is not fair to have to compete
+with Mademoiselle Idiale.  Good night!"
+
+Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away.
+
+"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away
+early - would you like me to come in and say good night to you
+later on?"
+
+Her face was suddenly flushed with joy.
+
+"Oh, do!" she begged.  "Do!"
+
+He turned away with a smile.
+
+"Very well," he said.  "Don't shut up just yet and I will try."
+
+"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared, - "until
+four, even.  You must come.  Remember, you must come.  See."
+
+She held out to him her key.
+
+"I can knock at the door," he protested.  "You would hear me."
+
+"But I might fall asleep," she answered.  "I am afraid.  If you have
+the key, I am sure that you will come."
+
+He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh.
+
+"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S
+
+
+Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to
+twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties
+on their way to a fancy dress ball.  The demand for tables was far
+in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before
+the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once.
+"Will you be so good as to come this way?"
+
+Laverick followed him.  She was sitting at the same table as last
+night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise,
+only for two.
+
+"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to
+a new sensation.  I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of
+an hour - I!  Such a thing has never happened to me before."
+
+"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and
+taking up the carte.
+
+"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you.  That is what I
+seldom do with any man.  Not that I care for the appearance," she
+added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand.  "Nothing troubles me
+less.  It is simply that one man alone wearies me.  Almost always
+he will make love, and that I do not like.  You, Mr. Laverick, I am
+not afraid of.  I do not think that you will make love to me."
+
+"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I
+forthwith banish.  You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though,
+Mademoiselle."
+
+She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids.
+
+"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said.  "I do not think that
+you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is
+good-looking or famous."
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make
+love to any one.  I often feel the most profound admiration for
+individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is
+difficult - sometimes it is even embarrassing.  For supper?"
+
+"It is ordered," she declared.  "You are my guest."
+
+"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly.  "I have been your guest
+at the Opera.  You at least owe me the honor of being mine for
+supper."
+
+She frowned a little.  She was obviously unused to being contradicted.
+
+"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted.  "No," she
+continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back.  I
+sup with you to-night.  This is an ill omen for our future
+acquaintance.  I have given in to you already - I, who give in to
+no man.  Give me some champagne, please."
+
+Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the
+sommelier darted forward and served them.
+
+"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick,"
+she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast,
+I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is
+consuming you."
+
+"The curiosity?  "
+
+"Yes!  You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last
+night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your
+office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with
+you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you
+to supper here and am supping with you alone.  Now confess the
+truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?"
+
+"Frankly, I am."
+
+She smiled good-humoredly.
+
+"I knew it quite well.  You are not conceited.  You do not believe,
+as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you.  You
+think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the
+time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether
+you have any idea."
+
+Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper.  She looked at him with a
+suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only
+needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something
+almost irresistible.
+
+"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea."
+
+"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked.
+
+"It was about the murder.  You seemed interested in the fact that
+my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred."
+
+"Quite right," she admitted.  "I see that your memory is very good.
+There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet
+you."
+
+Laverick drank his wine slowly.  The woman knew!  Impossible!  Her
+eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely.  What
+could she know?  How could she guess?
+
+"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand.  Your interest in me
+arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that
+murder.  Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?"
+
+"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance
+of mine."
+
+"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed.  "Why, he has not
+been identified.  No one knows who he was."
+
+She raised her eyebrows very slightly.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you
+everything.  I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of
+mine.  Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna
+with him."
+
+Laverick was intensely interested.
+
+"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?"
+
+"Perhaps I could," she answered.  "I can tell you one thing, at any
+rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you.  At the time when he was
+murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him.  This
+is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press."
+
+Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his.  He sat
+quite still.  His face exhibited nothing more than the blank
+amazement which he certainly felt.
+
+"This is marvelous," he said.  "Have you told the police?"
+
+"I have not," she answered.  "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling
+the police."
+
+"But the money?  To whom did it belong?"
+
+"Not to the murdered man."
+
+"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired.
+
+"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am
+telling you too much."
+
+"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly.
+
+"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?"
+
+"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed.  "But what can I do?  What do I know
+of these things?"
+
+She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful
+gold purse set with emeralds.  Carefully opening it, she drew from
+the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great
+uncut emerald set into its centre.  This, too, she opened, and drew
+out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top.
+These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth.
+Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick.
+
+"You may read that," she said.  "It is part of a report which I have
+had in my pos session since Wednesday morning."
+
+Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular
+characters, very distinct and plain:
+
+  Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down
+  the street but did not glance toward the passage.  The next
+  person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the
+  same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his
+  homeward way.  He glanced up the passage and saw the body
+  lying there.  He disappeared for a moment and struck a match.
+  A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and
+  down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office
+  from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey,
+  and closed the door behind him.  He was there for about ten
+  minutes.  When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street
+  and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him.
+
+  The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was
+  Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers.
+
+"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly.
+
+He handed it back to her.
+
+"It interests me very much," he answered.  "Who was this unseen
+person who wrote from the clouds?"
+
+"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared.
+"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?"
+
+Laverick helped himself to champagne.  He listened for a moment to
+the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that
+beautiful face a few feet away.  Her lips were slightly parted, her
+forehead wrinkled.  There was nothing of the accuser in her
+countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression.
+
+"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It might seem so," she answered.  "Sometimes I think that all the
+time we live two lives, - the life of which the world sees the
+outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows
+anything at all.  Look, for instance, at all these people - these
+chorus girls and young men about town - the older ones, too - all
+hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they
+had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy.
+Have they no shadows, too, no secrets?  They seem so harmless, yet
+if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer
+there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus
+on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor?  But
+those are the things of the other world which we do not see.  The
+men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me.
+The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and
+shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame
+throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very
+few minutes.  But they do not know.  There are the shadows across
+my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours.  What
+do you say, Mr. Laverick?"
+
+He looked at her, curiously moved.  Now at last he began to believe
+that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a
+marvelous woman.  She had a fame which would have contented nine
+hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand.  She had beauty,
+and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are
+irresistible.  She had but to lift a finger and there were few
+who would not kneel to do her bidding.  And yet, behind it all there
+were other things in her life.  Had she sought them, or had they
+come to her?
+
+"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who
+realize the danger of words.  You believe in silence.  Well, silence
+is often good.  You do not choose to admit anything."
+
+"What is there for me to admit?  Do you want to know whether I am
+the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage,
+who reappeared again - "
+
+"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured
+across the flowers.
+
+"At least tell me this?" he demanded.  "Was the money yours?"
+
+"I am not like you," she replied.  "I have talked a great deal and
+I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you."
+
+"But where are we?" he asked.  "Are you seriously accusing me of
+having robbed this murdered man?"
+
+"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having
+murdered him."
+
+"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account
+for my movements that night as against the written word of your
+mysterious informant?  Is it you who are charging me with being a
+thief?  Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself
+or to plead guilty?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"No," she answered.  "I have said almost my last word to you upon
+this subject.  All that I have to ask of you is this.  If that
+pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents,
+then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not
+a secret pocket.  If you discover that, I think that you will find
+in it a sealed document.  If you find that document, you must bring
+it to me."
+
+The lights went down.  The voice of the waiter murmured something
+in his ears.
+
+"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not
+wish to disturb us.  Still, perhaps we had better go."
+
+They passed down the room.  To Laverick it was all - like a dream -
+the laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the
+lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to
+have enfolded the place.  In the hall her maid came up.  A small
+motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the
+doorway.  Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand.
+
+"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite
+a success.  We shall before long, I hope, meet again."
+
+He handed her into the carriage.  Her maid walked with them.  The
+footman stood erect by his side.  There were no further words to be
+spoken.  A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood
+bareheaded upon the pavement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE
+
+It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when
+he stole into that shabby little sitting-room.  Zoe had fallen
+asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the
+window.  Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat
+lay upon the table.  A book was upon her lap as though she had
+started to read only to find it slip through her fingers.  He stood
+with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her.  Her
+eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that
+her eyes were closed.  Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed
+more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of
+ill-health.  The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the
+neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin.
+Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her
+feet and ankles.  Once more he remembered his first simile, his
+first thought of her.  She seemed, indeed, like some dainty
+statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her
+own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the
+struggle.  His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he
+stood and watched her.  Supposing she had been different!  It
+would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way
+through the most difficult of all lives.  Brute!
+
+He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her
+eyes.  At first she seemed bewildered.  Then she smiled and sat up.
+
+"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed.
+
+"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling.  "I have
+been standing looking at you for five minutes at least."
+
+"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared.  "I don't
+suppose I should ever have heard you.  Now please stand there in
+the light and let me look at you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle
+Idiale."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?"
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so
+beautiful!  If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she
+even looked my way."
+
+"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable."
+
+"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Why should I be?" he laughed.  "She is like a wonderful picture, a
+marvelous statue, if you will.  Everything about her is faultless.
+But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know.  It is life
+which stirs life."
+
+"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked.
+
+"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir
+it."
+
+She drew a little sigh of content.
+
+"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the
+least desire to let you go."
+
+"Incredible!" he declared.
+
+"But it is true," she answered earnestly.  "You would not have me
+talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door.  The men
+to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very
+few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for
+me and I have not cared for them.  I think," she said, disconsolately,
+"I am too small.  Every one to-day seems to like big women.  Cora
+Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every
+night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper."
+
+Laverick looked grave.
+
+"You are not envying her?" he asked.
+
+"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes."
+
+Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to
+prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+But do you know that it is half past one?  I must not stay here any
+longer."
+
+She sighed once more.
+
+"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely.  I have never
+been here without May and her mother.  I have never slept alone in
+the house before the other night.  If I had known that they were
+going away, I should never have dared to come here."
+
+"It is too bad," he declared.  "Couldn't you get one of the other
+girls to stay with you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but
+they are all living either at home or with relatives.  The others I
+am afraid about.  They seem to like to sit up so late and - "
+
+"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily, - "quite right.  You
+are better alone.  But you ought to have a servant."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked.  "You must remember that
+I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay."
+
+He fidgeted for a moment.
+
+"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I
+have money which should go to your brother.  Why will you not let me
+alter your arrangements just a little ?  I cannot bear to think of
+you here all alone."
+
+"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no.
+Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that
+sort of help from you.  If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it
+for a time and I think when you write him - I do not want to seem
+grasping - but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that
+he does give me just a little.  I have never had anything from him
+at all.  Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me.
+
+"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you
+would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to
+you.  I will take the responsibility for it.  It will come from him
+and not from me."
+
+She remained unconvinced.
+
+"I would rather wait," she said.  "If you really want to give me
+something, I will let you - out of my brother's money, of course,
+I mean," she added.  "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't
+have that.  But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and
+hat.  You can tell Arthur directly you write to him.  I don't mind
+that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed - I did the other night to
+have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very
+differently from all of them."
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+"I don't think men notice those things.  To me you seemed just as
+you should seem.  I only know that I was glad enough to be there
+with you."
+
+"Were you?" - rather wistfully.
+
+"Of course I was.  Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget
+Monday afternoon.  We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's
+rooms."
+
+She glanced at the clock.
+
+"Is it really so late?" she asked.
+
+"It is.  Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?"
+
+They stood hand in hand for a moment.  A strange silence seemed to
+have fallen upon the streets.  Laverick was suddenly conscious of
+something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had
+smiled upon him - a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering
+excitement which almost took his breath away.  His eyes were fixed
+upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave
+of feeling in her own expressive face.  Her lips trembled, her eyes
+were deeper and softer than ever.  They seemed to be asking him a
+question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was
+concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at
+arm's length.
+
+"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer,
+so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms.
+
+He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips.
+
+"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice
+even to himself sounded hard and unnatural.
+
+"Run along to bed.  To-morrow night - to-morrow night, then, I will
+fetch you.  Good-bye!"
+
+He let himself out.  He did not even look behind to the spot where
+he had left her.  He closed the front door and walked with swift,
+almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square,
+and into New Oxford Street.  Here he seemed to breathe more freely.
+He called a hansom and drove to his rooms.
+
+The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was
+no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him.  When he
+entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise.
+Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands
+upon his knees - Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even
+than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of
+unconcealed and unaffected terror.
+
+"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed.  "What the dickens - what do you want
+here, Shepherd?"
+
+"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied,
+"but I'm scared.  I've brought you back the certificates of them
+shares.  I want you to keep them for me.  I'm terrified lest they
+come and search my room.  I am, I tell you fair.  I'm terrified to
+order a pint of beer for myself.  They're watching me all the time."
+
+"Who are?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it.
+I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd
+done and finished with it.  Not a bit of it !  There was another one
+there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of
+the passage and asking me no end of questions.  He wasn't no
+journalist, I'll swear to that.  I asked him about his paper.
+'Half-a-dozen,' he declared.  'They're all glad to have what I send
+them.' Journalist!  Lord knows who the other chap was and what he
+was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight.  Joe
+Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a
+month's notice, and he says to me, "You see that big chap?' - meaning
+him as had been asking me the questions - and I says "Yes!' and he
+says, 'That's a 'tee.  I've seed him in a police court, giving
+evidence.' I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me
+down."
+
+"Come, come!" said Laverick.  "There's no need for you to be feeling
+like this about it.  All that you've done is not to have remembered
+those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night.
+There's nothing criminal in that."
+
+"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds'
+worth of shares in one's pocket - something suspicious, anyway,"
+Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table.  "I ain't giving
+you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me.  I wish I'd never
+given notice.  I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on."
+
+"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?"
+Laverick inquired.
+
+"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up.  "Why, he's
+been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me.
+My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell
+whether he did or not?  Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere.
+Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush
+was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels.  I seed
+him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get
+a drop of something."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you
+are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come
+here!  All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner."
+
+"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared.  "I couldn't, indeed.
+I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one.  And then
+there were these shares.  There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe."
+
+"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about
+nothing.  In any case, there is only one thing for you to do.  Pull
+yourself together and put a bold face upon it.  I'll keep these
+certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come
+to me for it.  Go back to your place, and if your master is willing
+to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for
+another month or so.  But don't let any one see that you're
+frightened.  Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble
+for.  No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked,
+except in a court and under oath.  Stick to your story, and if you
+take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking
+fingers, "you will keep away from the drink."
+
+"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him.  "A drop
+now and then just to keep up one's spirits - nothing that amounts
+to anything."
+
+"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said.  "Remember, I'm back
+of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble.  And don't come here
+again.  Come to my office, if you like - there's nothing in that -
+but don't come here, you understand?"
+
+Shepherd took up his hat.
+
+"I understand, sir.  I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight
+of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers."
+
+"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason, Laverick said,
+showing him out, "but not here again.  Keep your eyes open, and let
+me know if you think you've been followed here."
+
+"There's no more news in the papers, sir?  Nothing turned up?"
+
+"Nothing," replied Laverick.  "If the police have found out anything
+at all, they will keep it until after the inquest."
+
+"And you've heard.  nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a
+hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?"
+
+"Nothing," Laverick answered.  "Mr. Morrison is abroad."
+
+The man wiped his forehead with his hand.
+
+"Of course!" he muttered.  "A good job, too, for him!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
+
+
+On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and
+one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine.  He found
+a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows.
+They stared at him in amazement.  His arrival at such an hour was
+absolutely unprecedented.
+
+"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told
+them.  "I have a few things to attend to at once."
+
+He was accordingly left alone.  He had reckoned upon this as being
+the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being
+disturbed.  Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure
+against any possible intruder.  Then he went to his safe, unlocked
+it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather
+pocket-book.
+
+First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table.
+Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little
+leap.  It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him.  On one
+side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper.  He opened the
+case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining.
+Very soon he found the opening - it was simply a matter of drawing
+down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge.
+Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope,
+securely sealed.  Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged
+the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again.  Then
+he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document
+which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him.
+
+There was not much to be made of it.  There was no address, but the
+black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms,
+and a motto which to him was indecipherable.  He held it up to the
+light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained
+no idea as to its contents.  He leaned back in his chair for a
+moment, and looked at it.  So this was the document which would
+probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley!
+This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so
+much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of
+bank-notes!  What did it all mean?  Was this man, who had either
+expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance, - was
+he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret
+society, an informer?  Or was he one of the underground criminals
+of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known
+things - a creature of the dark places?  Perhaps during those few
+minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city
+awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than
+ever before exactly how he stood.  Without doubt he was walking on
+the brink of a precipice.  Four days ago there had been nothing for
+him but ruin.  The means of salvation had suddenly presented
+themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without
+hesitation he had embraced them.  What did it all amount to?  How
+far was he guilty, and of what?  Was he a thief?  The law would
+probably call him so.  The law might have even more to say.  It
+would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on
+that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals, - he
+was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge
+of this terrible crime.  Events had followed upon one another so
+rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time
+for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood.  The
+long-expected boom in" Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange
+advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible
+connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her
+apparent knowledge of his share in it, - these things were sufficient,
+indeed, to give him food for thought.  Laverick was not by nature a
+pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without
+doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high
+order.  It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger.
+He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other
+thoughts.  Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business
+of the: day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face
+and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was.  How was he
+to find a way out - to set himself right with the law?  What could
+he do with those notes?  They were there untouched.  He had only
+made use of them in an indirect way.  They were there intact, as
+he had picked them up upon that fateful night.  Was there any
+possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and
+restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned?
+His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him.
+Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy.  Should he risk
+everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much
+and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale?  It was a strange
+dilemma for a man to find himself in.
+
+Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced.  A pile
+of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began
+to ring.  He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of
+his coat and buttoned it up.  There, for the present, it must remain.
+He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make
+the most of this great tide of business.  With set face he closed
+the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which
+were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual
+figure.
+
+Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him
+that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated.
+
+"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded
+him.  "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her.  They
+must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit.  Perhaps she
+wants to realize."
+
+"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick.
+
+She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and
+heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat
+severely furnished office.  Her skirts swept his carpet with a
+musical swirl.  She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume
+of violets, - a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a
+famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person
+upon earth.  Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those
+few yards as she walked?
+
+He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair.
+
+"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely.  "So
+far, we have nothing but good news for you."
+
+She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk,
+and she waved her hand.
+
+"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments
+are a nuisance, I suppose," she said.  "But indeed I will not keep
+you long.  A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you.  I am
+beginning to find city affairs so interesting."
+
+They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so
+high that he could see her eyes.  She leaned back in her chair,
+supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right
+hand.  She looked at him thoughtfully.
+
+"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked.
+
+"I have."
+
+"And the document was there?"
+
+"The document was there," he admitted.  "Perhaps you can tell me how
+it would be addressed?"
+
+Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was
+assumed.  She was shivering slightly, as though with cold.
+
+"I imagine that there would be no address," she said.
+
+"You are right.  That document is in my pocket."
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
+
+"What do you advise me to do with it?"
+
+"Give it to me."
+
+"Have you any claim?"
+
+She leaned a little nearer to him.
+
+"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that
+twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"I do not claim them," he replied.  "They are in my safe at this
+moment, untouched.  They are there ready to be returned to their
+proper owner."
+
+"Why do you not find him?" - with a note of incredulity in her tone.
+
+"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded.
+
+"We waste words," she continued coldly.  "I think that if I leave
+you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand
+me that document."
+
+"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted.  "The very fact that
+you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to
+it.  But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?"
+
+"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none."
+
+"But listen," he begged.  "You are the only person with whom I have
+come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair.  I
+should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it.
+Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence?  I want neither
+the twenty thousand pounds nor the document.  I want, to be frank
+with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of
+being half a thief and half a criminal.  Show me some claim to that
+document and you shall have it.  Tell me to whom that money belongs,
+and it shall be restored."
+
+"You are incomprehensible," she declared.  "Are you, by any chance,
+playing a part with me?  Do you think that it is worth while?"
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the
+world is further from my thoughts.  There is very little of the
+conspirator about me.  I am a plain man of business who stumbled in
+upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary
+use of his discovery.  You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid.
+I want to get out.  Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such
+a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents
+anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again.
+
+She listened to him with unchanged face.  Yet for some moments after
+he had finished speaking she was thoughtful.
+
+"You may be speaking the truth," she said.  "If so, I have been
+deceived.  You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were.
+What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true."
+
+"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly.
+
+"Listen," she said, after a brief pause.  "You were at school, were
+you not, with Mr. David Bellamy?  You know well who he is?"
+
+"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You would consider him a person to be trusted?"
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"Very well, then," she declared.  "You shall come to my fiat at five
+o'clock this afternoon and bring that document.  If it is possible,
+David Bellamy shall be there himself.  We will try then and prove
+to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us."
+
+"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must
+tell me where."
+
+"You will put it down, please," she said.  "There must not be any
+mistake.  You must come, and you must come to-day.  I am staying at
+number 15, Dover Street.  I will leave orders that you are shown
+in at once."
+
+She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her.  On the way
+she hesitated.
+
+"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged.  "There
+are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry
+with you.  You represent to them things beside which life and death
+are trivial happenings."
+
+Laverick laughed shortly.  He was a matter-of-fact man, and there
+seemed something a little absurd in such a warning.
+
+"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear.  London
+is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably
+safe one to live in."
+
+"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your
+guard to-day, for all our sakes."
+
+He bowed and changed the subject.
+
+"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to
+leave as they are.  It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to
+know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a
+thousand pounds."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It was an excuse - that investment," she declared.  "Yet money is
+always good.  Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will.  I
+will trust your judgment.  Buy or sell as you please.  You will let
+nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?"
+
+"Nothing," he promised her.
+
+>From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham
+she held out her hand in farewell.
+
+"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do
+beg that you will remember what I say.  Do not be alone to-day more
+than you can help.  Suspect every one who comes near to you.  There
+may be a trap before your feet at any moment.  Be wary always and do
+not forget - at five o'clock I expect you."
+
+Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux.
+
+"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+PENETRATING A MYSTERY
+
+
+About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked
+"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick.  He tore it open.
+It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two
+of the partners of which he was on friendly terms.  It ran thus:
+
+  MY DEAR LAVERICK, - I want a chat with you, if you can spare
+  five minutes at lunch time.  Come to Lyons' a little earlier
+  than usual, if you don't mind, - say at a quarter to one.
+                                                    J.HENSHAW.
+
+
+Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first.  He
+had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention
+of starting out, when a thought struck him.  He took it up and read
+it though again.  Then he turned to the telephone.
+
+"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen.  I want to speak to Mr.
+Henshaw particularly."
+
+Two minutes passed.  Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands
+ready to go out.  Then the telephone bell rang.  He took up the
+receiver.
+
+"Hullo!  Is that Henshaw?"
+
+"I'm Henshaw," was the answer.  "That's Laverick, isn't it?  How
+are you, old fellow?"
+
+"I'm all right," Laverick replied.  "What is it that you want to
+see me about?"
+
+"Nothing particular that I know of.  Who told you that I wanted to?"
+
+Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat
+down in his chair.
+
+"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago,
+asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at
+Lyons'?"
+
+Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response.
+
+"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap, - you know
+that," was the answer, "but some one 's been putting up a practical
+joke on you."
+
+"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick
+insisted.
+
+"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply.  "Do you seriously mean that
+you've had one purporting to come from me?"
+
+Laverick pulled himself together.
+
+"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could
+tell what the name really was.  I guessed at you but I seem to have
+guessed wrong.  Good-bye!"
+
+He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning.
+Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken.  This was a deliberate
+effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices
+at a quarter to one.
+
+With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked,
+Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of
+his premises.  At the same time his curiosity was excited.  Here,
+perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable
+mystery.
+
+There were thee clerks in the outer office.  He put on his hat and
+despatched two of them on errands in different directions.  The last
+he was obliged to take into his confidence.
+
+"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch.  At least, I wish it
+to be thought that I am going out to lunch.  As a matter of fact, I
+shall return in about ten minutes by the back way.  I do not wish
+you, however, to know this.  I want you to have it in your mind
+that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past
+two.  If there are visitors for me - Inquirers of any sort - act
+exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was
+not in the building."
+
+Halsey appeared a good deal mystified.  Laverick took him even
+further into his confidence.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a
+bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him.  Some
+one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour
+or so.  I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible.
+You understand?"
+
+"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully.  "I am not to be
+aware that you have returned, then?"
+
+"Certainly not," Laverick answered.  "Please be quite clear about
+that.  If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in,
+but do not send for the police unless I tell you to.  I wish to
+look into this affair for myself."
+
+Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly
+formal in his ideas, was a little shocked.
+
+"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate
+with the police in the first case?  If this should really turn out
+to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the
+matter to them."
+
+Laverick frowned.
+
+"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to
+tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter
+personally.  Please do exactly as I say."
+
+He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of
+the restaurant which he chiefly frequented.  He reached it in a
+moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance.  Within ten
+minutes he was back at his office.
+
+"Has any one been, Halsey?"
+
+"No one, sir," the clerk answered.
+
+"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I
+have returned."
+
+He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the
+small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands.  He had
+scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside
+hall.  The door of his office was opened.
+
+"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he
+heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone.
+
+"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar
+voice.  "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry.  The matter is of
+some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick."
+
+The visitor was shown in.  Laverick investigated his appearance
+through a crack in the door.  He was a man of medium height,
+well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles.  He
+made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted
+the paper which Halsey offered him.
+
+"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially.  "I have
+been running about all the morning."
+
+"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said.
+"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or
+twenty minutes."
+
+The clerk withdrew and closed the door.  The man in the chair waited
+for a moment.  Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously
+around the room.  Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to
+his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table.  With fingers
+which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he
+swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers.  His
+eyes were everywhere.  Every document seemed to be scanned and as
+rapidly discarded.  At last he found something which interested him.
+He held it up and paused in his search.  Laverick heard a little
+breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the
+paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon
+which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had
+given him.  The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper
+where he had found it.  Evidently he had done with the writing-table.
+He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a
+few seconds.  Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys.  To
+Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door
+of the safe swung open.  He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand
+reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers.
+Then he stood once more quite still, listening.  Satisfied that no
+one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved
+once more to the writing-table.  With marvelous swiftness the notes
+were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down,
+the secret place disclosed - the secret place which was empty.  It
+seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little
+oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips.  The man
+replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated.
+Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly
+out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and
+the door.
+
+"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly.
+
+The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without
+the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where
+he lay, for a moment, motionless.  Then he slowly picked himself up.
+His spectacles were broken - he blinked as he stood there.
+
+"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said.  "Perhaps if you will kindly
+realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so
+good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your
+intrusion."
+
+The man obeyed.  He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment,
+as though in pain.
+
+"I imagine," he said - and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had
+a slight foreign accent - "I imagine that the motive for my paying
+you this visit is fairly clear to you.  People who have compromising
+possessions may always expect visits of this sort.  You see, one
+runs so little risk."
+
+"So little risk!" Laverick repeated.
+
+"Exactly," the other answered.  "Confess that you are not in the
+least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give
+me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted
+from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of
+England notes."
+
+"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted.
+
+"You are a man of common sense," declared the other.  "It would not
+do.  Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you.  There
+was a sealed document in this pocket-book.  Where is it ?  What
+have you done with it?"
+
+"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions
+from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
+attempt at burglary?"
+
+The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
+into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.
+
+"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply.  "Whether
+you've read that document or not, I want it.  If you've read it, you
+know the sort of men you've got to deal with.  If you haven't, take
+my word for it that we waste no time.  The document!  Will you give
+it me?"
+
+"Do I understand that you are threatening me?"  Laverick asked,
+retreating a few steps.
+
+"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
+seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered.
+"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last
+movement you'll ever make on earth."
+
+"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick
+said.  "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance
+of getting clear of the building.  My clerks would rush out after
+you into the street.  You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
+business men.  You couldn't make your way through anywhere.  You'd
+be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards.  Put down your revolver.
+We can perhaps settle this little matter without it."
+
+"The document!" the man ordered.  "You've got it!  You must have it!
+You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book
+was the document.  We must have it.  We intend to have it."
+
+"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired.
+
+"If you do not know, what does it matter?  Will you give it to me?"
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"I have no document."
+
+The man in the chair leaned forward.  The muzzle of his revolver was
+very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.
+
+"Give it to me!" he repeated.  "You ought to know that you are not
+dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death.  You have it about
+you.  Produce it, and I've done with you.  Deny me, and you have not
+time to say your prayers!"
+
+Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
+His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it.  He held
+it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at
+his visitor.  He followed behind with one desperate spring.  Once,
+twice, the revolver barked out.  Laverick felt the skin of his temple
+burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days.
+Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay
+upon the carpet.
+
+"We 'll see about that.  By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the
+life out of you.  That bullet of yours might have been in my temple."
+
+"It was meant to be there," the man gasped.  "Hand over the document,
+you pig-headed fool!  It'll cost you your life - if not to-day,
+to-morrow."
+
+"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely.
+"You assassin!  Scoundrel!  To come here and make a cold-blooded
+effort at murder!  You shall see what you think of the inside of an
+English prison."
+
+The man laughed contemptuously.
+
+"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked.
+
+Laverick was silent.  His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed.  You have twenty
+thousand pounds.  That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty
+thousand for that document unopened."
+
+"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the
+revolver a little further away.  "Unfortunately, I am too much in the
+dark.  Tell me the real position of the murdered man?  Tell me why he
+was murdered?  Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in
+his possession?  Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you."
+
+"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick,"
+his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me.  You do not
+expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded?
+You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that
+sealed envelope?  Bah!  It is a child's game, that, and we play as
+men with men."
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?"
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered.  "The document is worth
+no more than that to you.  How you came into this thing is a mystery,
+but you are in and, what is more, you have possession.  Twenty
+thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick.  It is a large sum of money.  You
+find it interesting?"
+
+"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a
+seller."
+
+The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes.  His expression was
+full of wonder.
+
+"Consider for a moment," he said.  "While that document remains in
+your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a
+thread.  Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares.
+Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner
+you are out of them the better.  What do you say now to my offer?"
+
+"It is refused," Laverick declared.  "I regret; to add," he
+continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at
+my disposal.  Forgive me."
+
+He pressed a button with his finger.  His visitor rose up in anger.
+
+"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed.  "You are not going to
+send me away without it?  Why, I tell you that there won't be a
+safe corner in the World for you!"
+
+Halsey opened the door.  Laverick nodded toward his visitor.
+
+"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered.
+
+Halsey started.  The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been
+muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of
+gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke.  The man rose
+slowly to his feet, still blinking.
+
+"It must be as you will, of course.  I wonder if you would be so
+good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist?  I am,
+unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition."
+
+"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered.  "Put on your
+hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses."
+
+His visitor leaned towards Laverick.
+
+"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered.
+"Do you accept my offer?  Will you give me the document?"
+
+"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied.  "I shall not part with
+anything until I know more than I know at present."
+
+The man stood motionless for a moment.  His fingers seemed to be
+twitching.  Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but
+if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance
+checked them.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly.  "We
+shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date."
+
+With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room.  Laverick
+went to the window and threw it wide open.  The smoke floated out,
+the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed.  Then he walked
+back to his seat.  Once more he locked up the notes.  The document
+was safe in his pocket.  There was a slight mark by the side of his
+temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding.  He rang the bell
+and Halsey entered.
+
+"Has our friend gone, Halsey?"
+
+"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered.  "He was
+buying some spectacles."
+
+Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those
+gold-rimmed glasses were scattered.
+
+"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said.  "The
+gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe.  We'll
+have a combination put on."
+
+"Very good, sir," Halsey answered.
+
+"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing,
+for your own sake as well as mine.  If that man presents himself
+again, don't let him come into my room unannounced.  If you can
+help it, don't let him come in at all.  I have an idea that he
+might be dangerous."
+
+The clerk's face was a study.
+
+"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall
+take the liberty of sending for the police."
+
+Laverick made no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE
+
+
+At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the
+meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab
+to be summoned.  He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book
+securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and
+directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane.  Here at the headquarters
+of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in
+the strong-room locked up the pocket-book.  There was only now the
+document left.  Stepping once more into the street, he found that
+his taxicab had vanished.  He looked up and down in vain.  The man
+had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his
+departure.  A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and
+addressed him.
+
+"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago,
+sir?" he asked.
+
+"I was," Laverick answered.  "I hadn't paid him and I told him to
+wait."
+
+"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman
+remarked.  "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up
+in a hansom.  They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver,
+who shook his head and pointed to his flag.  The gent then said
+something else to him - can't say as I heard what it was, but it
+was probably offering him double fare.  Anyway, they both got in
+and off went your taxi, sir."
+
+"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully.  "It sounds a little
+perplexing."
+
+He hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit
+in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed.  I have still
+in my pocket a document of great importance.  I have no doubt
+whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is
+to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will
+render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful."
+
+The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously.
+He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical
+joke.  Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and
+was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle!
+Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous
+order.  Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a
+wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to
+defend himself at any time.  The constable smiled in a non-committal
+manner.
+
+"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think
+this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault."
+
+"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you
+must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice.  I stepped
+from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight
+from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other
+document I am carrying with me.  Why I have taken you into my
+confidence is to ask you this.  Can you walk with me to the corner
+of the street, or until we meet a taxicab?  it sounds cowardly, but,
+as a matter of fact, I am not afraid.  I simply want to make sure
+of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs."
+
+The constable stood still, a little perplexed.
+
+"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further
+on.  I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire
+it.  At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations.
+How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this
+neighborhood for some purpose of your own?"
+
+"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with
+a smile.
+
+"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted.  "Keep by my side, and I
+think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn."
+
+Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of
+the policeman he seemed short.  Both scanned the faces of the
+passers-by closely - the police-man with mild interest, Laverick
+with almost feverish anxiety.  It was a gray afternoon, pleasant
+but close.  There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the
+feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick.  He
+felt himself in danger - he had no idea how, or in what way - but
+the conviction was there.  He took every step fully alert,
+absolutely on his guard.
+
+They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the
+bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road.
+Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct
+of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own
+position.  With the constable, however, it was naturally different.
+He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and
+he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he
+was engaged.  A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either
+knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of
+fit.  There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making
+desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body.  The constable
+sprang to the rescue.  Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing
+that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around.  He
+was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had
+been meant for the back of his head.  He was confronted by a man
+dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat,
+a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as
+would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion.
+Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one
+pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking
+life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked
+with chloroform.  Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his
+left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent
+him staggering against the wall.  The handkerchief, with its load
+of sickening odor, fell to the pavement.  The man was obviously
+worsted.  Laverick sprang at him.  They were almost unobserved,
+for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway.
+With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close,
+and tore at his coat.  Laverick struck at him again but met only
+the air.  The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this
+time Laverick made no mistake.  He struck downward so hard that
+with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold.  Before he
+could recover, Laverick had struck him again.  He reeled into the
+crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what
+seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance.
+But there was to be no more fight.  Through the people,
+swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to
+find some hidden way.  Laverick glared fiercely around him, but
+the man had gone.  His left hand crept to his chest. The victory
+was with him; the document was still there.
+
+At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi.  Ignoring
+the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing
+helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd,
+Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside.
+
+"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed.  The
+man obeyed him.  People raced to look through the window at him.
+The other commotion had died away, - the man in the road had got up
+and walked off.  A policeman came hurrying along but he was just
+too late.  Very soon they were on their way down Holborn.  Once
+more Laverick had escaped.
+
+A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a
+High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked
+for Mademoiselle Idiale.  He was shown into one of the most
+delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of.  The walls
+were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle
+so often affected in her clothes.  Laverick, who was something of
+a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort,
+priceless, - French furniture of the best and choicest period, a
+statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene
+from which he had just arrived.  The air in the room seemed as
+though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees, - it was fresh
+and sweet yet curiously fragrant.  Laverick sank down into one of
+the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time
+that he was out of breath.  Then the door opened silently and
+there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr.
+Lassen.  Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully.  Lassen's
+small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge
+ingratiating smile.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said, - "very glad
+indeed."
+
+"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered,
+somewhat curtly.  He had disliked this man from the first moment
+he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should
+conceal his feelings.
+
+"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself
+opposite to Laverick.  "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately
+prevented from seeing you.  She has a severe nervous headache,
+and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly
+undisturbed.  Women of her position, as you may understand, have
+to be exceptionally careful.  It would be a very serious matter
+indeed if she were unable to sing to-night."
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered.  "In that
+case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered."
+
+"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed.  "Many times,
+let us hope.  But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a
+document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle.  She is
+most anxious that you should hand it to me - most anxious.  She
+will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day,
+if she is well enough to receive."
+
+Laverick shook his head firmly.
+
+"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering
+the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale.
+To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with
+it even to her.  I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say.
+But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would
+induce me to part with it to any one else."
+
+There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's
+face.  He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show
+its teeth.  Laverick was suddenly on his guard.  More adventures,
+he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique
+of the other man.  He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a
+small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by
+his side.  If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward
+his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head.
+
+"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said
+slowly.  "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to
+change your mind.  I can assure you that I have as much right to
+the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest
+wish that you should hand it over to me.  Further, I may inform you
+that the document itself is a most incriminating one.  Its possession
+upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his
+guard, might be a very serious matter indeed."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of
+carrying it about with me.  On the other hand, I shall part with it
+to no one.  I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale
+as soon as she is recovered.  I am not disposed - I mean no offence,
+sir - but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as
+much with you."
+
+Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving.
+Lassen followed his example and confronted him.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk
+like that, - in your own interests, I say."
+
+"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked
+after by myself than by strangers.  You must forgive my adding,
+Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me."
+
+"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed.
+
+"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at
+least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered.  "She
+has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration.
+You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you
+bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to
+treat with you.  You must allow me to wish you good afternoon."
+
+Lassen shook his head.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous.  You force me
+to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is
+not a very secure one.  All the police in this capital are searching
+to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was
+found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley.  If they could find the
+man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession
+of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with
+it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think?
+I say nothing of the document."
+
+Laverick was silent for a moment.  He realized, however, that to
+make terms with this man was impossible.  Besides, he did not trust
+him.  He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the
+accredited envoy of Mademoiselle.
+
+"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to
+do with the matter.  Where you got your information from I cannot
+say.  I neither accept nor deny it.  But I can assure you that I
+am not to be intimidated.  This document will remain in my possession
+until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it."
+
+Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with
+his clenched fist.
+
+"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely.  "Man,
+it stares you there in the face!  If you do not part with it, you will
+be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in
+the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling!  That I swear!  That I shall
+see to myself!"
+
+"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the
+hands of the English police."
+
+The shot told.  Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect
+upon his listener.  Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered
+curses.  He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick
+bodily.
+
+"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed.  "Why do you
+suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands
+of the English police?"
+
+"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should
+take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do
+not know.  I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen!  I shall be ready
+to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me.  But
+in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he
+added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible
+document in my possession."
+
+He moved to the door.  Already his hand was upon the knob when he
+saw the movement for which he had watched.  Laverick, with a single
+bound, was upon his would-be assailant.  The hand which had already
+closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though
+in a vice.  With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon
+the floor.  Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket
+and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till
+the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were
+changed into moans.  Then he flung him into a corner of the room.
+
+"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed.  "You come of the breed of men
+who shoot from behind.  If ever I lay my hands upon you again,
+you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it."
+
+He left the room and rang for the lift.  He saw no trace of any
+servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving.  From
+Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house.  Keeping the cab
+waiting, he knocked at the door.  She opened it herself at once,
+and her eyes glowed with pleasure.
+
+"How delightful!" she cried.  "Please come in.  Have you come to
+take me to the theatre?"
+
+He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them.
+
+"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor."
+
+"Me a favor?" she repeated.  "I think you know how happy it will
+make me if there is anything - anything at all in the world that I
+could do."
+
+"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very
+successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which
+never came my way.  Since then things have altered.  I have stumbled
+in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever
+became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself.
+The net result, for the moment, is this.  Every one is trying to
+steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket.  I want
+to hide it for the night.  I cannot go to the police, it is too
+late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling
+that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies.  May I hide
+my document in your room ?  I do not believe for a moment that any
+one would think of searching here."
+
+"Of course you may," she answered.  "But listen.  Can you see out
+into the street without moving very much?"
+
+He turned his head.  He had been standing with his back to the
+window, and Zoe had been facing it.
+
+"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented.
+
+"Tell me - you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she
+asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked.
+
+"I was at the window, looking out, when you came, she said.  "It
+followed you out from the Square into this street.  Directly you
+stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab.  It
+seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you
+all the time."
+
+Laverick stood still, looking out of the window.
+
+"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked.
+
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people
+who live round here.  The people whom I see coming in and out of
+that house are not nice people at all."
+
+"I understand," he said.  "Thank you, Zoe.  You are right.  Whatever
+I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here.  To tell
+you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid
+my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more.  Come
+back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the
+theatre."
+
+She clapped her hands.
+
+"I shall love it," she declared.  "But what shall you do with the
+document?"
+
+"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to
+the cashier.  They have a wonderful safe there.  It is the best
+thing I can think of.  Can you suggest anything?"
+
+She considered for a moment.
+
+"Do you know what is inside?" she asked.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I have no idea.  It is the most mysterious document in the world,
+so far as I am concerned."
+
+"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know
+exactly what it is all about.  You can learn it by heart and tear
+it up."
+
+"I must think that over," he said.  "One second before we go out."
+
+He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped.  It
+was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged.  He replaced it in
+his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger.
+
+"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along."
+
+They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick
+ordered:
+
+"To the Milan Hotel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
+
+
+About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his
+clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly
+from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number
+15, Dover Street.  Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted
+almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle
+Idiale.
+
+"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly.
+
+The man's expression was one of sombre regret.
+
+"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir.  Bellamy
+took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall.
+
+"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before."
+
+He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's
+sleeping apartment.  There was no answer.  He knocked again and
+listened at the key-hole.  There was some movement inside but no
+one spoke.
+
+"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in.  It is I - David."
+
+Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds.  Almost it seemed
+as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth.
+Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention.  There were
+voices in the small reception room, - the voice of Henri, the butler,
+and another.  Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and
+walked swiftly down the passage.  He entered the reception room and
+looked around him in amazement.  It was still in disorder.  Lassen
+sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side.  Henri
+was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there
+were marks of blood about his shirt.  Bellamy's eyes sparkled.  He
+closed the door behind him.
+
+"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is
+somewhat opportune!"
+
+Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture.
+
+"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said.  "He has had
+a fit and fallen down."
+
+Bellamy laughed contemptuously.
+
+"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he
+declared.  "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?"
+
+The man glared at him viciously.
+
+"I do not know what you are talking about," he said.  "I do not
+wish to speak to you.  I am ill.  You had better go and persuade
+Mademoiselle to return.  She is at Dover, waiting."
+
+"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered.  "She is in her room now,
+locked up - guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures.  I have been
+half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen.
+You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy."
+
+Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing.
+
+"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I
+think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable
+arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor.  He declined to accept you
+as her proxy, I imagine.  Still, one must make sure."
+
+He advanced quickly.  Lassen shrank back in his chair.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly.  "Keep him away from me,
+Henri.  Ring the bell for your other man.  This fellow will do me
+a mischief."
+
+"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully.  "Stay where you are, Henri.
+To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of
+valeting.  Take off his coat."
+
+"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested.
+
+"I'm d-d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled.
+
+Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick
+handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain.  On
+the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is
+the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing
+him to do so.  Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks.  The coat
+first, please, Henri.  It is necessary that I search it thoroughly."
+
+There was a brief hesitation.  Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into
+his pocket.
+
+"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry
+firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have
+learned how to use pretty effectively.  Come, you know, it isn't a
+fair fight.  You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't
+the muscle of a chicken."
+
+Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be
+removed.  Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter
+for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address.
+
+"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile.
+"No, you need not fear, Lassen!  I am not going to read it.  There
+is plenty of proof of your treachery without this."
+
+Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads.  Bellamy
+handed back the coat.
+
+"That's all right," he said.  "Nothing there, I am glad to see - or
+in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it.  "I'll
+trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen."
+
+The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over.  When he
+had finished, he held in his hand a key.
+
+"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced,
+"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been
+up to."
+
+He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and
+deliberately cut the telephone wire.  With the instrument under his
+arm, he left the room.  Lassen blundered to his feet as though to
+intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and
+the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head.
+Lassen staggered away.
+
+"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember
+now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper."
+
+He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of
+Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little.  With a
+smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the
+gag from her mouth.  Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was
+lying upon the bed, as though asleep.  Bellamy saw with an impulse
+of relief that she was breathing regularly.
+
+"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed.  "What have they
+done to her?"
+
+The maid spoke thickly.  She was very pale, and unsteady upon her
+feet.
+
+"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered.  "I heard Mr.
+Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours.  I
+think - I think that she is waking now."
+
+Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement.  Bellamy
+sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm.
+
+"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn
+battle, although you got the worst of it."
+
+She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember.
+
+"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked.
+
+"He has.  Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game.  I
+came here to find you like this and Annette tied up.  Henri is in
+with him.  What has become of your other servants I don't know."
+
+"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly
+returning to her cheeks.  "I begin to understand.  But tell me, what
+happened when Mr. Laverick came?"
+
+"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must
+have received him as though with your authority."
+
+"And what then?" she asked quickly.
+
+"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to
+have anything to do with him.  I received a wire from Dover to say
+that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the
+Lord Warden Hotel.  I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent
+telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back.  When I arrived
+here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head.
+Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of
+it.  I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper.  Laverick
+brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again."
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"Go and let Lassen out," she said.  "Tell him he must never come
+here again.  I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow
+night - that is, if I can get there.  I do not know whether I shall
+feel fit to sing."
+
+"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking
+Henri out."
+
+Louise sighed.
+
+"He was such a good servant.  I think it must have cost our friend
+Streuss a good deal to buy Henri.  You will come back to me when
+you have finished with them?"
+
+Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners.  Lassen was
+surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful.
+Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their
+various missions.  Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down
+again and drinking some tea.  She motioned Bellamy to come over to
+her side.
+
+"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?"
+
+"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered.
+"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but
+after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman.  I am going to tell
+him what that envelope contains - tell him the truth."
+
+"You are right!" she exclaimed.  "Whatever he may have done, if you
+tell him the truth he will give you that document.  I am sure of it.
+Do you know where to find him?"
+
+"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared.  "I must be quick, too,
+for Lassen is free - they will know that he has failed."
+
+"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and
+hurried out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
+
+Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking
+around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did
+not wholly understand.
+
+"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said
+anxiously.  "Tell me what it is.  You don't like this place, perhaps?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted.  "Come, out with it.
+Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?"
+
+The pink color came slowly into her cheeks.  Her eyes, raised for a
+moment to his, were almost reproachful.
+
+"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she
+whispered.  "You are too kind to me all the time.  Only," she went
+on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize - can't you see how
+differently most of the girls here are dressed?  I don't mind so
+much for myself - but you - you have so many friends.  You keep on
+seeing people whom you know.  I am afraid they will think that I
+ought not to be here."
+
+He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction.
+For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her
+clothes.  Everything about her was so neat - pathetically neat, as
+it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization.  The
+white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly
+clean.  The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts.
+Her gloves had been stitched a good many times.  Her gown, although
+it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days.
+He suddenly recognized the effort - the almost despairing effort -
+which her toilette had cost her.
+
+"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply.  "To
+me you look just as you should look - and I wouldn't change places
+with any other man in the room for a great deal."
+
+Her eyes were soft - perilously soft - as she looked at him with
+uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her
+lips.  A wave of tenderness crept into his heart.  What a brave
+little child she was!
+
+"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she
+murmured.
+
+"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel
+like that, you are going to have a new gown - or two - and a new
+hat, and you are going to have them at once.  They are going to be
+bought with your brother's money, mind.  Shall I come shopping with
+you?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said.  "It
+would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much
+money.  You really mean it all?"
+
+"Absolutely," he answered.  "I insist upon it."
+
+She leaned towards him with dancing eyes.  After all, she was very
+much of a child.  The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted
+herself to think of it, was enthralling.
+
+"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a
+simple white dress.  A black hat would do for both of them, then."
+
+"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared.  "His
+stock is going up all the time."
+
+"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially.
+
+"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he
+replied.
+
+She made a wry face.
+
+"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully.  "It is much
+more economical than anything - "
+
+She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude
+stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod.  Laverick frowned.
+
+"Who is that fellow?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly.
+
+"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?"
+Laverick continued, raising his voice a little.
+
+She caught at his arm in terror.  The man was sitting at the next
+table.
+
+"Don't, please!" she implored.  "He might hear you.  He is just
+behind there."
+
+Laverick half turned in his chair.  She guessed what he was about
+to say, and went on rapidly.
+
+"He has been so foolish," she whispered.  "He has asked me so often
+to go out with him.  And he could get me sent away, if he wanted,
+any time.  He almost threatened it, the last time I refused.  Now
+that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever."
+
+Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes.
+The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner.
+
+"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go
+with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone.  "I can't think
+why he bothers me."
+
+"I can," Laverick muttered.  "Let's forget about the brute."
+
+But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the
+bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the
+theatre with her.  Her little hand, when she gave it to him at
+parting, was quite cold.
+
+"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed.  "Mr. Heepman will be
+watching all the night for something to find fault with me about."
+
+"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged.
+
+"I won't," she promised.  "Good-bye!  Thanks so much for my dinner."
+
+She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an
+attempt.  Laverick walked on to his club.  There was no one in the
+dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty.  He played
+one game of billiards, but he played badly.  He was upset.  His
+nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder.  There seemed
+to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and
+walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden.  Outside the Opera House he
+hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of
+which he scarcely recognized.  While he was inquiring about a stall,
+a small printed notice was thrust into his hand.  He read it with
+a slight start.
+
+We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle
+Idiale will not be able to appear this evening.  The part of Delilah
+will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal
+Opera House, St. Petersburg.
+
+Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street.
+A strange man-servant answered him.
+
+"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said.
+
+The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards.
+Laverick, however, retained his.
+
+"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said.  "I
+think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment."
+
+The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility.
+He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over
+the threshold.
+
+"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man
+declared.  "She shall have your card as soon as possible."
+
+"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a
+five-pound note from his pocket.
+
+The man looked at the note longingly.
+
+"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared.  "Mademoiselle
+is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute."
+
+"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick
+remarked.  "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration,
+"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?"
+
+"That is so, sir.  Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one
+has access to Mademoiselle Idiale."
+
+"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick
+declared convincingly.  "You can put that note in your pocket.  I
+am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and
+that your master would wish her to do so."
+
+"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have
+received were stringent."
+
+He disappeared and was gone for several moments.  When he came back
+he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously
+a maid.
+
+"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive
+you.  If you will come this way?"
+
+She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick
+followed her.  The man returned to his place in the hall.
+
+"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said.  "She will be glad
+to see you, but she has been very badly frightened."
+
+Laverick bowed sympathetically.  The woman herself was gray-faced,
+terror-stricken.
+
+"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a
+great deal of trouble here," she said.  "Madame never trusted him
+and now we have discovered that he is a spy."
+
+The woman seemed to fade away.  The door of the inner room was
+opened and Louise came out.  She was still exceedingly pale, and
+there were dark rims under her eyes.  She came across the room with
+outstretched hands.  There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure.
+
+"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day.  I came to call upon
+you this afternoon."
+
+She wrung her hands.
+
+"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed.  "I did not trust
+Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this.  He is an Austrian.
+Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily
+paid spies.  Streuss got hold of him.  But there, I forgot - you do
+not understand this.  It is enough that he laid a plot to get that
+document from you.  Where is it, Mr. Laverick?  You have brought it
+now?"
+
+"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not."
+
+Her eyes were round with terror.  She held out her hands as though
+to keep away some tormenting thought.
+
+"Where is it?" she cried.  "You have not parted with it?
+
+"I have not," Laverick replied gravely.  "It is in the safe deposit
+of a hotel to which I have moved."
+
+She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief.
+
+"You are not well," Laverick said.  "Let me help you to a chair."
+
+She sat down wearily.
+
+"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked.
+
+"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have
+wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights.  Three times to-day
+attempts have been made to get that document from me by force.  I
+have been followed whereever I went.  I felt that it was not safe
+in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their
+strong-room.  I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I
+can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself
+as to its destination."
+
+Louise sat quite still for several moments.  Then she opened her
+eyes.
+
+"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she
+declared.  "I perceive now that we have made a mistake.  We should
+have told you the whole truth from the first.  This afternoon when
+Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything."
+
+Laverick listened gravely.
+
+"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course.  I haven't
+the least desire to keep the document.  I cannot think why Bellamy
+did not treat me with confidence from the first - "
+
+He stopped short.  Suddenly he understood.  Something in Louise's
+face gave him the hint.
+
+"Of course!" he murmured to himself.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's
+judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into
+your hands in one way, and one way only.  There may be some
+explanation.  If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think
+best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter.  It is not our
+business to interfere with the course of justice.  You will run no
+risk in parting with that paper.
+
+"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up
+his hat.
+
+"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered.  "Did you leave
+word there where you had gone?"
+
+"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied.  "I had better try and find
+him, perhaps."
+
+"It is not necessary," she announced.  "No wonder that you feel
+yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick.
+There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere - two sets that
+I know of.  There may be another."
+
+"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked.
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait."
+
+She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or
+other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man.
+
+Laverick sighed.  He opened his lips but closed them again.
+
+"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply.
+
+Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel,
+noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially
+to the clerk in charge.  The latter recognized Laverick with obvious
+relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him.  Kahn
+turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling
+towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him.  He
+was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being
+a man of breeding.  He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed,
+but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to
+address him.  The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a
+little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter.  He
+approached Laverick hastily.
+
+"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked.
+
+"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered.  "Why?"
+
+"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with
+his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been
+carrying.
+
+Laverick read quickly, -
+
+  To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel, - Deliver to bearer document
+  deposited with you.                  STEPHEN LAVERICK.
+
+"It is not," he declared promptly.  "It is an impudent forgery.
+Good God!  You don't mean to say that you parted with my property
+to - "
+
+The cashier stopped his breathless question.
+
+"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said.  "I was just
+wondering what to do when you came in.  I'd no reason to believe
+that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it,
+somehow.  We'd better be after him.  Come along, sir."
+
+They hurried outside.  The man was nowhere in sight.  The cashier
+summoned the head porter.
+
+"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed, - "tall and fair, very
+carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass!  Which way did he go?"
+
+"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter
+answered.  "I noticed him particularly.  He spoke to the chauffeur
+in Austrian."
+
+Laverick looked out into the Strand.
+
+"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly.
+
+The porter smiled as he shook his head.
+
+"Not the ghost of a chance, sir.  He shot round the corner there as
+though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the
+island.  I heard the police calling to him.  I hope there's nothing
+wrong, Mr. Dean?"
+
+The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick.
+
+"Nothing much," Laverick answered.  "We should have liked to have
+asked him a question - that is all."
+
+Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette.
+
+"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly.  "Nothing the matter, I
+hope?"
+
+"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied.
+
+The cashier returned to his duties.  The two men were alone.
+Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under
+his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed
+very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick
+felt himself to have blundered.  He looked down for a moment at the
+tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious
+about the weather.
+
+"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly.
+
+ "Delighted!" Laverick assented.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+MISS LENEVEU 'S MESSAGE
+
+
+The two men stepped back into the hotel.  The cashier had returned
+to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to
+have passed unnoticed.  Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied
+indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he
+endeavored to imitate it.
+
+"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked.  "There's very seldom
+any one there at this time."
+
+"Anywhere you say, Bellamy answered.  "It's years since we had a
+drink together."
+
+They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two
+chairs into the further corner.  Bellamy summoned the waiter.
+
+"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered.  "Now, Laverick,
+listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away.  "We are alone
+for the moment but it won't be for long.  You know very well that
+it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you
+to come in here with me."
+
+Laverick drew a little breath.
+
+"Please go on," he said.  "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp
+this affair properly."
+
+"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for
+the Stock Exchange.  I went first to Magdalen.  Did you ever hear
+what became of me afterwards?"
+
+"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one
+of the Government offices."
+
+"Quite right," Bellamy assented.  "I did.  At this moment I have
+the honor to serve His Majesty."
+
+"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed.
+"I know the sort of thing."
+
+"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered.  "I often work twenty
+hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of
+the time I carry my life in my hands.  When I am working - and I
+am working now - I am never sure of the morrow."
+
+Laverick looked at him incredulously.
+
+"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+"Not by any manner of means.  I have the honor to be a humble member
+of His Majesty's Secret Service."
+
+Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly.
+
+"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual
+existence except in novels."
+
+"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly.  "Abroad,
+I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one.
+At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service.
+Here come our drinks."
+
+Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically.
+
+"Here's luck!" he exclaimed.  "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued.
+"The waiter can't overhear."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can
+trust.  As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than
+once.  Now listen to me attentively, Laverick.  I am going to speak
+to you as one man to another."
+
+Laverick nodded.
+
+"I am ready," he said.
+
+"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a
+soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night
+in the heart of the city - within one hundred yards of the Stock
+Exchange.  The papers called it a mysterious murder.  No one knows
+who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why.  You and I,
+Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes,
+"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office."
+
+Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away.
+
+"Horrible affair it was," he remarked.
+
+Bellamy glanced toward the door, - a man had looked in and departed.
+
+"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said.  "A theft was committed
+from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public
+knows nothing.  A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty
+thousand pounds and a sealed document.  As to who murdered the man,
+I want you to understand that that is not my affair.  As to what has
+become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest
+curiosity.  I want the document."
+
+"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied.  "Time is too
+short.  I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what
+that document consists of.  The man's name was Von Behrling, and he
+was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service.  The document
+of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference
+which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany,
+the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia.  It contains the
+details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered
+into by those several Powers.  I want that document, Laverick.  Have
+I established my claim?"
+
+"You have," Laverick answered.  "Why on earth Didn't you come to me
+before?  Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as
+readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?"
+
+"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the
+truth, Laverick, because the truth is best.  Twenty-two years lie
+between us and the time when we knew anything of one another.  To
+me, therefore, you are a stranger.  I had my spies following Von
+Behrling that night.  I know that you took the pocket-book from his
+dead body.  If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done
+by an accomplice of yours.  How was I to trust you?  We are speaking
+naked words, my friend.  We are dealing with naked truths.  To me
+you were a murderer and a thief.  A word from me and you would have
+realized the value of that document.  I tell you frankly that
+Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day."
+
+Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden
+weakness.  He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away - wet.
+He struggled desperately for self-control.
+
+"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth.  I am not on my trial
+before you.  Believe me, man, for God's sake!"
+
+"I'll try," Bellamy promised.  "Go on."
+
+"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me
+on the morrow.  I left it meaning to go straight home.  I lit a
+cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was
+throwing it away, I saw the murdered man.  I think for a time I was
+paralyzed.  The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket.
+Why I looked inside it I don't know.  I had some sort of wild idea
+that I must find out who he was.  Mind you, though, I should have
+given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street.
+There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully.
+When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty.  I
+looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the
+possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance.  I saw
+the notes there.  Once more I went out into the street.  I gave no
+alarm, - I am not attempting to explain why.  I was like a man made
+suddenly mad.  I went back to my office and shut myself in."
+
+Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently.  The waiter came forward
+and refilled them.
+
+"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart,
+and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every
+man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition.
+My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored
+and well thought of.  My father followed in his footsteps.  I, too,
+was there.  Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become
+known and respected.  Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken
+life and a broken honor.  I sat in my office and I knew that the use
+of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might
+keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so
+jealously, free from shame.  I would have paid any price for the use
+of them.  I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible.
+Think of the risk I ran - the danger I am now in.  I deposited those
+notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my
+engagements.  The crisis is over!  Those notes are in a safe deposit
+vault in Chancery Lane!  I only wish to Heaven that I could find
+the owner!"
+
+"And the document?" Bellamy asked.  "The document?"
+
+"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered.
+
+Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief.  Then he emptied his tumbler
+and lit a cigarette.
+
+"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you."
+
+"Thank God!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully.  "As to
+who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest
+idea.  That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service
+money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was
+murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be
+the document.  He deceived me by making up a false packet.  The real
+one he kept.  He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead."
+
+Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful.
+
+"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed.
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of
+mine - a Cabinet Minister.  You shall tell him the story exactly as
+you've told it to me, and restore the money."
+
+Laverick laughed like a child.
+
+"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like
+you, Bellamy, - used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings.
+I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has
+been like a hateful nightmare to me.  I can't believe that I'm going
+to get rid of it."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you.
+To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck - don't
+misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck - to run such a risk.  Why,
+at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds
+must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out."
+
+"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly.  "I saw
+a chance of salvation and I went for it.  And now about this letter."
+
+Bellamy rose to his feet.
+
+"On the King's service!" he whispered softly.
+
+They walked once more to the cashier's desk.  A stranger greeted them.
+Laverick produced his receipt.
+
+"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said.
+"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly."
+
+The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock.  "I am afraid,
+sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning."
+
+"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning.
+
+"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only
+one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe.  You see, sir," he
+continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did
+not expect that anything would be required from it to-night."
+
+Bellamy drew Laverick away.
+
+"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better.
+There's no need to get shirty with these fellows.  As a matter of
+fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without
+making some special preparations.  I can get some plain clothes
+men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock."
+
+They strolled back into the hall.
+
+"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged
+my name to the order a few hours ago?"
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy.  I have been watching him for
+days.  If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but
+it would have been touch and go.  He is a very prince of conspirators,
+that fellow.  To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home."
+
+Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note
+to Laverick.
+
+"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained.
+
+Laverick tore open the envelope.  The contents consisted of a few
+words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which
+was strange to him.
+
+  "Ring up 1232 Gerrard."
+
+Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked
+once more at the envelope.  Then he passed it on to his companion.
+
+"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked.
+
+Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it.
+
+"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically.  "Do you
+know the handwriting?"
+
+"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered.  "What
+should you do about it?"
+
+"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232
+Gerrard."
+
+They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths.
+
+"1232 Gerrard," he said.
+
+The connection was made almost at once.
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick asked.
+
+"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply.  "Are you Mr.
+Laverick?"
+
+"I am," Laverick answered.  "Is Miss Leneveu there?  Can she speak
+to me herself?"
+
+"She is not here," the voice continued.  "She was fetched away in
+a hurry from the theatre - we understood by her brother.  She left
+two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain
+that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street,
+and would you kindly go on there."
+
+"Who are you?" Laverick demanded.
+
+There was no reply.  Laverick remained speechless, listening
+intently.  He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear.  Was
+it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he
+heard in the background?  It was a woman or a child who was speaking
+ - he was almost sure that it was Zoe.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked fiercely.  "Miss Leneveu is there with you.
+Why does she not speak for herself?"
+
+"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer.  "I have done what she
+desired.  You can please yourself whether you go or not.  The address
+is 25, Jermyn Street.  Ring off."
+
+The connection was gone.  Laverick laid down the receiver and
+stepped out of the booth.
+
+"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy.  "You'll be round in
+the morning?"
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans.  I shall not
+leave the hotel.  I am going to telephone round to my man to bring
+me some clothes.  By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this
+message which you have just received had anything to do with the
+little affair in which we are interested?"
+
+"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation.
+"The message was from a young lady.  I have to go and meet her."
+
+"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly.
+
+"Implicitly," Laverick assured him.
+
+"She spoke herself?"
+
+"No, she sent a message.  Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I
+must really go."
+
+"By all means," Bellamy answered.
+
+They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab
+was summoned.  Laverick stepped quickly in.
+
+"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered.
+
+Bellamy watched him drive off.  Then he sighed.
+
+"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need
+some one to look after you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+MORRISON IS DESPERATE
+
+
+Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's
+room for the coming of Laverick.  There was Lassen -flushed, ugly,
+breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes.
+There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan
+Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind
+him.  There was Streuss - stern, and desperate with anxiety.  There
+was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow,
+with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken
+eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual
+criminal.  There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with
+anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled
+eyes.  She, too, like the others, watched the door.  So they waited.
+
+Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing
+aside the curtains looked down into the street.
+
+"Will he come - this Englishman?" he muttered.  "Has he courage?"
+
+"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe
+panted, looking at him defiantly.  "More courage than my poor
+brother, who stands there like a coward!"
+
+"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly.  "There is nothing for
+you to be furious about or frightened.  No one wants to ill-treat
+you.  These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us.  It is
+Laverick they want."
+
+"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk
+into a trap - you let them even use my name to bring him here!
+Arthur, be a man!  Have nothing more to do with them.  Help me to
+get away from this place.  Call out.  Do something instead of
+standing there and wasting the precious minutes."
+
+He came towards her - ugly and threatening.
+
+"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely, - "something
+you won't like, either.  Keep your mouth shut, I tell you.  It's me
+or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!"
+
+Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe.
+
+"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress
+yourself so.  I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen.
+If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary
+absence.  You shall not be disturbed in any way."
+
+"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen
+growled.  "If any one's in danger, it's he.  He'll be lucky if he
+saves his own skin."
+
+The young man glowered at her.
+
+"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered.  Keep still, can't
+you?"
+
+Her face was full of defiance.  He came nearer to her and changed
+his tone.
+
+"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand ?  If they can't
+get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me.  They're
+desperate, I tell you.  They mean mischief all the time."
+
+"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you
+when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried
+indignantly.
+
+He laughed unpleasantly.
+
+"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for
+himself.  Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know
+now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go - not
+empty-handed, by any manner of means."
+
+"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of
+these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him
+searchingly.
+
+The terror whitened his face once more.  The perspiration stood out
+in beads upon his forehead.
+
+"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously.  "I should
+like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much
+interest in him?  Listen here, my fine young lady.  If I've been mug
+enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking
+advantage of it.  He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you."
+
+The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across
+the room to them all.
+
+"He is here," he announced.
+
+"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly.
+
+"Alone," Streuss echoed.
+
+A little thrill seemed to pass through the room.  Zoe made no attempt
+to cry out.  Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though
+listening.  Her attitude seemed harmless enough.  No one took any
+more notice of her.  They all watched the entrance to the apartment.
+Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs.  She was absorbed in a
+breathless calculation.  Now - now he should be coming quite close.
+Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening.  At
+last she raised her head.  The room resounded with her cries.
+
+"Don't come in!  Don't come in here!" she shrieked.  "Mr. Laverick,
+do you hear?  Go away!  Don't come in here alone!"
+
+Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth
+brutally.  Her little effort was naturally a failure - defeating,
+in fact, its own object.  Laverick, hearing her cries, simply
+hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock,
+and stepped quickly across the threshold.  He saw a man dressed in
+shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a
+rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling
+across the room.  Then something in the man's cry, a momentary
+glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity.
+
+"Morrison!" he cried.  "Good God, it's Morrison!"
+
+Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face
+turned upon his aggressor.  Laverick took quick stock of his
+surroundings.  There was the tall, fair young man -Adolf Kahn - whom
+he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago - the man who had
+unsuccessfully forged his name.  There was Lassen, the man who, under
+pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise.  There was
+Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back
+to the door.  There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother.  She held out
+her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading.
+
+"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly.
+"I tried so hard to stop you.  It was not I who sent that message."
+
+He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips.
+
+"I know it, dear," he murmured.
+
+Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard.
+Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough
+written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes.  Laverick gave him
+his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor.  He was
+angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual
+pains to secure my presence here!  Tell me now, what can I do for
+you?"
+
+It was Streuss who became spokesman.  He addressed Laverick with
+the consideration of one gentleman addressing another.  His voice
+had many agreeable qualities.  His demeanor was entirely amicable.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a
+little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit.  We
+are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either
+wilfully or accidentally strayed.  An understanding between us has
+become a necessity."
+
+"Go on," Laverick interrupted.  "Tell me exactly who you are and
+what you want."
+
+"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter?  I
+repeat that we are men who are in earnest - let that be enough.  As
+to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every
+claim, and which has come into your possession - I flatter you
+somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance."
+
+Laverick shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Let that go," he said.  "I know all about the document you refer to,
+and the notes.  They were contained in a pocket-book which it is
+perfectly true has come into my possession.  Prove your claim to
+both and you shall have them."
+
+Streuss smiled.
+
+"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he
+asked suavely, "is equal to yours?"
+
+"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of
+keeping either the document or the money.  That your claim is better
+than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title
+is better still."
+
+Streuss frowned.
+
+"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged.  "We are men of peace -
+when peace is possible.  The money of which you spoke you can
+consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention
+to possess ourselves of the document.  It is for that reason that
+we are here in London.  I, personally, am committed to the extent
+of my life and my honor to its recovery."
+
+A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive.  Laverick
+looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said.
+"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell
+you where it is kept."
+
+"Quite so," Streuss admitted.  "We are not doing you the injustice
+to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself
+anywhere with that document upon your person.  It is in the safe
+at the Milan Hotel.  I may add that probably, if it had not
+occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in
+our possession before now.  We are hoping to persuade you to return
+to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it."
+
+"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible.  The man
+who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty,
+and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning."
+
+"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily.  "His present
+whereabouts and his address are known to us.  He lives with his
+family at Harvard Court, Hampstead.  We shall assist you in making
+it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the
+combination word for the safe."
+
+"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed.
+
+"It is our business.  The question for you to decide, and to decide
+immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects,
+constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in
+our hands."
+
+"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked.
+
+"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly.  "Your
+partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in
+Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat
+unfortunate one.  Your own I will not allude to.  I will simply
+suggest that for both your sakes publicity - any measure of
+publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair - would not be
+desirable."
+
+Laverick hesitated.  He understood all that was implied.  Morrison's
+eyes were fixed upon him - the eyes of a craven coward.  He felt the
+intensity of the moment.  Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him.
+
+"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips.  "They
+cannot hurt you, and it is not true - about Arthur."
+
+Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick
+knocked him down.  Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was
+changed.  Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from
+different sides.  Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a
+revolver.
+
+"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with.  Keep
+your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!"
+
+Laverick looked at the revolver - fascinated, for an instant, by
+its unexpected appearance.  The face of the man who held it had
+changed.  There was lightning playing about the room.
+
+"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely, - "for
+you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any
+longer!  One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty.
+Who are you to have scruples - criminals, both of you?  Your place
+is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if
+there are any more evasions.  Now, Laverick, will you fetch that
+document?  It is your last chance."
+
+Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened
+ - a voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite
+inquiry.  Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little
+company.  The curtain separating this from the inner room had been
+drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black
+overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head,
+his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain
+which he had drawn aside.
+
+"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly.
+
+For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain.
+The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination.
+Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child.
+
+"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably.  "I
+happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab
+driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with
+him before I left for the Continent."
+
+Streuss was surely something of a charlatan!  His revolver had
+disappeared.  The smile upon his lips was both gracious and
+unembarrassed.
+
+"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy anywhere -
+anyhow," he declared.  "If apologies are needed at all," he
+continued, "it is to our friend and host - Mr. Morrison here.
+Permit me - Mr. Arthur Morrison - the Honorable David Bellamy!
+These are Mr. Morrison's rooms."
+
+Morrison could do no more than stare.  Bellamy, on the contrary,
+with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat
+from his head.  Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between
+Bellamy and the heavy curtains.  Adolf Kahn moved as though
+unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were.
+
+Bellamy smiled courteously.
+
+"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment.
+I have a car full of friends below - we are on our way, in fact, to
+the Covent Garden Ball - and one or two of them, I fear," he added
+indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which
+such an entertainment in England seems to demand.  They will
+certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer.  There!" he
+ exclaimed, "you hear that?"
+
+There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below.  Streuss,
+with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind.  There were
+two motor-cars waiting there - large cars with Limousine bodies,
+and apparently full of men.  After all, it was to be expected.
+Bellamy was no fool!
+
+"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with
+a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night.  The little matter
+of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your
+partner."
+
+Laverick turned toward Zoe.  Their eyes met and he read their message
+of terror.
+
+"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said.
+"You must let me offer you my escort."
+
+She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison
+moved near to them.
+
+"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath, -
+"if you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do?
+They will hand me over to the police - they have sworn it!"
+
+"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly.
+
+"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared.
+"I tell you they have eyes everywhere.  You cannot move without their
+knowledge.  I had to come.  Now that I am here they have told me
+plainly the price of my freedom.  It is that document.  Laverick, it
+is my life!  You must give in - you must, indeed!  Remember you're
+in it, too."
+
+"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly.
+
+"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely.  "Didn't
+you come into the entry and take the pocket-book?  Heaven knows what
+possessed you to do it!  Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use
+the money!  But you did it, and you are a criminal - a criminal as I
+am.  Don't be a fool, Laverick.  Make terms with these people.  They
+want the document - the document - nothing but the document!  They
+will let us keep the money."
+
+"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe.  "What do you
+say about all this?"
+
+She looked at him fearlessly.
+
+"I trust you," she said.  "I trust you to do what is right.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+LAVERICK S ARREST
+
+
+"At last, David!"
+
+Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which
+Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips.  Then she turned toward the
+third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door - a
+short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped
+black hair, and upturned black moustache.
+
+"You remember Prince Rosmaran ?" she said to Bellamy.  "He left
+Servia only the day before yesterday.  He has come to England on a
+special mission to the King."
+
+Bellamy shook hands.
+
+"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before,
+Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago.  It
+was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic
+party."
+
+Th e Prince bowed sadly.
+
+"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to
+my unhappy country."
+
+"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing,"
+Bellamy reminded him sympathetically.  "At the same time, we must
+not despair.  Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she
+has not dared to strike."
+
+The face of the Prince was dark with passion.
+
+"As yet, no!" he answered.  "But how long - how long, I wonder -
+before the blow falls?  We in Servia have been blamed for arming
+ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being
+secretly concentrated on the frontier.  Their arsenals are working
+night and day.  Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight
+of Belgrade.  We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know
+that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last
+week."
+
+"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly.  "England has
+been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a
+negligible Power."
+
+Louise leaned a little towards him.
+
+"David," she whispered, "the compact!"
+
+He answered her unspoken question.
+
+"It is arranged," he said, - "finished.  To-morrow morning at nine
+o'clock I receive it."
+
+"You are sure?" she begged.  "Why need there be any delay?"
+
+"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk
+who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine.
+Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour.  You were right,
+Louise, as usual.  I should have trusted him from the first."
+
+The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised
+interest.
+
+"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning
+the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince."
+
+"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared.
+"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical.  What you
+suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth.  There is a rumor that the
+Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable
+information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the
+Government here.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  That, I
+know, is one of your own mottoes.  So I am here to know if there is
+anything to be learned."
+
+Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince.  When did you come?"
+
+"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered.  "Our
+train was an hour late.  I am presenting my credentials early this
+morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon."
+
+Bellamy considered for a moment.
+
+"It is true!" he said.  "Between us three there is indeed no need
+for secrecy.  The information you speak of will be in our hands
+within a few hours.  I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister
+will share in it."
+
+"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously.
+
+"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock.  "For my own
+part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another
+and a profounder source of interest in that document.  If, indeed,
+it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli."
+
+"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked.
+
+Bellamy shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I," said he, - "I am not even a politician.  But, you know, the
+lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is
+only one course open for this country, - to work upon Russia so
+that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with
+Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria
+in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare
+war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free
+from danger."
+
+The Prince nodded.
+
+"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more.  Wherever
+one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and
+Austria.  Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed
+rule Europe."
+
+Three o'clock struck.  The Prince rose.
+
+"I go," he announced.
+
+"And I," Bellamy declared.  "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock
+tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news.
+
+Bellamy lingered behind.  For a moment he held Louise in his arms
+and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face.
+
+"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly.
+
+"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him,
+"to feel the mother love?  Who can help it who would not be ignoble?"
+
+"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief.  Even now I am afraid."
+
+"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said.  "David, you are
+sure this time?"
+
+"I am sure," he replied.  "I am going back now to the hotel where
+Laverick is staying.  We are going to sit together and smoke until
+the morning.  Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel.  I
+was with them all only an hour ago, - Streuss, that blackguard
+Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy.  They are beaten men and
+they know it.  They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a
+dramatic entrance and the game was up."
+
+"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street,"
+she begged.
+
+"I will," he promised.
+
+Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand.  The streets were
+almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight.  The air seemed
+curiously keen.  Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement
+was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and
+glanced sharply around.  He reached the Milan Hotel, however,
+without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the
+hall where he had expected to find Laverick.  There was no one
+there!  He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense
+of apprehension.  The place was deserted except for a couple of
+sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their
+machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious
+figures in the dim light.
+
+Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him.
+
+"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was
+with about an hour ago?" he asked, - "a tall, fair gentleman - Mr.
+Laverick his name was?"
+
+The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat.
+
+"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air.  "Mr.
+Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about
+half-an-hour ago.  Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and
+inquired for him.  They talked for a little time, and finally Mr.
+Laverick went away with them."
+
+Bellamy was puzzled.
+
+"Went away with them?" he repeated.  "I don't understand that,
+Reynolds.  He was to have waited here till I returned."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very
+wishful to go.  It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the
+matter."
+
+Bellamy looked at him keenly.
+
+"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those
+gentlemen by sight.  He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the
+one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes."
+
+"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed.  "You think, then, - "
+
+"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered.
+"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE
+
+
+Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot
+humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre.
+She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual.  All day
+long she had heard nothing of Laverick.  All day long she had sat
+in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her.
+She had tried in vain to sleep, - she had made no effort whatever
+to eat.  She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away.  She knew
+the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out.
+The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison.
+Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle.  All the wonderful
+dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for
+this last week, had faded away.  She was once more a mournful
+little waif among the pitiless crowds.
+
+She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube.  Boys were
+shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers.  Nearly
+every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets.  She herself
+passed on with unseeing eyes.  News was nothing to her.  Governments
+might rise and fall, war might come and go, - she had still life to
+support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen
+shillings a week.  The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but
+one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet.
+
+              SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN
+              STOCKBROKER.  CHARGE OF MURDER.
+
+She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse.  Her fingers
+trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement.  The boy picked
+it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in
+her hand.  There it was on the front page - staring her in the face:
+
+   Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of
+   Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was
+   arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned
+   in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley,
+   on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge,
+   was removed to Bow Street Police-Station.  Particulars of his
+   examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4.
+
+There was a dull singing in her ears.  An electric tram, coming up
+from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of
+thunder from an unknown world.  She staggered on, unseeing, gasping
+for breath.  If she could find somewhere to sit down!  If she could
+only rest for a moment!  Then a sudden wave of strength came to her,
+the blood flowed once more in her veins - blood that was hot with
+anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red.  It was the man
+she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely.  It was the fulfilment
+of their threat - a deliberate plot against him.  The murderer of
+Crooked Friars' Alley - she knew who that was!  - she knew!  Perhaps
+she might help!
+
+She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that
+walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of
+the theatre with the paper spread out before her.  She read that
+Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate
+of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having
+been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had
+pleaded "Not Guilty!"  Her eyes glittered as she read that the
+first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the
+accused.  She read his deposition - that he had left Laverick at
+their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they
+were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect
+of meeting their engagements on the morrow.  She read the evidence
+of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had,
+on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty
+thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the
+engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since
+been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts.
+She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting
+this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the
+vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he
+identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after
+disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter
+the offices from which he had issued.  He explained his presence
+there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the
+Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by.
+Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for.  The
+accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when
+Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill.  After waiting for some
+time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused
+man was removed in custody.
+
+Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet.  She made her way to
+where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new
+scenery.
+
+"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal!  I have
+to go out."
+
+He turned heavily round and looked at her.
+
+"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly.  "Shall you be back
+for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?"
+
+His clumsy irony missed its mark.  Her thoughts were too intensely
+focussed upon one thing.
+
+"I am sorry," she replied, turning away.  "I will come back as soon
+as I can."
+
+He called out after her and she paused.
+
+"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the
+other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even
+waiting for permission.  It can't be done, young lady.  You must
+do your playing around some other time.  If you're not here when
+you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again.  Do you
+understand?"
+
+Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed
+to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming.
+
+"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break
+in her voice, - "as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman."
+
+She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among
+the hurrying throng of pedestrians.  Several people turned round to
+look at her.  Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost
+unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for
+tragedy.  She herself saw no one.  She would have taken a cab, but
+a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her.  She walked
+steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third
+floor, and knocked at her brother's door.  No one answered her at
+first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty.
+There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she
+called out to him.
+
+"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?"
+
+"Who is it?" he demanded.
+
+"It is I - Zoe!" she exclaimed.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"I want to speak to you, Arthur.  I must speak to you.  Please
+come as quickly as you can."
+
+He growled something and in a few moments he appeared.  He was
+wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier
+in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked
+by reason of this resumption of his old attire.  His cheeks were
+hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that
+feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool.
+He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously
+to try and bully her.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said.  "I've
+told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like
+women about the place.  What is it?  What do you want?"
+
+"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my
+part," she answered, looking him in the face.  "I've come now to
+ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick?  What
+were you doing in the court this morning, lying?  What is the
+meaning of it, Arthur?"
+
+"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly,
+"you'd better be off."
+
+"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly.  "I think I can
+understand what it is that has happened.  They have terrified you
+and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing
+ - even this.  Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I
+have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation.
+But nothing of that counts.  I want you to realize that I know the
+truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the
+guilty go free."
+
+He moved a step towards her.  They were on opposite sides of the
+small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment.
+
+"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely.
+
+"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed.  "You came to my rooms a
+week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man.  If ever there was
+guilt in a man's face, it was in yours.  You sent for Laverick.  He
+pitied you and helped you away.  At Liverpool they would not let
+you embark - these men.  They have brought you back here.  You are
+their tool.  But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen
+Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley!  You know very
+well that it was not Stephen Laverick!"
+
+"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely.
+
+A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice.  Her little white
+hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him.
+
+"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she
+cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall
+go to court myself and tell the truth."
+
+He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with
+nervously twitching lips and fingers.  But there was murder in his eyes.
+
+"What do you know about this?" he muttered.
+
+"Never mind," she answered.  "I know and I guess quite enough to
+convince me - and I think anybody else - that you are the guilty man.
+I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but
+I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense."
+
+"What is Laverick to you?" he growled.
+
+"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends.  Even
+were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent
+man suffer?"
+
+He moistened his dry lips rapidly.
+
+"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said, - "nonsense!  Even if
+there has been some little mistake, what could I do now?  I have
+given my evidence.  So far as I am concerned, the case is finished.
+I shall not be called again until the trial."
+
+"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and
+take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not,
+I shall be there and I shall tell the truth."
+
+"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high.  This thing has upset me.
+I'm ill.  Can't you see it, Zoe?  Look at me.  I haven't slept for
+weeks.  Night and day I've had the fear - the fear always with me.
+You don't know what it is - you can't imagine.  It's like a terrible
+ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger
+upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to
+drown thought even for a moment.  Don't you try me too far, Zoe.
+I'm not responsible.  Laverick isn't the man you think him to be.
+He isn't the man I believed.  He did have that money - he did,
+indeed."
+
+"That," she said, "is to be explained.  But he is not a murderer."
+
+"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table.
+"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a week
+ - somewhere to the seaside.  e will talk about this and think it
+over.  I want to get away from London.  We will go to Brighton, if
+you like.   must do something for you, Zoe.  I'm afraid I've
+neglected you a good deal.  Perhaps I could get you a better part
+at one of the theatres.  I must make you an allowance.  You ought
+to be wearing better clothes."
+
+She drew a little away.
+
+"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this - that
+you speak the truth."
+
+He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her.
+
+"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that
+you are asking me?  Do you want me to go into court and say - 'That
+isn't the man...  It is I who am the murderer'?  Do you want me to
+feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and
+have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that
+before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope
+around my neck and - "
+
+He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a
+fit of impotent terror.  But the girl in front of him never flinched.
+
+"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the
+world can alter its punishment.  If it is frightful for you to
+think of this, what must it be for him?  And you are guilty and he
+is not."
+
+"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself.  "Zoe, I
+was mad!  I called there to have a drink.  We were broke, - the firm
+was broke.  I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt
+the next day.  And there, within a few yards of me, was that man,
+with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life.  Five
+hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists.
+Zoe, they fascinated me.  I had two drinks quickly and I followed
+him out.  Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that
+was on the counter.  I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I
+wanted some of those notes!  I was leaving the next day for Africa
+and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start.  I wanted it - my
+God, how I wanted money!"
+
+"It couldn't have been worth - that!" she cried, looking at him
+wonderingly.
+
+"I was mad," he continued.  "I saw the notes and they went to my
+head.  Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for
+love.  I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my
+God, money is like the blood of my body to me!  I saw it, and I
+wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad!  Zoe, you won't give me
+away?  Say you won't!"
+
+"But what am I to do?" she protested.  "He must not suffer."
+
+"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly.  "I tell you he'll
+get off.  He's only to part with the document, which never belonged
+to him, and the charge will be withdrawn.  They know who the
+murdered man was.  They know where the money came from which he was
+carrying.  I tell you he can save himself.  You wouldn't dream of
+sending me to the gallows, Zoe!"
+
+"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people,"
+she declared.  "I am sure of that."
+
+"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered.  "He has the chance,
+anyway."
+
+She turned toward the door.
+
+"I must go away," she said.  "I must go away and think.  It is all
+too horrible."
+
+He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists.
+
+"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this.  You must tell me
+that you are not going to give me up.  Do you hear?"
+
+"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this -
+I shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead."
+
+He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what
+it was that he was holding.  Then he struck her down and without a
+backward glance fled out of the place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+BELLAMY'S SUCCESS
+
+
+Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the
+commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Caf�, who
+happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the
+place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an
+unexpected surprise.  A large closed motor-car drove up to the
+front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick
+himself.  He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely
+mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior
+of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked
+for his packet.  The clerk looked up at him in amazement.  He did
+not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately
+behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen.  He had only a
+few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's
+examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow,
+upon the charge of murder.  His knowledge of English law was by no
+means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance
+outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening.
+
+"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement.  "Why, this is Mr.
+Laverick himself, is it not?"
+
+"Certainly," was the quiet reply.  "I am Stephen Laverick."
+
+The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as
+though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background
+for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity.  Of
+Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt.  Besides,
+the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat
+reassured them.  The cashier himself came forward.
+
+"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to
+get rid of your packet.  Your instructions were that we should
+disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and
+I may say that they have been strictly adhered to.  We have,
+however, had two applications in your name this morning."
+
+"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared.
+
+The cashier hesitated.  Then he leaned across the broad mahogany
+counter towards Laverick.  One of the men who appeared to form part
+of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few
+steps nearer.
+
+"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing
+towards him.
+
+"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my
+confidence.  If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr.
+Bellamy also to hear."
+
+Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place
+by Laverick's side.  The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed.
+
+"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to
+Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a
+small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in
+our document safe.  My assistant had accepted it and was actually
+locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could
+not understand.  The bag was opened and found to contain an
+infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour."
+
+Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth.
+
+"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly.  "That's
+Kahn's work!"
+
+"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick
+remarked quietly.  "I gather, however, from what you say, that my
+packet is still in your possession?"
+
+"It is, sir," the man assented.  "We have two detectives from
+Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had
+almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security."
+
+"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick
+declared.
+
+The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office.  At
+their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few
+yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and
+the superintendent.  The safe was opened and the packet placed in
+Laverick's hands.  He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and
+immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men,
+apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel.  They made a slow
+and exceedingly cautious exit.  Once outside, Bellamy turned to
+Laverick with outstretched hand.
+
+"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily.  "I think
+you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning."
+
+He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade - two
+of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind.  It
+had almost the appearance of a procession.  The whole party stepped
+into a closed motor-car.  Three or four men were lounging on the
+pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually
+interfered.  As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and
+his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in
+which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street.  Very few
+words were exchanged during the short journey.  His solicitor,
+however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing
+was by no means the bearing of a man in despair.
+
+In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat
+remarkable little gathering took place.  The two men chiefly
+responsible for the destinies of the nation - the Prime Minister
+and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs - sat side by side
+before a small table.  Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in
+front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their
+envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of
+the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal.  The
+Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit
+of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the
+presence of big events.
+
+"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to
+stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this
+document?"
+
+"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly.
+"That is no copy which you have there.  On the contrary, the
+handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself."
+
+The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague.  The
+latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words,
+looked up.
+
+"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in
+my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance.
+One moment, if you please."
+
+He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from
+an adjoining room.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company
+at Paddington.  Ask for the station master in my name, and see that
+a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour.
+Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up,
+but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged."
+
+The young man bowed and withdrew.
+
+"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on,
+"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem.
+We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail
+his visit - why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks
+everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time.
+His health is all right.  He has had a hint from Vienna that there
+has been a leakage.  His special mission only reached Paris this
+morning.  The President is in the country and their audience is not
+fixed until to-morrow.  Rawson will go over with a copy of these
+papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train.
+It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as
+this."
+
+He drew his chief a few steps away.  They whispered together for
+several moments.  When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang
+the bell again for his secretary.
+
+"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few
+minutes for Windsor.  Go round yourself to General Hamilton,
+telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the
+Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison.  Tell them all to be here
+at ten o'clock tonight.  If I am not back, they must wait.  If
+either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the
+word 'Finisterre.'  They will understand."
+
+The young man once more withdrew.  The Prime Minister turned
+back to the papers.
+
+"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile,
+"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this."
+
+"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman
+answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview
+which will follow.  A month ago, the thought that war might come
+under our administration was a continual terror to me.  To-day
+things are entirely different.  To-day it really seems that if
+war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England
+of this century.  You saw the last report from Kiel?"
+
+Sir James nodded.
+
+"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers
+south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly.
+"They are cooped up - safe enough, they think - under the shelter
+of their fortifications.  Hamilton has another idea.  Between you
+and me, Sir James, so have I.  I tell you," he went on, in a
+deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a
+terrible nightmare - this.  We have had ten years of panic, of
+nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you
+and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears.  It
+will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter
+differently."
+
+The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone
+interview with the superintendent at Paddington.  The two great
+men rose.  The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy.
+
+"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service.
+There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've
+earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate.  There is nothing more
+we can do?"
+
+"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy
+answered.  "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the
+man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick."
+
+The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully.
+
+"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said.  "You are asking a
+great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the
+slightest manner with the course of justice.  You are absolutely
+convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do
+with the murder?"
+
+"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied.
+
+"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir
+James remarked.  "Who was he?"
+
+"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was
+actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary.  I
+have told you the history, sir, of those papers.  It was Von
+Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist
+and secured them.  It was he who insisted upon coming to London
+instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the
+most obvious course for him to have adopted.  He was a pauper, and
+desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout
+this matter.  He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand
+pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the
+same night.  I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in
+the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the
+false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir.  As a matter
+of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now
+will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed
+to have bought in his possession, and also the money.  Within five
+minutes he was murdered.  Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom,
+but it was not by Stephen Laverick.  Laverick's share in the whole
+thing was nothing but this - that he found the pocket-book, and that
+he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to
+save himself from ruin.  That was unjustifiable, of course.  He has
+made atonement.  The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit
+vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came.
+I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron
+de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter."
+
+Sir James nodded thoughtfully.  He stooped down and scrawled a few
+lines on half a sheet of note-paper.
+
+"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell
+him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the
+nature of the papers.  The thing must be arranged, of course."
+
+Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that
+the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were
+going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even
+they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were
+really transpiring.  They knew nothing of the interview between the
+Czar and his August host - an interview which in itself was a
+chapter in the history of these times.  They knew nothing of the
+reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit
+instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the
+President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before
+the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves.
+The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant
+enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that
+night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg.
+At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from
+Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned.  The
+Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under
+pretence of a command from his royal master.  The happiest man in
+London was Prince Rosmaran.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+LAVERICK ACQUITTED
+
+
+At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the
+dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company
+with his friends left the court."  The proceedings altogether took
+scarcely more than half-an-hour.  Laverick's solicitor first put
+Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to
+the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife
+which he had seen him snatch up.  Cross-examined as to why he had
+kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer
+and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which
+would cost a man his life.  Directly, however, another man had been
+accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different.  He
+had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to
+offer his evidence.
+
+While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's
+solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu.  A little murmur of interest ran
+though the court.  Laverick himself started.  Zoe stepped into the
+witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the
+upper part of her head.  She admitted that she was the half-sister
+of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship.  She
+described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder,
+and his state of great alarm.  She declared that he had confessed
+to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the
+murder in question.
+
+Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David
+Bellamy.  He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his,
+and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently
+possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business.
+The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until
+negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt
+uncertain how to make use of the money.  But he assured the court
+that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in
+question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use
+to which Laverick had put it.
+
+Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant
+was issued for the apprehension of Morrison.  Laverick found
+Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor.
+
+"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word!  That
+dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any
+case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the
+matter.  The magistrate had received a communication direct from
+the Home Secretary concerning your case."
+
+"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared.  "I tell you I
+think I am very lucky.  I wish I knew what had become of Miss
+Leneveu.  The usher told me she left the court before we came out."
+
+"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said.  "You
+must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in
+a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street.  I was having
+Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his
+rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was
+there who appeared to be seriously injured."
+
+"D-d scamp!" Laverick muttered.
+
+"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued.  "I fetched her at
+once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some
+one to look after her.  The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow
+must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such
+a child.  I wonder whether he'll get away."
+
+"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked.  "He hasn't the nerve.
+He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out.  He's a
+broken-spirited cur, after all."
+
+"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked.
+
+Laverick shook his head.
+
+"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu."
+
+"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will."
+
+
+Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little
+house for nearly half-an-hour.  He had found the door closed and
+locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had
+gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not
+returned.  Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited.  Presently
+a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of
+her house.  Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out.  She was
+as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking
+anxious.
+
+"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands.
+
+"Quite," he answered.  "You dear little girl!"
+
+Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor.
+Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago
+had come to see Arthur Morrison.
+
+"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous
+system is very much run down.  There is nothing serious.  She
+seems to have just escaped concussion.  The nurse had better stay
+with her for another day, at any rate."
+
+"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly.
+
+"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly.  "I see worse
+wounds every day of my life.  I'll come again to-morrow, if you like,
+but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot."
+
+His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which
+Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more
+encouraging words.  Laverick stayed and talked for a short time
+with the nurse.
+
+"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced.  "There
+isn't anything to worry about.  She seems as though she had been
+having a hard time, though.  There was scarcely a thing in the house
+but half a packet of tea - and these."
+
+She held up a packet of pawn tickets.
+
+"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said.  "I had to look
+round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house."
+
+Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his
+eyes.
+
+"Poor little woman!" he murmured.  "I think she'd sooner have starved
+than ask for help."
+
+The nurse smiled.
+
+"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she
+remarked.  "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new
+hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing
+to the sofa.
+
+Laverick placed some notes in her hands.
+
+"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she
+wants.  I shall be here again later in the day.  There is not the
+slightest need for all this.  She will be quite well off for the rest
+of her life.  Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to
+come in until she is able to be moved?"
+
+"I'll look after her," the nurse promised.
+
+Laverick went reluctantly away.  The events of the last few days were
+becoming more and more like a dream to him.  He went to his club
+almost from habit.  Presently the excitement which all London seemed
+to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the
+background.  The air was full of rumors.  The Prime Minister and the
+Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes.  Nothing
+was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence
+that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her
+existence as a great Power.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE PLOT THAT FAILED
+
+
+The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion
+House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord
+Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely
+inexplicable to the general public.  It was known that affairs in
+Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was
+felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had
+brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications
+that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country
+was now actually at hand.  There was in the Press a curious
+reticence with regard to the development of the political situation.
+One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm - that at
+any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling
+stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied.  The
+circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little
+peculiar.  On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of
+health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be
+cut down to two days.  No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however,
+than a change was announced.  The Czar had so far recovered as to
+be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit.
+Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full
+of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable.
+The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany.
+That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement
+there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt.
+
+Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go
+by.  Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but
+he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning.  Afterwards
+they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had
+thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants.
+
+"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise.  Bellamy nodded.
+
+"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true.  The humor of the
+whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who
+pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of
+exciting suspicion.  That, of course, was when there seemed to be
+no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out.  They
+would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the
+Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in
+the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor."
+
+"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed.  "The
+special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled."
+
+Bellamy smiled.
+
+"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on.  "Any morning you
+may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an
+ultimatum."
+
+"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss."
+
+"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy
+answered.  "There's always plenty of work for spies."
+
+"Don't use that word," she begged.
+
+He made a little grimace.
+
+"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you
+not?" he asked.  "Well, that counts for nothing now.  I hope I may
+still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different
+way."
+
+"What do you mean?" she demanded.
+
+"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued,
+"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months.
+When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords.
+It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I
+suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up.  I have done
+my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Your share, indeed," she murmured.  "Remember that but for that
+document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have
+gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the
+second-class Powers.  There may be war now, it is true, but it
+will be a glorious war."
+
+"Louise, very soon we shall know.  Until then I will say nothing.
+But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been
+something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these
+last few years."
+
+Her blue eyes were suddenly soft.  She looked across towards him
+wistfully.
+
+"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now.  I am
+not fit to be the wife of an English peer - I am not noble."
+
+He laughed.
+
+"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think
+you one of the noblest women on earth.  Why should I not?  Your
+life itself has been a study in devotion.  The modern virtues seem
+almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a
+splendid thing.  But don't you think, Louise, that we have done
+our work that it is time to think of ourselves?"
+
+She gave him her hand.
+
+"Let us see," she said.  "Let us wait for a little time and see what
+comes."
+
+That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely
+spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places.  Louise
+was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose
+trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after
+a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress.  For a
+short time the costume was not recognized.  Then the music - the
+national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage,
+brought the thing home to the audience.  They did not even wait for
+her to finish.  In the middle of her song the applause broke like a
+crash of thunder.  From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered
+her wildly, madly.  A dozen times she came before the curtain.  It
+seemed impossible that they would ever let her go.  Directly she
+turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again.  The manager
+at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words.  She
+stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the
+previous applause had been unanimous.  Her voice reached easily to
+every place in the House.
+
+"I thank you all very much," she said.  "I am very happy indeed to
+be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous
+country in the world - the country that is always ready to protect
+and help her weaker neighbors.  I am a Servian, and I love my
+country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her
+voice, - "therefore I love you all."
+
+It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the
+streets of London had not been so impassable for years.  Crowds
+made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War
+Office, where men were working late.  Everything seemed to denote
+that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning
+made immense capital of the incident, and for the following
+twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at
+fever height.  It was known that the Cabinet Council had been
+sitting for six hours.  It was known, too, that without the least
+commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be
+called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the
+world had ever known was assembling off Dover.  The stock markets
+were wildly excited.  Laverick, back again in his office, found
+that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any
+comment.  More startling events were shaping themselves.  His own
+remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed.
+
+He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding
+the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in
+Theobald Square.  Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but
+eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer
+suffering.
+
+"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse
+here.  Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me.  I
+should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use."
+
+She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which
+contained her somewhat curt dismissal.  He laughed as he tore it
+into pieces.
+
+"Are you so sorry, Zoe?  Is the stage so wonderful a place that
+you could not bear to think of leaving it?"
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is not that," she whispered.  "You know that it is not that."
+
+He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms.
+
+"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said.
+"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days.  A
+bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying
+sort of person."
+
+She shrank away a little.
+
+"You don't mean it," she murmured.
+
+"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her.  "I
+think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were
+doomed to become my wife."
+
+She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes.  For the moment she
+had forgotten everything.  She was absolutely and completely happy.
+
+Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards,
+as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her.
+
+"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened.  You
+will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know.  Remember the
+alternative - and read that."
+
+She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur
+Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square.  The police had apparently
+tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment.  The
+details of his last few hours were indescribable.  Zoe shuddered,
+and her eyes filled with tears.  She smiled bravely in his face,
+however.
+
+"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no
+relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury.  When
+I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry.
+
+There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded
+up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct
+of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard,
+merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened.
+
+Laverick smiled.
+
+"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this
+excitement is about."
+
+They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and
+white.  An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna.
+Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's
+action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain.  It was
+demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops
+upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate
+over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon,
+from that time forward, to guarantee.  It was further announced that
+England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete
+concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured.  Further, it
+was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea
+with sealed orders.
+
+Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms.
+Bellamy greeted him heartily.  He was on the point of going out,
+and the two men drove off together in the latter's car.
+
+"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come
+from small means!  The document which you preserved for us, and
+for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this."
+
+"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured.
+
+"It is very simple," Bellamy declared.  "That meeting in Vienna was
+meant to force our hands.  It is all a question of the balance of
+strength.  Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly, -
+even with Russia neutral, - could have defied Europe.  Germany could
+have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her
+prey.  It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the
+Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers
+with a revelation of the whole affair.  At Windsor the thing seemed
+different to him.  The French Government behaved splendidly, and the
+Czar behaved like a man.  Germany and Austria are left plante la.
+If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair.  They have no
+fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time.  They
+have no means of landing an army here.  Austria, perhaps, can hold
+Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for
+years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with
+ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme
+proved abortive.  Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick.
+To-day great things have happened to me."
+
+"And to me," Laverick interposed.
+
+"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated
+themselves in easy-chairs.  "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to
+be my wife."
+
+Laverick held out his hand.
+
+"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed.  "I have been an
+engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
+
+
+"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever
+may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy
+remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper.  "For the
+first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers
+of equal standing.  We were always rather good at bullying smaller
+countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have
+made our late Premier go lightheaded."
+
+"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him.
+
+"Absolutely," he affirmed.  "To-day's news makes peace a certainty.
+If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal
+welcome next month."
+
+"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked.
+
+"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon
+the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't
+been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your
+people."
+
+"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured.
+"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?"
+
+Bellamy laughed.
+
+"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a
+silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious
+reputation in foreign countries.  I am Lord Denchester of
+Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon.
+By the way, I hope you like the title."
+
+"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared.  "To be an
+English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to
+go on singing at Covent Garden."
+
+"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her.  "I have asked
+Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with
+me.  Afterwards we must all have supper together."
+
+"How nice of you!" she exclaimed.
+
+"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling.  "I really like
+Laverick.  He is a decent fellow and a good sort.  Incidentally, he
+was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it.  He
+interests me, too, in another way.  He is a man who, face to face
+with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!"
+
+"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked.
+
+Bellamy assented.
+
+"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out.  "He had no right
+to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the
+police-station.  If he had done so - that is to say, if he had
+waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that
+pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one
+that there would have been another tragedy that night.  At any
+rate, the document would never have come to us."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that
+Laverick's decision brought us the document."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face
+with ruin.  The use of that money for a few hours did no one any
+harm, and saved him.  I say that such a deed is always a matter of
+calculation, and in this case that he was justified."
+
+"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked.
+
+"Perhaps I'll ask him."
+
+But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe,
+he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he
+had loved so long.  She moved about the stage that night as though
+her feet indeed fell upon the air.  She appeared to be singing
+always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a
+quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience
+thrilled.  Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance.
+Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning
+Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous
+love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled
+more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened.  Zoe
+found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement.
+Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut
+face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond.  Yet, as
+he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft.  The song grew
+and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite
+and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice.  The last note
+came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged
+for an extraordinary period.  When it died away, its passing seemed
+something almost unrealizable.  It quivered away into a silence
+which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause
+swept the house.  And in those last few seconds she had turned and
+faced Bellamy.  Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from
+his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat.  It was her
+good-bye.  She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into
+the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love
+itself.  Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked
+up to a state of frenzied excitement.  Bellamy was recognized, and
+the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the
+house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in
+the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again.
+But the three in the box were silent.  Bellamy stood back in the
+shadows.  Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in
+themselves.  Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed
+outside.
+
+"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly.  "You will excuse me
+for a few minutes?  I am going to Louise."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim
+
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