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diff --git a/2287-h/2287-h.htm b/2287-h/2287-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1215369 --- /dev/null +++ b/2287-h/2287-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16619 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Havoc, by E. Phillips Oppenheim</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<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’S “SCOOP”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">Chapter III “OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”</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 “VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">Chapter VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">Chapter VII “WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”</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’S FATE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">Chapter XII BARON DE STREUSS’ PROPOSAL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">Chapter XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">Chapter XIV ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">Chapter XV LAVERICK’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’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’S</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">Chapter XXV JIM SHEPHERD’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’S NARROW ESCAPE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap29">Chapter XXIX LASSEN’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’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’S ARREST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap34">Chapter XXXIV MORRISON’S DISCLOSURE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap35">Chapter XXXV BELLAMY’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">“Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?”</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’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. +</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—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—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.” +</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—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—” +</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—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?” +</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,—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—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. +</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—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,—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—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!” +</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,—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—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!” +</p> + +<p> +Bellamy nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he assented, “they call you cold here in the capital! +Even in the Palace—” +</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—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,—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!” +</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—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—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,— +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +ARTHUR DORWARD’S “SCOOP”</h2> + +<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—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—” +</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—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,—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.” +</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—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. +</p> + +<p> +“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—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,—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—I stand for my country. Share the +knowledge of that packet with me or I shall shoot.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then shoot and be d—d to you!” Dorward declared fiercely. +“This is my show, not yours. You and your country can go to—” +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +“OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”</h2> + +<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—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.” +</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—it is almost the same +thing as being an Englishman. And you are friends,—I am sure that you +have helped him often.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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> + +</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> +“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,—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +“VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”</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> +“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—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—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.” +</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—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—why, they existed as the cattle +in the fields—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—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.” +</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—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—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,—“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,”—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—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—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!” +</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,—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”—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.” +</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> +“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> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus02"></a> +<img src="images/02.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +</div> + +<p> +“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.” +</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—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. +</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—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.” +</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—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—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—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—” +</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> + +<p class="p2"> +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—I must think!” +</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 /> +“WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”</h2> + +<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> + +<p class="letter"> +D<small>AVID DEAR</small>,—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. “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—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—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?” +</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—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—don’t look at me, David—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—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—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. “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.” +</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> +“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!” +</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—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—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.” +</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—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—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> + +</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’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—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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</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—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—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. +</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—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! +</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—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. +</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,—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. +</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—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. +</p> + +<p> +“Whitehall Court,” 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,—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—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. +</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—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— +</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—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,—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,—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?” +</p> + +<p> +She shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +“There has been no message, but go on.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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—a trifle—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—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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +VON BEHRLING’S FATE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</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—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,—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,—“my dear David—!” +</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,—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—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—smooth and +cold—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?— 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—” +</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—after all—” +</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—a game of chess. I do not understand.” +</p> + +<p> +The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed low to +Louise—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—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—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.” +</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—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—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?” +</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,—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—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—has been a shock, I may say, to +both of us. From your point of view,” Bellamy went on, “it was +doubtless deserved, but—” +</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—” +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +BARON DE STREUSS’ 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’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> +“Von Behrling dead!” he muttered. “But who—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—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,”—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,—“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—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—tortured almost to death—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,—“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,—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE</h2> + +<p> +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. +</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,—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. +</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—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,—” +</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,—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,—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—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. 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> +“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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE</h2> + +<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—” +</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—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—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.” +</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—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,—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—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—opened them twice—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—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,—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.” +</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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +LAVERICK’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’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> + +<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—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,—“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—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,—“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—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—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.” +</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—” +</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—I +wish—” +</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—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—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—I swear that I haven’t,” Morrison +declared. “It’s something quite outside business—quite +outside business altogether.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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,— +</p> + +<p> +“Miss Leneveu 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—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 “BLACK POST”</h2> + +<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—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—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,’—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> + +<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—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—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—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—and I’m not admitting that—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—pasty-faced, +unwholesome-looking—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—it’s past nine o’clock and I haven’t had +my dinner yet—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—” +</p> + +<p> +He hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, go on,” Laverick said encouragingly. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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,—‘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—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.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know who he was?” Laverick inquired. +</p> + +<p> +Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered—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—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,—” +</p> + +<p> +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—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.” +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +THE PRICE OF SILENCE</h2> + +<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—a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth less +than anything in the world. +</p> + +<p> +“There are a few other things, sir,” he remarked,—“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,—“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.” +</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,—“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—has Mr. +Morrison, let us say—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> + +</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’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—those wonderful eyes—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,—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. +</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—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—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.” +</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,—“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—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—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—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> + +<p class="letter"> +<i>Murder in the City</i>.—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—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> +“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,—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—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.” +</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—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—“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,—“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—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,—“no, I will not go +to-night! It is not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think that +I was—” +</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> + +<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. +</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’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> +“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—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: +</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> +“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—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—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—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—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—” +</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—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—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,—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—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. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus03"></a> +<img src="images/03.jpg" width="411" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +</div> + +<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,—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—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—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,—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—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.” +</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—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,—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> +MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’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> +“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 <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> +“Any one to see me?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Laverick nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll see him,” he said. “Anything else?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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—a long rough overcoat over the +livery of his profession—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,—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. +</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,—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,—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.” +</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—” +</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—that?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“And directly opposite,” she asked,—“that is a café, is +it not,—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—” 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 <i>Samson and Delilah?</i>” +</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—” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</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,—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.” +</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,—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—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> + +</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—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,—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—even my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man’s spies +are simply wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And, +David!—” +</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—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—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.” +</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—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—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—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—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—” +</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> + +</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> +“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,—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> + +<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> +“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—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—” +</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—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—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,—“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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> +A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI’S</h2> + +<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—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—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—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 possession since Wednesday morning.” +</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 & Morrison, Stockbrokers. +</p> + +<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,—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?” +</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—” +</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—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. +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br /> +JIM SHEPHERD’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> +“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—” +</p> + +<p> +“You are quite right,” he interrupted hastily,—“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—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. +</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—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.” +</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?”—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—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—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—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—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?’—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.” +</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—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—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—there’s +nothing in that—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> + +</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> +“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—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,—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. +</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> +“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,—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?”—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—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—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> + +</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’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"> +M<small>Y DEAR</small> L<small>AVERICK</small>,—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. +</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> +“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,—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—inquirers of any sort—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—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—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—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.” +</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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br /> +LAVERICK’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> +“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—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—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. +</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,—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,—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. +</p> + +<p> +“I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick,” he +said,—“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—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—I mean no offence, sir—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,—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> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus01"></a> +<img src="images/01.jpg" width="439" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +</div> + +<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—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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap29"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br /> +LASSEN’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> +“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—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,—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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> + +</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> +“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—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.” +</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—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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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! +</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—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?” +</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—” +</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 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> +“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—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—” +</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—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 class="p2"> +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,— +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,—Deliver to bearer document deposited +with you. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +S<small>TEPHEN</small> L<small>AVERICK</small>. +</p> + +<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—” +</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,—“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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI<br /> +MISS LENEVEU’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’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—and I am working +now—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—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,—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—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,—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—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—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,—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—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.” +</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 class="letter"> +“Ring up 1232 Gerrard.” +</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> +“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 Leneveu,” 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—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—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> + +</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’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. +</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—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—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—ugly and threatening. +</p> + +<p> +“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!” +</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—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—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—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—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. +</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—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.” +</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—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—any measure of publicity, in fact, as regards +this little affair—would not be desirable.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“You are not to give it up!” she cried, with trembling lips. +“They cannot hurt you, and it is not true—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—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,—“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</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—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.” +</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—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?” +</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—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,—“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!” +</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—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—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.” +</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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII<br /> +LAVERICK’S ARREST</h2> + +<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—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—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.” +</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,—“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,—“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.” +</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 class="p2"> +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,—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 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> +“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?” +</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,—” +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir,” the man answered. +“Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV<br /> +MORRISON’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,—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,—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—staring her in the face: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</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—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! +</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—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,—“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—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—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—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—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.” +</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,—“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—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.” +</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—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—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—‘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—” +</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,—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!” +</p> + +<p> +“It couldn’t have been worth—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—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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap35"></a>CHAPTER XXXV<br /> +BELLAMY’S SUCCESS</h2> + +<p> +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. +</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—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 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—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. +</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—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—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.” +</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—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 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—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> + +</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, “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—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> + +<p class="p2"> +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—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> + +</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’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. +</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—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—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—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.” +</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—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,—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 <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’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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap38"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII<br /> +A FAREWELL APPEARANCE</h2> + +<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—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 <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’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> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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